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Chapter 9
Chapter 9 Vocabulary
Term | Definition |
---|---|
Conquistadors | Name for the Spanish explores who claimed land in the Americas for Spain |
Cultural Convergence | The contact and interaction of one culture with another |
Caudillos | A Latin American military dictator |
Pampas | A grassland region in Argentina and Uruguay |
Cays | A small, low island or coral reef |
Coral | The rock like skeletons of of tiny sea animals |
Tropical storms | A storm with winds of at least 39 miles per hour |
Hurricanes | A destructive tropical storm that forms over the Atlantic Ocean, usually in late summer and early fall, with winds of at least 74 miles per hour |
El Nino | A warm ocean current off South America's northwestern coast that influences global weather patterns |
Canopy | The undermost layer of a forest where tree branches meet |
Mestizos | A person of mixed European and Native American heritage |
Mulattoes | A person of mixed African and European ancestry |
Market Economy | An economic system in which decisions about production, price, and other economic factors are determined by the law of supply and demand |
GDP per capita | The total value of goods and services produced within a country in a year, divided by the country's total population |
Command economy | An economic system that is controlled by a single central government |
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 subsistence economy |
Plateau | An area of high, flat land. |
Peninsula | A strip of land that juts out into the ocean |
Irrigation | The watering of farmland with water drawn from reservoirs or rivers |
Sinkhole | A hole formed when limestone is dissolved, causing the land above to collapse. |
Hacienda | A large Spanish-owned estate in the Americas, often run as a farm or a cattle ranch |
Land Redistribution | A policy by which land is taken from those who own large amounts and redistributed to those who have little money or none. |
Ejido | Farmland owned collectively by members of a rural community. |
Subsistence farming | Farming that provides only enough for the needs of a family or village |
Latifundio | A large commercial farm owned by a private individual or a farming company. |
Cash crop | A farm crop grown for sale and profit |
Migrant worker | A worker who travels from place to place, working where extra help is needed to cultivate or harvest crops |
NAFTA | North America Free Trade Agreement, which phased out trade barriers among the United States, Canada, and Mexico |
Maquiladora | A factory in Mexico along the United States border, that assembles goods for export. |