Download Unit 10 Europe Vocabulary 1. Acid Rain – rain that can damage the

Unit 10 Europe Vocabulary
1. Acid Rain – rain that can damage the environment because it contains acid created from
chemicals in factory smoke and car exhaust. Acid rain can damage fish, animals, plants and
even buildings.
2. Anti-Semitism – discrimination against Jewish people
3. Balkanization – the process of breaking up a region into small, mutually hostile units.
4. Benelux Countries – the economic union of Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg.
5. Black Death – the great epidemic of bubonic plague that killed a large part of the
population of Europe in the mid-14th century
6. Bubonic Plague- a contagious, often fatal disease, transmitted by fleas, characterized by
fever, delirium and formation of buboes.
7. Catholic – person who is a member of the Roman Catholic Church.
8. Chaparral – a vegetation zone of mainly small trees and bushes adapted to a Mediterranean
climate; also refers to a type of vegetation in this zone.
9. Common Market – a group of countries that act as a single market, without trade barriers
between member countries.
10. Cultural Diffusion – the spreading out of culture, cultural traits, or a cultural pattern from a
central point.
11. Deculturalization – the removing or abandoning of one’s own culture, replacing it with
another
12. Democracy – A type of government in which citizens hold political power either directly or
through elected representatives.
13. Ethnic Cleansing – the mass expulsion or killing of members of an ethnic or religious group
in a society
14. Euro – the unit of currency used in many countries of the European Union.
15. European Union – A supranational organization through which a number of European
countries work together on shared issues.
16. Fjord - Narrow inlet of the sea between cliffs or steep slopes; thousands of these exist in
Norway
17. Free enterprise/market economy-system that lets competition among businesses
determine the price of products.
18. Genocide – the elimination of a group of people based on race, religion, or some other
factor.
19. Industrial Revolution – the huge social and economic change in Europe and the United
States that was produced by the shift from hand tools to machines in the 18 th and 19th
century.
20. Innovation – taking existing elements of a society and creating something new to meet a
need.
21. Infrastructure- the basic support systems needed to keep an economy going, including
power, communications, transportation, water, sanitation, and education systems.
22. Magna Carta – The charter of English political and civil liberties granted by King John in
1215.
23. Multicultural society – Society in which culture has been shaped by people of several
groups (nations, races, ethnicities)
24. Nation – a large body of people - united by common descent, history, culture, or language –
and associated with a particular territory, that is sufficiently conscious of its unity and
uniqueness to seek or to possess its own government
25. Nation state - A political unit inhabited predominantly by a people sharing a common
culture, history, and language
26. Nationalism – the belief that people should be loyal to their nation, the people who they
share land, culture, and history.
27. North Atlantic Drift – a current of warm water from the Tropics.
28. North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) – intergovernmental military alliance based on a
1949 treaty; member countries include the United States and much of Europe
29. Parliament –a representative lawmaking body whose members are elected or appointed
and in which legislative and executive functions are combined.
30. Polder – land that is reclaimed from the sea or other body of water by diking and draining.
31. Potato Famine – famine that occurred in Ireland when the potato crop failed for successive
years; an enormous push factor for international emigration.
32. Protestant –A member or follower of any of the Western Christian Churches separate from
the Roman Catholic Church.
33. Reformation-a movement in Western Europe beginning in 1517, when many Christians
broke away from the Catholic church and started protestant churches; this led to mutual
hostility and religious wars that tore apart Europe.
34. Stateless nation - An ethnic group that is not the majority population in any one country,
and therefore does not have a country of its own
35. Supranational cooperation - a form of international cooperation in which countries give up
some control of their affairs as they work together to achieve shared goals
36. Trade Bloc – a group of countries that work together to promote trade with one another
37. United Nations – an international organization of countries set up in 1945 to promote
international peace.
38. Wind Energy – using wind turbines to create a useful form of energy.