| A | B |
|---|
| sinkholes | A steep-sided depression formed when the roof of a cave collapses |
| chinampas | The name the Aztecs gave to raised fields on which they grew crops |
| conquistadores | Spanish conquerors during the era of colonization in the Americas |
| epidemic | Widespread outbreak, often referring to disease |
| empire | A system in which a central power controls a number of territories |
| mestizos | People of mixed European and American Indian ancestry |
| mulattoes | People of mixed African and European ancestory |
| missions | Spanish church outposts established during the colonial era, particularly in the Americas |
| ejidos | Lands owned and worked by groups of Mexican Indians |
| haciendas | Huge farmlands granted by the Spanish monarch to favored people in Spain’s colonies |
| inflation | The rise in prices that occurs when currency loses its buying power |
| cash crops | Crops produced primarily to sell rather than for the farmer to eat |
| smog | A mixture of smoke, chemicals, and fog |
| maquiladoras | Foreign-owned factories located along Mexico’s northern border with the United States |
| slash-and-burn agriculture | A type of agriculture in which forests are cut and burned to clear land for planting |
