Maps
The science of making maps.
Census
A periodic and official account of a country's population.
Toponym
The name given to a portion of Earth's surface.
Spatial Patterns
General arrangement of things being studied in an area. Ex: Direction, clustering, dispersal, elevation.
Possibilism
The theory that the physical environment may set limits on human actions, but people have the ability to adjust to the physical environment and choose a course of action from many alternatives.
Projection
A system used to transfer locations from Earth's surface to a flat map.
Remote Sensing
The acquisition of data about Earth's surface from a satellite orbiting the planet or from other long-distance methods.
Regions
Defined on the basis of one or more unifying characteristics or on patterns of activity.
Space
The physical gap or interval between two objects.
Sustainability
The use of Earth's renewable and nonrenewable natural resources in ways that do not constrain resource use in the future.
Distortion
Geospatial Data
Includes all information that can be tied to a specific place. Location of things, human activities or traits, where are speakers of a language located, ect.
Formal Region
An area in which everyone shares in common one or more distinctive characteristics.
Spatial Perspective
Observing variations in geographic phenomena across space.
Environmental Determinism
A 19th-early 20th century approach to the study of geography which argued that the general laws sought by human geographers could be found in the physical sciences. Geography was therefore the study of how the physical environment caused human activities.
Reference Maps
Show the absolute location of places and geographic features determined by factors such as longitude and latitude.
Global Positioning System (GPS)
A system that determines the precise position of something on Earth through a series of satellites, tracking stations, and receivers.
Functional/Nodal Region
An area organized around a node or focal point.
Spatial Relationships
Refers to any sort of interaction between two locations, whether they be specific locations or regions.
Time-Space Compression
The reduction in the time it takes to diffuse something to a distant place as a result of improved communications and transportation systems.
Thematic Maps
A thematic map depicts a single feature, for example, climate, population, landform, land use, ect. Examples: Isoline, Choropleth, Proportional Symbol, Dot.
Geographic Information System (GIS)
A computer system that scores, organizes, analyzes, and displays geographic data. Includes online mapping, satellite navigation, visualization.
Vernacular Region
An area that people believe exists as part of their cultural identity.
Spatial Analysis
The process of examining the locations, attributes, and relationships of features in spatial data through overlay and other analytical techniques.
Flows
A pattern of migration in which migrants (workers) move back and forth between two or a small number of places, such as their home and a distant worksite.