Genocide • The deliberate and

systematic destruction, in whole or in part, of an ethnic, racial, religious, or national group.

Geopolitical

• The relation between politics and territory and compromises the art and practice of analyzing, proscribing, forecasting, and using political power over a given territory.

Glacier

• Large body of ice that moves across the surface of the earth.

GIS (Global Information System)

• A computer system that stores, organizes, analyzes, and displays geographic data.

GPS (Global Positioning System)

• A system that determines the precise position of something on Earth through a series of satellites, tracking stations, and receivers.

Global Trade Patterns

Global Warming

• Gradual warming of the earth and its atmosphere that may be caused in part by pollution and an increase in the greenhouse effect.

Globalization

• Actions or processes that involve the entire world and result in making something worldwide in scope.

Greenhouse Effect

• The capacity of certain gases in the atmosphere to trap heat, thereby warming the earth.

Grid System

• Pattern formed as the lines of latitude and longitude cross one another.

Gross Domestic Product

• The value of goods and services created within a country in a year.

Hemisphere

• Half of a sphere or globe, as in the earth’s Northern and Southern Hemispheres.

Hinduism

• The third larges religion with 1 billion believers, found primarily in South Asia and includes the belief in Karma, Dharma, and Reincarnation.

Homogenous

• Of the same or similar kind or nature.

Human Development Index

• Indicator of level of development for each country, constructed by United Nations, combining income, literacy, education, and life expectancy.

Human Geography

• Also called cultural geography; the study of human activities and their relationship to the cultural and physical environments.

Hurricane

• A large, powerful windstorm that forms over warm ocean waters.

Hydrosphere

• The watery areas of the earth, including oceans, lakes, rivers, and other bodies of water.

Ideology

• Body of doctrine, myth, belief, that guides an individual, social movement, or large group

Infrastructure

• The basic urban necessities like streets and utilities.

Immigration

• The movement of people into one country from another.

Indigenous

• Native to a place.

Industrialization

• Transition from an agricultural society to one based on industry.

Infant Mortality Rate

• The total number of deaths in a year among infants under one year old for every 1,000 live births in a society.

Innovation • The renewal or improvement of an already

existing technology.

International

• Something or a company that involves more than one country.

Internet

• A system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet Protocol Suite to serve billions of users worldwide.

Islam

• The second largest religion and the belief of Allah, which is articulated in the Qur’an was brought by the Prophet Muhammad.

Island

• An area of land surrounded by water.

Isthmus

• Narrow stretch of land connecting 2 larger land areas.

Judaism • One of the oldest monotheistic religions; it

is a religion, philosophy and way of life for the Jewish people. Belief in God as described in the written and oral Torah.

Latitude

• The numbering system used to indicate the location of parallels drawn on a globe and measuring distance north and south of the equator.

Leeward

• Facing away from the direction from which the wind is blowing.

Leeward Side

Less Developed Country

• A country that is at a relatively early stage in the process of economic development.

Literacy Rate

• The percentage of people in a given place who can read and write.

Lithosphere

• Surface land areas of the earth’s crust, including continents and ocean basins.

Longitude

• The numbering system used to indicate the location of meridians drawn on a globe and measuring distance east and wet of the Prime Meridian.

Life Expectancy • The average number of

years an individual can be expected to live given current conditions.

Mainland

• A large continuous extent of land that includes the greater part of a country or territory, as opposed to offshore islands and detached territories.

Mantle

• Thick middle layer of the earth’s interior structure, consisting of dense, hot rock.

Manufacturing

• The use of machines, tools, and labor to produce goods for use or sale.

Market Economy

• An economic system based on free enterprise, in which businesses are privately owned, and production and prices are determined by supply and demand.

Megalopolis

• A “super-city” that is made up of several large and small cities such as the area between Boston and Washington, D.C.

Meridian

• An arc drawn on a map between the North and South Poles.

Minority

• A sociological group that does not make up a politically dominate voting majority of the total population of a given society.

Monarchy

• A form of government in which all political power is passed down to an individual.

Monotheism

• Belief in one God.

Monsoon • In Asia, seasonal wind that brings warm,

moist air from the oceans in summer and cold, dry air from inland in winter.

More Developed Country

• A country that has progressed relatively far along a continuum of development.

Multiculturalism

• The appreciation, acceptance or promotion of multiple cultures, applied to the demographic make-up of a specific place, usually at the organizational level.