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 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 brought 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 the sea; relating to navigation or shipping |
Lock | An enclosed section of a 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 underlying 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 |