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Conglomerate Corporation

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A firm that is comprised of many smaller firms that serve several different functions.

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Core

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National or global regions where economic power, in terms of wealth, innovation, and advanced technology, is concentrated.

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Core-Periphery Model

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A model of the spatial structure of development in which underdeveloped countries are defined by their dependence on a developed core region.

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Cottage Industry

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An industry in which the production of goods and services is based in homes, as opposed to factories.

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Deglomeration

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The dispersal of an industry that formerly existed in an established agglomeration.

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Deindustrialization

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Loss of industrial activity in a region.

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Development

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The process of economic growth, expansion, or realization of regional resource potential.

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E-Commerce

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Web-based economic activities.

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Economic Backwaters

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Regions that fail to gain from national economic development.

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Ecotourism

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A form of tourism, based on the enjoyment of scenic areas or natural wonders, that aims to provide an experience of nature or culture in an environmentally sustainable way.

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Footloose Firms

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Manufacturing activities in which cost of transporting both raw materials and finished product is not important for determining the location of the firm.

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Fordism

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System of standardized mass production attributed to Henry Ford.

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Foreign Investment

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Overseas business investments made by private companies.

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Gender Equity

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A measure of the opportunities given to woman compared to men within a given country.

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Globalization

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The idea that the world is becoming increasingly interconnected on a global scale such that smaller scales of political and economic life are becoming obsolete.

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Gross Domestic Product

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The total value of goods and services produced within the borders of a country during a specific time period, usually one year.

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Gross National Product

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The total value of goods and services, including income received from abroad, produced by the residents of a country within a specific time period, usually one year.

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Human Development Index

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Measure used by the United Nations that calculates development not in terms of money pr productivity but in terms of human welfare. The HDI evaluates human welfare based on three parameters: life expectancy, education, and income.

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Industrial Revolution

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The rapid economic and social changes in manufacturing that resulted after the introduction of the factory system to the textile industry in England at the end of the 18th century.

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Industrialization

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Process of industrial development in which countries evolve economically, from producing basic, primary goods to using modern factories for mass-producing goods. At the highest levels of development, national economies are geared mainly toward the delivery of services and exchange of information.

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Industrialized Countries

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Those countries including Britain, France, the United States, Russia, Germany, and Japan, that were all at the forefront of industrial production and innovation through the middle of the 20th century. While industry is currently shifting to other countries to take advantage of cheaper labor and more relaxed environmental standards, these countries still account for a large portion of the world's total industrial output.

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Least-Cost Theory

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A concept developed by Alfred Weber to describe the optimal location of manufacturing establishment in relation to the costs of transport and labor, and the relative advantage of agglomeration or deglomeration.

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Least-Developed Countries

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Those countries including countries in Africa, except for South Africa, and parts of South America and Asia, that usually have low levels of economic productivity, low per capita incomes, and generally low standards of living.

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Manufacturing Region

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A region in which manufacturing activities have clustered together. The major U.S. industrial region has historically been in the Great Lakes, which includes the states of Michigan, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, New York, and Pennsylvania. Industrial regions also exist in southeastern Brazil, central England, around Tokyo, Japan, and elsewhere.

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Maquiladoras

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Those U.S. firms that have factories just outside the United States/Mexican border in areas that have been specially designated by the Mexican government. In such areas, factories cheaply assemble goods for export back into the United States.

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Net National Product

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A measure of all goods and services produced by a country in a year, including production from its investments abroad, minus the loss or degradation of natural resource capital as a result of productivity.

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Nonrenewable Resources

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Natural resources, such as fossil fuels, that do not replenish themselves in a time frame that is relevant for human consumption.

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Offshore Financial Center

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Areas that have been specially designed to promote business transactions, and thus have become centers for banking and finance.

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Outsourcing

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Sending industrial processes out for external production. The term outsourcing increasingly applies not only to traditional industrial functions, but also to the contracting of service industry functions to companies to overseas locations, where operating costs remain relatively low.

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Periphery

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Countries that usually have low levels of economic productivity, low per capita incomes, and generally low standards of living. The world economic periphery includes Africa(except South Africa), parts of South America, and Asia.

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Primary Economic Activities

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Economic activities in which natural resources are made available for use or further processing, including mining, agriculture, forestry, and fishing.

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Productivity

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A measure of the goods and services produced within a particular country.

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Purchasing Power Parity

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A monetary measurement of development that takes into account what money buys in different countries.

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Quaternary Economic Activities

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Economic activities concerned with research, information gathering, and administration.

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Quinary Economic Activities

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The most advanced form of quaternary activities consisting of high-level decision making for large corporations or high-level scientific research.

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Rowtow's Stages of Development

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A model of economic development that describes a country's progression which occurs in five stages transforming them from least-developed to most-developed countries.

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Rust Belt

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The manufacturing region in the United States that is currently debilitated because many manufacturing firms have relocated to countries offering cheaper labor and relaxed environmental regulations.

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Second Economic Activities

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Economic activities concerned with the processing of raw materials such as manufacturing, construction, and power generation.

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Semi-Periphery

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Those newly industrialized countries with median standards of living, such as Chile, Brazil, India, China, and Indonesia. Semi-periphery countries offer their citizens relatively divers economic opportunities but also have extreme gaps between rich and poor.

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Service-Based Economies

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Highly developed economies that focus on research and development, marketing, tourism, sales, and telecommunications.

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Slow World

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The developing world that does not experience the benefits of high-speed telecommunications and transportation technology.

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Spatially Variable Costs

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An input cost in manufacturing that change significantly from place to place in its total amount and in its relative share of total costs.

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Specialty Goods

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Goods that are not mass-produced but rather assembled individually or in small quantities.

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Sustainable Development

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The idea that people living today should be able to meet their needs without prohibiting the ability of future generations to do the same.

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Tertiary Economic Activities

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Activities that provide the market exchange of goods and that bring together consumers and providers of services such as retail, transportation, government, personal, and professional services.

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Transnational Corporation

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A firm that conducts business in at least two separate countries; also known as multinational corporations.

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World Cities

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A group of cities that form an interconnected, internationally dominant system of global control and finance and commerce.

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World-Systems Theory

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Theory developed by Immanuel Wallerstein that explains the emergence of a core, periphery, and semi-periphery in terms of economic and political connections first established at the beginning of exploration in the late 15th century and maintained through increased economic access up until the present.

AP Human Geography Key Terms 8 – Flashcards

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