AP Human Geo Unit 3 Part 2

Agnosticism

The belief that the existence of God, the divine, or the supernatural is unknown or unknowable.

Animism

The belief that objects, places, and creatures all possess a distinct spiritual essence.

Atheism

The absence of belief in the existence of deities or gods.

Autonomous Religion

A religion that operates independently from central authorities or hierarchical leadership.

Branch

A large and fundamental division within a religion.

Caste

A hereditary social class in Hindu society, traditionally determined by birth.

Cosmogony

A theory regarding the origin and development of the universe.

Congregation

A group of people assembled for religious worship.

Denomination

A recognized autonomous branch of the Christian Church.

Diocese

A district under the pastoral care of a bishop in the Christian Church.

Ethnic Religion

A religion associated with a particular ethnic group and does not seek converts.

Fundamentalism

A form of a religion that upholds belief in the strict, literal interpretation of scripture.

Ghetto

A part of a city, especially a slum area, occupied by a minority group or groups.

Hajj

The Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca that takes place in the last month of the year; a religious duty for Muslims.

Hierarchical Religion

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

Interfaith Boundary

Boundaries between the world's major faiths.

Kosher

Foods that conform to the regulations of kashrut (Jewish dietary law).

Monotheism

The doctrine or belief that there is only one God.

Pilgrimage

A journey to a sacred place or shrine of importance to a person’s beliefs and faith.

Polytheism

The belief in or worship of more than one god.

Reincarnation

The rebirth of a soul in a new body.

Sect

A group of people with somewhat different religious beliefs from those of a larger group to which they belong.

Secularism

The principle of separation of the state from religious institutions.

Sharia Law

Islamic law derived from the Quran and the traditions of Islam.

Syncretism

The amalgamation or attempted amalgamation of different religions, cultures, or schools of thought.

Universalizing Religion

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

Zionism

A movement for the re-establishment, development, and protection of a Jewish nation, now established as Israel.

Apartheid

A policy or system of segregation or discrimination on grounds of race, notably practiced in South Africa.

Balkanization

The division of a region or state into smaller regions or states that are often hostile or non-cooperative with each other.

Barrio

A Spanish-speaking neighborhood, often found in urban areas in the United States.

Blockbusting

A practice in which real estate agents convince white property owners to sell their houses at low prices by promoting fear that racial minorities will soon move into the neighborhood.

Centripetal Force

Forces that unify a state, such as a shared sense of common history, a shared language, reliable national institutions, and government legitimacy.

Centrifugal Force

Forces that divide a state, such as internal religious, linguistic, ethnic, or ideological differences.

Devolution

The transfer of power from a central government to subnational (e.g., state, regional, or local) authorities.

Ethnicity

A category of people who identify with each other based on shared attributes that distinguish them from other groups, such as common ancestry, language, history, society, culture, or nation.

Ethnic Cleansing

The systematic forced removal of ethnic or religious groups from a given territory by a more powerful ethnic group, often with the intent of making it ethnically homogeneous.

Ethnic Enclave

A geographic area with a high concentration of a particular ethnic group that is distinct from those in the surrounding area.

Ethnic Exclave

A portion of an ethnic group separated from the main group and surrounded by other ethnicities.

Ethnocentrism

The belief in the inherent superiority of one's own ethnic group or culture.

Genocide

The deliberate killing of a large number of people from a particular nation or ethnic group with the aim of destroying that nation or group.

Multi-Ethnic State

A state that contains more than one ethnicity.

Multinational State

A state that contains two or more nations.

Nationalism

A political, social, and economic ideology and movement characterized by the promotion of the interests of a particular nation, especially with the aim of gaining and maintaining the nation's sovereignty over its homeland.

Nationality

The status of belonging to a particular nation, either by birth or naturalization.

Nation-State

A state in which the great majority shares the same culture and is conscious of it.

Race

A categorization of humans based on shared physical or social qualities into groups generally viewed as distinct within a given society.

Racism

Prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism directed against someone of a different race based on the belief that one's own race is superior.

Segregation

The enforced separation of different racial groups in a country, community, or establishment.

Self-Determination

The process by which a country determines its own statehood and forms its own allegiances and government.

Sharecropper

A tenant farmer who gives a part of each crop as rent.

State

A nation or territory considered as an organized political community under one government.

Stateless Nation

An ethnic group or nation that does not possess its own state and is not the majority population in any nation-state.

White Flight

The phenomenon of white people moving out of urban areas, particularly those with significant minority populations, and into suburban areas.