Unit Three Besty Vocab

Culture

The shared practices, technologies, attitudes, and behaviors transmitted by a society.

Cultural Diffusion

The spread of cultural beliefs and social activities from one group to another.

Acculturation

The process of adopting some elements of another culture while retaining one's original culture.

Assimilation

The process whereby a minority group gradually adopts the customs and attitudes of the prevailing culture.

Cultural Hearth

The origin area from which a culture, innovation, or idea spreads.

Folk Culture

Traditionally practiced by small, homogenous, rural groups living in isolation.

Popular Culture

Culture that is widespread among a society's population.

Cultural Landscape

The visible imprint of human activity on the landscape.

Cultural Relativism

The idea that a person’s beliefs and practices should be understood based on that person's own culture.

Ethnocentrism

Evaluating other cultures according to the standards of one's own culture.

Taboo

A restriction on behavior imposed by social custom.

Language Family

A group of languages that share a common ancestral language.

Language Branch

A collection of languages within a family related through a common ancestral language.

Lingua Franca

A common language used among speakers of different languages for the purposes of trade and communication.

Creole Language

A stable natural language that develops from the mixing of parent languages.

Dialect

A regional variation of a language distinguished by vocabulary, spelling, and pronunciation.

Isogloss

A boundary that separates regions with different language features.

Universalizing Religion

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

Ethnic Religion

A religion that is particular to one culturally distinct group of people.

Secularism

A doctrine that rejects religion and religious considerations in public life.

Monotheism

The belief in one God.

Polytheism

The belief in or worship of more than one god.

Nation-State

A state whose territory corresponds to that occupied by a specific nation.

Stateless Nation

A nation that does not have its own independent state.

Multinational State

A state that contains more than one nation within its borders.

Centripetal Force

A force that unifies a state and brings people together.

Centrifugal Force

A force that divides people and countries.

Colonialism

The practice of acquiring full or partial political control over another country, occupying it with settlers, and exploiting it economically.

Imperialism

The policy of extending a country’s power and influence through diplomacy or military force.

Dependency Theory

The notion that resources flow from poor states to wealthy states, enriching the latter at the expense of the former.

Neocolonialism

The practice of using economic or political pressures to control or influence other countries, especially former dependencies.

Devolution

The transfer of political power from the central government to regional governments.

Supranational Organization

An entity composed of three or more states that forge an association and form an administrative structure for mutual benefit and shared goals.

Gerrymandering

The manipulation of electoral district boundaries for political advantage.

Globalization

The process by which businesses or other organizations develop international influence or start operating on an international scale.

Urbanization

The increase in the percentage and in the number of people living in urban settlements.

Suburbanization

The process of population movement from within cities to the rural-urban fringe.

Megacity

A city with a population of over 10 million people.

Primate City

A city that is disproportionately larger than any other city in the country.

Edge City

A concentration of business, shopping, and entertainment outside a traditional downtown.

Gentrification

The process of renovating and improving a house or district so that it conforms to middle-class taste.

Zoning Laws

Legal restrictions on land use that determine what types of buildings and economic activities are allowed.

Greenbelt

A ring of land maintained as parks, agricultural land, or other types of open space to limit urban sprawl.

Squatter Settlement

An area within a city in a less developed country where people illegally establish residences on land they do not own or rent.

Industrial Revolution

A period of major industrialization that took place during the late 1700s and early 1800s.

Cottage Industry

A business or manufacturing activity carried on in a person's home.

Sustainable Development

Development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.

Human Development Index (HDI)

A measure of a country's social and economic development.

GDP (Gross Domestic Product)

The total value of goods and services produced within a country in a year.

Primary Sector

The part of the economy that involves the extraction of raw materials.

Secondary Sector

The part of the economy that transforms raw materials into finished products.

Tertiary Sector

The part of the economy that provides services rather than goods.

Quaternary Sector

The part of the economy concerned with information, research, and technology.

Quinary Sector

The part of the economy that involves high-level decision-making.

Bulk-Gaining Industry

An industry in which the final product weighs more or has a greater volume than the inputs.

Bulk-Reducing Industry

An industry in which the final product weighs less or has less volume than the inputs.

Just-In-Time Delivery

A strategy where materials and goods are delivered only as they are needed in the production process.

Outsourcing

A business practice of hiring an external organization to perform services.

Offshoring

The relocation of business processes or production to a foreign country.

Agglomeration

The clustering of industries or businesses in a specific area.

Basic Industries

Industries that sell their products or services primarily to consumers outside the settlement.

Non-Basic Industries

Industries that sell their products or services primarily to local consumers.

Cottage Industry

A small-scale, home-based manufacturing business.

Maquiladora

Factories built by U.S. companies in Mexico near the U.S. border.

Fordism

A system of mass production pioneered by the Ford Motor Company.

Post-Fordism

Modern industrial production has moved away from mass production to more flexible forms of production.

Central Place Theory

A theory that explains the distribution of services based on settlements serving as 'central places'.

Range (of a service)

The maximum distance people are willing to travel to use a service.

Threshold (of a service)

The minimum number of people needed to support a service.

Rank-Size Rule

A pattern of settlements where the nth-largest settlement is 1/n the population of the largest settlement.

Primate City Rule

A pattern where the largest city in a country is significantly larger than the next largest.

Urban Sprawl

The uncontrolled expansion of urban areas.

Bid-Rent Theory

A theory that explains how the price and demand for real estate change with distance from the city center.

Sector Model

A model of urban land use suggesting cities develop in sectors or wedges.

Multiple Nuclei Model

A model suggesting cities have multiple centers around which different types of development cluster.

Urban Morphology

The study of the physical form and structure of urban places.

Gateway City

A city that serves as a link between one country or region and others due to its location.

Edge City

A relatively large urban area situated on the outskirts of a city.

Gentrification

The process of renovating and improving a district so that it conforms to middle-class taste.

Megalopolis

A large, sprawling urban complex formed by the convergence of multiple cities.

World City (Global City)

A city that acts as an important node in the global economic system.

Urban Renewal

The redevelopment of areas within a city, typically involving slums or outdated infrastructure.

Redlining

A discriminatory practice where banks refuse loans to people living in certain neighborhoods.

Urban Heat Island

A metropolitan area that is significantly warmer than surrounding rural areas.

Density Gradient

The change in density of a city from its center to its outskirts.

Greenbelt

An area of open land around a city where building is restricted.

Site

The physical characteristics of a place, including its location, climate, and natural resources.

Situation

The location of a place relative to other places and its surrounding environment.

Threshold Population

The minimum population required to support a particular type of economic activity or service.

Functional Zonation

The division of a city into areas that serve different purposes or functions.

Disamenity Zone

Areas within a city that have less desirable characteristics.

Annexation

The process by which a city extends its boundaries into adjacent areas.

Ethnic Neighborhood

A neighborhood where people from a specific ethnic background live together.

New Urbanism

An urban design movement that promotes walkable, mixed-use communities.

Filtering

The process of housing being passed down from higher-income groups to lower-income groups.

Blockbusting

A real estate practice where agents persuade homeowners to sell properties cheaply.

Suburbanization

The movement of people from cities to residential areas on the outskirts of cities.

Exurbanization

The process where people move from urban areas to more rural areas beyond the suburbs.

Counterurbanization

A demographic process where people move from urban areas to rural areas.