Geography Midterm

For human geographers, refers to minimizing distances and related movements and is considered a guiding principle in human activities

a decrease in the friction of distance between locations as a result of improvements in transportation and communication technologies

a Greek term, revived by 19th century German geographers to refer to regional descriptions of local areas

a tax or customs duty on imports from other countries

a monetary measure of the market value of goods and services produced by a country plus net income from abroad, over a given period (usually one year)

direct investment by a government or multinational corporation in another country often in the form of a manufacturing plant

the current tendency for high-wage and high-skill employment opportunities often in the service sector, to be located in the more developed world, while low-wage and low-skill employment opportunities often in the industrial sector, are located in the less developed world

believes that global civilization based on global capitalism and governance is the global era, and technology, capitalism and human ingenuity is the driving processes. Pro-globalization and their core position is the triumph of capitalism and the market over nation-states

believing that core-led regionalism makes globe less interconnected than in the late 19th century causes increased regionalism. Nation-states and the market are the driving processes and their position is mostly anti-globalization because globalization is propagated by powerful states where they can perpetuate their dominant position

believes that unprecedented interconnectedness is caused by "thick globalization", high intensity, extensity and velocity of globalization. "Modern" forces in unison are the driving processes and their position is fully anti-globalization and their core position is that transformation of governance at all scales will cause new networks of power

the period of confrontation without direct military conflict between Western and communist (US vs USSR) powers that began shortly after the end of WWII and lasted until the early 1990s

A monetary measure of the market value of goods and services produced by a country over a given time period (usually 1 year). provides a better indication of domestic production than gnp

the first of three phases of capitalism, beginning in the early eighteenth century; characterized by free-market competition and laissez-faire economic development

the second phase of capitalism beginning after WWII; increased growth of major corporations and increased state involvement in the economy

the most recent form of capitalism. characterized by disorganization and industrial restructuring

a group of industrial and broader social practices introduced by Henry Ford, including the mass-production assembly line, higher wages and shorter working hours

a group of industrial and broader social practices evident in the industrial countries since about 1970; involves more flexible production methods than those associated with Fordism

the circumstance in which a person is indifferent to or estranged from nature or the means of production

Literally "wholly recent"; the post -glacial period that began 10 000 years ago and was preceded by the Pleistocene

a set of interrelated components or objects linked together to form a unified whole

the study of relationships between organisms and their environments

an ecological system; comprises a set of interacting and interdependent organisms and their physical, chemical and biological environment

the outer layer of rock on earth; includes crust and upper mantle

the capacity of a physical system for doing work

the ability to convert energy into forms useful to humans

process of making plants and/or animals more useful to humans through selective breeding

the slow transition, beginning about 12 000 years ago, from foraging to food production through pant and animal domestication

the process that converted a fundamentally rural society into an industrial society, beginning in England around 1750; primarily a technological revolution associated with new energy sources

minerals and land that take a long time to form and hence, from a human perspective, are fixed in supply

resources that regenerate naturally to provide a new supply within a human lifespan

the mass of biological material present in an area, including both living and dead plant material

the release of substances that degrade air, land, or water into the environment

emphasizing the value of all parts of an ecosystem rather than, for example, placing humans at the centre, as in an anthropocentric emphasis

regarding humans as the central fact of the world; stressing the centrality of humans to the detriment of the rest of the world

the process by which an area of land becomes a desert; typically involves the impoverishment of an ecosystem because of climate change and/or human impact

layer in the atmosphere 16-40km (10-25 miles) above the earth that absorbs dangerous UV solar radiation; ozone is a gas composed of molecules consisting of O3

the deposition on the earth's surface of sulphuric and nitric acids formed in the atmosphere as a result of fossil fuel and biomass burning; causes significant damage to vegetation, lakes, wildlife and built environments

An opinion articulated by Kaplan where the argument is that population increases and continuing environmental deterioration are leading to a nightmarish future of food shortages, disease and conflict

those who argue that advances in science and technology will continue to create resources sufficient to support the growing world population

the process by which humans adjust to a particular set of circumstances; changes in behaviour that reduce conflict with the environment

a general term referring to any form of environmental protection, including preservation

the reuse of materials and energy resources

a term popularized by the 1987 report of the World Commission on Environment and Development; refers to economic development that sustains the natural environment for future generations

the study of human populations

generally, all aspects of human reproduction that lead to live births; also used specifically to refer to the actual number of live births produced by a woman

a biological term; the ability of a woman or man to produce a live child; refers to potential rather than actual number of live births

the level of fertility at which a couple has only enough children to replace themselves. maintains a stable population, 2 parent have 2 children

the extent to which a population marries

the tendency for population growth to continue beyond the time that replacement level fertility has been reached because of the relatively high number of people in the child-bearing years

the number of years required for the population of an area to double its present size, given the current rate of population growth

the maximum population that can be supported by a given set of resources and a given level of technology

a diagrammatic representation of the age and sex composition of a population; by convention, the younger ages are at the bottom, males are on the left, and females on the right

a process in which the proportion of elderly people in a population increases and the proportion of younger people decreases, resulting in increased median age of the population

the argument that both world population and world economy may collapse because available world resources are inadequate

the historical shift of birth and death rates from high to low levels in a population; mortality declines before fertility, resulting in substantial population increase during the transition phase

a measure of the number of geographic facts (ex. people) per unit area

population per unit of cultivable land

the periodic collection and compilation of demographic and other data relating to all individuals in a given country at a particular time

analysis of cultural and economic change that treats each country or region of the world separately in an evolutionary manner, assumes that all areas are autonomous and proceed through the same series of stages

a measure of the satisfaction an individual derives from a location relative to his or her goals

individuals (sometimes group) evaluation of the relative attractiveness of different locations

a contested term because it can be understood to mean that some groups are civilized while others are not; traditionally understood to refer to a culture with agriculture and cities, food and labour surpluses, labour specialization, social stratification, and state organization

the policy of a state or people seeking to establish and maintain authority over another state or people

in political contexts, a relationship in which one state or people is dependent on, and therefore dominated by, another state or people

a body of ideas that suggests a division of the world into a core, semi-periphery and periphery, stressing that the periphery is dependent on the core; has numerous implications for understanding of the less developed world. Proposed by Wallerstein

a theory that centres on the relationship between dependence and underdevelopment

diet inadequate to sustain normal activity

a condition caused by a diet lacking some food necessary for health

a term used to designate diseases with very wide distribution (a whole country, or even the world); epidemic diseases have more limited distribution

An ideologically neo-liberal grouping of financial officials from 19 of the biggest developed economies - 15 European countries plus the US, Canada, Japan, and Australia - loosely formed in 1956 and more formally structured in the 1970s, which provides financial services and organizes debt restructuring, debt relief, and debt cancellation for indebted countries and their creditors

a major concern of geographic study; the characteristics of a particular area especially as created through human activity

a specific part of the earth's surface; an area where something is situated

a complex combination of economic, political, and cultural changes that have long been evident but that have accelerated markedly since about 1980, bringing about a seemingly ever increasing connectedness of both people and places

a part of the earth's surface that displays internal homogeneity and is relatively distinct from surrounding areas according to some criteria. it's an intellectual creation

the interrelationships that connect individuals as members of a culture

all countries not classified as more developed; countries characterized by a low standard of living

countries characterized by a high standard of living

a system of ideas or knowledge that serves as the context through which new facts and ideas are understood

angular distance on the surface of the earth, measured in degrees, minutes and seconds, east and west of the prime meridian; lines of constant longitude are called meridians

angular distance on the surface of the earth, measured in degrees, minutes and seconds, north and south of the equator; lines of constant latitude are called parallels

the doctrine that everything in the world has been designed by God; also refers to the study of purposiveness in the world and to a recurring theme in history, such as progress or class conflict