Term | Definition |
megalopolis | A very large city; a region made up of several large cities and their surrounding areas, considered to be a single urban complex |
mangrove | A tropical tree that grows in swampy ground along coastal areas |
bayou | A marshy inlet or outlet of a lake or a river |
fall line | Imaginary line between the Appalachian Mountains and the Atlantic coastal plain, where rivers and streams form waterfalls and rapids as they descend from higher elevations to the coastal plain |
Sunbelt | The southern and southwestern states of the United States, from the Carolinas to southern California, characterized by a warm climate and, recently, rapid population growth |
humus | The organic material that results when plants and animals that live in the soil die and decay |
growing season | In farming, the average number of days between the last frost of spring and the first frost of fall |
grain elevator | A tall building equipped with machinery for loading, cleaning, storing, and discharging grain |
grain exchange | A place where grain is bought and sold as a commodity |
tundra | A dry, treeless plain where temperatures are always cool or cold and only specialized plants can grow |
aqueduct | A large pipe or channel designed to transport water from a remote source over a long distance |
province | A territory governed as a political division of a country |
maritime | Bordering on or near sea; relating to navigation or shipping |
lock | An enclosed section of canal, in which a ship may be raised or lowered by raising or lowering the level of the water in that section |
bedrock | The solid rock underneath the earth's surface |
separatism | A movement to win political, religious, or ethnic independence from another group |
secede | To withdraw formally from membership in a political or religious organization |
customs | Fees charged by a government on imported goods |
tariff | A tax imposed by a government on imported goods |
NAFTA | North American Free Trade Agreement, which Phased out trade barriers among the United States, Canada, and Mexico |