| A | B |
|---|
| island | an area of land completely surrounded by water |
| continent | large land area surrounded by water that measures millions of square kilometers and rises a considerable distance above sea level |
| shield | large area of very large rock exposed at the surface |
| topography | "lie of the land", or the physiogeographic characteristics of land in terms of elevation, slope, and orientation. |
| landscape | physical features of the earth's surface found in a particular area |
| elevation | height above sea level |
| relief | difference in elevations within a landscape region |
| mountain | a landform with a high elevation and a pointed or rounded top higher than a hill |
| mountain range | large group of mountains |
| mountain system | large group of mountain ranges |
| mountain belt | group of mountain ranges and mountain systems |
| plains | flat land area not far above sea level |
| coastal plains | low flat area along the coast |
| interior plains | low, flat area found inland on a continent |
| plateau | broad flat area of land that rises more than 600 meters above sea level |
| map | drawing of the earth or part of the earth on flat surface |
| globe | spherical model of the earth |
| meridian | line on a map or globe between the points that represent the geographic North and South poles of the earth |
| prime merdian | meridian that runs through Greenwich, England at 0 degrees longitude |
| longitude | measure of distance east or west of the prime meridian |
| international date line | imaginary line located along the 180th meridian |
| parallels | lines from east to west across a map or globe |
| equator | imaginary line on the earth that divides the earth into two hemispheres; and halfway between the North and South poles |
| latitude | measure of distance north or south of the equator |
| tropic of Cancer | latitudanal line that is located at 23.5° North of the equator and runs through Mexico, the Bahamas, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, India, and southern China |
| tropic of Capricorn | latitudanal line that lies at 23.5° South of the equator and runs through Australia, Chile, southern Brazil (Brazil is the only country that passes through both the equator and a tropic), and northern South Africa. |
| arctic circle | an imaginary line that marks the latitude above which the sun does not set on the day of the summer solstice (usually 21 June) and does not rise on the the day of the winter solstice (usually 21 December) |
| projection | a representation of a three-dimensional object on a flat surface |
| topographic map | map that shows the the different shapes and sizes of a land surface |
| contour line | line that passes through all points on a map that have the same elevation |
| contour interval | difference in elevation from one contour line to the next |
| legend | key that explains what symbols on a map represent |
| scale | comparison of distance on a map to the actual distance on the earth's surface |
| isthmus | narrow strip of land with water on both sides that connects two larger areas of land |
| glacier | a huge mass of ice that moves slowly down the side of a mountain |
| peninsula | land surrounded by water on all sides but one |
| cape | a large point of land extending into a body of water |
| archipelago | a group of many islands |
| oasis | a fertile place in a desert where there is water and some plant life |
| desert | a dry barren region that may be sandy and without trees |
