Question | Answer |
Age of Exploration | 15th to early 17th century when Europeans explored/colonized large parts of Africa, Asia, and Americas |
Caribbean | Of or relating to to the eastern and southern West Indies or Caribbean Sea |
Caudillos | A military officer who rules strictly |
Central America | A region of south North America extending from the south border of Mexico to north border of Colombia |
Colony | Territory controlled by another country |
Columbian Exchange | exchange of plants/animals/diseases/ideas between Eastern (Europe) and Western (Americas) hemispheres after the voyages of Columbus |
Conquistador | A Spanish explorer that conquered native civilizations and started new settlements in Mexico |
Criollos | a person whose parents are Spanish, born in the Latin American colonies. Well educated and wealthy |
Encomiendas | the rights to demand taxes or labor from the Native Americans |
Free Trade | Trade without tariffs (taxes) |
Gross Domestic Product | Total value of all goods and services produced by a nation in a year |
Gross Domestic Product per capita | Total value of all goods and services produced by a nation in a year divided by the population of a country |
Hieroglyphics | System of writing in which pictorial symbols are used to represent meaning or sounds |
Indigenous | Native or naturally occurring to an area of land |
Isthmus | A narrow strip of land that has water on both sides and joins two larger bodies of land |
Latin America | Physical region consisting of Central America, South America, and the Caribbean Islands.
Maize |
Mestizo | a person of mixed European and Native American ancestry |
NAFTA | North American Free Trade Agreement – agreement between US, Canada, Mexico to trade without tariffs |
Rain forest | Area of dense forest that receives a large amount of rain |
Slash and Burn Farming | Cutting down and burning forests to create fields and fertilizer to grow crops |
South America | 4th-Largest Continent surrounded by the Atlantic & Pacific Oceans, Caribbean Sea. |
Terraced Farming | Building walls to make land level and suitable for farming |
Developed Country | Country w/high GDP per capita, most people have high standard of living with access to goods & services. GDP per capita is usually above $18K |
Developing Country | Low GDP per capita, most people have low standard of living with access to few goods and services. GDP per capita less than $18K |