Glossary — T

Glossary terms beginning with T.

Treaty on European Union: The agreement that established the European Union (EU--q.v.) in November 1993. It is usually referred to as the Maastricht Treaty, the small Dutch town where it was negotiated by the twelve European Community (EC--q.v.) members in December 1991.
Trekboer: Migrant farmer, in Afrikaans; signifies participation in nineteenth-century population migrations eastward from the Cape of Good Hope. See also Boer.
tribal: In addition to its use as an adjective--tribal land or tribal customs--the word is also used as a noun to describe a tribesperson, tribesman, or tribeswoman.
Tripolitania: Most populous of Libya’s three historic regions, situated in the northwestern part of the country. Name derived from Tripolis (Three Cities).
TUC.: Trade Union Congress.
tugrik: The unit of currency; in March 1989, value of 1 tugrik=US$2.985. The tugrik is made up of 100 mongo; there are one, two, five, ten, fifteen, twenty, and fifty mongo denomination coins and a one tugrik coin. Currency consists of 1, 3, 5, 10, 25, 50, and 100 tugrik notes.
tumen: Traditional Mongol military unit, roughly equivalent to a modern division, comprising 10,000 troops and their families.
tundra: The treeless plain within the Arctic Circle that has low-growing vegetation and permanently frozen subsoil (permafrost--q.v.). The northernmost of the five primary natural zones of the Soviet Union.
Turkish lira (TL): Monetary unit used in ""Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus."" Also known as Turkish pound. Consists of 100 kurus. In terms of the United States dollar, the annual average exchange rate was TL19.3 in 1977, TL76.0 in 1980, TL522.0 in 1985, TL674.5 in 1986, TL857.2 in 1987, TL1,422.3 in 1988, TL2,121.7 in 1980, and TL2,608.6 in 1990.
Tuvins: Ethnic group of Turkic-speaking pastoralists from the Tannu Tuva region of the Soviet Union, which was administered as part of Mongolia under the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911). Also known as Uriankhai.
Twelve Imam Shia: The majority group among Shia (q.v.), who believe that the Imamate began with Ali, the fourth caliph, or successor ruler, in Islam. The line continued through his sons until the Twelfth Imam, who is believed to have ascended to a supernatural state to return to earth on Judgment Day.
twice-born: Referring to jatis (q.v.) claiming membership in one of the three upper varnas (q.v.), that is, Brahman (q.v.), Kshatriya, and Vaishya. Male member’s natural birth is followed by a sprititual rebirth in a rite involving investiture with a sacred thread.
twin plant: Productive arrangements whereby two or more producers in separate countries complementarily share the production of a good or service. Under the Caribbean Basin Initiative (CBI), such arrangements with the government of Puerto Rico potentially benefited from special investment or 936 funds (q.v.). The operations of twin plant ventures typically entailed the delegation of assembly or other labor-intensive production stages to plants in a CBI-designated country, from which these semi-finished products would then be shipped duty-free to Puerto Rico for final processing.; Source: Library of Congress