Human Geography Vocabulary Part 4

migration of people to a specific location because relatives or members of the same nationality previously migrated there

Migration within a country

patterns of movement; Intercontinental- over countries' borders, Interregional- within a region or certain area, Rural-Urban- from a rural area to an urban area (farm to a city)

Workers who migrate to the more developed countries of Northern and Western Europe, usually from Southern of Eastern Europe or from North Africa, in search of higher-paying jobs.

immigrants who come into a country without the government's permission

moving into a population

Leaving a population

an English economist who argued that increases in population would outgrow increases in the means of subsistence (food) (1766-1834)

A belief that the world is characterized by scarcity and competition in which too many people fight for too few resources. Named for Thomas Malthus, who predicted a dismal cycle of misery, vice, and starvation as a result of human overpopulation

A large business organization operating in a number of different national economies; the term implies a more extensive form of transnational corporation.

A trade agreement between Canada, the United States and Mexico that encourages free trade between these North American countries.

Producing abroad parts or products for domestic use or sale

Subcontracting production or services rather than performing those activities "in house."

Those parts of the economy involved in making natural resources available for use or further processing; included are mining, agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting, and grazing.

A method of setting prices that occurs when marginal revenue equals marginal cost.

Those parts of the economy concerned with research, with the gathering and dissemination of information, and with administration - including administration of the other economic activity levels; often considered only as a specialized subdivision of tertiary activities.

A sometimes separately recognized subsection of tertiary activity management functions involving highest-level decision making in all types of large organizations. Also deemed the most advanced form of the quaternary subsector.

A less-than-ideal best location, but one providing an acceptable level of utility or satisfaction.

Those parts of the economy involved in the processing of raw materials derived from primary activities and in altering or combining materials to produce commodities of enhanced utility and value; included are manufacturing, construction, and power generation.

When using a shorter haul distance is more expensive that one long haul distance.

The set of points delimiting the area within which a firm's profitable operation is possible.

An input cost in manufacturing that remains constant wherever production is located.

An input cost in manufacturing that changes significantly from place to place in its amount and its relative share of total costs.

In industry, the tendency to substitute one factor of production for another in order to achieve optimum plant location.

A curve that shows the relationship between the price of a product and the quantity of the product supplied.

(syn: fixed costs of transportation) The costs incurred, and charged, for loading and unloading freight at origin and destination points and for the paperwork involved; costs charged each shipment for terminal facility use and unrelated to distance of movement of line-haul costs.

Those parts of the economy that fulfill the exchange function, that provide market availability of commodities, and that bring together consumers and providers of services; included are wholesale and retail trade, associated transportational and governmental services, and personal and professional services of all kinds.

The process of skill transferring, knowledge, technologies, methods of manufacturing.

A large business organization operating in at least two separate national economies; a form of multinational corporation.

A market-oriented industry whose establishments are distributed in direct proportion to the distribution of population.

A hypothetical portion of the earth's surface assumed to be an unbounded, uniformly flat plain with uniform and unvarying distribution of population, purchasing power, transport costs, accessibility, and the like.

[syn: line-haul costs (syn: over-the-road costs) The costs involved in the actual physical movement of goods (or passengers); costs of haulage (including equipment and routeway costs), excluding terminal costs.

Practice where a single entity controls the entire process of a product, from the raw materials to distribution.

When a product undergoes the gain of net weight by combining several things together to create a larger product.

When a product undergoes the loss of net weight by removal of the original materials.

The spatial grouping of people or activities for mutual benefit; in economic geography, the concentration of productive enterprises for collective of cooperative use of infrastructure and sharing of labor resources and market access.

(syn. external economies) The savings to an individual enterprise derived for locational association with a cluster of other similar economic activities, such as other factories or retail stores.

A location where goods are transferred from one type of carrier to another (e.g., from barge to railroad).

The principle that an area produces the items for which it has the greatest ratio of advantage or the least ratio of disadvantage of advantage in comparison to other areas, assuming free trade exists.

Companies that have diversified into various economic activities usually through a process of mergers and acquisitions.

The process of deconcentration; the location of industrial or other activities away from established agglomerations in response to growing costs of congestion, competition, and regulation.

The cumulative and sustained decline in the contribution of manufacturing to a national economy.

A graph of the relationship between the price of a good and the quantity demanded.

Factors that cause a producer's average cost per unit to fall as output rises.

An activity cost (as of investment in land, plant, and equipment) that must be met without regard to level of output; an input cost that is spatially constant.

A descriptive term applied to manufacturing activities for which the cost of transporting material or product in not important in determining location of production; an industry or firm showing neither market nor material orientation.

The manufacturing economy and system derived from assembly-line mass consumption of standardized goods. Named after Henry Ford, who innovated many of its production techniques.

The charge levied by a transporter for the loading, moving, and unloading of goods; includes line-haul costs and terminal costs.

A measure of the retarding or restraining effect of distance on spatial interaction. Generally, the greater the distance, the greater the cost of achieving the exchange.

The use of advanced scientific ideas and special skills and tools to meet people's needs.

A situation in which an increase or a decrease in price will not significantly affect demand for the product

The term applied to the rapid economic and social changes in agriculture and manufacturing that followed the introduction of the factory system to the textile industry of England in the last quarter of the 18th century.

A hypothetical portion of the earths surface assumed to be an unbounded, uniformly flat plain with uniform and unvarying distribution of population, purchasing power, transport costs, accessibility, and the like.

Process that redefines and simplifies manufacturing by reducing inventory levels and delivering raw materials just when they are needed on the production line

Type of industry in which labor cost is a high percentage of expense.

(syn. Weberian analysis) The view that the optimum location of a manufacturing establishment is at the place where the costs of transport and labor and the advantages of agglomeration or deglomeration are most favorable.

(syn. over-the-road costs) The costs involved in the actual physical movement of goods (or passengers); costs of haulage (including equipment and routeway costs), excluding terminal costs.

A logical attempt to explain the locational pattern of an economic activity and the manner in which its producing areas are interrelated.

The circumstance under which the locational decision of a particular firm is influenced by the locations chosen by competitors.

A simple graphic model in Weberian analysis to illustrate the derivation of the least-transport-cost location of an industrial establishment.

The point of intersection of demand and supply curves of a given commodity; at equilibrium the market is cleared of the commodity.

The tendency of an economic activity to locate close to its market; a reflection of large and variable distribution costs.

Factories built by US companies in Mexico near the US border to take advantage of much lower labor costs in Mexico.

The tendency of an economic activity to locate near or at its source of raw material; this is experienced when material costs are highly variable spatially and/or represent a significant share of total costs.

The direct, indirect, and induced consequences of change in an activity.

In industrial agglomerations, the cumulative processes by which a given change (such as a new plant opening) sets in motion a sequence of further industrial employment and industrial growth.

In urban geography, the expected addition of nonbasic workers and dependents to a city's total employment and population that accompanies new basic sector employment.

precipitation that is unusually acidic; created when oxides of sulfur and nitrogen change chemically as they dissolve in water vapor in the atmosphere and return to earth as acidic rain, snow, or fog

a porous, water-bearing layer of rock, sand, or gravel below ground level

a major ecological community, including plants and animals, occupying an extensive earth area

(syn ecosphere) the thin film of air, water, and earth within which we love, including the atmosphere, surrounding and subsurface waters, and the upper reaches of the earth's crust

extension of desertlike landscapes as a result of overgrazing, destruction of the forests, or other human-induced changes, usually in semiarid regions

a population of organisms existing together in a small, relatively homogeneous area (pond, forest, small island) together with the energy, air, water, soil, and chemicals upon which it depends

surroundings; the totality of things that in any way may affect an organism, including both physical and cultural conditions; a region characterized by a certain set of physical conditions

the introduction into the biosphere of materials that because of their quantity, chemical nature, or temperature have a negative impact on the ecosystem or that cannot be readily disposed of by natural recycling processes

the practice of allowing plowed or cultivated land to remain uncropped or only partially cropped for one or more growing seasons

heating of the earth's surface as shortwave solar energy passes through the atmosphere, which is transparent to it but opaque to reradiated long-wave terrestrial energy; also, increasing the opacity of the atmosphere through the addition of increased amounts of carbon dioxide and other gases that trap heat

discarded solid, liquid, or gaseous material that poses a substantial threat to human health or to the environment when improperly disposed of or stored

the natural system by which water is continuously circulated through the biosphere by evaporation, condensation, and precipitation

the tendency for certain kinds of air pollutants to lower temperatures on earth by reflecting incoming sunlight back into space and thus preventing it from reaching (and heating) the earth

the distribution of an organism or the structure of an ecosystem can be explained by the control exerted by the single factor (such as temperature, light, water) that is most deficient, that is, that falls below the levels required

a gas molecule consisting of three atoms of oxygen formed when diatomic oxygen is exposed to UV radiation. In the upper atmosphere it forms a normally continuous, thin layer that blocks UV light; in the lower atmosphere it constitutes a damaging component of photochemical smog

the annual alteration of crops that make differential demands on or contributions to soil fertility

the complex mixture of loose material including minerals, organic and inorganic compounds, living organisms, air, and water found at teh earth's surface and capable of supporting plant life

the wearing away and removal of rock and soil particles from exposed surfaces by agents such as moving water, wind, or ice

the practice of planting crops on steep slopes that have been converted into a series of horizontal steplike level plots

discarded chemical substances that can cause serous illness or death

a boundary line established before the area in question is well populated

(syn geometric boundary) a boundary without obvious physical geographic basis; often a section of a parallel of latitude or a meridian of longitude

movement by a dissident minority intent to achieve partial or total independence of territory it occupies from the state within which it lies

1. economic and social forces pushing households and businesses outward from central and inner-city locations OR 2. forces of disruption and dissolution threatening the unity of a state

1. a force attracting establishments or activities to the city center OR 2. forces tending to bind together the citizens of a state

a state whose territory is nearly circular

(syn ethnographic boundary) a boundary line that coincides with some cultural divide, such as religion or language

a guiding principle of US foreign policy during the Cold War period; to prevent or restrict the expansion of the Soviet Union's influence or control beyond its then existing limits

(1) the national or world districts of concentrated economic power, wealth, innovation, and advanced technology
(2) the heartland or nucleus of a state, containing its most developed area, greatest wealth, densest populations, and clearest national identity

the transfer of certain powers from the state central government to separate political subdivisions within the state's territory

a geopolitics theory made part of American containment (of the former Soviet Union) policy beginning in the 1950s. The theory maintained that if a single country fell under Soviet influence or control, its neighbors would likely follow, creating a ripple effect like a line of toppling dominos

the study of the geographical elements of the organization and results of elections

a state whose territory is long and narrow