7th grade Social Studies Vocabulary
1973 Oil Crisis – When OPEC announced that its member countries would be exporting oil to countries that had aided Israel with its recent war with Egypt.
38th parallel – the line of latitude that separates North Korea from South Korea
Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) - a disease spread by HIV; the most severe health crisis in the world.
African National Congress (ANC) – founded in 1912, a group that wanted to bring people of all ethnicities together and fight for rights and freedoms.
African Union (AU) – an organization of 53 African countries that work together for peace and security.
Al-Qaeda – a group of radical Islamic terrorists based largely in Afghanistan
ANC Youth League – a group founded in 1944 by Nelson Mandela to bring a new generation to fight against racism and apartheid.
anti-Semitism – hostility toward or prejudice against Jews or Judaism.
Apartheid – laws created to enforce segregation of people by race in South Africa.
Arab – a mixed ethnic group made up of people who speak the Arabic language
Archipelago – a chain of islands
Armistice – an agreement to stop fighting
Ashanti – a group of people who live in central Ghana and believe in the Golden Stool
Authoritarian – a system of government in which the leaders control all aspects.
Asian Brown Cloud – a brown haze that has many effects on the places it travels above; effects include altering monsoon patterns, increasing human respiratory problems, and reducing solar radiation.
Atlas Mountains – a mountain range that stretches from southwest Morocco to Northern Tunisia
Authoritarian – a system of government in which the leaders control all of its aspects
Autocratic government – power lies in the hands of a single figure
Ayatollah – a recognized religious figure in Iran
Balfour Declaration – a statement by Britain in 1917 that said Britain would work toward the establishment of a national home for the Jewish people in Palestine.
Bantu – a group that originally came from southeastern Nigeria and reached present-day Zimbabwe and South Africa, establishing the Munhumutapa Empire
Bedouin – an ethnic group who speaks Arabic and used to be nomadic but now live mostly in Saudi Arabia, Syria, Jordan, and Iraq.
Berlin Conference – a series of meetings in Berlin, Germany, held by European countries from 1884 to 1885, in which they decided how Africa’s lands would be divided.
Bicameral – a legislature with two houses
Biogas –a cooking fuel produced by breaking down organic matter.
Bourgeoisie – landowners or factory owners who have power over the working class.
Brahmans – the highest caste, or priestly class in Hinduism.
Budget - a plan for spending and saving money
Cabinet – a group of people who advise the president and help run the government.
Capital goods – any goods that are used to produce other goods.
Caste – a class system
Christianity – A belief that Jesus is the Jewish messiah. Its book is the Bible, which consists of the Hebrew Bible and other books in the Old Testament, and a New Testament, which includes Jesus’s teachings.
Civil War – fighting between two or more groups or regions within the same country.
Civilian – a person who is not part of the military of a country
Coalition government – a group of several different political parties that have to cooperate in order to make decisions
Cold War – a struggle for world power between the United States and the Soviet Union in which there was no actual warfare.
Colonialism – the forced control of one country by another country.
Command economy – an economy system in which the central government decides which goods and services are needed and how they will be produced.
Confederation - a voluntary association of states in which individual states hold more power than the central government . States agree to join together to form a central government, but each state retains the power to act independently.
Confucianism – a philosophy and a way of life and teachings of Confucius.
Constitution – a document stating the basic laws that govern a country
Constitutional monarchy – a government in which the head of state is a king or queen and in which the supreme law of the land is written in a constitution.
Consumer – a person in an economy who buys and uses goods and services.
Credit – money you borrow from a bank
Crime against humanity – an international law term that refers to a serious attach on human dignity or a grave humiliation or degradation of one or more human beings.
Cultural Revolution – Mao Zedong’s attempt to close the gap that existed between the elite of the cities and the peasants of the countryside of China.
Currency – a system of money
Currency exchange rate - compares one country’s currency to another
Deforestation – the loss of forest land
Demilitarized zone – an area between North and South Korea
Democratic government – a form of government that relies on active citizen participation; voters choose their own leaders through elections.
Desalination – a process of removing salt from salt water.
Desertification – the transformation of usable land into desert
Diaspora – any people or ethnic group that must leave their homeland, and as a result become dispersed throughout other part of the world.
Diet – Japan’s parliament
Diversified – a larger number of different industries contribute to the country’s economy.
Domino theory – a belief that if one country fell to communism , then others in the area would follow just like dominoes falling over.
Drought – a severe absence of rainfall
Economic sanctions – policies such as trade restrictions and embargoes
Economy – the way in which people meet their needs through the production, distribution, and use of goods and services.
Embargo – a ban on trade with a certain country
Entrepreneur- a person who takes the risk of organizing and running a new business
Ethnic group – a cultural community of people with common ancestry, often sharing common religion, language, and traditions
Export – a product a country sends to another country.
Extraction – the process of removing natural resources from the ground.
Famine – when a region does not produce enough food for a long period of time.
Federal system – a form of government in which power is shared more evenly between the central government and the government of states or provinces.
Free trade – trade without tariffs other trade barriers.
Genocide – the pre –planned murder of entire national, racial, political, or ethnic groups.
Government – the system a country uses to make laws and run the country.
Great Leap Forward – a series of policies that Mao Zedong thought would help China become equal to the leading powers of the West in agricultural and industrial production.
Gross domestic product – the total value of all the goods and services produced by a country in a given year.
Guerillas – fighters who use hit-and-run tactics when fighting rather than traditional fighting methods.
Hajj – a pilgrimage to Mecca
Hamas – an Arab group, supported by Syria and Iran, based in the West Bank and Gaza Strip that has led attacks on Israel
Hezbollah – An Arab group from Lebanon supported by Syria and Iran that has led attacks on Israel
Hinduism – a polytheistic religion in India which divides society into castes.
Ho Chi Minh Trail – a system of paths through the jungles and mountains that connected North Vietnam to South Vietnam via Laos and Cambodia.
Holocaust – Hitler’s attempt to rid the Earth of Jews by large-scale, systematic murders.
Homelands – poor, crowded areas far away from cities where blacks were forced to live in South Africa.
Human capital – the value of people’s work.
Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) – the virus that causes AIDS.
Import – a product a country buys from another country
Import quota – a limit on the number of goods that can be imported from a certain country.
Income – money that comes in or is earned on a regular basis
Infrastructure – the public system of services of a country
Interest – a charge a bank pays you to use your money
Investing – spending money in the hope of earning more money than is spent.
Islam - a religion based on the belief that a prophet, Muhammad, had a vision of an angel who gave him messages from God. Its book the Qur’an. The faith is based on five pillars.
Israel – an independent state that was created from lands in Palestine.
Judaism – the oldest of the three major religions in Southwest Asia. It began as a set of beliefs and laws practiced by ancient Hebrew people. Its book is the Hebrew Bible. Jews believe that one day a human leader will come as a messenger of God and bring about a golden age.
Kami – spirits that control all the forces of nature, in Shinto.
Knesset – The Israeli legisture
Kurds – a group in Southwest Asia that lives in several different countries, including Turkey, Syria, Iraq, and Iran, and whose religion is a mixture of several religions.
Law of Return – a law in Israel that states that a Jew from another country can automatically have citizenship in Israel.
Literacy rate – the percentage of people that can read and write
Long March – a dangerous journey made by the Communists in China in 1934.
Malaria – a tropical disease spread by mosquitoes.
Market economy – an economic system managed by the people, based on supply and demand.
Marxism – a political philosophy that focuses on class struggle
Mau Mau – a secret society in Kenya which operated from 1952 to 1960.
Missionary – a person who goes to a foreign country to spread his or her religion.
Mixed economy – a system in which people are free to control the means of production. Individuals and businesses decide what to produce, how to produce it, and how much it should cost. The government also regulates the economy.
Monsoon – a pattern of seasonal winds that return every year in Southern Asia.
Nationalist movement – a movement that seeks independence for the people living in a country.
Necessity – something people need.
New Imperialism – the end of the 19th century when there was a fierce competition between European countries for land and power.
Nile River – the world’s longest river in Africa.
Nirvana – the freeing of the self from material desires.
Nomadic people – people who move from one place to another in search of food and water for themselves and their herds.
Nonviolent resistance – a form of political protest that does not use force or violence.
Oligarchic government – a system in which an unelected powerful group uses its hold over the government to enrich itself and deny power to the citizens.
Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC)- an international organization that has 12 members and whose goal it is to keep the price of oil as stable as possible.
Ottoman Empire – an empire that began in 1299, in Turkey, and grew to include parts of Southwest Asia, Africa, and Europe.
Outsourcing – hiring people in other countries and paying them lower wages to do certain types of work.
Pacific Rim – the countries that border the Pacific Ocean
Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) – a group made up of several Palestinian political groups in different countries who are united in their goal of taking back Palestine from the Israelis.
Pan-Africanism – the idea that there is a global African community made up of native Africans and the descendants of African slaves and migrants across the world.
Pandemic – a widespread epidemic
Parliamentary system – a form of government in which the executive branch is not as independent of the legislative branch as it is in a presidential democracy. The leader of the government is usually the prime minister.
Persians – an ethnic group that has lived in Iran since before the arrival of Islam in the 7th century. They have their own language called Persian, or Farsi.
Pogroms – violent, anti-jewish mob attacks
Presidential system – the executive branch is headed by the president, while the legislative branch is headed by Congress. The president is independent of Congress.
Prime minister – the leader of the government in a parliamentary system.
Puppet state- a government set up in a country that is actually run by an outside country.
Racism – the belief that one type of ethnicity is better than another.
Refining- making oil from the ground ready to make fuel to operate machines.
Reforestation – planting trees in order to restore a forest.
Representative democracy – a system of government in which people elect representatives who act on their behalf.
Republic –a system in which citizens elect leaders to represent them.
Sahara – the world’s largest non-polar desert.
Sahel – a strip of semi-arid land south of the Sahara Desert
Samsara – life’s cycle of death and rebirth
Savannah – a large tropical grassland with scattered trees, in Africa.
Saving – setting money aside for later use.
Scramble for Africa – the growth of European colonies in Africa.
Shinto – Japan’s native religion that has neither sacred writings nor an organized set of beliefs or even a founder.
Southern African Development Community (SADC) – nine South African countries came together in 1980 to form a treaty that assists in making government and monetary policies for its members.
Specialization – a country produces goods that it is able to make efficiently.
Spend - to pay money for things you need.
Stalemate – when no side claims victory.
Subsistence farming – a method of farming in which nearly all of the crops or livestock raised are used to maintain the farmer and the farmer’s family, leaving little, if any surplus for sale or trade.
Suez Canal – a human-made trade route between Europe and Asia.
Sultan – the ruler of a Muslim state
Swahili – a group of people, who live on the East African coast from southern Somalia to Northern Mozambique, who practice a strict form of Islam.
Taoism a philosophy in China – In Chinese ,tao means “the way.” The way represents the flow of life.
Tariff – a tax on imports
Theocracy – a government run by religious leaders.
Trade – the exchange, purchase, or sale of goods and services.
Trade balance – the difference in value between a country’s imports and exports.
Trade deficit–when a country imports more than it exports
Trade surplus – when the value of a country’sexports is greater than its imports
Traditional economy -an economic system based on traditions, routines, and beliefs
Transnationalism – legally living and working in more than one country
Triangular trade – a pattern of trade that occurred between Europe, the Americas, and Africa.
Tropical rainforest – a dense evergreen forest with annual rainfall of at least 60 inches
Turks – an ethnic group based on the Turkish language who live in Turkey and Iran
Unicameral – a legislature with one house
Unitary system –a form of government in which the central government decides which the central government decides which powers to grant to local governments. Local governments have important powers, but these powers are not clearly defined by the country’s constitution.
Viet Cong – A group of Communists in South Vietnam who sought reunification of Vietnam under Communist rule.
Viet Minh – nationalist and Communist forces in Vietnam.
Vietnamization – the policy of turning over control of the Vietnam War to South Vietnam while U.S. troops withdrew.
Water rights – agreements about how countries can use the water in a region.
Weapons of mass destruction (WMDs) – chemical or biological weapons
Westernized – to become more like Europeans or Americans
Zionism – a Jewish movement that began in Europe in the late 19 century to establish a Jewish homeland in Palestine.