Geography Glossary - P
Pangea
A huge landmass consisting of almost all the continental land on the earth which then divided and slowly became the continents we know today
parallel
A line of latitude
perihelion
The point when the earth is closest to the sun during its annual orbit. Takes place near January 4 when the earth is a mere 91,445,000 miles from the sun
permafrost
Permanently frozen water in soil
physical geography
The branch of geography dealing with the natural features of the earth
plate tectonics
The surface of the earth is composed of many large plates which slowly move around the planet, meeting and diverging, creating a variety of earthquakes, volcanoes, and mountains at their margins
population density
The number of people per a unit of area
population pyramid
A bar graph which displays the age and sex distribution of a population. Age-Sex Pyramid
precipitation
Any form of water that falls from the atmosphere to the surface of the earth (e.g. rain, snow, sleet, and hail)
primary activity
Agriculture, fishing, and extraction of mineral resources
primate city
A city which is greater than two times the next largest city in a nation (or contains over one-third of a nation's population). Usually very expressive of the national culture and often the capital city.
prime meridian
Zero degress longitude. Also known as the Greenwich meridian because it was established at the Greenwich observatory near London
push-pull factors
The push factor involves a force which acts to drive people away from a place and the pull factor is what draws them to a new location
