Absolute Location: the exact location of a place, using degrees of latitude and longitude.

Relative Location: describes location in relation to places around it.

Parallels of Latitude: imaginary horizontal lines of a grid system numbered in degrees North and South.

Meridians of Longitude: imaginary vertical lines of a grid system, numbered in degrees east and west.

Taiga: evergreen forest, cone-bearing trees.

Tundra: treeless area of arctic regions with a frozen subsoil and low-growing vegetation.

Steppes: grass-covered plains.

Continental Climate: climate of places far from the ocean, with little rainfall, hot summers, cold winters.

Primary Industry: get their products from land and water.

Secondary Industry: transform products from primary industries into finished goods.

Tertiary Industry: public services to make our lives easier.

Quaternary Industry: creating and transferring information.

Tsar: the male leader ruling with absolute power.

Tsarina: the wife of the tsar.

Tsaritsa: the female leader ruling with absolute power.

Serfs: people who were not allowed to leave the land they worked on.

Commune: A group of peasant households joined together to farm and own land.

3-field System: a type of farming with three types of fields: unseeded, one harvested in August/September, one harvested in spring.

Autocracy: a kind of government in which the ruler’s power is unlimited.

Enlightenment: understanding gained through information

Liberate: set free.

Bourgeoisie: capitalist class, business owners that employ workers.

Proletariat: people belonging to the working class, not wealthy, don’t own factories or businesses.

Cold War: the economic battle between USA and USSR without armed conflict, but with threats, propaganda, espionage, diplomacy and economic competition.

Communism: an economic system based on ownership of wealth, property, means of production by community or state; each person works for the common good according to ability and receiving in return according to need.

Socialism: a political and economic system where the workers own and control all means of production.

Bolsheviks: those belonging to the majority of the Social Democrats, led by Lenin.

Brezhnev Doctrine: a blief practiced by Brezhnev; force should be used to preserve the communist government in neighbouring countries.

Capital: money, assets needed to produce goods and services.

Collective Farm: land owned and farmed by the state.

Collectivization: when many small farms are collected together to form one large farm.

De-Stalinization: relaxation of the methods of Stalin.

Dissident; someone who criticizes the government; sometimes end up in jail.

Famine: great crop failures that left the peasants starving.

Great Purge: when Stalin decided he wanted to kill everyone against him.

Ideology: a set of beliefs and ideas.

Imperialistic: establishing dominance over other countries to extend power.

Incentive: something that encourages someone to do something.

Individualism: individual’s interest become more important than that of the state.

Labour: efforts of people to produce goods.

Land: natural resources.

Living Standards:the measure of how well people live.

Means of Production: the components needed for production, land, labor, capital.

Multinational Empire: a country composed of many republics and has a strong government.

Nationalize: a change from private to government ownership and control.

New Economic Policy: began in 1921, an experiment of mixing private enterprise with socialism and state wondership. This made them fall even farther behind.

Output: goods produced.

Quota: a portion of a total required from a total area or person.

Re-Stalinization: the return of Stalin’s restricted policies.

Satellite: something that circles the earth.

State Control: the state controls all production and businesses.

State Ownership: the government owns all natural resrouces, stores, banks.

Technological Race; a race between USA and USSR to build new scientific tools.

Totalitarianism: a government with control over everything in a country.

War Communism: a policy in which the Bolsheviks attempted to bring about government ownership and control.

World Power: countries that have significant economic and military control.

Scarcity: resrouces are limited and cannot fulfill demand.

Gosplan: the central planning agency of the Soviet economy.

Consumer Goods: items made to be bought by others.

Communist Party: a political party dedicated to establishing communism.

The Second Economy: the black market.

Sovkhoz: Farms owned and run  by the government.

Politburo: the most powerful policy making body in the Communist party; controls government.

KGBP: secret police that arrested or imprisoned people opposing the Communist Party.

Warsaw P{act: a pact to protect the USSR from western threats and Eastern Europe from outside power.

Kolkhoz: collective farms.

Secretariat: the General Secretary, leader of the CSPU and politburo, the actual Soviet Union leader.

Detente: the easing of tensions between Capitalist West and Communist East.

Perestroika: the restructuring of the USSR.

Glasnost: openness, frankness.

Coup D’Etat: the illegal overthrow of the government.

Democracy: a government in which the people elect and vote for political parties and leaders.

Democratization: the participation of the people in the government’s decision making process.

Super Power: a country with extreme military and political power.

Radical Change: the extreme change in views, habits, conditions, or institutions.

NATO: North Atlantic Treaty Organization.

Atheism: a belief that denies the existence of God.

CIS: Commonwealth of Independent States; the association of eleven countries once part of the previous USSR.