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Ch. 18-20 vocabulary
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, in what goods will be made, how much workers will be paid, and how much items will cost |
Eurasia | The name some geographers suggest 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 or 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 complications 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 II |
velvet revolution | A revolution without bloodshed, which took place in Czechoslovakia during the late 1980s |
collective farm | A government-owned farm managed by workers who share profits from their produce |
privatization | The process of selling government-owned industries and businesses to private owners |
balkanize | To break up into small, mutually hostile political units, as occurred in the Balkans after World War I |
entrepeneur | A go-getter individual who starts and builds a business |
multiplier effect | The effect an investment has in multiplying related jobs throughout the economy |
annex | To formally incorporate into a country or state the territory of another |
diversify | To increase the variety of |
chernozem | A rich topsoil found in Russian steppes and other mid-latitude grasslands |
permafrost | A layer of soil just below the earth's surface that stays permanently frozen |
czar | An emperor of Russia |
soviet | In the former Soviet Union, any one of 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 1980s |
perestroika | In the former Soviet Union, a policy of economic restructuring |
ruble | The currency of Russia |
black market | The system of selling goods and services outside of official channels |
abdicate | To surrender one's office, throne, or authority |