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Ap World History Vocabulary

Decent Essays

Johanna Bergstrom Mrs. Davis AP World History 28 July 2015 Vocabulary—For each of the terms, give the definition and the significance relative to world history of each. archipelago: a group of islands clustered closely together, generally in the ocean but occasionally occurring in other bodies of water. Archipelagoes are typically made up of volcanic islands, also called “oceanic islands”. Several major geographical regions consisted of an archipelago, including Hawaii, Japan, and the countries of Indonesia and Malaysia, which together make up the Malay Archipelago. Archipelagoes provide a unique situation for historians: the presence of significant cultural milestones, such as the development of agriculture and the use of metal tools, can …show more content…

Canals were a significant development in human history because they allowed societies to more freely transport goods by ship if natural rivers were not present and to provide irrigation for crops growing in drier soil. The most well-known example of a canal dramatically improving human productivity is the Panama Canal, opened officially in 1914 in the country of Panama in Central America. The canal joined the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans and allowed ships to transport goods across the world much more quickly and efficiently. cape: a small section of land surrounded by a body of water on three sides but still connected to the mainland. Though similar to a peninsula, a cape is generally a small, thin piece of land, such as Cape Cod or the Cape of Good Hope, whereas a peninsula can be a very large piece of land. Capes were significant to navigators and explorers because they were surrounded mostly by water, enabling ships to arrive and depart …show more content…

Desertification typically occurs as a result of poor management by human populations. In earlier times of history, desertification was not seen as a widespread issue, because most humans led hunter-gatherer lifestyles that caused them to frequently relocate. Thus, the land was not populated for enough time for it to become overgrazed by livestock or depleted of nutrients by over-farming and deforestation. However, in more recent history, desertification has become much more significant as agriculture-based societies became more widespread and the need to produce as much as many goods as possible overrode the need to conserve Earth’s

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