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World Geography (a4)
Chapter 3 & 4 Vocabulary
| 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 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 | Of, or characteristic of, the countryside. |
| Culture Hearth | A place in which important ideas begin and thereafter spread to surrounding cultures. |
| Culture Convergence | The contact and interaction of one culture with another. |
| Diffusion | The process by which a cultural element is transmitted from one group or individual to another. |
| Cultural Divergence | The restriction of a culture from outside influence. |
| 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. |
| Authotitarian | Descriptive of a system of government in which the leaders hold all political powers. |
| 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- king, queen, shah, or sultan- 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 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 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. |
| 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 goods of greater value. |
| Cottage industry | A small-scale manufacturing operation using little technology, often located in or near people's homes. |
| Commercial industry | A large-scale manufacturing operation that employs many people and produces large quantities of goods. |
| Tertiary economic acticity | 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 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 brought into the country for sale. |