World Cultures Vocabulary Terms

Front 1

Agriculture

Back 1

working the land in order to grow crops; farming

Front 2

Arable

Back 2

land suitable for growing crops

Front 3

Area

Back 3

amount of surface within given limits, as in square miles of a country's limits

Front 4

Birth rate

Back 4

number of births occurring in a given population in a given period of time

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Border

Back 5

on a map, lines of separation between countries

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Cardinal directions

Back 6

N, S, E, W

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Cash Crop

Back 7

crops that are grown to be sold for profit

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Commercial farming

Back 8

farming that sells goods at competitive prices

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Communism

Back 9

government owns, and runs most businesses and ofter decides where people live and work - example, China, Cuba, North Korea

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Culture

Back 10

customs, beliefs, and way of life of a group of people

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Currency

Back 11

Money

Front 12

Currency exchange rate

Back 12

value of a particular type of money compared from one country to another

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Debt

Back 13

something that is owed to another

Front 14

Democracy

Back 14

government ruled by the people - Greece was the first democracy

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Dictator

Back 15

single, controlling ruler of a nation - example Saddam Hussein

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Drought

Back 16

an extended dry period with very little rain

Front 17

Earthquake

Back 17

powerful forces produced by movements within the Earth's crust

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Economy

Back 18

sum total of goods and services and consumption of wealth of a nation

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Equator

Back 19

imaginary line that divides the Earth into northern and southern hemispheres

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Erosion

Back 20

the wearing away of land by water, wind, ice and other forces

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Ethnic group

Back 21

a group of people having distinctive characteristics in common, such as language, religion, culture, history, race, or national origin

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Export

Back 22

to carry, send, or sell products to another country

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Famine

Back 23

starvation; hunger

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Geography

Back 24

study of the earth

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Human region

Back 25

an area of human activity

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Import

Back 26

to bring products into the country; to buy products from another country

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Indigenous

Back 27

natural or native to an area

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Industry

Back 28

manufacturing concerns of a nation

Front 29

Irrigation

Back 29

supplying water to the land for the purpose of growing crops

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Longitude lines

Back 30

lines that run north/south on a map

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Life expectancy

Back 31

average length of life of an individual in a particular country

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Literacy rate

Back 32

in a particular country, number of people over the age of 15 who can read and write

Front 33

Latitude lines

Back 33

lines that run east/west on a map

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Manufacturing

Back 34

the making of a product

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Map Key

Back 35

section of a map, often in a box, that tells what each map symbol means

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Monarchy

Back 36

government headed by a king or queen

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Representative democracy

Back 37

in a democracy, people are elected to represent the citizens - example, United States

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Rural

Back 38

relating to living on a farm or village; opposite of urban

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Subsistence farming

Back 39

farming that supplies only enough food to feed the family

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Suffrage

Back 40

right to vote

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Tariff

Back 41

tax on imported goods

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Terrain

Back 42

shape of the land

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Urban

Back 43

relating to living in a city; opposite of rural

Front 44

Urbanization

Back 44

changing or moving from rural to the cities