Marden's Final Exam Notes PDF

formal region: homogenus areas defined by specific, consistent criteria that distinguishes them from other areas. they exhibit uniform characteristics being physical, cultural, or economic. they have clear, defined boundaries like political(state, country lines) or natural (rivers, mountains...

formal region: homogenus areas defined by specific, consistent criteria that distinguishes them from other areas. they exhibit uniform characteristics being physical, cultural, or economic. they have clear, defined boundaries like political(state, country lines) or natural (rivers, mountains) political: countries, states. areas defined by governments. cultural: areas where specific culture predominates. ex: spanish-speaking regions of Latin America. physical: areas defined by natural features. ex: sahara desert/amazon rainforest. stateless nation: group of people who have a common identity such as culture, ehtnicity, language or religion, but who dont have an independent state or governance over a territory. EX: the kurds: inhabit Turkey, Iraq, Iran, and Syria. the palestinians: westbank and gaza strip environmental determinism: theory that the physical environment (climate/geography) shapes the behaviors, society, and cultures of humans. consequent boundary: type of political boundary that is established based on cultural, ethnic, or linguistic differences between populations. ex: boundary between inda and pakistan. this was drawn to separate religious differences between hindus and muslims in british decolonization. dependency ratio: compares the number of dependants (children and elderly) to the working-age pop (15-64). calculate by dividing # of dependants by working pop. high dependancy ratio indicates economic pressure on working pop due to them bearing the burden of supporting the non-working members. congressional districts: electoral divisions in which members of the House of Reps are elected. Each state is divided into districts based on population. The districts vary and can be redistricted(occurs every 10 years). This can impact political representation, influencing elections. (gerrymandering is an issue in the U.S.) gerrymandering: the process of maipulating district boundaries to favor a particular group. leads to distorted representation in legislature. manipulation can affect voter engagement. undermines principles of fair representation and democracy. types: packing:concentrating voters from a single party into few districts to minimize their influence in other districts. (majority can secure more seats) cracking: disperses voters from a single party across multiple districts to dull the voting power. (majority can reduce likelihod of minority winning seats) Formal Region: specific uniform characterisitics Functional Regions: defined by a focal point: ex: areas where economy is linked to a central city Vernacular Regions: defined by people's opinions/cultural identity: ex: the South Arithmetic Density: total pop divided by total land area Physiological: # of people per unit of arable land: total popu of a region by the area of its arable land Agricultural: # of farmers per unit of farmland:population of farmers” by “arable land Nation-state: defined as an entity characterized by defined territoty, sovereign government, and a pop with common identity: Japan or France nation: group of people with a common identity: the Kurds state: independent political entities with a government and defined borders: US or Germany Cultural lanscape- the way humand have transformed the natural land through cultural practices and technology. Architecture, agricultural practices, urban area organizaion. It reflects the relatinoship between people and their environment Country: a defined territpry with clear borders, a permanent pop, a government, and sovereignity. Political maps: government boundaries and cities Physical: natural feaetures Thematic: specific themes: climate, pop density economic activities Projections: the way the earth's spherical surface is represented on flat maps: mercator: used for navigation but distorts near poles ronbinson: minimizes distortion but sacrifices accuracy gall-peters: emphasizes area accuracy but distorts shape Demograohic transition mode: the transition of a contry from high birth and death rates to lower rates as it develops economically: Five stages: high stationary: high birth and death rates: stable pop early expanding: high birth, declining death: rapid pop growth late expanding: declining birth low death: low stationary: low birth low death: stable pop declining: very low birth rates: pop decline Diffusion is the spread of cultural elements: expansion: idea spreads out from a central point while remaining strong in the origin contagious: rapid widespread diffuson of a characteristic hierarchical: spread from largr to smaller places or infuential figures to reg pop relocation: idea carried to new areas by people who move from one place to another Absolute vs: Relative: absolute: precise location: coordinates of lat and long relative: position in relation other locations: the store over by the coffee shop and salon. Malthusian theory suggest pop growth will always outpace food production: leads to famine, disease, and war. Boundaries: natural: physical features like rivers political: human gov: state or national borders consequent: based on cultural/ethnic differences: India and Pakistan superimposed: forcibly drawn that have no thought about existing cultural/ethnic distributions Diffusion: processs by which cultural ideas, elements, and technology are spread from one area to another: spread of language, technology,cultural practices, etc. Sea boundaries are established to define maritime territory and rights: territorial sea: generally 12 nautical miles from a country's coastline where state has sovereignity exclusive economic zone: extends 200 nautical miles from coastline, giving ountry righs to explore/exploit marine resources continental shelf: exends from coast granting rights to seabed resources how congress decides voting districts: redistricting: occurs every 10 years pop counts: census:ensures disstricts are equal in population. state legislation: state has laws guiding the process: impacts how districts are shaped gerrymandering: manipiulating district boundaries for political advanteage