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Geography, Grades 9-12 59 words

Vocabulary list related to geography for students in grades 9-12.

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  1. alluvial fan
    a fan-shaped deposit where a fast flowing stream flattens out
  2. aquifer
    underground bed or layer yielding ground water for wells and springs etc
  3. Bible Belt
    southern and midwestern United States where Protestant fundamentalism is dominant
  4. biodiversity
    the diversity of plant and animal life in a particular habitat (or in the world as a whole)
  5. British Empire
    a former empire consisting of Great Britain and all the territories under its control; reached its greatest extent at the end of World War I; it included the British Isles, British West Indies, Canada, British Guiana; British West Africa, British East Africa, India, Australia, New Zealand
  6. bubonic plague
    the most common form of the plague in humans; characterized by chills, prostration, delirium and the formation of buboes in the armpits and groin; does not spread from person to person
  7. cartographer
    a person who makes maps
  8. choropleth map
    a map that uses graded differences in shading or color or the placing of symbols inside defined areas on the map in order to indicate the average values of some property or quantity in those areas
  9. Common Market
    an international organization of European countries formed after World War II to reduce trade barriers and increase cooperation among its members
  10. congressional district
    a territorial division of a state; entitled to elect one member to the United States House of Representatives
  11. continental drift
    the gradual movement and formation of continents (as described by plate tectonics)
  12. decolonization
    the action of changing from colonial to independent status
  13. deforestation
    the state of being clear of trees
  14. demography
    the branch of sociology that studies the characteristics of human populations
  15. desertification
    the gradual transformation of habitable land into desert; is usually caused by climate change or by destructive use of the land
  16. dust storm
    a windstorm that lifts up clouds of dust or sand
  17. eastern United States
    the region of the United States lying to the north of the Ohio River and to the east of the Mississippi River
  18. ecology
    the environment as it relates to living organisms
  19. equinox
    either of two times of the year when the sun crosses the plane of the earth's equator and day and night are of equal length
  20. Eurocentric
    focussed on Europe and the Europeans
  21. European Union
    an international organization of European countries formed after World War II to reduce trade barriers and increase cooperation among its members
  22. eutrophication
    excessive nutrients in a lake or other body of water, usually caused by runoff of nutrients (animal waste, fertilizers, sewage) from the land, which causes a dense growth of plant life; the decomposition of the plants depletes the supply of oxygen, leading to the death of animal life
  23. geomorphology
    the branch of geology that studies the characteristics and configuration and evolution of rocks and land forms
  24. Great Barrier Reef
    the largest coral reef in the world; in the Coral Sea off the northeastern coast of Australia
  25. greenhouse effect
    warming that results when solar radiation is trapped by the atmosphere; caused by atmospheric gases that allow sunshine to pass through but absorb heat that is radiated back from the warmed surface of the earth
  26. greenway
    a belt of parks or rural land surrounding a town or city
  27. hinterland
    a remote and undeveloped area
  28. hub-and-spoke
    a system of air transportation in which local airports offer air transportation to a central airport where long-distance flights are available
  29. hydrilla
    submersed plant with whorled lanceolate leaves and solitary axillary flowers; Old World plant naturalized in southern United States and clogging Florida's waterways
  30. hydrosphere
    the watery layer of the earth's surface; includes water vapor
  31. Iran
    a theocratic Islamic republic in the Middle East in western Asia; Iran was the core of the ancient empire that was known as Persia until 1935; rich in oil
  32. Iraq
    a republic in the Middle East in western Asia; the ancient civilization of Mesopotamia was in the area now known as Iraq
  33. Jerusalem
    capital and largest city of the modern state of Israel (although its status as capital is disputed); it was captured from Jordan in 1967 in the Six Day War; a holy city for Jews and Christians and Muslims; was the capital of an ancient kingdom
  34. landmass
    a large continuous extent of land
  35. Latin America
    the parts of North America and South America to the south of the United States where Romance languages are spoken
  36. megalopolis
    a very large urban complex (usually involving several cities and towns)
  37. moraine
    accumulated earth and stones deposited by a glacier
  38. municipality
    an urban district having corporate status and powers of self-government
  39. NAFTA
    an agreement for free trade between the United States and Canada and Mexico; became effective in 1994 for ten years
  40. Nicaragua
    a republic in Central America; achieved independence from Spain in 1821
  41. North Korea
    a communist country in the northern half of the Korean Peninsula; established in 1948
  42. Nova Scotia
    the Canadian province in the Maritimes consisting of the Nova Scotia peninsula and Cape Breton Island; French settlers who called the area Acadia were exiled to Louisiana by the British in the 1750s and their descendants are know as Cajuns
  43. Ontario
    a prosperous and industrialized province in central Canada
  44. OPEC
    an organization of countries formed in 1961 to agree on a common policy for the production and sale of petroleum
  45. physiography
    the study of physical features of the earth's surface
  46. plate tectonics
    the branch of geology studying the folding and faulting of the earth's crust
  47. rain shadow
    an area that has little precipitation because some barrier causes the winds to lose their moisture before reaching it
  48. relative humidity
    the ratio of the amount of water in the air at a give temperature to the maximum amount it could hold at that temperature; expressed as a percentage
  49. Roman Empire
    an empire established by Augustus in 27 BC and divided in AD 395 into the Western Roman Empire and the eastern or Byzantine Empire; at its peak lands in Europe and Africa and Asia were ruled by ancient Rome
  50. Rwanda
    a landlocked republic in central Africa; formerly a German colony
  51. sediment
    matter that has been deposited by some natural process
  52. South Korea
    a republic in the southern half of the Korean Peninsula; established in 1948
  53. Southeast Asia
    a geographical division of Asia that includes Indochina plus Indonesia and the Philippines and Singapore
  54. subsistence farming
    farming that provides for the basic needs of the farmer without surpluses for marketing
  55. Turkey
    a Eurasian republic in Asia Minor and the Balkans; on the collapse of the Ottoman Empire in 1918, the Young Turks, led by Kemal Ataturk, established a republic in 1923
  56. Ukraine
    a republic in southeastern Europe; formerly a European soviet; the center of the original Russian state which came into existence in the ninth century
  57. urbanization
    the social process whereby cities grow and societies become more urban
  58. volcanism
    the phenomena associated with volcanic activity
  59. ward
    a person who is under the protection or in the custody of another