Merriam Webster's Geographical Dictionary

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In his journal article "Alexander and the Ganges" (1923), the 20th-century historian W.W. Tarn calls a list and description of satrapies of Alexander's Empire written between 324 and 323 BC as an ancient gazetteer. [9] Tarn notes that the document is dated no later than June 323 BC, since it features Babylon as not yet partitioned by Alexander's generals. [10] It was revised by the Greek historian Diodorus Siculus in the 1st century BC. [10] In the 1st century BC, Dionysius of Halicarnassus mentioned the chronicle-type format of the writing of the logographers in the age before the founder of the Greek historiographic tradition, Herodotus (i.e.,before the 480s BC), saying "they did not write connected accounts but instead broke them up according to peoples and cities, treating each separately". [11] Historian Truesdell S. Brown asserts that what Dionysius describes in this quote about the logographers should be categorized not as a true "history" but rather as a gazetteer. [11] While discussing the Greek conception of the river delta in ancient Greek literature, Francis Celoria notes that both Ptolemy and Pausanias of the 2nd century AD provided gazetteer information on geographical terms. [12] Also fiord. A long, narrow, navigable marine inlet with steep sides or cliffs created by glacial erosion. flood bypass flood wall A primarily vertical artificial barrier designed to temporarily contain the waters of a river or other waterway which may rise to high levels during flooding events. Flood walls are narrower and typically easier to build than dikes or levees, so they are mainly used in locations where space is limited or where building more traditional flood-control structures would interfere with other interests. floodbank See levee. floodplain S [ edit ] sabkha saddle For a given pair of mountain summits, the region surrounding the elevational low point or col on the ridge connecting the two summits; mathematically, it is the critical point that is simultaneously a relative minimum in one axial direction (e.g. between the peaks) and a relative maximum in the perpendicular direction. Assuming it is navigable, a saddle can be thought of as the area surrounding the highest point on the lowest route which one could use to pass between the two summits. The saddle is the highest point of the pass between the two mountains. salient

Also isle. Any piece of sub-continental land that is entirely surrounded by water; or more generally, any isolated habitat that is surrounded by a different habitat, including different types of land. island nation A country or polity whose territory consists primarily or entirely of one or more islands or parts of islands. isle See island. islet A very small island. isometric Having equal measure. isopleth Any line on a map connecting places of equal value of some specified variable. The variable may be a physical or natural quantity, such as elevation above sea level (as with contour lines) or temperature (as with isotherms), or a quantity related to social or economic statistics, such as population, wealth, or transport costs. isostasy Pratt, Keith L. and Richard Rutt. (1999). Korea: A Historical and Cultural Dictionary. Richmond: Routledge; Curzon Press. ISBN 0-7007-0463-9. Also called an affluent. A stream or river that flows into a larger stream or main stem or a lake, rather than directly into a sea or ocean. Contrast distributary. trilateration tropic Either of the two parallels of latitude marking the boundary of the tropics: the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn. [3] Tropic of Cancer The northernmost circle of latitude on the Earth at which the Sun appears directly overhead at its culmination, which lies approximately 23.4 degrees north of the Equator. Its southern equivalent is the Tropic of Capricorn. Tropic of Capricorn The southernmost circle of latitude on the Earth at which the Sun appears directly overhead at its culmination, which lies approximately 23.4 degrees south of the Equator. Its northern equivalent is the Tropic of Cancer. tropical Characteristic of, located in, or relating to the tropics, either the specific parallels of latitude or the zone lying between those two parallels. [3] tropics Hall, John Whitney (1957). "Materials for the Study of Local History in Japan: Pre-Meiji Daimyō Records". Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies. 20 (1/2): 187–212. doi: 10.2307/2718525. JSTOR 2718525.

Also ingressed coast and depressed coast. A generally flat coastline whose shape has been largely defined by the penetration of the sea into relatively low-lying areas of the land surface, often as a result of crustal movements or a rise in sea level, such that the boundary between land and water closely matches the topographic contours of the land prior to its being covered by seawater. inland Of, relating to, within, or towards the interior of a landmass, i.e. distant from the coast. inland sea A very large, isolated expanse of open water in the interior of a landmass, either completely surrounded by dry land or connected to the ocean by a river, strait, or other narrow waterway. inland waters Any surface watercourse or body of water surrounded entirely by land, including ponds, lakes, reservoirs, and rivers, or all such waters within a polity considered collectively. [15] See also internal waters. inlet An indentation of a shoreline, usually long and narrow, which leads to an enclosed body of salt water, such as a sound, bay, lagoon, or marsh. inselberg Brown, Ralph H. (1941). "The American Geographies of Jedidiah Morse". Annals of the Association of American Geographers. 31 (3): 145–217. doi: 10.1080/00045604109357224. ISSN 0004-5608. Tarn, W. W. (2013). "Alexander and the Ganges". The Journal of Hellenic Studies. 43 (2): 93–101. doi: 10.2307/625798. JSTOR 625798. S2CID 164111602.

Gazetteers are often categorized by the type, and scope, of the information presented. World gazetteers usually consist of an alphabetical listing of countries, with pertinent statistics for each one, with some gazetteers listing information on individual cities, towns, villages, and other settlements of varying sizes. Short-form gazetteers, often used in conjunction with computer mapping and GIS systems, may simply contain a list of place-names together with their locations in latitude and longitude or other spatial referencing systems (e.g., British National Grid reference). Short-form gazetteers appear as a place–name index in the rear of major published atlases. Descriptive gazetteers may include lengthy textual descriptions of the places they contain, including explanation of industries, government, geography, together with historical perspectives, maps and/or photographs. Thematic gazetteers list places or geographical features by theme; for example fishing ports, nuclear power stations, or historic buildings. Their common element is that the geographical location is an important attribute of the features listed. Also clearing. Any large, open, mostly treeless area within a forest. glen A long valley bounded by gently sloping, concave sides, and typically narrower and deeper than a strath. The term is used primarily in Scotland. glint A steep cliff, terrace, or edge of a plateau. [4] global 1.Of or concerning all parts of the world (i.e. worldwide); affecting or distributed across the whole of the Earth. 2.Of or relating to a globe or sphere; spherical. 3.Comprehensive; total; encompassing all or nearly all considerations, categories, items, etc. [4] global city a b c d e f g h i j National Soil Survey Center (2018-02-01). "Part 629 – Glossary of Landform and Geologic Terms". Title 430 – National Soil Survey Handbook. Washington, DC: Natural Resources Conservation Service. OCLC 851204093, 681768549 . Retrieved 2018-10-07.

In Japan, there were also local gazetteers in pre-modern times, called fudoki. [71] Japanese gazetteers preserved historical and legendary accounts of various regions. For example, the Nara-period (710–794) provincial gazetteer Harima no kuni fūdoki of Harima Province provides a story of an alleged visit by Emperor Ōjin in the 3rd century while on an imperial hunting expedition. [72] Local Japanese gazetteers could also be found in later periods such as the Edo period. [73] Gazetteers were often composed by the request of wealthy patrons; for example, six scholars in the service of the daimyō of the Ikeda household published the Biyō kokushi gazetteer for several counties in 1737. [74] World gazetteers were written by the Japanese in the 19th century, such as the Kon'yo zushiki ("Annotated Maps of the World") published by Mitsukuri Shōgo in 1845, the Hakkō tsūshi ("Comprehensive Gazetteer of the Entire World") by Mitsukuri Genpo in 1856, and the Bankoku zushi ("Illustrated Gazetteer of the Nations of the World"), which was written by an Englishman named Colton, translated by Sawa Ginjirō, and printed by Tezuka Ritsu in 1862. [57] Despite the ambitious title, the work by Genpo only covered Yōroppa bu ("Section on Europe") while the planned section for Asia was not published. [57] In 1979 the 50 volume gazeteer Nihon rekishi chimei taikei ("Japanese Historical Place Names") series was launched [75] and it is currently also available online with "200,000 headings with detailed explanations of [each] place name". [76] South Asia [ edit ] Also time-space geography. An interdisciplinary perspective, ontological framework, and visual language in which space and time are used as basic dimensions of analysis of dynamic processes and events, including social and ecological interactions, environmental changes, and biographies of individuals. time zone A region of the globe that observes a uniform standard time for legal, commercial, and social purposes. Most time zones span about 15 degrees of longitude, and in each of these divisions the mean solar time at an arbitrarily selected meridian (usually one near the longitudinal center of the division) is made the standard time across the entire zone. Time zones tend to follow political boundaries between countries and their subdivisions, however, rather than strictly following the same meridian, because it is convenient for areas in frequent communication to keep the same time. Tissot's indicatrix Gazetteer editors gather facts and other information from official government reports, the census, chambers of commerce, together with numerous other sources, and organise these in digest form. a b c d e f Glossary of the Mapping Sciences. New York, NY: American Society of Civil Engineers, American Congress on Surveying and Mapping, and American Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing. 1994. ISBN 0-7844-0050-4. Webster's New Dictionary. Promotional Sales Books. 1997. p.126. ISBN 1577233603 . Retrieved 14 April 2023.

Also mud flat and tidal flat. A type of coastal wetland consisting of exposed layers of bay mud formed by the deposition of silts, clays, and marine animal detritus by tides or rivers. Mudflats usually form within the intertidal zone of relatively sheltered areas such as bays and lagoons. mudflow

The Oxford English Dictionary. Oxford University Press. p.Gazetteer, n3 . Retrieved 25 December 2021. a b c d Mayhew, Susan (1997). A Dictionary of Geography (2nded.). Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-280034-5. Also geodetic north. The direction along the Earth's surface towards the Geographic North Pole. Geodetic true north differs from magnetic north and grid north, and also very slightly from astronomical true north, which is based on the direction of the north celestial pole. true south

I [ edit ] ice age Any very long period of Earth's history during which surface and atmospheric temperatures are greatly reduced, resulting in the development or expansion of continental and polar ice sheets and widespread glaciation. The most recent such period was the Pleistocene Epoch, which ended approximately 12,000 years ago. [2] ice cap A flattened, often dome-shaped mass of ice that covers less than 50,000 square kilometres (19,000sqmi) of land area and is not constrained by topographical features such as mountains; larger masses of ice are termed ice sheets. Contrast polar ice cap. ice floe A large piece of floating drift ice, typically with a flat surface and at least 20 metres (66ft) across at its widest point. ice sheet Webster's dictionary and Roget's thesaurus. Paradise Press Inc. 2006. p.68 . Retrieved 14 April 2023. Also orthodrome. Any circle on the surface of a sphere created by the intersection of the sphere and a plane that passes through its center. A great circle divides the sphere into two equal hemispheres, and all of a sphere's great circles have the same center and circumference as each other, which by definition is the largest possible circumference of the sphere. The mathematical properties of great circles make them useful in geodesy, where they are often visualized upon the surface of the Earth (despite the fact that the Earth is not a perfect sphere): for example, the Equator of the idealized Earth is a great circle, and any meridian with its antimeridian forms a great circle. Because the shortest path between any two points on the surface of a sphere follows the arc of a great circle, great-circle distances are often used as approximations of geodesics for the purposes of air and sea navigation. great-circle bearing The horizontal direction or bearing followed by the arc of a great circle through a given pair of terrestrial points, expressed as the angular distance from a reference direction. [16] great-circle distancea b c d e f g h i j k l m n USGS (2010), USGS Geography Products – Glossary, Washington, DC: United States Geological Survey, archived from the original on May 28, 2010 , retrieved September 30, 2010 Also jhoom cultivation or slash-and-burn agriculture. Clear-cutting and/or setting fire to an area of land so it can be used for farm cultivation. junction A meeting or intersection of two or more routes of travel, as of roads, rivers, or lines on a map, or a place at which a single route diverges into two or more different routes. jungle An area covered with dense vegetation dominated by large trees, often tropical. jurisdiction 1.The right and power to apply the law in a particular place or within a defined field of responsibility. 2.The geographical area to which such authority applies. juvenile water Also heathland. A shrubland habitat found mainly on free-draining, infertile, acidic soils and characterized by open, low-growing, woody vegetation. hectare (ha) A metric unit of area defined by a square with sides of 100 metres, equal to 10,000 m 2 or 2.471 acres. There are 100 hectares in 1 square kilometre (km 2). [4] hedgerow Also shott and shatt. An ephemeral, often highly saline lake that forms seasonally with fluctuations in the water table, usually in the winter, in the desert basins of Northwest Africa. [13] cinder cone A steep-sided volcano formed by the explosive eruption of cinders that form around a vent. Cinders are lava fragments about 1 centimetre (0.39in) in diameter. [3] circle of latitude See parallel. cirque Also corrie loch. A mountain lake or pool of water formed in a cirque excavated by a glacier. A moraine may form a natural dam below a tarn. temperate zone Traditionally, either of the two midlatitude regions of the Earth defined by their latitudinal position between the tropics and the polar zones, i.e. the region between latitudes 23°30' N and 66°30' N, or that between 23°30' S and 66°30' S. [3] In modern usage, the term may refer instead to regions of mild or temperate climate, regardless of latitude. temperature inversion An increase in temperature with height above the Earth's surface, a reversal of the normal pattern, often observed in deep valleys and basins that are mostly or entirely enclosed by high mountain ranges. [4] tephra Solid material of all sizes explosively ejected from a volcano into the atmosphere. [11] terminal moraine