Geography Vocabulary
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Geography Vocabulary
1. Geography - Study of the Earth and its features (topography, climate and natural resources)
REGIONS
2. Region – An area that has common characteristics (ex: gov’t, economies, language, religion, geographic)
3. Pacific Rim - Nations in the Pacific area with heavy volcanic activity.
4. East Asia – Eastern region of Asia that includes that countries of: China, North and South Korea, Japan, and Mongolia
5. South Asia – Southern region of Asia that includes the countries of: Bangladesh, , the India, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.
6. Southeast Asia – Southeastern region of Asia that consists of two geographic regions: the Asian mainland, and islands and archipelagoes to the east and southeast. The mainland section consists of Burma (Myanmar), Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, Vietnam and Malaysia. The maritime section consists of Brunei, East Timor, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Singapore.
7. Middle East – The southwestern portion of Asia that also includes territories in North Africa. Middle Eastern nations include: Afghanistan, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, and Yemen.
8. Latin America – Areas in the western hemisphere that are south of the United States that include: Mexico, Central America, South America and the Caribbean.
MAPS
9. Demographic map – A map that shows statistics of an area (population density age, race, and gender)
10. Political Map – A map that shows man-made borders that divide one area from another.
11. Physical/Topographical Map - A map that shows the physical features of an area such as mountains, lakes and rivers as well as elevation
12. Legend/Key - An explanatory caption accompanying a map
LINES OF MEASURMENT
13. Latitude - Imaginary lines that run east to west on the globe but measure areas north and south of the equator.
14. Longitude – Imaginary lines that run north to south on the globe but measure areas east and west of the Prime Meridian.
15. Hemisphere – “Half the earth”; the northern and southern halves of the earth divided by the equator and the eastern and western halves of the earth divided by the Prime Meridian.
16. Equator - Imaginary line that divides the Earth into the northern and southern hemispheres.
17. Prime Meridian – Imaginary Imaginary line that divides the earth into the eastern and western hemispheres.
PHYSICAL FEATURES
18. Topography - The physical features of a place or region. (Ex; mountains, river valleys, deserts, plains, savannas, plateaus, forests)
19. Plateaus – An elevated, level landform.
20. Plains – Flat treeless land region, that is usually suitable for farming. Generally at a low elevation
21. Savannas - Flat grassland of tropical or subtropical regions that has two different seasons, a wet and dry.
22. Steppe – An area that is characterized by grassland plain without trees that may be semi-desert, and can also be used to describe the climate.
23. Tundra - Treeless region located between the ice cap and the tree line of arctic regions; Large areas of frozen land (Russia)
24. Peninsula – A piece of land surrounded by water on 3 sides (Ex: Korea, Spain, Italy)
25. River - A moving body of water that usually has its source in an area of high ground
26. Archipelago – A rocky chain of islands with deep natural harbors (Japan)
27. River valley – A valley that is carved out by the river. Often have fertile land, and are the sites for the earliest civilizations (Nile, Tigris-Euphrates, Indus, Yellow)
28. Desert – Areas of land with sparse vegetation, that lacks arable farmland, and a climate that is usually hot and dry. (Sahara, Gobi)
29. Strait – A narrow channel of water that connects two larger bodies of water (Gibraltar)
30. Irregular coastline - A jagged coastline, with natural harbors that are suitable for trade. Natural harbors (Europe)
31. Regular coastline - A smooth coastline that lacks natural harbors and are not suitable for trade. (Africa)
32. Mountains – Areas of land with steep sides that rise sharply from surrounding land (Himalayans)
33. Rainforests – Forests in a tropical or subtropical region that is characterized by heavy rainfall and a humid climate that produces thick, dense vegetation. (Amazon)
CHARACTERISTICS OF THE WORLD
34. Climate - The average weather pattern of a region (Temperature and Precipitation)
35. Elevation – The distance or height above sea level
36. Natural barriers - Physical features of the earth that create obstacles to civilizations (mountains, deserts, oceans, dense forests)
37. Natural resources - A limited material that comes from the earth that is used for manufacturing (Ex: oil, water, lumber, coal, iron, etc.)
38. Arid - Dry (lacking moisture)
39. Drought - Prolonged periods of little or no rainfall.
40. Arable - Land that is suitable for farming
41. Agrarian – Farming or agricultural society.
42. Tsunami - Underwater earthquakes that causes violent waves.
43. Monsoons - Seasonal winds that provide rainfall for South Asia, SE Asia, East Asia (Japan); May also cause damage (Floods).
GEOGRAPHIC IMPACTS
44. Cultural Diffusion - The exchange of goods, ideas and customs among different groups of people.
45. Human-environment Interaction – When humans have adapted to and changed their environment to survive the impact of these changes and adaptations.
46. Geographic Isolation - Areas that are separated from one each other due to physical/natural barriers such as mountains, deserts, dense forests (example: India and China are geographically separated from one another due to the Himalayan Mountain range
47. Terrace farming - Step-like features that are built into the sides of mountain and hillsides that are sued for farming. (Inca, China, Japan).
48. Interdependence – Mutual assistance or reliance between two or more counties for goods or services they cannot provide for themselves. (US depends on Middle Eastern oil)
49. Subsistence farming - farming when food is grown only enough to survive.
50. Developing nations - Nations that are working to develop modern industrial economies. Lack technology and communication or transportation systems (infrastructure)
51. Developed nations - Nations that have developed modern industrial economies. Have a developed new technologies and systems of infrastructure
52. Desertification - The process in which land slowly dries out until little or no vegetation exists becoming a desert. Typically due to over grazing by domestic animals and/or over farming
53. Deforestation - The destruction or clearing of forest land for farming, lumber, grazing land for animals or areas settlements. (ex: Rain forest “slash and Burn”)
54. Homogeneous – Having a common ethnic and cultural backgrounds; (Caused by geographic Isolation, Natural barriers)
55. Heterogeneous – Having a different ethnic and cultural make-up. (Caused by cultural diffusion, trade, war, migration)
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