AP Human Geography chapter 7 vocab

apartheid

laws (no longer in effect) in South Africa that physically separated different races into different geographic areas.

balkanization

process by which a state breaks down through conflicts among its ethnicities

balkanized

a small geographic area that could not successfully be organized into one or more stable states because it was inhabited by many ethnicities with complex, long-standing antagonisms toward each other.

blockbusting

a process by which real estate agents convince white property owners to sell their houses at low prices because of fear that black families will soon move into the neighborhood.

centripetal force

an attitude that tends to unify people and enhance support for a state

ethnic cleansing

process in which more powerful ethnic group forcibly removes a less powerful one in order to create an ethnically homogeneous region

ethnicity

identity with a group of people that share distinct physical and mental traits as a product of common heredity and cultural traditions.

multi-ethnic state

a state that contains more than one ethnicity.

multinational state

state that contains two or more ethnic groups with traditions of self-determination that agree to coexist peacefully by recognizing each other as distinct nationalities.

nationalism

loyalty and devotion to a particular nationality.

nationality

identity with a group of people that share legal attachment and personal allegiance to a particular place as a result of being born there.

nation-state

a state whose territory corresponds to that occupied by a particular ethnicity that has been transformed into a nationality.

race

identity with a group of people descended from a common ancestor.

racism

belief that race is the primary determinant of human traits and capacities and that racial differences produce an inherent superiority of a particular race.

self-determination

concept that countries have the right to govern themselves.

sharecropper

a person who works fields rented from a land owner and pays for the rent of and repays loans by turning over to the landowner a share of the crops.

racist

a person who subscribes to the beliefs of racism.

triangular slave trade

a practice, primarily during the eighteenth century, in which European ships transported slaves from Africa to Caribbean islands, molasses from the Caribbean to Europe, and trade goods from Europe to Africa.