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66 Cards in this Set

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Sahel
the semidesert region at the southern fringe of the Sahara, and the countries that fall within this region, which extends from Senegal to Sudan. Droughts in the 1970s and early 1980s caused widespread famine and dislocation of population
Transhumance
the movement of animals between wet season and dry season pasture
Biofuels
wood and charcoal used for household energy needs especially cooking
Great Escarpment
a landform that rims southern Africa from Angola to South Africa. It forms where the narrow coastal plains meet the elevated plateaus in an abrupt break in elevation
Horn of Africa
the northeastern corner that includes Somalia, Ethiopia, Djibouti, and Eritrea
Swidden Agriculture
also called slash and burn agriculture. a form of cultivation in which forested or brushy plots are cleared of vegetation, burned, and then planted to crops, only to be abandoned a few years later as soil fertility declines
Pastoralists
Nomadic and sedentary peoples who rely upon livestock (especially cattle, camels, sheep, and goats) for sustenance and livelihood
Tsetse Fly
a fly that is a vector for a parasite that causes sleeping sickness (typanosomiasis), a disease that especailly affects humans and livestock. Livestock is rarely found in those areas of Sub Saharan Africa where the tsetse fly is common
Apartheid
An official policy of racial segregation that shaped social relations in South Africa for nearly 50 years
Coloured
A South African term describing people of mixed African and European ancestry
Tribes
a group of families or clans with a common kinship, language, and definable territory but not an organized state
Berlin Conference
the 1884 conference that divided Africa into European colonial territories. The boundaries created in Berlin satisfied European ambition but ignored indigenous cultural affiliations. Many of Africa's civil conflicts can be traced to ill conceived territorial division crafted in 1884
Homelands
nominally independent ethnic territories created for blacks under the grand apartheid scheme. Homelands were on marginal land, overcrowded, and poorly serviced. In the post apartheid era, they were eliminated
African Union
founded in 1963 the organization grew to include all the states of the continent except South Africa, which finally was asked to join in 1994. In 2004 the body changed its name to the African Union. It is mostly a political body that has tried to resolve regional conflicts
Tribalism
allegiance to a particular tribe or ethnic group rather than to the nation state. it is often blamed for internal conflict within the sub saharan states
Refugees
people who flee their state because of a well founded fear of persecution based on race, ethnicity, religion, or political orientation
Internally Displaced Persons
groups and individuals who flee an area due to conflict or famine but still remain in their country of origin. these populations often live in refugee like conditions but are harder to assist because they technically do not qualify as refugees
Genocide
the deliberate and systematic killing of a racial, political or cultural group by a state
Clans
a social unit that is typically smaller than a tribe or ethnic group but larger than a family, based on supposed descent from a common ancestor
Structural Adjustment Programs
controversial yet widely implemented programs used to reduce government spending, encourage the private sector, and refinance foreign debt. typically these IMF and World Bank policies trigger drastic cutbacks in government supported services and food subsidies, which disproportionately affect the poor
Kleptocracy
a state where corruption is so institutionalized that politicians and bureaucrats siphon off a huge percentage of a country's wealth
Culture Hearth
an area of historical cultural innovation
OPEC (Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries)
an international organization of 12 oil producing nations (formed in 1960) that attempts to influence global prices and supplies of oil. Algeria, Gabon, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Libya, Nigeria, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, UAE, and Venezuela
Islamic Fundamentalism
a movement within both the Shiite and Sunni muslim traditions to return to a more conservative, religious based society and state. Often associated with a rejection of Western culture and with a political aim to merge civic and religious authority
Islamism
a political movement within the religion of Islam that challenges the encroachment of global popular culture and blames colonial, imperial, and Western elements for many of the region's problems. Adherents of Islamism advocate merging civil and religious authority
Qanat System
a traditional system of gravity fed irrigation that uses gently sloping tunnels to capture groundwater and direct it to needed fields
Fossil Water
water supplies that were stored underground during wetter climatic periods
Hydropolitics
the interplay of water resource issues and politics
Maghreb
A region in northwestern Africa, including portions of Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia
Levant
The eastern Mediterranean region
Physiological Densities
a population statistic that relates the number of people in a country to the amount of arable land
Domestication
The purposeful selection and breeding of wild plants and animals for cultural purposes
Fertile Crescent
an ecologically diverse zone of lands in Southwest Asia that extends from Lebanon eastward to Iraq and that is often associated with early forms of agricultural domestication
Pastoral Nomadism
a traditional subsistence agricultural system in which practitioners depend on the seasonal movements of livestock within marginal natural environments
Transhumance
a form of pastoralism in which animals are taken to high altitude pastures during the summer months and returned to low altitude pastures during the winter
Exotic Rivers
a river that issues from a humid area and flows into a dry area otherwise lacking streams
Kibbutzes
Collective farms in Israel
Medina
the original urban core of a traditional Islamic city
Monotheism
a religious belief in a single God
Quran
A book of divine revelations received by the prophet Muhammad that serves as a holy text in the religion of Islam
Hajj
an Islamic pilgrimage to Makkah. One of the 5 essential pillars of the Muslim creed to be undertaken once in a life, if an individual is physically and financially able to do it
Theocratic State
a political state led by religious authorities, also called a theocracy
Sunnis
Muslims who practice the dominant branch of Islam
Ottoman Empire
A large, Turkish based empire (named for Osman, one of its founders) that dominated large portions of southeastern Europe, North Africa, and Southwest Asia between the 16 and 19 centuries
Suez Canal
Pivotal waterway connecting the red sea and the mediterranean opened by the british in 1869
Palestinian Authority (PA)
a quasi-governmental body that represents Palestinian interests in the West Bank and Gaza
Cold War
The ideological struggle between the US and the Soviet Union that was conducted between 1946 and 1991
European Union (EU)
the current association of 27 European countries that are joined together in an agenda of economic, political, and cultural integration
Moraines
hilly topographic features that mark the path of Pleistocene glaciers. they are composed of material eroded and carried by glaciers and ice sheets
Fjords
flooded, glacially carved valleys; in Europe, found primarily along Norway's western coast
Shield Landscape
barren, mostly flat lands of southern Scandinavia that were heavily eroded by Pleistocene ice sheets. in many places, this landscape is characterized by large expanses of bedrock with little or no soil that resulted from glacial erosion
Maritime Climate
climate moderated by proximity to oceans or large seas. it is usually cool, cloudy, and wet and lacks the temperature extremes of continental climates
Marine West Coast Climate
moderate climate with cool summers and mild winters that is heavily influenced by maritime conditions. such climates are usually found on the west coasts of continents between latitudes of 45 to 50 degrees
Mediterranean Climate
a unique climate, found in only 5 locations in the world, that is characterized by hot, dry summers with very little rainfall. these climates are located on the west side of continents between 30 and 40 degrees latitude
Continental Climate
climate regions in continental regions
Polders
reclaimed agricultural areas along the Dutch coast that have been diked and drained. Many are at or below sea level
Guest Workers
workers from Europe's agricultural periphery- primarily Greece, Turkey, southern Italy and the former Yugoslavia - solicited to work in Germany, France, Sweden, and Switzerland during chronic labor shortages in Europe's boom years (50s to 70s)
Medieval landscape
urban landscapes from 900 to 1500 ce characterized by narrow, winding streets, three or four story structures (usually in stone, bu tsometimes wooden), with little open space except for the market square. these landscapes are still found in the centers of many European cities
Renaissance-Baroque landscape
urban landscapes generally constructed during the period from 1500 to 1800 that are characterized by wide, ceremonial boulevards, large monumental structures (palaces, public squares, churches), and ostentatious housing for the urban elite. a common landscape feature in European cities
Cyrillic Alphabet
based on the Greek alphabet and used by Slavic languages heavily influenced by the Eastern Orthodox Church. attributed to the missionary work of St. Cyril in the ninth century
Secularization
the widespread movement in western Europe away from regular participation and engagement with traditional organized religions such as Protestantism or Catholocism
Irredentism
a state of national policy of reclaiming lost lands or those inhabited by people of the same ethnicity in another nation state
Buffer Zone
an array of nonaligned or friendly state that buffer a larger country from invasion. in Europe, keeping a buffer zone has been a long term policy of Russia (and also of the former Soviet Union) to protect its western borders from European invasion
Iron Curtain
a term coined by British leader Winston Churchill during the Cold War that defined the western border of Soviet power in Europe. the notorious Berlin Wall was a concrete manifestation of the Iron Curtain
Euroland
The 13 states that form the European Monetary Union, with its common currency, the euro. This monetary unit completely replaced national currencies in July 2002
Privatization
the process of moving formerly state owned firms into the contemporary capitalist private sector