Encyclopedia of Geography Terms, Themes, and Concepts This page intentionally left blank Encyclopedia of Geography Terms, Themes, and Concepts Reuel R. Hanks Contributing Author Stephen J. Stadler Copyright 2011 by ABC-CLIO, LLC All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, except for the inclusion of brief quotations in a review, without prior permission in writing from the publisher. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Hanks, Reuel R. Encyclopedia of geography terms, themes, and concepts / Reuel R. Hanks ; contributing author, Stephen J. Stadler. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978–1–59884–294–4 (hardcopy : alk. paper) — ISBN 978–1–59884–295–1 (ebook) 1. Geography—Encyclopedias. I. Stadler, Stephen John, 1951– II. Title. G63.H38 2011 910.3—dc23 2011022895 ISBN: 978–1–59884–294–4 EISBN: 978–1–59884–295–1 1514131211 12345 This book is also available on the World Wide Web as an eBook. Visit www.abc-clio.com for details. ABC-CLIO, LLC 130 Cremona Drive, P.O. Box 1911 Santa Barbara, California 93116-1911 This book is printed on acid-free paper Manufactured in the United States of America Contents List of Entries, vii List of Related Entries, xi Acknowledgments, xv Introduction, xvii Encyclopedia of Geography Terms, Themes, and Concepts, 1 Selected Bibliography, 377 Index, 383 v This page intentionally left blank List of Entries Agglomeration Coastal Erosion and Deposition Agribusiness Comparative Advantage Agricultural Revolution Complementarity Air Masses Core and Periphery Altitudinal Zonation Cryosphere Anticyclones Cultivation Regions Areal Differentiation Cultural Diffusion Atmosphere Cultural Ecology Atmospheric Stability Cultural Identity Balkanization Culture Hearth Bid-Rent Theory Deforestation Biogeochemical Cycles Demographic Transition Model Biomes Desert Boundaries Desertification Break-of-Bulk Point Devolution Buffer Zone Distance Decay Capital Leakage Earth Carrying Capacity Earthquakes Cartography Economic Development, Geography of Central Place Theory Electoral Regions Centrifugal and Centripetal Forces Entrepoˆt Choke Point Environmental Determinism Climate Ethnocentrism Clouds Federation vii viii List of Entries Folding and Faulting Locational Analysis Folk Culture Malthusian Theory Foodways Map Forests Map Projections Friction of Distance Medical Geography Fronts Megalopolis Gentrification Mental Maps Geographic Information Systems Middle Latitude Cyclones Geomorphology Migration Geopolitics Monsoon Gerrymandering Nation-State Globalization Natural Hazards Global Positioning System Natural Resources Global Warming Ocean Currents Grasslands Oceans Green Belt Organic Theory Groundwater Particularism Heartland Theory Pastoralism Heating and Cooling Plate Tectonics Hinterland Population Humidity Possibilism Hurricanes Precipitation Hydrologic Cycle Pre-industrial City Model Imperialism Primate City Infant Mortality Rate Purchasing Power Parity Irredentism Push-Pull Concept Karst Quantitative Revolution Landscape Rain Shadow Effect Latitude and Longitude Region Law of the Sea Religious Syncretism Lingua Franca Remote Sensing Linguistic Geography Rimland Theory Location Rural Settlement List of Entries ix Sacred Space Supranationalism Satellite Images Sustainable Development Satellite State Temperature Scale Territoriality Seasons Thunderstorms Sector Model Toponymy Sectors of the Economy Tragedy of the Commons Segregation Transculturation Sequent Occupance Transhumance Shatterbelt Urban Decentralization Social Distance Urbanization Soils Von Thunen Model Solar Energy Vulcanism Spatial Inequality Weathering and Mass Wasting Spatial Interaction Models Wind Erosion and Deposition Squatter Settlements Winds and Pressure Systems Straits, Passages, and Canals World Systems Theory Stream Erosion and Deposition Zoogeographic Regions This page intentionally left blank List of Related Entries Human Geography Entries Agglomeration Culture Hearth Agribusiness Demographic Transition Model Agricultural Revolution Devolution Altitudinal Zonation Distance Decay Areal Differentiation Economic Development, Geography of Balkanization Electoral Regions Bid-Rent Theory Entrepoˆt Boundaries Environmental Determinism Break-of-Bulk Point Ethnocentrism Buffer Zone Federation Capital Leakage Folk Culture Carrying Capacity Foodways Cartography Friction of Distance Central Place Theory Gentrification Centrifugal and Centripetal Forces Geopolitics Choke Point Gerrymandering Comparative Advantage Globalization Complementarity Global Positioning System Core and Periphery Green Belt Cultivation Regions Heartland Theory Cultural Diffusion Hinterland Cultural Ecology Imperialism Cultural Identity Infant Mortality Rate xi xii List of Related Entries Irredentism Religious Syncretism Landscape Rimland Theory Law of the Sea Rural Settlement Lingua Franca Sacred Space Linguistic Geography Satellite State Location Scale Locational Analysis Sector Model Malthusian Theory Sectors of the Economy Map Segregation Map Projections Sequent Occupance Medical Geography Shatterbelt Megalopolis Social Distance Mental Maps Spatial Inequality Migration Spatial Interaction Models Nation-State Squatter Settlements Natural Hazards Straits, Passages, and Canals Natural Resources Supranationalism Organic Theory Sustainable Development Particularism Territoriality Pastoralism Toponymy Population Tragedy of the Commons Possibilism Transculturation Pre-industrial City Model Transhumance Primate City Urban Decentralization Purchasing Power Parity Urbanization Push-Pull Concept Von Thunen Model Quantitative Revolution World Systems Theory Region Physical Geography Entries Air Masses Atmospheric Stability Anticyclones Biogeochemical Cycles Atmosphere Biomes List of Related Entries xiii Climate Latitude and Longitude Clouds Middle Latitude Cyclones Coastal Erosion and Deposition Monsoon Cryosphere Ocean Currents Deforestation Oceans Desert Plate Tectonics Desertification Precipitation Earth Rain Shadow Effect Earthquakes Remote Sensing Folding and Faulting Satellite Images Forests Seasons Fronts Soils Geographic Information Systems Solar Energy Geomorphology Stream Erosion and Deposition Global Warming Temperature Grasslands Thunderstorms Groundwater Vulcanism Heating and Cooling Weathering and Mass Wasting Humidity Wind Erosion and Deposition Hurricanes Winds and Pressure Systems Hydrologic Cycle Zoogeographic Regions Karst This page intentionally left blank Acknowledgments This volume is the product of a great number of people, all of whom contributed to it either directly or indirectly. The first who must be acknowledged is my late father, Cliff Hanks, who many years ago bought my first subscription to National Geographic magazine and ignited my interest in other places, peoples, and cul- tures. I have never stopped learning about geography since receiving that first issue. I am in the debt of many scholars and professors at the University of Missouri and the University of Kansas, where I received several degrees in the dis- cipline of geography. The department at Missouri gave me my first opportunity to teach geography, and much to my astonishment (and that of some of my early students, I am sure), I have been doing justthatforthepast25years.Professor Jesse Wheeler, who taught geography to thousands of students at the University of Missouri for several decades, played an important role in further stimulating my interest in the world, as did my advisor there, Professor Trent Kostbade. My advisor at the University of Kansas, Professor Leslie Dienes, gave generously of his time and expertise, and also taught me a great deal about economic geography and the vast stretches of Eurasia. There are many others who must remain unnamed, but who helped me in innumerable ways. I am of course grateful to Steve Stadler for his contributions to this work and sharing his knowledge of physical geography. I worked with several editors at ABC-CLIO over the course of writing: Lynn Jurgensen, David Paige, Kim Kennedy-White, and Robin Tutt all provided useful and timely feedback, as well as a nearly limitless reserve of patience. Finally, my wife Oydin, mother Frances, and daughter Kami all tolerated my long hours and piles of books as I worked through the manuscript. I thank them most of all. xv This page intentionally left blank Introduction Geography, like all academic disciplines, has its own nomenclature and terminol- ogy. Those learning about the field for the first time may be bewildered by the many specialized terms and concepts that geographers use, a feeling frequently compounded by the broad interests that geographers pursue and the many sub- fields that make up the study of geography as a whole. But it is the very diversity of geography that gives the discipline depth and strength, and allows us to think in integrative and complex ways about the myriad spatial processes we encounter on a daily basis. Almost everyone carries a “mental map” that allows us to organ- ize the world into an order that we recognize and expect—we are by nature all geographers. Geography is the science of location, and the entire world is the lab- oratory of the geographer. To appreciate the wide body of knowledge that geogra- phy offers, a mastery of the language of the field is essential. Such an appreciation is vital in a globalizing world. Those who have a weak knowledge and understanding of the world around