A World of Words: Human Geography - Middle School

Review these human geography terms and learn all about the human forces that shape and are shaped by the natural world.You'll explore immigration and emigration, colonialism, development and urbanization, demography, globalization, and much more. Expand the boundaries of your vocabulary with this list!
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. agribusiness
    a large-scale farming enterprise
  2. air pollution
    pollution of the atmosphere
  3. annexation
    the act of acquiring something by conquest or occupation
  4. assimilation
    the process of absorbing one cultural group into another
  5. autonomy
    political independence
  6. biodiversity
    the variety of plant and animal life in a habitat
  7. birth rate
    the number of babies born during a specific period within a population
  8. bloc
    a group united for a particular purpose
  9. boundary
    a line determining the limits of an area
  10. buffer state
    a neutral country situated between two rival powers
  11. capital
    a seat of government
  12. cartography
    the making of maps and charts
  13. caste
    a social class separated by distinctions of hereditary rank
  14. census
    a periodic count of the population
  15. cereal
    grass whose starchy grains are used as food: wheat
  16. city-state
    an independent nation comprised of a single town
  17. colonialism
    exploitation by a stronger country of a weaker one
  18. colonization
    the act of settling a group of people in a new place
  19. colony
    a geographical area controlled by a distant country
  20. combine
    harvester that threshes grain while moving across the field
  21. concentration
    the spatial property of being crowded together
  22. confederation
    a union of political organizations
  23. connectivity
    the property of being connected or the degree to which something has connections
  24. conservation
    careful management of the environment and natural resources
  25. cottage industry
    a small-scale business that can be run at home
  26. creole
    a mother tongue created by contact between two languages
  27. crop
    a cultivated plant that is grown commercially
  28. cultivation
    production of food by preparing the land to grow crops
  29. culture
    all the knowledge and values shared by a society
  30. custom
    a specific practice of long standing
  31. daylight-savings time
    time during which clocks are set one hour ahead of local standard time; widely adopted during summer to provide extra daylight in the evenings
  32. demarcation
    the boundary of a specific area
  33. demography
    the study of the characteristics of human populations
  34. density
    the spatial property of being crowded together
  35. deportation
    the expulsion of a non-citizen from a country
  36. desertification
    a gradual transformation into arid, uninhabitable land
  37. development
    making some area of land or water more profitable or useful
  38. dialect
    the usage or vocabulary characteristic of a group of people
  39. ecology
    study of the relations of organisms to their environment
  40. emigration
    moving from one place in order to settle in another
  41. enclave
    an enclosed territory that is culturally distinct
  42. epidemic
    a widespread outbreak of an infectious disease
  43. equator
    an imaginary line around the Earth forming a great circle
  44. ethnic
    distinctive of the ways of living of a group of people
  45. ethnicity
    an affiliation resulting from racial or cultural ties
  46. explorer
    someone who travels to unknown regions to make discoveries
  47. floodplain
    a low plain adjacent to a river that is formed chiefly of river sediment and is subject to flooding
  48. fossil fuel
    energy-producing substance derived from preserved organisms
  49. frontier
    an international boundary or the area immediately inside it
  50. gentrification
    change in poorer areas due to an influx of wealthier people
  51. globalization
    growth to a worldwide scale
  52. Greenwich Mean Time
    the local time at the 0 meridian passing through Greenwich, England; it is the same everywhere
  53. gross domestic product
    the value of all things made and sold by a country in a year
  54. homeland
    the country where you were born
  55. horticulture
    the cultivation of plants
  56. hydroelectric
    of or relating to or used in the production of electricity by waterpower
  57. immigration
    movement of people into a country or area
  58. imperialism
    a policy of extending your rule over foreign countries
  59. Industrial Revolution
    the transformation from an agricultural to an industrial nation
  60. infrastructure
    basic facilities needed for the functioning of a country
  61. kinship
    relatedness or connection by blood or marriage or adoption
  62. landlocked
    surrounded entirely or almost entirely by land
  63. latitude
    an imaginary line around the Earth parallel to the equator
  64. life expectancy
    an expected time to live as calculated on the basis of statistical probabilities
  65. literacy
    the ability to read and write
  66. longitude
    the angular distance from the prime meridian at Greenwich
  67. mass production
    the manufacturing of large quantities of goods
  68. megalopolis
    a very large urban complex
  69. meridian
    an imaginary great circle on the surface of the earth
  70. migration
    the movement of persons from one locality to another
  71. mobility
    the quality of moving freely
  72. monotheism
    belief in a single God
  73. mortality rate
    the ratio of deaths in an area to the population of that area; expressed per 1000 per year
  74. nation
    a politically organized body of people under a government
  75. nationalism
    the doctrine that your country's interests are superior
  76. nationality
    the status of belonging to a particular country
  77. NATO
    an international organization created in 1949 by the North Atlantic Treaty for purposes of collective security
  78. natural resource
    material in the environment that can be used by people
  79. nomad
    a member of a people who have no permanent home
  80. overpopulation
    too many individuals of a given species
  81. ozone
    a colorless gas that is a screen for ultraviolet radiation
  82. paddy
    an irrigated or flooded field where rice is grown
  83. parallel
    an imaginary line around the Earth even with the equator
  84. pasture
    a field covered with grass and suitable for grazing
  85. patriotism
    love of country and willingness to sacrifice for it
  86. pidgin
    a simplified language allowing communication between groups
  87. pilgrimage
    a journey to a sacred place
  88. plantation
    an estate where cash crops are grown on a large scale
  89. polytheism
    belief in multiple gods
  90. population
    the people who inhabit a territory or state
  91. population growth
    increase in the number of people who inhabit a territory or state
  92. preservation
    the activity of protecting something from loss or danger
  93. prime meridian
    meridian from which east and west are reckoned
  94. productivity
    the quality of yielding positive results
  95. public housing
    a housing development that is publicly funded and administered for low-income families
  96. quota
    a prescribed number
  97. racism
    the prejudice that one people are superior to another
  98. ranching
    farming for the raising of livestock (particularly cattle)
  99. reaper
    farm machine that gathers a food crop from the fields
  100. recycling
    the act of processing used materials to create something new
  101. redline
    discriminate in housing certain people in certain areas
  102. refugee
    an exile who flees for safety
  103. region
    a large indefinite location on the surface of the Earth
  104. regionalism
    political policy that focuses on particular geographic areas
  105. renewable resource
    any natural resource (as wood or solar energy) that can be replenished naturally with the passage of time
  106. repatriation
    the act of returning to one's country of origin
  107. resource
    a new or reserve supply that can be drawn upon when needed
  108. scale
    the ratio between the size of a thing and its representation
  109. secession
    formal separation from an alliance or federation
  110. sect
    a subdivision of a larger religious group
  111. secular
    not concerned with or devoted to religion
  112. segregation
    a social system that provides different facilities for minority groups
  113. settlement
    people far from home who maintain ties with their homeland
  114. sovereignty
    government free from external control
  115. sphere
    the area over which a nation has power or control
  116. sprawl
    the disorganized spread of development beyond city limits
  117. standard of living
    the level of material goods and services available
  118. subsistence farming
    farming that provides for the basic needs of the farmer without surpluses for marketing
  119. suffrage
    a legal right to vote
  120. superpower
    a country that can influence events throughout the world
  121. sustainability
    the capacity of being prolonged
  122. sustainable
    capable of being prolonged
  123. symbol
    an arbitrary sign with a conventional significance
  124. taboo
    a ban resulting from social custom or emotional aversion
  125. textile
    artifact made by weaving or felting or knitting fibers
  126. time zone
    a geographical region that uses the same standard time
  127. township
    an administrative division of a county
  128. treaty
    a written agreement between two states or sovereigns
  129. underclass
    the social class lowest in the social hierarchy
  130. underpopulated
    having a lower population density than normal or desirable
  131. United Nations
    an organization of independent states formed in 1945 to promote international peace and security
  132. urbanization
    the social process whereby cities grow
  133. urban renewal
    the clearing and rebuilding and redevelopment of urban slums
  134. zoning
    dividing an area into zones or sections reserved for different purposes such as residence and business and manufacturing etc
Created on Thu Mar 02 15:16:54 EST 2017 (updated Fri Mar 31 11:41:55 EDT 2017)

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