AP Human Geography Unit 3 Quiz #2: Culture Terminology and Definitions

Animism

Belief that objects, such as plants and stones, or natural events, like thunderstorms and earthquakes, have a discrete spirit and life.

Autonomous religion

A religion that does not have a central authority but shares ideas and cooperates informally.

Branch

A large and fundamental division within a religion.

Caste system

System in India that gives every Indian a particular place in the social hierarchy from birth

Cosmogony

A set of religious beliefs concerning the origin of the universe.

Denomination

A division of a branch that unites a number of local congregations in a single legal and administrative body

Ethnic Religion

relate closely to culture, ethnic heritage, and to the physical geography of a particular place.

Fundamentalism

Literal interpretation and strict adherence to basic principles of a religion

Hiearchial religion

A religion in which a central authority exercises a high degree of control.

Ghetto

is an area of a city in which people of an ethnic minority are confined either by official government policy or by economic and social obstacles that make it difficult for people of that ethnicity to exist outside of the ghetto.

Missionaries

An individual who helps to diffuse a universalizing religion.

Monotheism

the belief that there is only one god or divine being

Pagan

a follower of a polytheistic religion in ancient times;

Pilgrimage

voluntary travel by an adherent to a sacred site to pay respects or participate in a ritual at the site.

Polytheism

belief in more than one god

Sect

A relatively small group that has broken away from an established denomination.

Sharia

the legal framework within which public and some private aspects of life are regulated for those living in a legal system based on Muslim principles.

Universalizing Religion

offer belief systems that are attractive to the universal population.

Apartheid

a social policy enforced by the South African government for much of the twentieth century, between its independence and the end of apartheid in 1990

Balkanization

The political term used when referring to the fragmentation or breakup of a region or country into smaller regions or countries.

Blockbusting

A process by which real estate agents. convince white property owners to sell. their houses at low prices because of. fear that persons of color will soon move.

Centrifugal force

forces or attitudes that tend to divide a state

Centripetal Forces

an attitude that unifies people and enhances support for a state

ethnic cleansing

when a people group commits mass expulsion or mass killing of a particular ethnic group whom they do not want to exist either in a particular region or in the world as a whole.

multi-ethnic state

A state that contains more than one ethnicity.

multinational state

a state that consists of two or more nations within its borders.

Nationalism

the attachment of a person to a particular nation, or a political action by such a group to achieve statehood (or national self-determination).

nationality

identity with a group of people who share legal attachment and personal allegiance to a particular country.

Nation-state

A state in which the cultural borders of a nation correspond with the state borders of a country

Racism

Belief that race is the primary determinant of human traits and capacities and that racial differences produce an inherent superiority of a particular race.

Self-determination

the process by which a country determines its own statehood and forms its own allegiances and governments.

"Separate But Equal"

The doctrine established by Plessy v Ferguson (1896) that African Americans could constitutionally be kept in separate but equal facilities.

Sharecropper

a system of agriculture whereby a landowner allows an individual or a family to rent a portion of land in exchange for a share of the crops they harvest.

Triangular Slave Trate

a practice, primarily during the 18th century, in which European ships transported slaves from Africa to Caribbean islands, molasses from the Caribbean to Europe, and trade goods from Europe to Africa.

"White Flight"

the phenomenon of white people moving out of urban neighborhoods that are becoming racially or ethnically diverse, often to suburban areas.

Blue laws

laws that restrict certain activities such as the sale of alcohol on Sunday

Buddhism

This religion was founded by Siddhartha Gautama and explained the way to salvation through self-discipline and poverty. It evolved from Hinduism in northern India and Nepal.

Christianity

A monotheistic system of beliefs and practices based on the Old Testament and the teachings of Jesus as embodied in the New Testament and emphasizing the role of Jesus as savior.

Colonialism

physical process whereby the colonizer takes over another place, putting its own government in charge and either moving its own people into the place or bringing in indentured outsiders to gain control of the people and the land

Diaspora

when a group of people are scattered to various locations.

Ethnic Neighborhood

an area within a city containing members of the same ethnic background

ethnic separatism

The advocacy of a state of cultural, ethnic, tribal, religious, racial, governmental or gender separation from the larger group.

Ethnonationalism/ Ethnic Nationalism

a form of nationalism wherein the nation is defined in terms of ethnicity

Ethnocentrism

Belief in the superiority of one's nation or ethnic group.

Genocide

A premeditated effort to kill everyone from a particular ethnic group.

Hindhuism

One of the oldest religions in the modern world, dating back over 4000 years, and originated in the indus River Valley. Unique among the World's religions in that it does not have a single founder, single theology, or agreement on its origin.

Imperialism

the policy, practice, or advocacy of extending the power and dominion of a nation especially by direct territorial acquisitions or by gaining indirect control over the political or economic life of other areas

indigenous communities

Ethnic groups who are the original settlers of a given region in contrast to groups that have settled, occupied, or colonized the area more recently.

Islam

the monotheistic religion of Muslims founded in Arabia in the 7th century and based on the teachings of Muhammad as laid down in the Koran

Judaism

the monotheistic religion of the Jews having its spiritual and ethical principles embodied chiefly in the Torah and in the Talmud. It originated with Abraham and the Hebrew people.

Karma

the idea that behaviors have consequences in the present life or a future life

multistate nation

an ethnicity that is dispersed throughout several countries

Nation

culturally defined group of people with a shared past and a common future who relate to a territory and have political goals ( ranging from autonomy to statehood)

Neo-colonialism

the use of economic, pollitical, cultural, or other pressures to control or influences to control or influence other countries, especially former dependencies.

sequent occupancy

the succession of groups and cultural influences throughout a place's history

Shaman

The single person who takes on the roles of priest, counselor, and physician and acts as a conduit to the supernatural world in a shamanist culture.

Sikhism

the doctrines of a monotheistic religion founded in northern India in the 16th century by Guru Nanak and combining elements of Hinduism and Islam

state

A politically organized territory that is administered by a sovereign government and is recognized by a significant portion of the international community

stateless nation

Nation- a group of people with a common culture occupying a particular territory that does not operate as an independent political unit with a defined, permanently populated territory and has no sovereign control over its internal and foreign affairs. Essentially, it refers to a people without a state. There are plenty of stateless nations in the world today. The Kurds are one of the largest stateless nation.

Theocracies

governments that are run by religious leaders through the use of religious laws.

Zionism

movement to create a Jewish nation (homeland) in the middle east