| A | B |
|---|
| relative location | Giving the location of Cheyenne, Wyoming as it is in the southeastern corner of the state. |
| prime meridian | An imaginary line that divides the earth into eastern and western halves. |
| absolute location | Washington, D.C. shown as 39 degrees North and 77 degrees West. |
| latitude | Imaginary lines that run parallel to the equator. |
| longitude | Imaginary lines that circle the earth from pole to pole. |
| continental drift | The theory that an original super continent broke apart into plates that caused individual continents to form. |
| fault | A fracture in the earth's crust |
| Ring of Fire | Most active volcanoes are located within this region. |
| tsunami | A giant ocean waved caused by an earthquake in the ocean. |
| moraine | A rocky ridge or hill, often left behind by a receding glacier. |
| market economy | A capitalistic system, in which the production of goods and services are determined by demand from consumers. |
| Gross Domestic Product (GDP) | The total value of all the goods and services produced within the boundaries of a nation over a specified time. |
| infrastructure | The basic support systems needed to keep an economy going, such as transportation, energy, and water. |
| Gross National Product (GNP) | The total value of all goods and services provided by a nation's businesses and industries over a specified time. |
| command economy | A planned economic system, in which the government usually owns the means for producing goods and services, and determines the rate and type of production. |
| monarchy | A king, queen, or ruling family holds political power. |
| democracy | A form of government which encourages citizen participation, free and fair elections. |
| nation | A group of people with a common culture living in a specific location. |
| communism | The government holds nearly all of the political power and means of production |
| state | An independent unit, occupying a specific area and controlling its internal and external affairs. |
| smart growth | Describes how communities can plan the use of their land and other resources. |
| sustainable community | Describes an effort to manage growth by creating communities where residents both live and work in the same area. |
| assimilation | Process of immigrants from a minority culture taking on the language and customs of the dominant culture. |
| terrorism | Describes the surprise use of violence by an individual or group to intimidate a government or civilian population to achieve social or political ends. |
| push factors | Reasons that cause people to leave rural areas and move to cities. |
| pampas | Cattle and wheat grain are mostly found in this area of Argentina and Uruguay |
| rain forest | Much of the more than two million square miles of this is located in Brazil. |
| terraced farming | An ancient tradition that continues to be useful for preventing erosion in hilly or mountainous areas. |
| varied climate | Mountains, the equator, and ocean currents are three reasons for this in Latin America. |
| calypso | Music that combines elements from Africa, Spain, and the United States. |
| United Provinces of Central America | A region that declared its independence from Mexico in 1823. |
| reggae | Jamaican music that deals with social problems and religion. |
| cultural hearth | Place of origin of a major culture |
| Panama Canal | Connects the Atlantic and Pacific ocean. |
| land reform | A process of breaking up large landholdings and giving land to peasant farmers. |
| debt-for-nature-swap | Term that is name of an agreement in which one partner agrees to pay off part of a government debt, and the other partner agrees to protect part of the rain forest. |
| junta | A harsh form of government run by military generals. |
| caudillo | A military dictator or political boss. |
| oligarchy | A form of government which is run by a few powerful individuals |
| urban sprawl | Describes inexpertly planned communities and developments in an area of increasing population. |
| uplands | Are hills or very low mountains that may also contain mesas and high plateaus. |
| terpens | High earthen platforms. |
| North Atlantic Drift | A current of warm water from the tropics that flows near Europe's west coast. |
| ljsselmeer | A body of water that changed from a saltwater area to become a fresh water one. |
| polder | Land that is reclaimed by diking and draining. |
| feudalism | A political system in which powerful lords owned most of the land. |
| republic | A government in which citizens elect representatives to rule in their name. |
| satellite nation | Nations that are dominated by another country. |
| city-state | A political unit made up of a city and its surrounding land. |
| renaissance | Began in the Italian city-states, was a time of renewed interest in learning and the arts. |
| cyanide | A deadly poison. |
| ozone | A form of oxygen that causes health problems. |
| ethnic cleansing | a policy of trying to eliminate an ethnic group through violence. |
| smog | A brown haze that occurs when the gases released by fossil fuels react with sunlight to create hundreds of harmful chemicals. |
| particulates | Very small particles of liquid or solid matter that are part of air pollution. |
| chernozem | Black earth that is very fertile. |
| Siberia | The part of Russia that lies on the continent of Asia which is a very frigid arctic and subarctic area.. |
| continentality | A region's distance from the moderating influence of the sea. |
| Transcaucasia | A region that is located between the Caucasus Mountains and the border of Turkey. |
| Trans-Siberian Railroad | A railroad that would eventually link Moscow to the Pacific port of Vladivostok. |
| czar | Emperor of Russia |
| Silk Road | The 4,000 mile route between China and the Mediterranean Sea. |
| collective farm | An enormous farm in the Soviet Union on which a large team of laborers were gathered to work together during Joseph Stalin's reign. |
| Baltic Republics | The countries of Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania form this. |
| command economy | A type of economic system in which production of goods and services are determined by the government. |
| distance decay | Long distances between places that make communication and transportation difficult. |
| Chechnya | One of the republics that remains a part of Russia after the collapse of the Soviet Union despite independence movements and violent upheaval |
| Caucasus | A region that straddles the Caucasus Mountains and stretches between the Black and Caspian Seas. |
| Nagorno-Karabakh | The mountainous area of Azerbaijan, fought over by Armenia and Azerbaijan. |
| privatatization | The selling of government-owned businesses to private citizens. |
