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WorldGeo
Chapter 9&10 Vocabulary
Term | Definition |
---|---|
Conquistador | name for the spanish explorers who claimed land in the americas for spain |
Cultural Convergence | the contactand interaction of one culture with another |
Caudillo | a latin american military dictator |
Pampas | a grasslands region in argentina and uruguay |
Cay | a small, low island or coral reef |
Coral | the rocklike skeletons of tiny sea animals |
Tropicial Storm | a storm with winds of at least 39 miles per hour |
Hurricane | a destructive tropical storm that forms over the atlantic ocean, usually in late summer early fall, with winds of at least 74 miles per hour |
El Nino | a warm ocean current off south americas northwestern coast that influences global weather patterns |
Canopy | the uppermost layer of a forrest where tree branches meet |
Mestizo | a person of mixed european and native american heritage |
Mulattto | 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 countrys 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 a subsistence economy |
Plateau | an area of high, flat land |
Peninsula | an area 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 cattle ranch |
Land Redistribution | a policy by which land is taken from those who own large amounts and redistibuted to those who have little or no money |
Ejido | farmland owned collectivly by members of a rural community |
Subsistence Farming | farming that provides only enough for the needs of a family or a 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 |