| A | B |
|---|
| Absolute distance | Actual length of space that can be measured with a standard unit of length, such as a mile or kilometer. |
| Absolute location | Position of an object on the global grid, using latitude and longitude. |
| Cartogram | A map that has been simplified to present a single idea in a diagrammatic way; the base is not normally true to the actual locations' scale. |
| Cartography | The science of making maps. |
| Choropleth map | A thematic map in which ranked classes of some variable are depicted with shading patterns or colors for predefined zones. |
| Cultural landscape | Fashioning of a landscape by a cultural group. |
| Culture | The body of customary beliefs, social forms, and material traits that together constitute a group of people's distinct tradition. |
| Distortion | Necessary error resulting from trying to represent the round, nearly spherical earth on a flat plane map. |
| Dot map | A thematic map in which a dot represents some frequency of the mapped variable. |
| Equator | The great circle of Earth, existing at 0 degrees latitude, that is equidistant from the North Pole and South Pole. |
| Formal/Uniform/Homogenous Region | Section composed of areas that have a common cultural or physical feature |
| Functional/nodal region | An area organized around a node or focal point. |
| Geographic Information Science (GIScience) | The development and analysis of data about Earth acquired through satellite and other electronic information technologies. |
| Geographic Information system (GIS) | A computer system that stores, organizes, analyzes, and displays geographic data. |
| Global Positioning System (GPS) | A system that determines the precise position of something on Earth through a series of satellites, tracking stations, and receivers. |
| Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) | The time in that time zone encompassing the prime meridian (0 degrees longitude). |
| International Date Line | An arc that for the most part follows 180 degrees longitude (although it deviates in several places to avoid dividing land areas); when heading east and crossing it, the calendar moves back 24 hours; when going west and crossing it, the calendar moves ahead one day. |
| Isoline map | A thematic map with lines that connect points of equal value. |
| Latitude | Numbering system used to indicate the location of the parallels drawn on a globe and measuring distance north and south of the equator. |
| Location | The position of anything on Earth's surface. |
| Longitude | The numbering system used to indicate the location of meridians drawn on a globe and measuring distance east and west of the prime meridian. |
| Map | A two-dimensional, or flat, representation of Earth's surface or a portion of it. |
| Map scale | The relationship between the size of an object on a map and the size of the actual feature on Earth's surface. |
| Mental map | An internal representation of a portion of Earth's surface based on what an individual knows about a place, containing personal impressions of what is in a place and where places are located. |
| Meridian | An arc drawn on a map between the North and South poles. |
| North Pole | The end of Earth's axis of rotation, marking the northernmost point on Earth. |
| Parallel | A circle drawn around the globe parallel to the equator and a right angles to the meridians. |
| Perceptual/vernacular region | An area that people believe exists as part of their cultural identity. |
| Place | A specific point on Earth distinguished by a particular character. |
| Prime meridian | The meridian, designated at 0 degrees longitude, that passes through the Royal Observatory at Greenwich, England. |
| Projection | System used to transfer locations from Earth's surface to a flat map. |
| Region | An area distinguished by a unique combination of trends or features. |
| Regional (or cultural landscape) studies | An approach to geography that emphasizes the relationships among social and physical phenomena in a particular study area. |
| Relative location | The position of a place with regard to places around it. |
| Remote sensing | The acquisition of data about Earth's surface from a satellite orbiting the planet or from other long-distance methods. |
| Sequent occupance | Theory that a place is occupied by different groups of people, each group leaving an imprint on the place from which the next group learns. |
| Site | The physical character of a place. |
| Situation | The location of a place relative to another place. |
| South Pole | The southern end of Earth's axis. |
| Statistical map | A special type of map in which the variation in quantity of a factor such as rainfall, population, or crops in a geographic area is indicated. |
| Thematic map | Map that zeroes in on one feature such as climate, population, or voting patterns. |
| Time zones | One of the 24 regions or divisions of the globe approximately coinciding with meridians at successive hours from the Prime Meridian. |
| Toponym | The name given to a portion of Earth's surface. |
| Township | A square normally 6 miles on a side, originally set up in the U.S. by the Land Ordinance of 1785. |
| Tropic of Cancer | Boundary of the Torrid Zone, extending 23 1/2 degrees north of the equator. |
| Tropic of Capricorn | Boundary of the Torrid Zone, extending 23 1/2 degrees south of the equator. |
