World Regional Geography and History Review

Vocabulary flashcards covering key historical, economic, political, and geographic concepts from the sample questions lecture.

Nationalism

A concept that includes a feeling of belonging to a nation, the belief that a nation has a right to determine its own affairs, and a historical way of "imagining communities" initiated by the creole elite of European colonies.

Staples economy

An economy based on unprocessed resources for export, which served as the historical basis of Canada's atypical economy.

The "Long Boom"

An expansionary period in the US economy following World War II that ended in the early 1970s, characterized by robust economic growth, low unemployment, increased living standards, and decreased inequality.

Import substitution

A policy used by Latin American countries such as Mexico, Brazil, and Argentina in the mid-20th century to promote domestic industries.

Treaty of Tordesillas

A 1494 agreement made by Pope Alexander VI to divide the world between Spain and Portugal along a meridian 1100 miles west of Cape Verde.

Land Ordinance of 1785

A historic ordinance that established the Public Lands Survey System in the United States.

Headright System

A land distribution system used in colonial Virginia that initially granted parcels of 50 to 100 acres "for improvement," ultimately leading to massive land consolidation in the US Southeast.

Sovereign state

A political entity defined by exercising power over territory, exercising authority over a population, and being recognized by other states and international law.

Lloyds of London and Barclays Bank, D.C.O.

Prominent financial institutions that originated in the transatlantic slave trade.

Hacienda

A large estate established during the Spanish colonial era, primarily oriented toward local and regional markets, run by families under the authority of a Patrón, and prevalent in interior and highland regions.

Plantation

A large agricultural estate focused on export crops, characterized by labor specialization, and prevalent in coastal and lowland regions to grow crops like sugar in places such as Brazil and Puerto Rico.

First wave of colonization

An economic era associated with merchant capitalism, the slave trade, and the emergence of plantation economies.

Ottoman Empire

The Eastern Mediterranean empire that blocked Iberian access to markets in port cities surrounding the Indian Ocean during the 15th and 16th centuries.

Haiti

The Caribbean nation formed in 1804 when formerly enslaved people declared independence from France.

The Middle Passage

The dangerous sea journey forced upon enslaved people sailing from Africa to the Western Hemisphere.

Silver

The most important mineral excavated during the colonial period in the mining districts of the Bolivian and Peruvian Andes.

Brazil

The country where the greatest number of enslaved Africans disembarked, according to David Eltis's maps of the trans-Atlantic slave trade.

Primary sector

The sector of the economy that encompasses extractive activities.

Tertiary sector

The sector of employment constituted by the provision of services.

Tabula Rogeriana

A 1154 "map of the known world" created by Islamic cartographer Muhammed al-Idrisi that orients the south at the top of the map.

Graticule

The grid system that map makers use to construct map projections.