A four-stage model of population change that shows a country's population growth as it develops economically, characterized by shifts in birth rates and death rates.
The DTM explains why some countries have high population growth while others have declining populations, linking economic development to demographic shifts.
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Ravenstein's Laws of Migration
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A set of generalizations about the causes, patterns, and destinations of human migration, including that most migrants move short distances and that migration occurs in steps.
These laws help explain historical and contemporary migration flows, such as the predominance of short-distance moves and rural-to-urban migration.
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Push and Pull Factors
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Push factors are conditions that drive people away from a place (e.g., war, poverty), while pull factors are conditions that attract people to a new place (e.g., jobs, freedom).
Understanding these factors is crucial for analyzing the causes and directions of both internal and international migration patterns.
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Dependency Ratio
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The number of people under age 15 and over age 64 compared to the number of people in the productive working-age population (ages 15-64).
A high dependency ratio indicates a greater financial burden on the working population to support the young and the elderly, impacting social services and economic growth.
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Malthusian Theory
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The theory that population growth tends to outrun food supply, leading to famine, disease, and war if not checked by moral restraint or other means.
Malthus's theory, though debated, highlights the potential for resource scarcity to limit population growth and has influenced environmental and population policies.
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Intervening Obstacle
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An environmental or cultural feature that hinders migration, such as a mountain range, ocean, visa requirement, or language barrier.
These obstacles explain why potential migrants may not reach their intended destination or why migration streams are diverted.
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Folk Culture
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Culture traditionally practiced by small, homogeneous groups living in isolated rural areas, often characterized by a strong sense of place and resistance to change.
Folk culture is distinguished from popular culture by its local scale, traditional practices, and slower rate of diffusion, often reflecting unique local environments.
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Popular Culture
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Culture found in large, heterogeneous societies that shares certain habits across populations, often diffused rapidly through modern communication and transportation.
Popular culture contrasts with folk culture by its widespread distribution, rapid change, and tendency to reduce local distinctiveness, often driven by globalization.
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Cultural Hearth
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A region from which innovative ideas, beliefs, and technologies originate and diffuse to other areas.
Identifying cultural hearths helps trace the origins and spread of major cultural phenomena like religions, languages, and agricultural practices.
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Acculturation vs. Assimilation
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Acculturation is the process of adopting cultural traits from another group while retaining one's own distinct cultural identity, whereas assimilation is the complete absorption into a new culture, losing most of one's original cultural identity.
Acculturation involves blending cultures, while assimilation implies a one-way adoption, often seen in immigrant experiences where later generations fully adopt the host culture.
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Universalizing Religion
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A religion that attempts to appeal to all people, not just those living in a particular location, and actively seeks converts through missionary work.
Christianity, Islam, and Buddhism are examples; their global distribution and active proselytization distinguish them from ethnic religions.
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Lingua Franca
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A language mutually understood and commonly used in trade and communication by people who have different native languages.
English is a prominent example today, facilitating global business, diplomacy, and aviation, even among non-native speakers.
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State
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An area organized into a political unit and ruled by an established government that has control over its internal and foreign affairs, possessing sovereignty over a defined territory.
A state is the most fundamental political unit in human geography, distinguished by its sovereignty and internationally recognized borders.
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Nation-State
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A state whose territory corresponds to that occupied by a particular ethnicity that has been transformed into a nationality.
Japan and Iceland are often cited as close examples, where a single ethnic group forms the vast majority of the population within a sovereign state, promoting cultural unity.
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Supranationalism
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The process of multiple states forming an organization for mutual benefit, often involving a partial surrender of sovereignty to the group.
The European Union (EU) is a prime example; member states collaborate on economic, political, and social issues, demonstrating shared decision-making beyond national borders.
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Centripetal Forces
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Forces that tend to unite or bind a country together, such as shared language, common religion, strong national identity, or effective government.
A common national language can be a centripetal force, fostering communication and a sense of shared identity among diverse populations within a state.
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Consequent Boundary
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A boundary line that is drawn to accommodate existing cultural differences, such as language, religion, or ethnicity, rather than simply following physical features.
The boundary drawn between India and Pakistan in 1947, largely along religious lines, is an example of a consequent boundary attempting to separate distinct cultural groups.
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Green Revolution
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A large increase in crop production in developing countries achieved by the use of fertilizers, pesticides, and high-yield crop varieties, beginning in the mid-20th century.
The Green Revolution significantly boosted food production, preventing widespread famine, but also raised concerns about environmental impact and economic inequality.
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Von Thünen Model
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A model that explains the spatial distribution of agricultural activities around a central market, based on the cost of transportation and the perishability of goods.
The model predicts that more intensive agriculture (like dairying) occurs closer to the market, while extensive agriculture (like ranching) is found further away due to transportation costs.
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Agribusiness
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Commercial agriculture characterized by the integration of different steps in the food-processing industry, usually through ownership by large corporations.
Agribusiness is a complex system involving farming, processing, distribution, and retail, often dominating the food supply chain from seed to supermarket.
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Shifting Cultivation
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A form of subsistence agriculture in which people shift activity from one field to another; each field is used for crops for a relatively few years and left fallow for a relatively long period.
Common in tropical regions, this practice helps maintain soil fertility but requires large amounts of land and is becoming less sustainable with increasing population density.
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Pastoral Nomadism
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A form of subsistence agriculture based on the herding of domesticated animals, typically practiced in arid or semi-arid climates where crop cultivation is difficult.
Nomads move their herds seasonally to find pasture and water, adapting to harsh environments and maintaining a traditional way of life distinct from sedentary farming.
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Desertification
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The process by which fertile land becomes desert, typically as a result of drought, deforestation, or inappropriate agriculture.
Overgrazing and unsustainable farming practices contribute to desertification, reducing arable land and exacerbating food insecurity in vulnerable regions.
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Industrial Revolution
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A series of improvements in industrial technology that transformed the process of manufacturing goods, beginning in Great Britain in the late 18th century.
This period introduced new energy sources, machinery, and factory systems, fundamentally reshaping economies, societies, and global power dynamics.
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Weber's Least Cost Theory
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A theory that states that industrial location is determined by minimizing three costs: transportation, labor, and agglomeration (benefits from clustering).
Manufacturers consider raw material weight, finished product weight, and distance to market when choosing a factory location to reduce overall expenses.
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Fordism
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A system of mass production based on the assembly line and the standardization of products, characterized by a highly specialized division of labor and high wages.
Fordism revolutionized manufacturing by enabling efficient, large-scale production of identical goods, making them affordable for a mass consumer market.
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Concentric Zone Model
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An urban land use model proposing that a city grows outward from a central business district (CBD) in a series of concentric rings, with different land uses in each ring.
This model suggests that land value and social status generally increase with distance from the CBD, with distinct zones for industry, working-class homes, and wealthier residences.
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Sector Model
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An urban land use model proposing that a city develops in a series of sectors or wedges, not rings, radiating out from the central business district (CBD) along transportation routes.
This model suggests that similar land uses, like high-income residential areas or industrial corridors, tend to extend outwards in specific directions from the city center.
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Multiple Nuclei Model
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An urban land use model proposing that a city consists of multiple centers or nodes around which different activities cluster, rather than a single CBD.
This model recognizes that modern cities often have several specialized districts, such as an airport hub, a university complex, or an industrial park, each acting as a growth pole.