AP Human Geography Unit 3 Vocab

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AP Human Geography Unit 3 Vocab


adoption of some culture traits of the surrounding culture


doctrine that everything natural has a soul


ancient objects made by human beings


when one larger culture completely absorbs a different smaller culture


new faith founded in Iran


observable actions or becuase of beliefs


ideas that people hold to be true


ablility to speak two languages


Buddhists believe that the ultimate goal in life is to achieve "enlightenment" as they perceive it. Founder:siddhartha 3 main branches : mahyana(believes gods and godess) , theravada(the old teaching), tantrayana (magic and diff meditation technique)


the teachings that encourage love for humanity

contagious diffusion

rapid and widespread diffusion


mother tongue that originates from a pidgin

cultural determinism

the belief that cultural influences determine the behaviors and personalities of people

cultural diffusion

spread of cultural ideas from one society to another

cultural ecology

study of human relationship to culture and nature.

cultural geography

looks at how cultures vary over space.

cultural hearths

place of origin of a culture

cultural landscape

visible imprint of human activity and culture on the landscape

cultural relativism

practice of judging a culture by its own standards no bias

cultural transmission

process by which one generation passes culture to the next

culture complex

common culture traits that make a group in an area distinct from others

culture region

area marked by culture that distinguishes it from other regions

culture system

strong cultural ties that bind its people

culture trait

single element of normal practice in a culture


religion that emphasizes a simple, honest life


usage or vocabulary that is characteristic of a specific group of people; branches off of a language


forced people from lands of origin

Eastern Orthodox

minor branch, 12 percent, split from Roman Catholicism in the 11th century, strong in Eastern Europe and Russia

environmental determinism


ethnic religion

a religion that appeals to one place


belief in the superiority of one's own ethnic group

extinct religion

religion that is no longer practiced

folk culture

culture usually practiced by a small, homogeneous, rural group living in relative isolation from other groups

folk culture region

an area where many people who live in a land space share at least some traditions or customs

folk life

composite culture of folk societies

geographic region

culture system that intertwines with location and environmental circumstances to form a geographic region

Torsten Hagerstrand

was a geographer that wrote about cultural diffusion(migration)

hierarchical diffusion

spread of an idea from nodes of authority or power to persons or places with less power


religion practiced by majority of India,Hindus believe in a universal soul and God called Brahman who takes on many forms that some Hindus worship as gods or goddesses.


dont beleive in god but thinks highly of all humans. concentrated about people

independent invention

developments that can be traced to a specific civilization

Indo-European language family

language family spoken in most of Europe and areas of European settlement and in much of southwestern and southern Asia


monotheistic religion practiced mainly in Middle East. two branches sunni and shietes. disagreement over rightful successor. sunni beleived succesor should be voted by religious leader and shites believed it should be a family of Muhammad. (muslum)


boundary that separates regions in which different language usages predominate


first monotheistic religion started in Israel(ethnic religion). Christianity and islam have roots in judiasm. jesus was a jew and muhammed traced his ancestor to abraham.


vocal or written communication

language families

group of languages with a shared origin

language sub-family

group of languages with more in common than a language family

lingua franca

a common language that comes to be spoken and understood over a large area

linguistic fragmentation

many languages spoken by a small group of people.

linguistic geography

study of the geographical distribution of language


Big Wheel; broad incorporation of ideas and gods from other religions


economic and political theories that say human actions and institutions are economically determined

material culture

relationship between artifact and social relations

migrant diffusion

when an innovation originates somewhere and enjoys strong-but brief-adoption, loses strength at origin by the time it reaches another area

monotheistic religion

religion with one god


ability to speak more than two languages

non-material culture

human creations, such as values, that are not embodied in physical objects



official language

language adopted for use by the government for the conduct of busines and publication of documents


an artificial language used for trade between speakers of different languages

popular culture

culture found in a heterogeneous society


split from catholic church in 16th century, divided into hundreds of denominations; strong in north america

regional identity

an awareness of being a part of a group of people living in a culture region

branches, denominations, sects

large and general divisions
small divisions that branch off of the branches
even smaller groups

relocation diffusion

spread of a feature or trend through movement of people

Roman Catholics

major branch of CHristianity

Sauer, Carl

American geographer that wrote about diffusion


animistic religion of northern Asia


one of the two primary branches of Islam


a monotheistic religion founded in northern India

standard language


stimulus diffusion

diffusion in which one people receives a culture element from another but gives it a new and unique form


one of the two primary branches of Islam

symbolic landscape

smaller landscapes that symbolize a bigger area


motifs that stand for other things or ideas


combining of beliefs


The Buddhist yana whose path is the transformation of neurotically confused emotions into their enlightened equivalents.


Way of the Elders

time-distance decay



branch of naming that studies the place names of a region or a language

traditional religion

original religion


cultural borowing that occurs when different cultures of approximately equal complexity and technological level come into close contact

universalizing religion


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