| A | B |
| culture | the way of life of a group of people |
| civilization | highly developed culture |
| cultural diffusion | knowledge and skills are spread from one area to another |
| language family | group of languages with similar beginnings |
| standard of living | measures people's quality of life |
| literacy rate | percentage of people who can read and write |
| free enterprise | people start and run businesses with little government interference |
| socialism | government plays a central role in the economy |
| Huang He | site of early Chinese culture |
| Indus River | site of early culture in South Asia |
| Tigris-Euphrates rivers | site of early culture in Southwest Asia |
| Nile River | site of early culture in Africa |
| emigrate | move to another country |
| refugee | person who flees a country from persecution or disaster |
| population density | average number of people living in an area |
| urbanization | movement from farms and villages to cities |
| developed country | country that is industrialized |
| developing country | country that depends on agriculture and small industries |
| demographer | scientist who studies population |
| birthrate | number of children born each year per 1000 people |
| death rate | number of deaths for every 1000 people |
| famine | lack of food |
| natural resource | anything from nature that people use |
| renewable | resources that can be replaced fairly quickly |
| nonrenewable | resources that cannot be replaced |
| fossil fuel | coal, oil, natural gas |
| subsistence farming | growing only enough to feed yourself |
| service industry | does not produce a product, such as mechanic, cook, etc. |
| pollution | putting impure of poisonous substances into the land, air, or water |
| pesticide | chemical that kills insects |
| acid rain | precipitation which picks up chemicals from pollution |
| hydroelectric power | energy generated by falling water |
| solar energy | energy produced by the sun's heat or light |