AP Human Geography Vocab Instructions
AP Human Geography is a vocabulary intensive course. Your knowledge of the terminology is essential. To that end you need
to study vocab in a function sense on more than one level. You will need to understand the following:
1. The Term Itself
2. The Book definition along with your own interpretation of it.
3. A real life Example of that term and how it applies.
My recommendation is that you create a 3 column format. This way you can fold the page in vertical thirds, allowing you to
study the terms from multiple dimensions. Here is an example.
Term
Definitions
Examples
Cultural/ Vernacular Region
Book: An area with common cultural
characteristics.
“The South”
Own: A region in name only.
Functional/ Nodal Region
Book: An area associated with a specific
purpose or function.
Own: ????
“The Bible Belt”
Buckhead, Little Five Points
The delivery area of a pizza restaurant.
The New York City subway map.
Unit 1 Vocab
Space and Place:
Space
Distribution
Density
Arithmetic Density
Physiological Density
Agricultural Density
Concentration
Clustered/
Agglomerated
Dispersed/
Scattered
Pattern
Linear
Centralized
Grid
Random
Place
Sense of Place
Perception of Place
Location:
Absolute Location
Latitude and
Longitude
Remote Sensing
GPS
Site
Situation
Spatial Perspective
Projection
Azimuthal/ Planar
Mercator
Peters Projection
Robinson Projection
Fuller
Simplification
Scale
Aggregation
Reference Map
Thematic Maps
Isoline
Choropleth
Cartogram
Proportional Symbol
Dot Density
GIS
Region and Culture:
Region
Formal Region
Functional Region
Perceptual/
Vernacular
Region
Mental Map
Culture
Culture Trait
Culture Complex
Cultural System
Culture Region
Cultural Diffusion:
Innovation
Cultural Lag
Transculturation
Acculturation
Diffusion
Relocation Diffusion
Expansion Diffusion
Hierarchical
Diffusion
Contagious Diffusion
Stimulus Diffusion
Friction of Distance
Space/Time
Compression
Time Distance Decay
Interrupting Barriers
Cultural Barriers
Syncretism
Human
Environment:
Environmental
Determinism
Possibilism
Cultural Ecology
Biome
Landform
Preference
Landscape
Natural Landscape
Built Landscape
Cultural Landscape
Sequent Occupance