Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
Underemployment
Western notion regarding the underuti-
Viet Minh
The front organization of the International Com-
munist Party in Vietnam. After World War II, the Viet Minh
took control of most of northern and central Vietnam.
Wallace Line
The line of demarcation between the distinct
zoogeographic regimes of Malaysia and Indonesia.
We-they syndrome
Ethnocentric peoples (we) have a sense of
superiority to other cultures (they) that are considered inferior.
White revolution
The transformation of India' s dairy indus-
try to produce more milk.
Wind-chill factor
lization of labor.
Unipolar concentration
A situation arising from the migra-
tion to and growth of one city such as T Tokyo at the expense of
other places.
Untouchables
Non-caste individuals associated with “pollut-
ing” occupations in India.
Upanishads
A work of Hindu literature, from the Sanskrit
phrase meaning “sitting down near” one' s spiritual advisor.
Upazilas
A subdistrict in Bangladesh created in the 1980s.
Urban agglomerations
Clusters of cities.
Urban primacy
A situation that exists when the population of
a nation' is largest city is greater than the combined popula-
tions of its next three largest cities.
V aishyas
Peasant farmers in India' s caste system.
V alue chain
A chain of activities in a production system in
which each activity adds value to the end product.
V arnas
“V arna
” is a word meaning “color.” In Hinduism,
classes of people such as priests or warriors.
V edas
The earliest known Hindu literature, from the Sanskrit
word
veda,
meaning “knowledge.”
V eddas
Aboriginals of Sri Lanka.
V egeculture
The cultivation of tuber and tree crops such as
taro and bananas. Vegeculture preceded seed cultivation.
V ertical integration
Exists when one company or conglomer-
ate controls all stages of aproduction process.
Viet Cong
National Liberation Front in southern Vietnam.
Opposed to the American-supported South Vietnamese gov-
ernment.
The role that wind plays in reducing tem-
perature.
World cities
Cities at the top of a global urban hierarchy such
as London, T okyo, or New Y ork.
World systems theory
Proposed by Immanuel Wallerstein.
Dichotomy of capital and labor as competing agents in the ac-
cumulation of capital in context of globalization. Economic
interchange takes place on unequal terms between cores and
peripheries on a global scale.
Xenophobia
Fear of foreigners.
Xerophytic
Drought-resistant.
Y ang
With
yin,
one of two opposing yet complementary
forces that govern the universe.
Yi jing
(
I-ching
)
A Chinese literary work in which hexagrams
depict the harmonies of complementary opposites.
Yin
With
yang
, one of two opposing yet complementary
forces that govern the universe.
Zaibatsu
Japanese military-industrial conglomerates. They
were disbanded after World War II.
Zeylan
Dutch name for Ceylon (Sri Lanka).
