Geography Study Guide

Vocabulary: be able to define and give examples of these key terms geography
region
development
globalization
space
place
location
communism
capitalism
state socialism
command economies
nation
state

supranational organization
map
hegemony
colonization
eurocentrism
import substitution
gross domestic product (GDP)
Human development index (HDI)
Cold War
post-industrial

spatial turn
landscape
global climate change / global warming
Examine key concepts:
Uneven development:
different theories of development
modernization theory

dependency theory – with examples of core and periphery countries neoliberalism – structural adjustment policies, typical requirements and results, places where it’s been implemented development organizations

World Bank, IMF and WTO
sectors of the economy – be able to give examples of what types of jobs and what effects for countries in the international division of labor deindustrialization – where is it happening? Why? What are the effects? physical geography processes

plate tectonics – general understanding of process and effects on places earth sun relationships & climate: 5 atmospheric processes that effect weather El Nino
globalization: specific causes, effects, examples
international division of labor
how societies deal with difference: multiculturalism, assimilation space, place, and spatiality
how are urban spaces typically organized in Latin America, Europe, former Soviet Union? understand different scales of analysis available and what benefits and burdens they provide: local, national, global be familiar with maps as representations of space and important map features (e.g. legend, scale, orientation), how are maps a social contruction?

Region specific points:
Understand the triangle of trade between Europe, Africa, Americas – what regions were involves, what resources flowed where, and what were some of the lasting effects? What are some of the factors that led to U.S. hegemony?

What historical events have lead to the expansion of U.S. territory? What are some characteristics of the “Golden Age of Capitalism” in the United States? What are some legacies of colonialism in Latin America?

What physical geography processes help create the Amazon ecoregion and how have humans put these to use? What are some dangers of some Latin American economies being largely based on exporting primary sector goods? What are reasons for the formation of the European Union and how does it function? What are some of the patterns of uneven economic development in Europe? What’s the eurozone debt crisis and what are some of the key countries effected? How is climate a restrictive factor in Russia?

What are some of the spatial patterns of Soviet and post-Soviet economic development? What is the Aral Sea disaster?