Geography Vocabulary Quiz

Geography Terminology

• North, South, East, and West are referred to as cardinal directions.
• Regions of the world that share common characteristics but lack fixed boundaries are called cultural regions.
• Northwest, Northeast, Southwest, and Southeast represent intermediate directions.
• The technique used by geographers to project latitude and longitude from a spherical Earth onto a flat surface is called map projection.

Map Features

• A grid network consists of evenly spaced horizontal and vertical lines that assist in pinpointing locations on a map.
• Lines that run from North to South are known as meridians.
• Lines that run from East to West are called parallels.
• The 0° line that extends from east to west through the Earth's center is known as the Equator.

Map Representation and Location

• A topographic map provides a detailed portrayal of both natural and artificial features in an area.
• Relative location denotes a place on Earth in relation to another location.
• The scale indicates the distance on a map that correlates with actual distance on Earth.

Map Elements

• A compass rose is a map tool that illustrates cardinal and intermediate directions.
• A hemisphere refers to half of the Earth, divided into Northern and Southern or Eastern and Western halves.
• An absolute location specifies an exact point on Earth, typically described by coordinates or an address.

Human-Environment Interaction

• Human geography studies how people interact with their environment and vice versa.
• A map legend, also known as a key, explains the significance of symbols used on the map.
• Due to the challenge of representing a sphere on a flat surface, all maps experience some distortion.
• The 0° line that extends from North to South is known as the Prime Meridian.