Geography 597 Glossary 1

The relative easy with which a destination may be reached from other locations.

A measure of aggregate nearness. It refers to total aggregate nearness among a number of points.

One of the four high civilizations of Pre-Colombian Latin America, centered on the area around present day Mexico.

A curve relating price (rent) to distance showing the price a land user would be willing to pay for a give area of land at various distances from a given point, especially from the city center.

A location along a transport route where goods must be transferred from one carrier to another.

The downtown heart of a central city, the CBD is marked by high land values, a concentration of business and commerce, and the clustering of the tallest buildings.

A theory that attempts to explain the size and spacing of settlements and the arrangement of their market areas.

Productive systems controlled by a national government; based on communist and socialist principles.

One of the four high civilizations of Pre-Colombian Latin America, centered on the area around present-day Bogota, Colombia.

The Spanish conquerors of America, particularly sixteenth central Mexico and Peru.

General term used to identify large multi-metropolitan complexes formed by the coalescence of two or more major urban areas. The Boston-Washington Megalopolis along the northeastern seaboard of the United States is an outstanding example.

The contrasting spatial characteristics of, and linkages between, the have (core) and have-not (periphery) components of a national or regional system.

The movement of people and industry away from major towns and cities.

The process by which economic activity leading to increasing economic development tends to concentrate in an area with an initial advantage, draining investment capital and skilled labor from the peripheral area.

Deconcentration

The process in which there is a marked movement of employment away from the production of goods (i.e. from secondary industry).

A piece of territory that is surrounded by another political unit of which it is not a part.

A place, usually a port city, where goods are imported, stored, and transhipped; a break-of-bulk point.

A group of European countries established in 1958 on the basis of a treaty signed in Rome. 27-Country Membership

France, Germany, Italy, Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg, Brittain, Ireland, Denmark, Greece, Spain, Portugal, Finland, Sweden, Austria, Cyprus, Malta, Slovenia, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Poland, Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania, Blgaria, Romania.

Shanty town on the outskirts or even well within an urban area in Brazil.

A Portuguese term used in Brazil to describe a large rural landholding; may be devoted to crop (e.g. coffee) or animal production or both.

One of the four high civilizations of Pre-Columbian Latin America, centered on the city of Cuzco, Peru, in the Andes and extending from Southern Columbia to central Chile.

Prevailing politico-geographical system in Europe during the Middle Ages when land was owned by the nobility and was worked by peasants and serfs.

Capital city positioned in actually or potentially contested territory, usually near an international boarder; it confirms the state's determination to maintain its presence in the region in contention.

A German term meaning "guest worker" and used to refer to migrant workers in European countries from North Africa and Southwest asia.

A process in which wealthier people move into, renovate, and restore run-down housing in inner city or other neglected areas. Shift from rental to owner occupied.

Originally the district behind a settlement on a coast, especially the area serving and served by a port; the area influenced by any settlement, the sphere of influence of an establishment within a settlement.

The process of growth of large-scale machine production and the factory system; begets service industry and social change

That part of the New World south of the United States; a cultural region largely, but not totally comprised of former Spanish or Portuguese colonies.

The term given to modern industrial plants in Mexico's northern border zone. Foreign-owned factories, imported components and material, exported product.

One of the four high civilizations of Pre-Columbian Latin America, situated in southern Mexico and northern central America.

A giant, sprawling urban region encompassing many cities, towns, and villages. The term was coined by geographer Jean Gottman to describe Boston-Washington area.

A theory popular among European nations in the early modern period stating that the economic and political strength of a country lay in its acquiring gold and silver, to be achieved by restricting imports, developing production for exports, and prohibiting the export of gold and silver.

A country's largest city, ranking atop the urban hierarchy, most expressive of the national culture and usually but not always the capital city as well.

An ethnic and linguistic Indian group of Peru and Bolivia.

An empirical rule describing the distribution of city sizes in an area. Population of a city tends to equal population of largest city in set divided by the rank of the given city.

The internal locational attributes of an urban center; including its local spacial organization and physical setting.

The external locational attributes of an urban center; its relative location or regional position with reference to other nonlocal places.

Residential areas that are home to the urban poor in underdeveloped countries.AKA Favelas, barriadas, bidonvilles, goubivilles, bustees, kampongs

The spread of cities into surrounding non-urban or rural regions.