| A | B |
|---|
| archipelago | chain of islands |
| cordillera | mountain ranges that run side by side |
| loess | fine, yellow-brown soil that blows in from deserts in western China |
| gorge | canyon |
| tungsten | used to make lightbulbs and rockets |
| teak | wood that is used to make buildings and ships because it is strong and durable |
| dzud | pattern of a dry summer followed by a harsh winter in Mongolia |
| landslide | situations in which soil is washed down the hills |
| dynasty | line of rulers from a single family |
| porcelain | fine clayware |
| census | a count of the number of people |
| novel | long fictional stories |
| shogun | military leader |
| samurai | land owning warriors that supported the shogun |
| sphere of influence | an area of a country where a single foreign power has been granted exclusive trading rights |
| free port | a place where goods can be unloaded, stored, and shipped again without payment of import taxes |
| megalopolis | super sized urban area |
| calligraphy | the art of beautiful writing |
| pagoda | building with several stories, tiled roofs that curve up at the edges, and serve as temples |
| haiku | brief poems that follow a specific structure, or organization |
| yurt | large, circular structures made of animal skins that can be packed up and moved from place to place in rural Mongolia |
| paddy | field where rice is grown |
| famine | extreme scarcity of food |
| human rights | basic freedoms such as freedom of speech and religion |
| exile | to be forced to live somewhere other than your own country |
| intensive agriculture | growing crops on every available piece of land |
| trade deficit | occurs when one country buys more goods from another country than it sells to that country |
| tatami | straw mats |
| kimono | a long Japanese robe, usually made of silk, with an open neck and large sleeves |
| anime | the Japanese style of animation that arose in the late 1900s |
| cultural diffusion | the spreading of ideas or practices from one culture to other cultures |
| celadon | Korean style of Chinese pottery |
| hangul | Korean writing system that uses only 28 symbols-far fewer than the thousands of characters needed to write Chinese |
| demilitarized zone | area between North and South Korea where both sides agree not to place any soldiers or weapons in the DMZ |
| land reform | South Korean policy that broke up large estates into smaller family farms |
| precious gem | valuable stones such as rubies, sapphires, and jade |
| mangrove | tropical trees that grow along the coasts and help maintain the health of coastal environments |
| terraced field | strips of land cut out of a hillside like stair steps that increase the amount of land that can be farmed and prevents erosion |
| developed country | a nation that is industrialized and has modern technology |
| developing country | a nation that has low industrial production and little modern technology |
| population density | the average number of people living in a square mile |
| free enterprise capitalism | an economic system in which people can choose their own jobs, start private businesses, and make a profit |
| Khmer Rouge | the Cambodian Communist Party |
| Khmer Empire | includes much of present day Cambodia, Thailand, Malaysia, and part of Laos |
| domino theory | a belief that if one country fell to communism, surrounding countries would too |
