Death Rate The number of deaths per year for every 1,000 people.

Deficit The amount by which a sum of money falls short of the required amount.

Democracy Any system of government in which leaders rule with consent of the citizens.

Demographic Indicators

Demography Any system of government in which leaders rule with consent of the citizens.

Desalinization The removal of salt from seawater to make it usable for drinking and farming.

Dictatorship An autocratic form of government in which the government is ruled by an individual.

Distribution The arrangement of something across Earth’s surface.

Diversity The variety of human societies or cultures in a specific region or in the world as a whole.

Doldrums A frequent windless area near the Equator.

Domestic To adapt plants and animals from the wild to make them useful to people Pertaining to the home, the household, the family Something produced or manufactured in one’s own country

Drought An extended period of months or years when a region notes a deficiency in its water supply.

Dynasty A ruling house or continuing family of rulers, especially in China.

Earthquakes The result of a sudden release of energy in the Earth’s curst that creates seismic waves.

E-commerce Selling and buying on the Internet.

Ecosystem The complex community of interdependent living things in a given environment.

Ecotourism Tourism based on concern for the environment.

Elevation The height of a location above sea level.

El Nino A periodic reversal of the pattern of ocean currents and water temperatures in the mid-Pacific region.

Embargo A ban on trade.

Emigration Migration from a location.

Equator An imaginary line on the earth’s surface equidistant form the North and South Pole which divides the earth into hemispheres.

Erosion Wearing away of the earth’s surface by wind, flowing water, or glaciers.

Ethnic Cleansing The expelling from a country or killing of rival ethnic groups.

Ethnic Group A group of people whose members identify with each other, through a common heritage, often consisting of a common language, culture, shared religion, or an ideology.

EU (European Union) An organization whose goal is to unite Europe so that goods, services, and workers can move freely among member countries.

Eutrophication Process by which a body of water becomes too rich in dissolved nutrients, leading to plant growth that depletes oxygen. Eutrophication is apparent as increased turbidity in the northern part of the Caspian Sea, imaged from orbit.

Evaporation Process of converting into vapor.

Fault A crack or break in the earth’s crust.

Federal System Form of government in which powers are divided between the national government and the state or provincial government.

Field Interviews

Flood An overflow of an expanse of water that submerges land.

Fold A bend in layers of rock, sometimes caused by plate movement.

Formal Region A region defined by a common characteristic, such as production of a product. Corn Belt

Free Enterprise Economic System The government will not unduly interfere with economic transactions It is a crucial component of capitalist economic policy

Free Trade Zone An area of a country where some normal trade barriers such as tariffs and quotas are eliminated and bureaucratic requirements are lowered in hopes of attracting new business.

Functional Region A central point and the surrounding territory linked to it.