Term | Definition |
Culture | The way of life that distinguishes a people, for example government, language, religion, customs, and beliefs |
Population Density | The average number of people living in a given area |
Birthrate | The number of births each year per 1,000 people |
Rural | Of, or characteristic of, the countryside |
Culture Hearth | A place in which important ideas begin and thereafter spread to surrounding cultures |
Diffusion | The process by which a cultural element is transmitted from one group or individual to another |
Cultural divergence | The restriction of a culture from outside influences |
Immigrant | A person who moves into a country |
Emigrant | A person who leaves a country to elsewhere |
Urbanization | The growth of city populations |
Cultural Convergence | the contact and interaction of one culture with another |
Sovereignty | a country's freedom and power to decide on policies and actions |
Unitary System | a system of government in which one central government holds much of the political power |
federation | a government structure in which some powers are given to the national government and other powers are reserved for more local governments |
confederation | a system of government in which individual, political units keep their sovereignty but give limited power to a central government |
authoritarian | descriptive of a system of government which the leaders hold all political power |
dictatorship | a system of government in which absolute power is held by a small group or one person |
totalitarianism | a system of government in which a central authority controls all aspects of the society |
monarchy | a system of authoritarian government headed by a monarch/a king, queen, shah or sultan- whos position is usually inherited |
democracy | A system of government in which the people are invested with the power to chose their leaders and determine government policy |
traditional economy | An economic system in which families produce goods and services for their own use, with little surplus and exchange of goods; also known as a subsistence economy |
market economy | An economic system in which decisions about production, price and other economic factors are determined by the law of supply and demand. |
command economy | An economic system that is controlled by a central government. |
Natural resource | A material in the natural environment that people value and use to satisfy their needs |
Renewable resource | A natural resource that the environment continues to supply or replace as it is used |
Nonrenewable Resource | A natural resource that cannot be replaced once it is used |
Fossil Fuel | Any one of several nonrenewable mineral resources formed from the remains of ancient plants and animals and used for fuel |
Nuclear energy | A type of energy produced by fission- the splitting of uranium atoms in a nuclear reactor releasing stored energy |
Water power | Energy produced form falling water to move machinery or generate electricity |
Geothermal energy | Energy produced from the earths intense inner heat |
Solar energy | Energy produced by the sun |
Primary economic activity | An economic activity that takes or uses natural resources directly, such as fishing or mining |
Subsistence farming | Farming that provides only enough for the needs of each family or a village |
Commercial farming | The raising of crops or livestock for outside markets |
Secondary economic activity | An economic activity in which people use raw materials to produce or manufacture new products of greater use |
Cottage industry | A small scale manufacturing operation using little technology, often operated in or around little homes. |
Commercial industry | A large scale manufacturing operation that employs many people and produces large quantities of goods. |
Tertiary economic activity | An economic activity in which people do not directly gather or process raw materials, but pursue activities that serve others; service industry |
Quaternary economic activity | An economic activity that focuses on the acquisition, processing and sharing of information, such as education or resource. |
Export | An item that is sent out of the country to sell. |
Import | An item that is brought into a country to sell. |