Term | Definition |
culture | the way of life that distinguishes a people,for example,government,language,religion,customs,and beliefs. |
population density | the average number of people lining in a given area. |
birthrate | the number of living births each year per 1,000 people. |
immigrant | a person who moves into a country. |
emigrant | a person who leaves a country to live elsewhere. |
urbanization | the growth of city populations. |
rural | the currency of Russia. |
cultural hearth | a place in which important ideas begin and thereafter spread to surrounding cultures. |
cultural convergence | the contact and interaction of one culture with another, |
diffusion | the process by which a cultural elements is transmitted from one group or individual to another. |
cultural divergence | the restriction of a culture from outside influences. |
sovereignty | a country's freedom and power to decide on policies and actions. |
unitary system | a system of government in which one central government holds most of the political power. |
federation | a government structure in which some powers are given to the national government and other powers are reserved for more local governments. |
confederation | a system of government in which individual political units keep their sovereignty but give limited power to a central government. |
authoritarian | description of a system of government in which the leaders hold all political power. |
dictatorship | a system of government in which absolute power is held by a small group or one person |
totalitarianism | a system of government in which a central authority controls all aspects of society. |
democracy | a system of government in which the people are invested with the power to choose their leaders and determine government policy. |
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. |
market economy | an economic system in which decisions about production, price and other economic factors are determined by the law of supply and demand. |
command economy | an economic system that is controlled by a single central government. |
monarchy | a system of authoritarian government headed by a monarch a king, queen, shah, or sultan whose position is usually inherited. |
natural resource | A material in the natural environment that people value and use to satisfy their needs. |
renewable resource | A natural resource that the environment continues to supply or replace as it it used. |
nonrenewable resource | A natural resource that cannot be replaced once it is used. |
fossil fuel | Any one of several nonrenewable minerals resources formed from the remains of ancient plants and animals and used for fuel. |
nuclear energy | A type of energy produced by fission the splitting of uranium atoms in a nuclear reactor releasing stored energy. |
water power | Energy produced from falling water to move machinery or generate electricity. |
geothermal energy | Energy produced from the earth's intense interior heat. |
solar energy | Energy produced by the sun. |
Primary economic activity | An economic activity that takes or uses natural resources directly such as fishing or mining. |
Subsistence farming | Farming that provides only enough for the needs of a family or a village |
Commerical farming | The raising of crops and livestock for sale in markets. |
Secondary economic activity | An economic activity on which people use raw materials to produce or manufacture new products of greater value. |
Cottage industry | A small-scale manufacturing operation using little technology often located in or near people's homes. |
Commerical industry | A large-scale manufacturing operation that empolys many people and produces large quantities of goods. |
tertiary economic activity | An economic activity in which people do not directly gather or process raw materials but pursue activities that serve others service industry. |
Quaternary economic activity | An economic activity that focuses on the acquisition,processing, and sharing of information, such as education or research. |
Export | An item that sent out of the country for sale. |
Import | An item that is bought into the country for sale. |