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cH. 18-20 vocab
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| domestication | the process of training and breeding animals for use by humans |
| communism | a system of government in which the government controls the means of production, determining what goods will be made, how much workers will be paid, and how much items will cost |
| Eurasia | the name some geographers suggested should be used for the landmass of Europe and Asia |
| inland sea | a sea that is almost completely surrounded by land |
| tundra | a dry, treeless plain where temperatures are always cool or cold and only specialized plants can grow |
| taiga | thinly scattered, coniferous forests found in Europe and Asia |
| steppe | a temperate grassland found in Europe and Asia |
| multiethnic | composed of many ethnic groups |
| ethnic group | people who share such things as culture, language, and religion |
| acid rain | rain whose high concentration of chemicals usually from industrial pollution, pollutes water, kills plant and animal life, and eats away at the surface of stone and rock; a form of chemical weathering |
| infant mortality | the number of children per 1,000 live births who die within the first year |
| maternal mortality | the number of women who died due to pregnancy and childbirth complication per 100,000 live births |
| life expectancy | the number of years an individual is expected to live as determined by statistics |
| national identity | a people's sense of what makes them a nation |
| ghetto | a section of a city in which a particular minority group is forced to live |
| Holocaust | the execution of 6 million Jews in Nazi concentration camps during World War 2 |
| velvet revolution | a revolution without bloodshed, which took place in Czechoslovakia during the late 1980's |
| collective farm | a government-owned farm managed by workers who share the profits from their producer |
| privatization | the process of selling government-owned industries and businesses to to private owners |
| balkanize | to break up into small, mutually hostile political units, as occurred in the Balkans after World War 1 |
| entrepreneur | a go-getter indiviual who starts and builds businesses |
| multiplier effect | the effect of investment has in multiplying related jobs throughout the economy |
| annex | to formally incorporate into a country or state the territory of another |
| diversity | to increase the variety of |
| chernozem | a rich topsoil found in the Russian steppes and other mid-latitude grasslands |
| permafrost | a layer of soil just below the earth's surface that stays permanently frozen |
| czar | a emperor of Russia |
| abdicate | to surrender one's office throne or authority |
| soviet | in the former Soviet Union any one of the various governing councils |
| command economy | an economic system that is controlled by a single central government |
| glasnost | a policy of openness introduced in the Soviet Union in the late 1980's |
| perestroika | in the former Soviet Union a policy of economic reconstructing |
| ruble | the currency of Russia |
| black market | the system of selling goods and services outside of the official channel |