Term | Definition |
Cultural Diffusion | the restriction of a culture from outside influences |
Renaissance | the revival of art, literature, and learning that took place in Europe during the fourteenth, fifteenth, and sixteenth centuries |
Industrial Revolution | the shift from human power to machine power |
Summit | the highest point of a mountain or similar elevation |
Prevailing Westerlies | the constant flow of air from west to east in the temperate zones of the earth |
Euro | the common currency used b member nations of the European Union |
Compulsory | required |
Fertile | Able to produce abundantly |
Ore | a rocky material containing a valuable mineral |
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 |
Moor | broad, treeless, rolling land, often poorly drained and having patches of marsh and peat bog |
Bog | an area of wet, spongy ground |
Glen | a narrow valley |
Peat | spongy material containing water loggedand decaying mosses and plants, sometimes dried and used as fuel |
Cultural Divergence | the restriction of a culture from outside influences |
Blight | a plant disease |
Fjord | a narrow valley or inlet form the sea, originally carved out by an advancing glacier and filled by melting glacial ice |
Geothermal Energy | energy produced from the earth's intense interior heat |
Mixed Economy | a system combining different degrees of government regulation |
Dialect | a variation of a spoken language that is unique to a region or community |
Impressionism | a style of art where painters try to catch visual impressions made by color, light, and shadows |
Nationalize | to bring a business under state control |
Recession | an extended decline in business activity |
Confederation | a system of government in which individual political units keep their sovereignty but give limited power to a central government |
Reparation | money paid for war damages |
Inflation | a sharp, widespread rise in prices |
Lignite | a soft, brownish-black coal |
Dike | an embankment of earth and rock built to hold back water |
Polder | an area of low-lying land that has been reclaimed from the sea |
Decentralize | to transfer government power to smaller regions |
Canton | a political division or state; one of the states in Switzerland |
Neutral | not taking sides in a war |
Perishable good | a product that does not stay fresh for long |
Strip Mining | the process whereby miners strip away the surface of the earth to lay bare the mineral deposits |
Navigable | Deep or wide enough to allow the passage of ships |
Dry Farming | a farming technique that leaves land unplanned every one or two years in order to gather moisture |
Sirocco | a hot, dry wind from northern Africa |
Hub | a central point of concentrated activity and influence |
Seismic Activity | earthquakes and volcanic eruptions |
Subsidence | a geological phenomenon in which the ground in an area sinks |
Renaissance | the revival of art, literature, and learning that took place in Europe during the fourteenth, fifteenth, centuries |
Graben | a long, narrow area that has dropped between two faults |
Inhabitable | able to support permanent residents |
Tsunami | a huge wave caused primarily by a disturbance beneath the ocean, such as an earthquake or a volcanic eruption |