Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
State
A politically organized territory that is administered by a sover-
eign government and is recognized by a signifi cant portion of the interna-
tional community. A state has a defi ned territory, a permanent population,
a government, and is recognized by other states.
Stateless nation Nation
that does not have a state.
Stationary population level
The level at which a national population
ceases to grow.
Step migration Migration
to a distant destination that occurs in stages,
for example, from farm to nearby village and later to town and city.
Stimulus diffusion
A form of diffusion in which a cultural adaptation is
created as a result of the introduction of a
cultural trait
from another
place
.
Structural adjustment loans
Loans granted by international fi nan-
cial institutions such as the World Bank and the International Monetary
Fund to countries in the
periphery
and the
semi-periphery
in ex-
change for certain economic and governmental reforms in that country
(e.g. privatization of certain government entities and opening the coun-
try to foreign trade and investment).
Structuralist theory
A general term for a model of economic devel-
opment that treats economic disparities among countries or regions as
the result of historically derived power relations within the global eco-
nomic system.
Subfamilies (language)
Divisions within a
language
family where
the commonalities are more defi nite and the origin is more recent.
Subsistence agriculture
Self-suffi cient
agriculture
that is small scale
and low technology and emphasizes food production for local consump-
tion, not for trade.
Suburb
A subsidiary urban area surrounding and connected to the
central city. Many are exclusively residential; others have their own com-
mercial centers or shopping malls.
Suburban downtown
Signifi cant concentration of diversifi ed eco-
nomic activities around a highly
accessible
suburban location, including
retailing, light industry, and a variety of major corporate and commer-
cial operations. Late-twentieth-century coequal to the American central
city's
Central Business District (CBD)
.
Suburbanization
Movement of upper- and middle-class people from
urban
core areas
to the surrounding outskirts to escape pollution as
well as deteriorating social conditions (perceived and actual). In North
America, the process began in the early nineteenth century and became a
mass phenomenon by the second half of the twentieth century.
Succession
Process by which new
immigrants
to a
city
move to and
dominate or take over areas or neighborhoods occupied by older immi-
grant groups. For example, in the early twentieth century, Puerto Ricans
“invaded” the immigrant Jewish neighborhood of East Harlem and suc-
cessfully took over the neighborhood or “succeeded” the immigrant
Jewish population as the dominant immigrant group in the neighborhood.
Sunbelt
The South and Southwest regions of the United States
Sunbelt phenomenon
The movement of millions of Americans from
northern and northeastern States to the South and Southwest regions
(
Sunbelt
) of the United States.
Sunnis
Adherents to the largest branch of Islam, called the orthodox
or traditionalist. They believe in the effectiveness of family and commu-
nity in the solution of life's problems, and they differ from the
Shiites
in
accepting the traditions (
sunna
) of Muhammad as authoritative.
Supranational organization
A venture involving three or more
nation-states
involving formal political, economic, and/or cultural
cooperation to promote shared objectives. The European Union is
one such organization.
Synekism
the possibility of change that results from people living to-
gether in cities.
Synergy
The cross-promotion of vertically-integrated goods.
Taoism Religion
believed to have been founded by Lao-Tsu and
based upon his topic entitled “Tao-te-ching,” or “Book of the Way.”
Lao-Tsu focused on the proper form of political rule and on the oneness
of humanity and nature.
Tear-downs
Homes bought in many American suburbs with the in-
tent of tearing them down and replacing them with much larger homes
often referred to as
McMansions
.
Technopole
Centers or nodes of high-technology research and activ-
ity around which a
high-technology corridor
is sometimes established.
Tectonic plates
large pieces of rock that form portions of the Earth's
mantle and crust and which are in motion.
Territorial integrity
The right of a
state
to defend soverign territory
against incursion from other states.
Territorial representation
System wherein each representative is
elected from a territorially defi ned district.
Territoriality
In
political geography
, a country's or more local com-
munity's sense of property and attachment toward its territory, as ex-
pressed by its determination to keep it inviolable and strongly defended.
See more generally
human territoriality
.
Tertiary economic activity
Economic activity associated with the
provision of services—such as transportation, banking, retailing, educa-
tion, and routine offi ce-based jobs.
Thematic maps
Maps that tell stories, typically showing the degree of
some attribute or the movement of a geographic phenomenon.
Theocracy
A
state
whose government is under the control of a ruler
who is deemed to be divinely guided, or of a group of religious leaders,
as in post-Khomeini Iran. The opposite of a theocracy is a secular state.
Third Agricultural Revolution
Currently in progress, the Third
Agricultural Revolution has as its principal orientation the development
of
Genetically Modifi ed Organisms (GMOs)
.
Three-tier structure
With reference to Immanuel Wallerstein's
world-systems theory
, the division of the world into the
core
, the
pe-
riphery
, and the
semi-periphery
as a means to help explain the inter-
connections between places in the global economy.
Thunian pattern
See
Von Thunian Model
.
Time-Distance decay
The declining degree of acceptance of an idea
or innovation with increasing time and distance from its point of origin
or source.
Time-space compression
A term associated with the work of David
Harvey that refers to the social and psychological effects of living in a
world in which
time-space convergence
has rapidly reached a high
level of intensity.
Time-space convergence
A term coined by Donald Janelle that
refers to the greatly accelerated movement of goods, information, and
ideas during the twentieth century made possible by technological in-
novations in transportation and communications.
Toponym
Place name.
Total Fertility Rate (TFR)
the average number of children born to a
woman during her childbearing years.
Township-and-range system
A rectangular land division scheme de-
signed by Thomas Jefferson to disperse settlers evenly across farmlands
of the U.S. interior. See also
rectangular survey system
.
Toxic waste
Hazardous waste causing danger from chemicals and in-
fectious organisms.
Trade area Region
adjacent to every town and
city
within which its
infl uence is dominant.
Traditional
Term used in various contexts (e.g., traditional religion) to
indicate originality within a culture or long-term part of an indigenous
society. It is the opposite of modernized, superimposed, or changed; it
denotes continuity and historic association.
