World Regions Midterm

Globalization

increasing connectedness of people and places around the world 

tariff

a tax on imports

quota

a limit on how much is imported

glocalization

global+local; modifying an introduced globalized product or service to fit local tastes or cultural practices (McDonalds in other countries, Sesame Street)

WTO

World Trade Organization (reduces trade barriers, mediates trade disputes)

IMF

International Monetary Fund (makes short-term loans to countries in trouble) 

Fossil fuels

Coal, petroleum, and natural gas (an abundant natural resource in the US and Canada)

Navigable waterways

Used for inland shipping (Mississippi River and St. Lawrence River)

Canada’s population distribution

Climate limitations cause 90% of Canada’s population to live within 100 miles of the U.S. border

Conurbation

Metro areas sprawling and overlapping

Federal state

lawmaking power divided between national government and territorial units such as states or provinces (both US and Canada) 

Québécois

Quebec residents with French ancestry 

Economic sectors (primary, secondary, tertiary, quaternary)

Primary: extracting resources from the Earth, Secondary: transform raw materials into finished products, Tertiary: provide services. Most of US and Canada citizens work in tertiary 

Sectoral transformation in the U.S.

Shift in the concentration of a country’s economic activity and employment (from primary sector in WWII, between WWI and WWII secondary and tertiary) 

US trade partners

Mexico, Canada, China, Japan, Germany 

Sources of US petroleum imports

Canada, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Brazil

Characteristics of Latin American colonial history (4)

Shared colonial history, by Iberian countries (Spain and Portugal), 2/3 speak Spanish, 1/3 speak Portuguese, predominately Catholic

Altitudinal zonation

When elevation rises, temperatures and vegetation drop. Latin American people have adapted agricultural uses to different elevations

Rainforest biodiversity

Rainforests accounts for 6% global landmass, but 50% of global species

Aquifer

Underground water deposit (Mexico City has a scarcity of surface water, so they use an aquifer which is 70% of their water supplies)

Subsidence

Land surface sinking as underground sediments compact (Mexico City is sinking because of subsidence)

Rural-to-urban migration

In 1950, ¼ of Latin Americans lived in urban areas. Today, it’s 80%.

Squatter settlements

As more people move to cities in Mexico City, housing shortages create squatter settlements – illegally living on land

Primate city

A city that is 3 or more times larger than the next largest city (Mexico City or Buenos Aires)

Megacity

cities of 10 million or more inhabitants (Latin America has 4)

Demographic collapse

Caused by epidemics, war, forced labor, and starvation

Columbian Exchange

diffusion of crops & livestock (& diseases) from the Eastern Hemisphere to the Western Hemisphere & vise versa

Supranatural organization

Multi-state governing body (political, economic, military)

NAFTA/USMCA members

Promotes free trade between U.S., Mexico, & Canada

Primary export dependency

National economy reliant on export of raw material (60% of Brazil’s income in 1950 came from coffee)

Neocolonialism

export raw materials, import finished goods (Latin America’s trade relationship with Europe & U.S.)

Diaspora

culture group scattered abroad over large geographic area (Carribean Diaspora: found in North America, Britain, France, and the Netherlands)

Remittances

money sent to their family in their home country (important to the Caribbean economy)

Circular migration

temporary move between home and host country to seek employment (often lone adults) 

Chain migration

individual moves first, followed by family members and possibly friends from home country 

Brain drain

the best educated people migrating from developing to developed countries (Jamaica)

Creolization

blending of European and African cultures (languages, religion, music)

Syncretic religions

Voodoo in Haiti and Santeria in Cuba 

US relationship to Puerto Rico

US acquired PR at the end of the Spanish American War, people in PR can move to and work in the US but do not vote in Presidential elections

Referendum

A vote on an issue; In a 1967 referendum, voters in Puerto Rico chose to remain a territory; no clear majority in 1993 and 1998 

US relationship with Cuba

became a US territory, gained independence (minus Guantanamo Bay), became Communist in the Cold War, and the US imposed trade embargo that still stand today

Trade embargo

Imposed on Cuba during the Cold War

Free-trade zones

Tariff free industrial parks attract assembly work from foreign corps (export-led strategy)

Off-shore banking

offering foreign clients confidential and tax-exempt banking services (can lead to trafficking)

Capital leakage

huge gap between gross receipts and total tourist dollars that remain in the Caribbean (one downside of Caribbean tourism)

Great Rift Valley’s formation

as tectonic plates diverge, land sinks to form valleys (volcanically formed mountains)

Transhumance and the Sahel

the seasonal movement of livestock, taking cattle to the Sahel in wet season to escape tsetse fly (cause of sleeping sickness) in the south 

Desertification

expansion of desert conditions (deep wells dug in Sahel as part of development efforts) 

Deforestation

Driven by commercial logging in tropical forests and demand for biofuels such as wood and charcoal for household use (trees cleared from forest and savanna)

Total Fertility Rate

average number of children a woman will have (about 5 for Sub-Saharan Africa)

Reasons for large families in rural areas 

Prestige, farming, government safety nets, high infant mortality rate, limited access to contraceptives, less education for girls

subsistence agriculture & its characteristics 

food production for family’s needs and local markets (Small scale, labor intensive, diversified crops, stable foods, practiced by largest # of people) 

export agriculture & its characteristics  

commercial production to sell aboard (Large scale, labor intensive, few owners/lots of workers;Exports: coffee, tea, cacao, tobacco, cut flowers aka luxury crops)

primate city & moved capital city  

Lagos as primate city led to moving capital to Abuja in 1991

Niger-Congo language family

spread with pioneering farmers from West Africa to East and southern Africa over 3,000 years 

Linga franca and Swahili

Lingua franca- common language used to facilitate communication for a specific purpose (originated as trade language of East Africa coast)

Berlin Conference

European powers met in 1884 to decide how to divide the continent (goal of avoiding war in Europe, Africans had no say, created illogical boundary lines)

“Big Man” politics & kleptocracy 

Presidents who gain power and refuse to leave (South Africa) states in which corruption is institutionalized; politicians and government workers steal from the state (including money for aid and development) 

One-party state

only one political party legally recognized (South Africa)

connectivity & infrastructure improvements  

Cell phones, internet, highways, railroads, electric dams, solar power

Salinization

accumulation of salt in topsoil due to evaporation, toxic to crops

Exotic rivers

Transport water from distant wetter lands to drier regions (Nile in Sudan and Egypt and Tigris and Euphrates in Iraq)

Intraregional migration

Within SWA and NA from oil poor to oil rich countries

Afro-Asiatic language family

The most widespread in SWANA, includes Arabis, Berber, and Hebrew

Ethnic religion

a faith practiced primarily by one culture group and its adherents are usually concentrated in one place (Judaism and Hinduism)

Universal religion

seeks to appeal to all people, no matter where they live in the world, actively seeks converts (Christianity, Islam, Budhism)

Culture hearth

place of origin of a cultural innovation

monotheistic religions (Judaism, Christianity, & Islam) (3)

Believe in one God, share Abrahamic tradition, Jerusalem is a holy city for all three

Ottoman Empire

Turks dominated the region from 1550 to 1850 via the Ottoman Empire. They faced competition from European colonists and was dissolved by the end of WWII

Israeli security barrier in the West Bank  

Began in 2003 and the walls continued to extend to the West Bank

Islamic Revolution

A backlash against the rule of the wealthy, secular, pro-Western Shah (king). Led to the Iranian Hostage Crisis and no US relations with Iran ever since

Theocracy

a government headed by religious leaders (Iran)

Stateless nation

A large culture group without a country (Kurds and Palestinians of Gaza and West Bank)

Arab League

supernational political organization formed in 1945 (safeguard sovereignty, focused on matters of interest to the Arabs, 22 members today

OPEC

Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, created by oil-rich countries as a way to control world market price of oil 

Turkey’s relationship with the West

Applied for EU membership in 1987 but met with resistance from Europeans and Islamists within Turkey 

GAFTA

Trade bloc promoting free trade among 17 mostly Arab countries