60 terms

Terms	Definitions
Arabian Peninsula
Islam	the religion of Muslims collectively which governs their civilization and way of life
Mohammed	the Arab prophet who founded Islam (570-632)
mecca	the holiest city of Islam; Muhammad's birthplace
medina	City in western Arabia to which the Prophet Muhammad and his followers emigrated in 622 to escape persecution in Mecca. (p. 231)
red sea	Body of water separating Africa from the Arabian Peninsula
jordan river	a river in Palestine that empties into the Dead Sea
sahara desert	the world's largest desert (3,500,000 square miles) in northern Africa
Nile River
nomad	a member of a people who have no permanent home but move about according to the seasons
bedouin	a member of a nomadic tribe of Arabs
monotheism	belief in a single God
polytheism	belief in many gods
atheism	a lack of belief in the existence of God or gods
mosque	(Islam) a Muslim place of worship
Arabic	the Semitic language of the Arabs
Fertile Crescent
silk roads	a system of ancient caravan routes across Central Asia, along which traders carried silk and other trade goods.
rift valley	a deep valley that forms where two plates move apart
Victoria Falls	Africa's largest waterfall
Congo River	a river in Central Africa that flows into the Atlantic Ocean
apartheid	Laws (no longer in effect) in South Africa that physically separated different races into different geographic areas.
subsistance farming	farmers produced just enough food for themselves and sometimes a little extra to trade in town
desertification	the gradual transformation of habitable land into desert
puritans	A religious group who wanted to purify the Church of England. They came to America for religious freedom and settled Massachusetts Bay.
Rocky Mountains	the chief mountain range of western North America
Appalachian Mountains	a mountain range in the eastern United States extending from Quebec to the Gulf of Mexico
aquafier	a layer of permeable rock that lets water move freely
tributaries	small river or stream that flows in to a larger river or stream; a branch of the river
immigration	migration into a place (especially migration to a country of which you are not a native in order to settle there)
The Civil War	Name the U.S war between the North and the South.
globalization	growth to a global or worldwide scale
urbanization	the social process whereby cities grow and societies become more urban
fossil fuel	fuel consisting of the remains of organisms preserved in rocks in the earth's crust with high carbon and hydrogen content
typhoons	a violent tropical storm that forms in the Pacific Ocean, usually in late summer
Gobi Desert	a desert in central Asia
Yellow River	a major river of Asia in northern China
Archipelago	a group of many islands in a large body of water
Samurai	feudal Japanese military aristocracy
Plateau of Tibet	world's highest plateau north of the Himalayas/sometimes called the Roof of the World
Himalaya	The highest mountains in the world; located in the far north region of India.
Taklimakan Desert	desert located in western China between the Tian Shan & Kunlun Mountains
Mao Zedong	Chinese communist leader (1893-1976)
Chang Kia-shek	Traditionalist Leader in China before Mao's communist uprising
North China Plain	in eastern China / fertile river valleys good for farming / for centuries Chinese have farmed here / good climate: melting snow, monsoon rains feed Yellow River / floods from Yellow River leave silt deposits & make land rich for farming
plate tectonics	the theory that pieces of Earth's lithosphere are in constant motion, driven by convection currents in the mantle
Saudi Arabia	Oil-rich kingdom bordering Iraq to the south. The ruling family is considered the protector and custodian of Mecca and Medina, the holiest sites in Islam.
Wadi	gully or streambed in northern Africa and the Middle East that remains dry except during rainy season
Tigris and Euphrates	two rivers that form the outside border of Mesopotamia
Nile River	The world's longest river, which flows northward through East Africa into the Mediterranean Sea
Atlas mountains	a mountain range in northern Africa between the Mediterranean and the Sahara Desert
alluvial soil	a fine-grained fertile soil deposited by water flowing over flood plains or in river beds
dead sea	a landlocked salt lake between Israel and Jordan that is so salty that almost nothing can live in its waters; it is 1,349 feet below sea level, making it the lowest place on the exposed crust of the earth
Sinai Peninsula	a peninsula in northeastern Egypt
Persian Gulf	A body of water east of the Arabian peninsula that separates Arabia from Iran
Caucasus Mountains	the mountain range in Caucasia between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea that forms part of the traditional border between Europe and Asia
The Great Plains	dry, flat, treeless land in the central United States
Jamestown	The first successful settlement in the Virginia colony founded in May, 1607.
Roanoke	The failed "lost colony" founded by Sir Walter Raleigh
St. Augustine	First spanish settlement. Florida 1565

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