| Term |
Definition |
| Animism | belief that objects, such as plants and stones, or natural events such as thunderstorms or earthquakes, have a discrete spirit and conscious life. |
| Buddhism | one of the world’s largest universalizing religions with nearly 400 millions adherents; represented by 4 mains concepts known as the Four Noble Truths. These adherents are found mainly in China and Southeast Asia.-Buddha is their mentor |
| Cargo cult pilgrimage | Cargo Cult’s believe western goods have been traded to them by ancestral spirits. It takes place in Melanesia and is important go HG because it’s a big religious movement by a large number of people |
| Christianity | a monotheistic religion centered on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as presented in the New Testament. It’s important to HG because it’s the most popular religion in the world |
| Confucianism | An ancient Chinese ethical and philosophical Its focus is human morality and good deeds. Confucianism is a complex system of moral, social, political, philosophical values. Not a religion or ancestor worship. Examples of where it influences China,Korea |
| Ethnic religion | A religion with a relatively concentrated spatial distribution. Principles are likely to be based on the physical characteristics of the particular locations in which its followers are concentrated.Ex. Shinto, Judaism, Hinduism |
| Fundamentalism | A usually religious movement or point of view characterized by a return to fundamental principles, by rigid adherence to those principles, and often by intolerance of other views and opposition to secularism. |
| Geomancy (feng shui) | an ancient Chinese practice believed to utilize the Laws of both Heaven (astronomy) and Earth (geography) to help one improve life by receiving positive Qi. The practice of arranging objects, (such as the internal placement of furniture in an environment |
| Hadj | The fifth pillar of Islam, pilgrimage to Mecca |
| Hinduism | Worlds 3rd largest religion. Most adherents from India and Nepal. Beliefs include dharma (ethics/duties), continuing cycle of birth, life, death and rebirth, karma and yoga. |
| Interfaith boundaries | the boundaries between the world's major faiths, such as Christianity, Muslim, and Buddhism. Separates different groups of people for different reasons. |
| Islam | The second largest religion in the world. Means the submission to the will of god. It originated with the teachings of Muhammad. |
| Jainism | One of the oldest religions of the world, originating in ancient India. Stresses spiritual independence, equality of life, non-violence, and consequences for ones behaviour. |
| Judaism | Is the religion of the Jewish people, based on principles and ethics embodied in the Hebrew Bible. In 2007, the world Jewish population was estimated at 13.2 million people with 41% if them living in Israel |
| Landscapes of the Dead | There are three main techniques to dispose of the Dead. They are; Burial, Cremation, and Exposure. Burial is the technique embraced by the Christians, Baha'i, Muslims, and Jews. Cremation; Hindus, High Ranking Buddhists. Exposure; Parsis. |
| Monotheism/Polytheism | In religion, a belief in one personal god. In practice, monotheistic religion tends to stress the existence of one personal god that controls the universe. The term is applied specifically to Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, as well as Zoroastrianism. |
| Mormonism | Is a term used to describe the religious, ideological, and cultural elements of certain branches of the Latter Day Saint movement, specifically, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints An ancient prophet is believed to have compiled history of USA |
| Muslim Pilgrimage | Also called "Hadj". This is one of the five pillars of Islam. It is the duty of each Muslim at least once in their life to make a pilgrimage (religious journey) to Mecca. To see the Kaba at al-Harim al-Sharif |
| Muslim population | -Distributed in Central Asia, Northern Africa and South East Asia
-1,449,765,439 - 1,513,955,647 followers
-Growing Population |
| Proselytic religion | -Referred to in use with Universalizing Religions
-To proselytize is to try to convert another person to your religion |
| Reincarnation | -After this life you will come back in another life either as a plant, animal, or a human life.
-What you do in this life will affect what your next life
-Buddhist and Hinduism |
| Religion (groups, places) | -Universalizing; Christianity, Islam, and Buddhism. -Ethnic religions; Hinduism, Daoism, and Confucianism
-These religions are spread out throughout the world.
-All regions of the world have a religion |
| Religious architectural styles | -Christians have always made temple
-Buddhists have always made a lot of religious statues
-Affects future architecture of civilizations |
| Religious conflict | A conflict between relgions. Examples would include conflict between Catholic and Protestant Christians in North Ireland, and conflicts between Jewish Israelis and Muslim Palestinians/Israel's Muslim neighbours in modern day Israel. |
| Religious culture hearth | The point of origin for a religion. For example, Southern Saudi Arabia around Mecca for Islam, Jerusalem/Bethlehem for Christianity and Northeast India for Buddhism. |
| Religious Toponym | A Toponym is a place name, therefore a religious toponym is a religious place name. Examples would be the St. before the names of Catholic places (St.Peters Basilica.) |
| Sacred space | A sacred space is a space deemed holy by a religious group. Groups will hold religious ceremonies, build major temples or hold major events in these areas. Where Religious Sites overlap (Jerusalem) there may be conflict. |
| Secularism | Secularism is the belief that certain sorts of institutions should be kept separate from religious influence. Examples being separation of church and state. |
| Shamanism | Shamanism refers to a range of traditional beliefs and practices concerned with communication with the spirit world. |
| Sharia law | - it is the legal framework within which public and some private aspects of life are regulated for those living in a legal system based on Muslim principles. |
| Shintoism | It is the native religion of Japan and was once its state religion. It involves the worship of kami (a god). Not very significant anymore and lost importance to today. |
| Sikhism | - is a religion that began in sixteenth century in Northern India . The principal belief in Sikhism is faith in Vāhigurū. |
| Sunni/Shia | sunni/shia are the two major denominations of Islam. Approximately 85% of the world's Muslims are Sunni, whilst the remaining 15% are Shi'a. |
| Taoism | Also called Daoism. Is often distinguished as separate ethnic religions in China. Many Chinese consider themselves both Buddhist and Taoist. Based on the mystical and magical aspects of life. Banned by communists in 1949. |
| Theocracy | A form of government in which God or a deity is recognized as the supreme civil ruler. Iran and the Vatican are both considered to have a theocracy government. |
| Universalizing | Universalizing religions attempt to be global, to appeal to all people, wherever they may live in the world, not just to those of one cultural or location. Ie: Christianity |
| Zoroastrianism | the religion and philosophy based on the teachings ascribed to the prophet Zoroaster. It was once the dominant religion of Iran, now its followers have diminished to less than 200,000 mostly in India and Iran. |
| Ethnicity | Is identity with a group of people who share the cultural traditions of a particular homeland or hearth. |
| Acculturation | Acculturation is a process in which members of one cultural group adopt the beliefs and behaviours of another group. ex. many indigenous people have lost their traditional culture (most evidently language)and replaced by that of the dominant new culture. |
| Assimilation | a process of consistent integration whereby members of an ethno-cultural group (such as immigrants, or minority groups) are "absorbed" into an established, generally larger community. This presumes a loss of many characteristics of the absorbed group. |
| Barrio | barrios refer to lower-class neighborhoods. (equivalent of a "ghetto") |
| Chain migration | the migration of people to a specific location, because relatives or members of the same nationality previously migrated there. |
| Cultural adaptation | the process of adapting to a cultural heritage, language or ethnicity. There are going to be challenges faced through the diversity and clashes of different cultures. |
| Cultural shatterbelt | a politically unstable region where differing cultural elements come into contact and conflict. Cultural clashes. for example, Indonesia with a background of multicultural, ethnicities and religions. |
| Ethnic cleansing | a term when ethnics groups forcibly remove another less powerful ethnic group to create an ethnically homogeneous region. This concept differs from wars where it was simply to defeat an enemy, while ethnic cleansing is to rid an entire ethnic. eg. Rwanda |
| Ethnic conflict | conflicts arise when a country contains several ethnicities competing with each other for control or dominance. Conflicts also arises when an ethnicity is divided among more than one country. |
| Ethnic enclave | when a community or ethnic group is trapped and is completely surrounded by an unfriendly population or government. eg. the gaza strip, but can also mean the ghettos in U.S. |
| Ethnic group | a group of human beings whose members identify with each other, usually on the basis of a presumed common genealogy or ancestry |
| Ethnic homeland | The homeland of the ethnic groups
i.e.) the homeland of the Amish: Switzerland, Alsace, south Germany |
| Ethnic landscape | The landscape formed by the ethnicities living in that area
i.e.)where chinese ethnic groups migrated - china town becomes part of landscape |
| Ethnic neighborhood | a neighborhood formed by the one group of ethnicity.
i.e.)The neighborhood where African Americans live- the ghetto
|
| Ethnicity | Identity with a group of people that share distinct physical and mental traits as a product of common heredity and cultural traditions |
| Ethnocentrism | beliefs of an ethnic group that their ethnicity is better |
| Ghetto | used to donate a section of a city in which members of any minority group live because of social, legal, or economic pressure. |
| Plural society | a society combining ethnic contrasts: the economic interdependence of those groups |
| Race | identity with a group of people descended from a common ancestor |
| Segregation | the separation of different races in daily activities, such as eating in a restaurant, drinking from a water fountain |
| Social distance | distance between different groups of society. It's opposed to locational difference. Social distance includes all the differences such as social class, ethnicity, race, or sexuality. |
| Dowry death | death of young bribes who are murdered or driven to suicide by continuous harassments and torture by husband and relatives in an effort to extort dowry. Mostly occurs in South Asia. |
| Enfranchisement | granting franchise to; admitting citizenship and giving right to vote. |
| Gender | classification of sex |
| Infanticide | The Islamic and Arabic practice of killing unwanted babies, usually unwanted female babies or babies with defections. still practiced in some countries today. |
| Longevity gap | The life expectancy gap between males and female. Ex. Marriage increases longevity of men but decreases longevity of women and the gender longevity gap is smaller within couples than among singles. |
| Maternal mortality rate | Annual number of deaths of women from pregnancy-related causes per 100,000 live births.
Ex. The number of deaths per 100,000 women in the 15-49 age group, measure the impact of maternal deaths on the population of women as a whole. |
| Religion | a specific fundamental set of beliefs and practices generally agreed upon by a number of persons or sects. Religions are considered either universalizing or ethnic, depending on if they are global, or solely in a specific country or region. |
| Gender Gap | difference between economic opportunity of man and woman. Also could refer to cultural difference in their roles. |
| adaptive strategy | it is used to describe a society’s system of economic production. It is believed that the most important reason for similarities between two (or more) unrelated societies is their possession of a similar adaptive strategy. |
| Enclave | A country or part of a country mostly surrounded by the territory of another country or wholly lying within the boundaries of another country. Examples are Republic of San Marino, Vatican City, Kingdom of Lethoso, Portugal, South Korea, Denmark |
| Exclave | describes a country or territory that belongs to another country but is surrounded by countries to which it has no belonging or affinity. It is usually at least partially separated from the main country, state, or political region. Ex. Alaska |
