Geog Midterm

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milpa

Back 1

Corn field, generally created by slash-and-burn agriculture

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masa

Back 2

A flour made from dried corn kernels which have been cooked in limewater, then left to soak overnight

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teosinte mutation

Back 3

A mutation of tall grass-like native of Mexico with tassel and small, hard ears (example of agricultural engineering)

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green revolution

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Introduction of improved seed strains, fertilizers, and irrigation as a means of producing higher yields in crops such as rice, wheat, and corn

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olmec

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A culture that thrived between 1200 and 400 BC in southern Mexico, near the Gulf Coast.

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toltec

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The Toltecs ruled much of Maya central Mexico from the tenth to twelfth centuries.

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zapotec

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style of weaving by native Mexican Zapotec Indians from Oaxaca

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cultural landscape

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a geographic area (including both cultural and natural resources and the wildlife or domestic animals therein), associated with a historic event

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nahuatl

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ancient mexican language

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alluvial soil

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Sandy or silty soil deposited by flowing water on the valley floors of streams or rivers.

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monumental architecture

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at an archaeological site, refers to large man-made structures of stone or earth.

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wari

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The Waricaca', also known as the Pakaa Nova, are an Amerindian nation indigenous to the Amazon tropical forest

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tiwanaku

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Tiwanaku (Spanish spellings: Tiahuanaco and Tiahuanacu) is an important Pre-Columbian archaeological site in Bolivia.

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el nino

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A warming of the ocean current along the coasts of Peru and Ecuador that is generally associated with dramatic changes in the weather patterns

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la nina

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A cooling of the equatorial waters in the Pacific Ocean.

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MFAC hypothesis

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(Maritime Foundations of Andean Civilizations): proposition there waslittle subsistence agriculture around Aspero and all highland Peruvian cultures (Inka) were founded on fishery.

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Wak'a

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In Quechua, a Native American language of South America, a huaca or wak'a is an object that represents something revered

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Ecological sucesion

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The process in which the community of organisms changes over time as an unoccupied habitat progresses towards a stable community.

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Cahokia

Back 19

site of an ancient Native American city in Illinois across the Mississippi River

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Hopewell

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Burial-mound-building culture centered in the Ohio River valley.

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Hereditary priesthood

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priesthood passed down from generation to generation

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Swidden agriculture

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the process of growing crops that begins with land being cleared and burned before being planted; slash-and-burn agriculture

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environmental determinism

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Theory that a person does not act on the world but is essentially reactive to and a product of environmental and behavioral circumstances.

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Remote-sensing

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A method of obtaining information about properties of an object without coming into physical contact with that object.

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Manioc

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plants grown in the tropics for their starchy, edible rootstock, commonly found as a dietary staple among gardening peoples.

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Terra preta

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Terra preta (“dark soil” in Portuguese) refers to expanses of very dark, fertile anthropogenic soils found in the Amazon Basin.

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Ecological release

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Habitat expansion or density increase of a species when one or more competing species are not present.

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colombian exchange

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Biological and ecological exchange of organisms that took place following Spanish establishment of colonies in New World

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keystone species

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A species whose impacts on its community or ecosystem are large, and much larger than would be expected from its abundance.

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Ancien regime

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ecological way of life that indians lived before white settlers came

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ANCAP

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(Administracion National de Combustibles, Alcohol y Portland) State owned Uruguayan refinery; sold crude petrolium

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Exchange Deterioration

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prices of imports rises quicker than price of exports...led to "trade gap"

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Mononera

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an Argentine left-wing Peronist guerrilla

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International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank (WB)

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IMF: U.S. owns 1/4, both presure L.A. to reshape economies to pay foreign debt (difficult because of debt explosion)...vicious cyle

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Protectionism

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charging foreign traders a tax, or tariff, when their goods enter your country.

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Imperialism

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The practice of one country extending its control over the territory, political system, or economic life of another country.

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World System Theory

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poverty and backwardness in poor countries are caused by the underdeveloped position that these nations have in the international division of labor.

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War of Triple alliance

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paraguay vs. [argentina, brazil, uruguay]; ruined only country independent of foreign loans; struggle for rio de la plata (brazil), paraguayan expansion, british economic interests

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Environmental Marginality

Back 39

distribution of species in an area

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LAFTA

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to increase trade "through private enterprise"...failed.

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El Dorado

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sir walter raleigh sailed up orinoco in search of mythical city of gold

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Encomienda

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land grants + labor in the New World were made to royal favorites, abolished in 16th cent....led to slave labor

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Braceros

Back 43

laborer serving latifunios

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IADB

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Inter-American Development Bank; established 1959, to promote economic and social development in Latin America.

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Petrobras

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semi-public Brazilian Energy company

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Pancho Villa

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Mexican revolutionary leader

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Tied Aid

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foreign aid that must be spent in the country providing the aid

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tied aid

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Tied aid is foreign aid that must be spent in the country providing the aid

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mixed enterprise system

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both government and private involvement

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Chaco War

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Bolivia vs. Paraguay over Gran Chaco region, falsely believed to be oil rich.

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Pax Brittanica

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period of european peace; Britain had unriviled naval power

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Organation of American States (OAS)

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proposed by Bolivar; includes 35 independent American states; works for peace, democracy, unity

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Technocrats

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a governmental system where decision makers are selected based upon how highly skilled they are, rather than how much political capital they hold.

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debt explosion

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loans increase, as do payments for interest, dividends, amortization..led to "trade gap"

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altiplano

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high Bolivian plateau; crops grown, more fertile

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Treaty of Tordesillas

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spanish and portuguese divide world in 2 parts: brazil and rest of L.A.

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Agusto Sandino

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Nicaraguan revolutionary

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Simon Bolivar

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venezuelan revolutionary

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Trade Gap

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difference between import needs and income from exports

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OPEC

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(organization of petrolium exporting companies) includes equador and brazil

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capitalist manifesto

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by Brazilian. states that capitalist in its pure form has never existed, most practical system; "injustice does not exist"

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GATT/WTO

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(General Agreement on Trades and Tariff) used by U.S. to impose free trade doctrin on L.A., forcing reduction of quotas, im/export tariffs, etc., (World Trade Organization)

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cordon sanitaire

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prevent spread of "dangerous" ideologies

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state monopolies

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a government agency is the sole provider of a particular good or service and competition is prohibited by law.

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nationalization

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government takeover of a private company

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privatization

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returning gov. owned property to private ownership

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indemnities

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Cash payments made by the losing side in a war to the victor to recompense the victor for costs

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austerity measures

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Reduced government spending to pay back creditors

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cartels

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formal agreement among firms reg. price fixing,market shares, industry output, etc.

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internal/external markets

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INTERNAL:operates inside an organizations
EXTERNAL:placed outside the borders of the country issuing that currency(for financial securities).

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liberalism

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an economic theory advocating free competition and a self-regulating market

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Neoliberalism

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favors social justice while also emphasizing economic growth, efficiency, and the benefits of free markets.

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protectionism

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encouragement of restrictions on imports to enable relatively inefficient domestic producers to compete successfully with foreign producers.

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tariff

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tax levied on imports.

Front 75

extractive infrastructure

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process associated with extracting natural resources, ex. mining of metals, natural gases, etc.

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unequal exchange

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an exchange taking place where the rate of profit has been internationally equalised, but wage-levels (or those of any other factor of production) have not.

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economic militarization

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the growth in spending for military purposes

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free trade AREA

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Trade within the group is duty free but members set own tariffs on imports from non-members (ex. NAFTA)

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concessions

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Discounts given by landlords to prospective tenants to induce them to sign a lease.

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International Division of Labor

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specialisation of cooperative labour in specific, circumscribed tasks and roles, intended to increase the productivity of labour.

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washington consensus

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economic policy to constitute reform package for developing countries in crises by U.S. institutions such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF), World Bank and the U.S. Treasury Department; associated with neoliberalism and expanding free market

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dependent industrialization

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(i.e. dependency theory)resources flow from the poor and underdeveloped states to a "core" of wealthy states, enriching the latter at the expense of the former (ex. argentinian automobile indus.)

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uneven development

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economy which has not benefited equally from development either geographically or class wise(relates to globalization

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social fragmentation

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separation into social classes

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subimperialism

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economic and military power one country holds over neighboring states(ex. petrobras hostile position towards bolivian nationalization of oil and gas)

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denationalized industry

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private ownership

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customs

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deals with taxes on imported/exported goods

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oligarchy

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political system governed by a few people

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Pristine myth

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the myth of Indians living in a perfectly balanced, natural relationship to an environment they did nothing to shape

Front 90

ecological release

Back 90

organism escapes home and paracutes into ecosystem that has never encountered it before

Front 91

keystone species

Back 91

have disproportionate impact on their ecosystem

Front 92

terra preta

Back 92

refers to expanses of very dark, fertile anthropogenic soils found in the Amazon Basin

Front 93

pedology

Back 93

study of soil

Front 94

environmental probabilism

Back 94

assigns different probabilities to alternative patterns of geographic behaviour in a particular location or environment.

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anthropogenic landscape

Back 95

the enviornment as is influenced by man.

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landscape morphology

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space and shape of geography

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linguistic anthropology

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technical analysis of language

Front 98

glottochronology

Back 98

A method of estimating the relative date at which related languages separated from a common ancestral language

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stratigraphy

Back 99

The study of layers sequentially deposited over time

Front 100

quipu

Back 100

A record-keeping device of the Inca empire consisting of a series of variously colored strings attached to a base rope and knotted

Front 101

historical demography

Back 101

quantitative study of history of human population

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clovis culture

Back 102

prehistoric new mexican culture

Front 103

neolithic revolution

Back 103

The Neolithic Revolution was the first agricultural revolution—the transition from hunting and gathering communities and bands, to agriculture

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Bartolome de las casas

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spanish priest who tortured native americans

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hegemonic empire vs. territorial empire

Back 105

H.E: single center of power with surrounding satellites of decreasing influence (ex. Aztec)
T.E: controls all territory directly (ex. inca)