1.10 Glossary

Formal region – a region defined by homogeneity in one or a number of different characteristics.

Functional region – a region that is define by a central node or focal point to which other places in the region are connected.

Diffusion – spread of ideas, objects, inventions, and other practices from place to place.

Expansion diffusion – the type of diffusion involves the spread outward from a core area that contains the idea, cultural practice etc. and can occur from person-to-person contact (as with a contagious disease) or through a hierarchy.

Geographic information systems – combines computer hardware and software in    a system that stores, analyzes and displays geographic data with a “computer mapping” capability in a system of data layers.

Geography – literally, writing about the Earth; the study of the physical and environmental aspects of the world, from a spatial perspective.

International Date Line – roughly follows 180 o longitude.

Latitude – the numbering system for parallels.

Longitude – the numbering system for meridians.

Meridian – half circles that connect the North and South poles.

Parallel – circles that encompass the Earth and are parallel to the equator.

Prime Meridian – 0o longitude, passes through Greenwich, England.

Projection – the process of transferring locations from the Earth’s curved surface to a flat map.

Region – an area that shares some sort of common characteristic that binds the area into a whole.

Relocation diffusion – the diffusion process in which people migrate or move to a new area, and bring their ideas, objects, and the like with them.

Scale – ratio of the length or distance on the map versus the length or distance on the Earth or ground (actual); can also refer to the spatial extent of some phenomenon.

Site – a way to describe a location; refers to the physical characteristics, such as the topography, vegetative cover, climatic conditions, etc.

Situation – a way to describe a location by referring to the area surrounding the place, and is sometimes referred to as relative location.

Vernacular region – an area that people believe exists as part of their cultural identity.