Glossary - Human Geography: People, Place and Culture - page 508

the Eastern Orthodox Church, centered in Constantinople; and the
Roman Catholic Church, centered in Rome, split.
Romance languages Languages (French, Spanish, Italian, Romanian,
and Portuguese) that lie in the areas that were once controlled by the Roman
Empire but were not subsequently overwhelmed.
Root crop Crop that is reproduced by cultivating the roots of or the
cuttings from the plants.
Russifi cation the Soviet policy to promote the diffusion of Russian
culture throughout the republics of the former Soviet Union.
Rust belt a region in the northeastern United States that was once
characterized by industry. Now so-called because of the heavy deindus-
trialization of the area.
Sacred site Place or space people infuse with religious meaning.
Sanitary landfi lls Disposal sites for non-hazardous solid waste that is
spread in layers and compacted to the smallest practical volume. The sites
are typically designed with fl oors made of materials to treat seeping liq-
uids and are covered by soil as the wastes are compacted and deposited
into the landfi ll.
Scale Representation of a real-world phenomenon at a certain level of
reduction or generalization. In cartography , the ratio of map distance to
ground distance; indicated on a map as a bar graph, representative frac-
tion, and/or verbal statement.
Second Agricultural Revolution Dovetailing with and benefi ting
from the Industrial Revolution , the Second Agricultural Revolution
witnessed improved methods of cultivation, harvesting, and storage of
farm produce.
Secondary economic activity Economic activity involving the pro-
cessing of raw materials and their transformation into fi nished industrial
products; the manufacturing sector.
Secondary hearth an early adopter of a cultural practice or trait that
becomes a central locale from which the practice or trait further diffuses.
Secularism The idea that ethical and moral standards should be for-
mulated and adhered to for life on Earth, not to accommodate the pre-
scriptions of a deity and promises of a comfortable afterlife. A secular
state is the opposite of a theocracy .
Seed crop Crop that is reproduced by cultivating the seeds of the plants.
Selective immigration Process to control immigration in which in-
dividuals with certain backgrounds (i.e. criminal records, poor health, or
subversive activities) are barred from immigrating.
Semi-periphery Places where core and periphery processes are both
occurring; places that are exploited by the core but in turn exploit the
periphery.
Sense of place State of mind derived through the infusion of a place
with meaning and emotion by remembering important events that oc-
curred in that place or by labeling a place with a certain character.
Sequent occupance The notion that successive societies leave their
cultural imprints on a place, each contributing to the cumulative cul-
tural landscape .
Shamanism Community faith in traditional societies in which people
follow their shaman—a religious leader, teacher, healer, and visionary.
At times, an especially strong shaman might attract a regional following.
However, most shamans remain local fi gures.
Shantytown Unplanned slum development on the margins of cities,
dominated by crude dwellings and shelters made mostly of scrap wood,
iron, and even pieces of cardboard.
Sharia law The system of Islamic law, sometimes called Qu'ranic law .
Unlike most Western systems of law that are based on legal precedence,
Sharia is based on varying degrees of interpretation of the Qu'ran .
Shifting cultivation Cultivation of crops in tropical forest clearings
in which the forest vegetation has been removed by cutting and burning.

These clearings are usually abandoned after a few years in favor of newly
cleared forestland. Also known as slash-and-burn agriculture .
Shintoism Religion located in Japan and related to Buddhism .
Shintoism focuses particularly on nature and ancestor worship.
Shiites Adherents of one of the two main divisions of Islam. Also
known as Shiahs, the Shiites represent the Persian (Iranian) variation of
Islam and believe in the infallibility and divine right to authority of the
Imams , descendants of Ali.
Site The internal physical attributes of a place , including its absolute
location, its spatial character and physical setting.
Situation The external locational attributes of a place; its relative
location or regional position with reference to other nonlocal places.
Slash-and-burn agriculture See shifting cultivation .
Slavic languages Languages (Russian, Polish, Czech, Slovak,
Ukrainian, Slovenian, Serbo-Croatian, and Bulgarian) that developed as
Slavic people migrated from a base in present-day Ukraine close to 2000
years ago.
Social networks interconnections among individuals that foster social

interaction.
Social stratifi cation One of two components, together with agri-
cultural surplus , which enables the formation of cities ; the differ-
entiation of society into classes based on wealth, power, production,
and prestige.
Soil erosion The wearing away of the land surface by wind and mov-
ing water.
Solid waste Non-liquid, non-soluble materials ranging from munici-
pal garbage to sewage sludge; agricultural refuse; and mining residues.
Sound shift Slight change in a word across languages within a sub-
family or through a language family from the present backward toward
its origin.
Sovereignty A principle of international relations that holds that fi nal
authority over social, economic, and political matters should rest with
the legitimate rulers of independent states.
Space Defi ned by Doreen Massey and Pat Jess as “social relations
stretched out.”
Spaces of consumption Areas of a city , the main purpose of which is
to encourage people to consume goods and services; driven primarily by
the global media industry.
Spatial Pertaining to space on the Earth's surface; sometimes used as a
synonym for geographic .
Spatial distribution Physical location of geographic phenomena across
space .
Spatial fi x the movement of production from one site to another based
on the place-based cost advantages of the new site.
Spatial interaction See complementarity and intervening
opportunity .
Spatial perspective Observing variations in geographic phenomena
across space .
Special Economic Zone (SEZ) Specifi c area within a country in
which tax incentives and less stringent environmental regulations are
implemented to attract foreign business and investment.
Splitting In the context of determining representative districts, the
process by which the majority and mino

rity populations are spread evenly
across each of the districts to be created therein ensuring control by the
majority of each of the districts; as opposed to the result of majority-
minority districts .
Standard language The variant of a language that a country's politi-
cal and intellectual elite seek to promote as the norm for use in schools,
government, the media, and other aspects of public life.