| Term | Definition |
|---|
| equator | an imaginary line that divides the earth into the Northern and Southern Hemispheres |
| continent | one of the earth's 7 large landmasses |
| International Date Line | imaginary line that runs north and south through the Pacific Ocean that begins each day |
| Prime Meridian | imaginary line that divides the earth into the Eastern and Western Hemispheres |
| longitude | imaginary lines on the earth's surface that measure distance east or west of the Prime Meridian |
| latitude | imaginary lines on earth's surface that measure distance north or south of the equator |
| projection | a way of showing the earth's curved surface on a flat map |
| physical map | a map that shows the landforms on the earth's surface (lakes, rivers, mountains, deserts, etc.) |
| political map | a map used to show human created features on the earth's surface, such as cities, states, and countries |
| hemisphere | half of the globe, separated by the Equator or Prime Meridian. They are divided into the Northern, Southern, Eastern, and Western Hemispheres |
| landform | a naturally occurring feature on the earth's surface |
| grid system | the imaginary network of longitude and latitude lines that indicate a place's exact location |
| geography | the study of people, places, and environments |
| environment | the physical surroundings of a location |
| location | a description of a place in relation to places around it |
| place | a geographical term that describes the physical and human characteristics of a location |
| region | an area that has one or more common characteristics that unite or connect it with other areas |
| migration | the process of relocating to a new region |
| immigrant | a person who leaves one area to settle in another |
| refugee | a person who flees to a place to find safety |
| culture | the shared attitude, knowledge, and behaviors of a group |
| diversity | having many different ways to think or do something, a variety of people |
| discrimination | actions that might be hurtful to an individual group |
| anthropologist | a scientist who studies culture |
| ethnic group | a group of people who share language, custom, and a common heritage |
| religion | an organized system of beliefs and practices, often centered on one or more gods |
| language | human communication that is written, spoken, or signed |
| language family | a group of languages that have a common origin |
| peninsula | a body of land nearly surrounded by water |
| Alps | Europe's tallest mountain range that stretches across Southern Europe |
| Northern European Plain | vast area of flat or gently rolling land from France to Russia |
| North Atlantic Drift | warm ocean current that helps keep Europe's climate mild |
| fossil fuels | sources of energy from ancient plant and animal remains |
| renewable energy sources | sources of energy able to be replaced through ongoing natural processes |
| hydroelectric power | electricity made by water-powered engines |
| seafaring | using the sea for transportation |
| Byzantine Empire | the eastern half of the Roman Empire that survived for a thousand years after the fall of Rome |
| fascism | a political philosophy that promotes blind loyalty to the state and a strong central government controlled by a powerful dictator |
| Romance language | any of the languages that developed from the Roman language, Latin, such as Spanish, Portuguese, French, Italian, or Romanian |
| Vatican | the official residence of the pope in Vatican City, and the political and religious center of the Roman Catholic Church |
| coalition | an alliance or partnership, often temporary |
| compulsory | required |
| nationalism | pride in and loyalty to one's nation |
| European Union(EU) | an organization of European nations whose members cooperate on economic, social, and political issues |
| Moors | the group of Muslims from North Africa who conquered Spain in the eighth century |
| Reconquista | the successful effort by the Spaniards to drive the Moors out of Spain |
| Christopher Columbus | Italian navigator and explorer who sailed for Spain and explored the Caribbean and the coast of Central and South America |
| Basque | an ethnic gorup living in the western Pyrenees and along the Bay of Biscay in Spain and France; also the name of their language |
| separatist | a person who wants a region to break away from the nation that it is a part of |
| Benelux | name for the economic union formed by Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg to ensure the fast and efficient movement of people, goods, and services within these nations |
| polders | land reclaimed by draining it of water with the use of a dam and pump |
| duchy | the territory ruled by a duke or duchess |
| multilingual | able to speak many languages |
| autonomy | self governance or independence |
| Prussia | the most powerful German state in the Holy Roman Empire |
| Adolf Hitler | German head of state from 1933 to 1945 |
| Berlin Wall | a wall built by East Germany's Communist government to close off East Berlin from West Berlin |
| Alpine | having to do with the Alps mountain range |
| neutrality | a policy of not taking part in war |
| reunify | to bring something that has been separated back together |
| Holocaust | the systematic murder of Jews and other minorities by the Nazis during World War 2 |
| market economy | an economic system which the production of goods and services is decided by supply and the demand of customers |
| Vikings | a seafaring Scandinavian people who raided northern and western Europe from the 9th to the 11th century |
| Sami | people of northern Scandinavia who traditionally herd reindeer; the name of their language |
| ombudsman | an official who investigates citizens' complaints against the government |
| welfare state | a social system in which the government provides for many of its' citizens' needs |
| Nordic | relating to Scandinavia |
| Baltic States | Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia; three countries that border the Baltic Sea |
| Lech Walesa | Polish leader who cofounded Solidarity and served as president of Poland from 1990 to 1995 |
| Solidarity | Poland's first independent labor union, cofounded by Lech Walesa |
| Russification | the effort to make countries occupied by the Soviet Union more Russian by replacing local languages and customs |
| bread basket | an abundant grain-producing region |
| deport | to expel from a country |
| brain drain | the loss of skilled workers who move in search of better opportunities |
| Communism | a type of government in which the production of goods and services is decided by a central government |
| command economy | an economic system in which the production of goods and services is decided by a central government |
| Yugoslavia | a country on the Balkan peninsula from 1918 to 1991 |
| Josip Broz Tito | the Communist leader of Yugoslavia from 1953 to 1980 |
| ethnic cleansing | removing an ethnic or religious group from an area by force, or the mass killing of members of such a gorup |
| Kosovo | a self-governing province within Serbia |
| Slobodan Milosevic | president of Serbia from 1989 to 1997 and of Yugoslavia from 1997 to 2000; a key figure in ethnic conflicts in the Balkans in the 1990s |
| Bosniac | an ethnic Muslim from Bosnia and Herzegovina |
| Magyar | an ethnic Hungarian person; the Hungarian language |
| Czechoslovakia | former country in Eastern Europe that existed from 1918 until 1993 when it split into Czech Republic and Slovakia |
| Velvet Revolution | the peaceful protest by the Czech people that led to the smooth end of Communism in Czechoslovakia |
| strategic | relating to a place of action designed to achieve a specific goal |
| standard of living | an economic measure relating to the quality and amount of goods available to a group of people and how these goods are distributed across the group |
| eclectic | made up of parts from a variety of sources |
| Vienna | capital of Austria |
| Rome | capital of Italy |
| Bern | capital of Switzerland |
| Stockholm | capital of Sweden |
| Warsaw | capital of Poland |
| Copenhagen | capital of Denmark |
| Tallinn | capital of Estonia |
| Riga | capital of Latvia |
| Vilnius | capital of Lithuania |
| Berlin | capital of Germany |
| Paris | capital of France |
| Madrid | capital of Spain |
| Lisbon | capital of Portugal |
| Sarajevo | capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina |
| Budapest | capital of Hungary |
| Amsterdam | capital of the Netherlands |
| Reykjavik | capital of Iceland |
| London | capital of the United Kingdom |
| Dublin | capital of Ireland |
| Oslo | capital of Norway |
| Belgrade | capital of Serbia |
| Prague | capital of the Czech Republic |
| Helsinki | capital of Finland |
| Bratislava | capital of Slovakia |
| Kiev | capital of Ukraine |
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