Unit 3 Vocab - AP Geo Pg: 3

These flashcards cover essential vocabulary related to cosmogony and various aspects of religion, providing definitions for each term.

Cosmogony

A set of beliefs concerning the origin of the universe.

Denomination

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

Ethnic religion

A religion with a relatively concentrated spatial distribution whose principles are likely to be based on the physical characteristics of the particular location in which its adherents are concentrated.

Fundamentalism

Literal interpretation and strict adherence to basic principles of a religion.

Ghetto

During the middle ages, a neighborhood in a city set up by law to be inhabited only by Jews; now used to denote a section of a city in which members of any minority group live because of social, legal, or economic discrimination.

Hierarchical Religion

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

Lunar calendar

A calendar with months that correspond to cycles of moon phases.

Lunisolar calendar

A calendar with lunar months that are brought into alignment with the solar year through some process.

Missionary

An individual who helps to diffuse a universalizing religion.

Monotheism

The doctrine of or belief in the existence of only one God.

Pilgrimage

A journey to a place considered sacred for religious purposes.

Polytheism

Belief in or worship of more than one god.

Solar calendar

A calendar that relates to the season or the apparent position of the sun in relation to the stars.

Solstice

An astronomical event that happens twice each year when the tilt of Earth's axis is most inclined toward or away from the Sun.

Syncretic

Combining several religious traditions.

Universalizing religion

A religion that attempts to appeal to all people, not just those living in a particular location.

Utopian settlement

A community built around an ideal way of life, often based on a religion.

Apartheid

Laws (no longer in effect) in South Africa that physically separated different races into different geographic areas.

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 into the neighborhood.

Ethnic cleansing

A purposeful policy designed by one ethnic or religious group to remove by violent and terror-inspiring means the civilian population of another ethnic or religious group from certain geographic areas.