This document provides an overview of key geographic concepts and terms. It discusses different map projections like the Mercator, Goode, and Robinson projections. It also defines important location systems like latitude, longitude, and hemispheres. Additionally, it outlines features found on maps like legends, scale bars, and contour lines. Finally, it defines geographic entities like continents, oceans, and different types of maps.

1. GEOGRAPHICAL
THEMES AND TERMS
Chapter 1

2. TERMS TO KNOW
• Absolute Location
• Cardinal Directions
• Cartography
• Cartographers
• Compass Rose
• Continent
• Contour Lines
• Elevation
• Elevation Profile
• Equator
• Geography
• Grid System
• Hemisphere
• Intermediate Directions
• International Date Line
• Latitude
• Legend
• Location
• Longitude
• Meridian
• Movement
• North Magnetic Pole
• North Pole
• Ocean
• Parallel
• Place
• Prime Meridian
• Projection
• Region
• Relative Location
• Relief
• Scale
• Scale Bar
• South Magnetic Pole
• South Pole

3. GEOGRAPHIC THEMES
• The globe is the most accurate way to represent the Earth; however, using
one presents serious disadvantages:
• The difficulty in carrying a globe around.
• The inability of a globe to display your community in detail.
• For these reasons, cartographers use two-dimensional maps, which distorts
the surface of the Earth that it represents.
• Cartography is the study and practice of making maps.
• The different methods which cartographers have found to represent a globe
on a flat surface are called projections.
• The most common projections are the Mercator Projection, Goode’s Interrupted
Projection, and the Robinson Projection.

4. GEOGRAPHIC THEMES
• The Mercator Projection is a cylindrical map projection created by the
Flemish geographer and cartographer Gerardus Mercator in 1569.
• A cylindrical map projection displays land shapes fairly accurately, but is less
accurate in relation to size and distance.
• This projection became the standard map for nautical purposes because of
its ability to represent lines of constant course.
• All segments, parallels and meridians, are straight, not curved, and form
intersecting right angles.
• The Mercator projection distorts the size and shape of large objects, as the scale
increases from the Equator to the poles, where it becomes infinite.
• Additionally, this map projection does display true direction.

6. GEOGRAPHIC THEMES
• Goode’s Interrupted Projection is an equal-area composite map projection
and is typically presented with multiple interruptions.
• The interruption scheme emphasizes the world’s land masses not the world’s
oceans.
• In other words, it accurately presents the size and shape of the continents but is
less accurate in relation to the distances of the oceans.
• This projection was developed in 1923 by John Paul Goode to provide an
alternative to the Mercator Projection for portraying global areal
relationships.
• Researchers use this type of projection to compare a continent’s statistics in
relation to the area.

8. GEOGRAPHIC THEMES
• The Robinson Projection was created because it was believed that it
produced a better overall view than the equal-area or cylindrical
projections.
• This projection accurately displays both the size and shape of the continents
and oceans – continental shapes appear much as they do on a globe.
• The meridians curve gently, avoiding extremes, but thereby severely distorting
the North and South poles.
• The Robinson projection was devised by Arthur H. Robinson in 1963 in
response to an appeal from the Rand McNally company, which has used
the projection in general purpose world maps since that time.
• Additionally, the National Geographic Society began using this projection in
1988, replacing the Van der Grinten projection.

10. GEOGRAPHIC TERMINOLOGY
• A compass rose is a device used to
display the orientation of the
cardinal directions and their
intermediate points.
• The cardinal directions are the
basic directions on Earth:
• North (N), East (E), South (S), and
West (W)
• The intermediate directions fall
between the cardinal directions:
• Northeast (NE), Southeast (SE),
Southwest (SW), and Northwest
(NW)

11. GEOGRAPHIC TERMINOLOGY
• The scheme which best divides Earth is known as a hemisphere.
• A hemisphere, or “half sphere,” refers to the bi-partial division of the Earth.
• The most common divisions are by latitudinal and longitudinal markers:
• The Equator divides the northern and southern portions of the Earth.
• The Northern Hemisphere is the half of the Earth that is north (above) of the Equator.
• The Southern Hemisphere is the half of the Earth that is south (below) of the Equator.
• The Prime Meridian and International Date Line divide the eastern and western
portions of the Earth.
• The Eastern Hemisphere is the half of the Earth that is east of the Prime Meridian and
west of the International Date Line and consists of Africa, Asia, Australia, and Europe.
• The Western Hemisphere is the half of the Earth that is west of the Prime Meridian and
east of the International Date Line and consists of the Americas, or the New World.

13. GEOGRAPHIC TERMINOLOGY
• Parallels circle the Earth and
display latitude, which is the
distance measured in degrees
north and south of the Equator at
0° latitude.
• The letter N or S following the degree
symbol indicates whether the location is
north or south of the Equator.
• Important parallels to note are:
• Tropic of Cancer – 23°30' N latitude
• Tropic of Capricorn – 23°30' S latitude
• Arctic Circle – 66°30' N latitude
• Antarctic Circle – 66°30' S latitude

14. GEOGRAPHIC TERMINOLOGY
• The North Pole is the point on the
Northern Hemisphere of the Earth
that is the farthest north.
• Its location is marked at 90° North
(N) latitude.
• The North Magnetic Pole is the point
on the Northern Hemisphere of the
Earth toward which a compass’
needle always directs.
• At this location a compass’ needle
will stand vertically.
• The South Pole is the point on the
Southern Hemisphere of the Earth
that is the farthest south.
• Its location is marked at 90° South
(S) latitude.
• The South Magnetic Pole is the point
on the Southern Hemisphere of the
Earth toward which a compass’
needle always directs.
• At this location a compass’ needle
will stand vertically.

15. GEOGRAPHIC TERMINOLOGY
• Meridians is a circular arc that run north
and south from pole to pole.
• These lines signify longitude, which is the
distance measured in degrees east (E)
or west (W) of the Prime Meridian at 0°
longitude.
• The Prime Meridian passes through
Greenwich, England.
• On the opposite side of the Earth is the
International Date Line, or the 180°
meridian.
• The actual line used is not a straight line,
but zigzags around certain populated
areas.
• The eastern side of the line is a calendar
day earlier than the western side.

16. GEOGRAPHIC TERMINOLOGY
• Lines of latitude and longitude
intersect one another in the form of
a grid system, also referred to as a
coordinate system.
• Citizens of all countries, no matter
the culture, speak the universal
language of latitude and longitude.
• Absolute location is the definitive
location of a place using the
recognized coordinate system.
• In terms of latitude and longitude,
Florence, Alabama is 34°47' N and
87°40' W.

17. GEOGRAPHIC TERMINOLOGY
• A continent is a large landmass
often described by means of
tectonic plates.
• The seven commonly regarded
continents are:
• Africa
• Antarctica
• Asia
• Australia
• Europe
• North America
• South America
• An ocean is a large body of saline
water that composes much of
Earth’s hydrosphere.
• The oceans combine to cover more
than two-thirds of the Earth’s
surface.
• The five commonly regarded
oceans are:
• Atlantic Ocean
• Artic Ocean
• Indian Ocean
• Pacific Ocean
• Southern (Antarctic) Ocean

19. GEOGRAPHIC TERMINOLOGY
Parts of Maps
• The legend unlocks the information
presented on a map by explaining the
meaning of the symbols used.
• A scale is the proportional relationship
between a linear measurement on the
map and the distance it represents on
the surface of the Earth.
• The scale bar is a divided line
illustrating the scale in feet, miles, or
kilometers.
Types of Maps
• General purpose maps represent a
wide variety of general information.
• The most common general purpose
maps are:
• Political maps
• Physical maps
• Contour maps

20. GEOGRAPHIC TERMINOLOGY
Political Maps
• Political maps display political,
or human-created, divisions of
nations or regions.
• Typically political entities are
separated by varying colors.
Physical Maps
• Physical maps display the
physical features of an area.
• These types of maps use
colors and shadings to better
illustrate reliefs.
• A relief shows the elevations
and depressions of the land
or sea bottom.
• Colors also may be used to
display elevation – the height
of a point on the Earth’s
surface above sea level.
Contour Maps
• Contour maps display an
area’s elevation using contour
lines, which connect all points
of the same elevation with
one line.
• These lines typically form circles
or ovals – one inside the other.
• If the lines are close together,
the surface is steep.
• If the lines are spread apart,
the land is flat or rises gradually.
• Another way to display relief is
to view the landscape from
the side, or profile.
• This elevation profile is a
cutaway diagram.