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ch 3 and 4 vocab
| 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 living in a given area |
| birthrate | the number of live births each year per 1000 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 | of, or characteristics of, the country side |
| culture 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 element is transmitted from one group tor individual to another |
| cultural divergance | 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 | descriptive 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 |
| monarchy | a system of authoritarian government headed by a monarch whose position is usually inherited |
| 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 |
| 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 is used |
| nonrenewable resource | a natural resource that cannot be replaced once it is used |
| fossil fuel | any one of several nonrenewable mineral resources formed from he 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 earths 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 |
| commercial farming | the raising of crops and livestock for sale in markets |
| secondary economic activity | an economic activity in 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 peoples homes |
| commercial industry | a large scale manufacturing operation that employs 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 is sent out of the country for sale |
| import | an item that is brought into a country for sale |