Section 2

North America: A continent settled by Europeans during the 16th and 19th centuries located in the Western Hemisphere. It is placed in between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Ocean. North America is made up of Mexico, Canada, and the United States. North America is also connected to South America by the Isthmus of Panama.
Central America: The region between North and South America that joins the two large land masses together, acting as an isthmus. It also separates the Caribbean Sea from the Pacific Ocean. Central America is composed of Guatemala, Belize, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and Panama.
South America: A continent located in the Western and Southern Hemispheres bordered by the Caribbean Sea, Atlantic Ocean, and Pacific Ocean. It is made up of twelve diverse countries, Colombia, Venezuela, Guyana, Suriname, Brazil, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Paraguay, Chile, Argentina, and Uruguay.
Great Lakes: The group of some of the largest freshwater sources in the world located in North America, straddling the United States and Canada. The freshwater lakes include Lake Huron, Lake Michigan, Lake Ontario, Lake Erie, and Lake Superior.
Panama Canal: The Panama Canal is a man made waterway located in Panama, the southernmost nation of Central America. The canal is considered key to maritime trade by allowing ships to move from the Pacific Ocean into the Caribbean Sea easily.
Greater Antilles: The group of larger islands in the Caribbean Sea made up of Cuba, Hispaniola, Puerto Rico, Jamaica, and the Cayman Islands.
Lesser Antilles: The group of smaller islands in the Caribbean Sea made up of the Virgin Islands, Martinique, Aruba, Grenada, Barbados, Trinidad, and Tobago.
Pampas: The temperate grasslands located in South America mainly spanning Argentina and slightly extending into Uruguay and Brazil. The grasslands promote agriculture and support the ranching trade in most of Argentina, Uruguay, and Brazil.
Tierra Del Fuego: An archipelago located on the southern tip of South America separated between Chile and Argentina.
British Isles: An archipelago located on the northwest coast of Europe including many island groups and individual islands such as Great Britain, Ireland, The Isle of Man, and The Channel Islands.
Iberian Peninsula: A large peninsula located in southwestern Europe separated amongst Spain and Portugal. Spain is the larger nation of the peninsula bordering the Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Seas.
Microstates: Small sovereign states recognized as independent with restricted land area, population, and access to resources.
Low Countries: A coastal region in northwestern Europe that includes Belgium, Luxemburg, and the Netherlands. They are called “low” because of their low elevation hovering at sea level or lower.
Scandinavian Peninsula: A large peninsula located in Northern Europe composed of Denmark, Sweden, Norway, and Finland.
Baltic States: The countries of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania that are located between the Baltic Sea and Russia.
Balkan Peninsula: A region in southwestern Europe usually described as comprising Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Romania, Serbia, and Slovenia.
Sahara: The largest hot desert in the world spanning across North Africa covering approximately 9.2 million square kilometers.
Sahel: A region in Africa with moderate tropical climate between the Sahara Desert and savanna regions.
Zanj: The coastal regions of East Africa ranging from Somalia down to Tanzania where Swahili is spoken.
Swahili: A language that combines native Bantu dialects with Arabic and Persian languages brought by sea traders.
Afrikaans: A Dutch dialect spoken in South Africa established when Dutch-speaking settlers came in the 18th century.
Middle East: The land masses between the Eastern Mediterranean Sea and Asia including the Arabian Peninsula that extends into the Indian Ocean.
Anatolia: The inland area of Turkey consists of deserts with smaller areas of vegetation and fairly dry climate.
Levant: Located to the east of the Island of Cyprus including land bordering the Eastern Mediterranean Sea and the Arabian Peninsula.
Caucasus: A region far northeast of Turkey between the Black Sea and Caspian Sea
with mountainous land.
Mesopotamia: A historical region located in the middle of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers and in modern-day Iraq with some parts in Syria, Turkey, and Iran.
Aramaic: An ancient semitic language related to Arabic and Hebrew.
Zoroastrianism: An ancient monotheistic religion established by the prophet Zoroaster in ancient Persia.
Hejaz: The region of Saudi Arabia along the coasts of the Red Sea where the holy cities of Mecca and Medina are located.
Central Asia: Central Asia lies in between Russia and China, and consists of many nations such as Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Afghanistan.
South Asia: South Asia lies between Central Asia and the Indian Ocean, and is composed of Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, The Maldives, Nepal, and Bhutan.
Monsoons: Seasonal wind patterns determined by shifts in atmospheric pressure that lead to large changes in precipitation.
Southeast Asia: Southeast Asia lies east from South Asia and is made up of Myanmar, Laos, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Singapore, Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, and East Timor.
East Asia: East Asia lies north of Southeast Asia in the center of the continent and consists of China, Taiwan, North Korea, South Korea, Mongolia, and Japan.
Australasia: A world region that spans the South Pacific Ocean that consists of Australia, New Zealand, Polynesia, Micronesia, and Melanesia.
Polynesia: A triangular zone made up of many islands including Hawaii, New Zealand, Easter Islands, Tonga, and Samoa.
Melanesia: In between Micronesia and Australia lies Melanesia, consisting of many islands such as New Caledonia, Fiji, and the Solomon Islands.
Micronesia: Micronesia lies northwest of Polynesia and is made up of islands such as Kiribati, Caroline Islands, Mariana islands, and Palau.