Types of Maps
A map that shows natural features like mountains, rivers, and deserts.
What is a physical map?
A region defined by one common characteristic, such as countries where most people speak Spanish.
What is a formal region?
Data shown across the entire world as one unit of analysis.
What is global scale?
The model that argues as places became more separated by distance they are less likely to interact.
What is the distance decay model?
A system that captures, stores, and displays geographic data in layers.
What is GIS (Geographic Information Systems)?
A map that uses shading or colors to show values across areas, like population density.
What is a choropleth map?
A region organized around a central node, such as a metropolitan area.
What is a functional region?
Data shown by countries, such as GDP per capita of the U.S., Canada, and Mexico.
What is national scale?
Objects in an area are spread out.
What is dispersed?
The use of cameras or other sensors mounted on aircraft or satellites to collect digital images of Earth’s surface.
What is remote sensing?
A map where symbols are sized according to the value of the data they represent.
What is a proportional symbol (or graduated symbol) map?
A region defined by people’s perceptions, such as “the South” or “the Middle East.”
What is a perceptual (or vernacular) region?
Data grouped by continents or cultural areas, such as “Southeast Asia” or “Latin America.'
What is regional scale?
Data expressed with numbers, like census statistics.
What is quantitative data?
A map that distorts land area to represent a variable, such as GDP or population.
What is a cartogram?
The type of region represented by the delivery area of a pizza restaurant.
What is a functional region?
Data that compares smaller units like states, provinces, or cities.
What is local scale?
The relationship between the portion of Earth being studied and the whole Earth.
What is scale?
Data expressed in words or observations, like interviews or field notes.
What is qualitative data?
A map that emphasizes the connections and flow between places, such as airline routes.
What is a flow-line map?
Comparing “The Corn Belt” (based on agriculture) and “The Midwest” (based on perception) demonstrates the difference between these two types of regions.
What are a formal region and a perceptual region?
The scale a geographer chooses to display data, which affects the patterns they see.
What is scale of analysis?
The concept that increasing connections between places reduces relative distance.
What is time–space compression?
Type of geospatial data collection in which in person accounts of an event or time period are collected.
What are personal interviews?