Glossary

Definitions of terms used throughout CountryReports.

This glossary contains 1,144 terms used throughout CountryReports — political, economic, cultural, historical, and geographic terminology referenced in country profiles and articles. Terms are drawn from authoritative sources including the Library of Congress.

Ashkenazim (sing., Ashkenazi): Jews of European origin.; Source: Library of Congress
Bangla: Official language of Bangladesh; often referred to as Bengali before 1971. An Indo-European language.; Source: Library of Congress
Byzantine: Medieval Christian civilization that combined European and Asian cultures on an ancient Greco-Roman foundation. Centered at Byzantium (known as Constantinople 330-1930, and later called Istanbul), the Byzantine Empire occupied western Turkey and the Balkans and, as the center of Orthodox Christianity, exerted strong influence on many of the Slavic peoples of Eastern Europe.
CoCom (Coordinating Committee for Multilateral Export Controls): Loose arrangement of Western governments formed in 1949 to prevent the transfer of military-useful (dual-use) technology from the West to the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe; the group (whose membership was almost identical to that of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, q.v.) operated on the basis of informal agreements covering items having military or nuclear applications.
Comecon (Council for Mutual Economic Assistance): A multilateral economic alliance headquartered in Moscow. Albania was effectively expelled from Comecon in 1962 after the rift in relations between Moscow and Tiranë. Members in 1989 were Bulgaria, Cuba, Czechoslovakia, the German Democratic Republic (East Germany), Hungary, Mongolia, Poland, Romania, the Soviet Union, and Vietnam. Comecon was created in 1949, ostensibly to promote economic development of member states through cooperation and specialization, but actually to enforce Soviet economic domination of Eastern Europe and to provide a counterweight to the Marshall Plan. Also referred to as CEMA or CMEA.; Source: Library of Congress
Common Agricultural Policy (CAP): First established in 1962, the CAP aims at ensuring the free trade of farm products within the European Union (EU--q.v.), guaranteeing the prices of these products, and maintaining protective tariffs against farm products from outside the EU.
Communist International: Also called the Comintern or Third International, it was founded in Moscow in 1919 to coordinate the world communist movement. Officially disbanded in 1943, the Comintern was replaced from 1947 to 1954 by the Cominform (Communist Information Bureau), in which only the Soviet and the ruling East European communist parties (except for Yugoslavia, which was expelled in 1948) and the French and the Italian communist parties were represented. The Cominform was dissolved in 1956.
Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE): Furthers European security through diplomacy, based on respect for human rights, and a wide variety of policies and commitments of its more than fifty Atlantic, European, and Asian member countries. Founded in August 1975, in Helsinki, when thirty-five nations signed the Final Act, a politically binding declaratory understanding of the democratic principles governing relations among nations, which is better known as the Helsinki Accords (q.v.).; Source: Library of Congress
Conventional Forces in Europe (CFE) Treaty: An agreement signed in 1990 by members of the Warsaw Pact and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO--q.v.) to establish parity in conventional weapons between the two organizations from the Atlantic to the Urals. Included a strict system of inspections and information exchange. In 1995 Russia requested exemptions for forces stationed in the Caucasus region, and substantial changes were negotiated by the thirty signatory nations in 1997.
Council for Mutual Economic Assistance (Comecon): Also abbreviated CEMA and CMEA, the organization was established in 1949 to promote economic cooperation among socialist bloc countries and is headquartered in Moscow. Its members as of 1989 included the Soviet Union, Bulgaria, Cuba, Czechoslovakia, German Democratic Republic (East Germany), Hungary, Poland, Mongolia, Romania, and Vietnam. Mongolia, the first non-European member, joined Comecon in 1962 and has traditionally been a supplier of raw materials to the Soviet Union.
Council of Europe: Founded in 1949, the Council of Europe is an organization overseeing intergovernmental cooperation in designated areas such as environmental planning, finance, sports, crime, migration, and legal matters. In 1995 the council had thirty-five members.
Creole: In Belize a term used for an English-speaking person of African or mixed African and European ancestry.; Source: Library of Congress
Enlightenment: Philosophical and spiritual movement in Europe in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, concerned with the relationship of God, nature, reason, and man, often challenging the tenets of conventional Christianity.
Eurocurrency: A country’s currency on deposit outside the country. Most Eurocurrency claims are Eurodollars, which are dollar claims on banks located outside the United States. The Eurocurrency market is a wholesale market.
European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD): A bank founded under sponsorship of the European Community (q.v.) in 1990, to provide loans to East European countries (Bulgaria, the Czech and Slovak Federative Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania, the Soviet Union, and Yugoslavia) to establish independent, market-driven economies and democratic political institutions. Some fifty-eight countries were shareholders in 1992.
European Community (EC): The EC comprises three communities: the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC), the European Economic Community (EEC, also known as the Common Market), and the European Atomic Energy Community (Euratom). Each community is a legally distinct body, but since 1967 they have shared common governing institutions. The EC forms more than a framework for free trade and economic cooperation: the signatories to the treaties governing the communities have agreed in principle to integrate their economies and ultimately to form a political union. Belgium, France, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, and the Federal Republic of Germany (then West Germany) are charter members of the EC. Britain, Denmark, and Ireland joined on January 1, 1973; Greece became a member on january 1, 1981; and Portugal and Spain entered on January 1, 1986. In late 1991, Czechoslovakia, Hungary and Poland applied for membership.; Source: Library of Congress
European Council: A body formed when the heads of state or government of European Union (EU--q.v.) member states meet. Held at least twice a year, these meetings determine the major guidelines for the EU’s future development.
European Currency Unit (ECU): Instituted in 1979, the ECU is the unit of account of the EC (q.v.). The value of the ECU is determined by the value of a basket that includes the currencies of all EC member states. In establishing the value of the basket, each member’s currency receives a share that reflects the relative strength and importance of the member’s economy. In 1987 one ECU was equivalent to about one United States dollar.; Source: Library of Congress
European Economic Area (EEA): An economic area encompassing all the members of the European Union (EU--q.v.) and the European Free Trade Association (EFTA--q.v.), with the exception of Switzerland. Created in May 1992, the EEA went into effect on January 1, 1994. The EEA is a single market for the free movement of labor, services, capital (with some restrictions on investments), and most products. EFTA members have agreed to accept EU regulations in many areas, including company law, education, environmental protection, mergers, and social policy.; Source: Library of Congress
European Economic Community (EEC): The ""Common Market"" of primarily West European countries, organized to promote coordinated development of economic activities, expansion, stability, and closer relations among member states. Methods included elimination of customs duties and import regulations among member states, a common tariff and commercial policy towards outside countries, and a common agricultural and transport policy. A significant further reduction of intraorganizational barriers was planned in 1992.; Source: Library of Congress
European Free Trade Association (EFTA): Founded in 1960, EFTA aims at supporting free trade among its members and increasing the liberalization of trade on a global basis, particularly within Western Europe. In 1993 the organization’s member states were Austria, Finland, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, Sweden, and Switzerland.; Source: Library of Congress
European Monetary System (EMS): Established in 1979 by the European Economic Community (EEC--q.v.), the EMS was created to stabilize currency values because the Bretton Woods system (q.v.) proved not fully satisfactory. All European Union (EU--q.v.) countries are EMS members. The EMS is to be succeeded by the European Monetary Union (EMU--q.v.).
European Monetary Union (EMU): The EMU is a plan for a single European central bank and for a single European currency to replace national banks and currencies for those European states that qualify. The EMU is the planned follow-on of the European Monetary System (EMS--q.v.).
European Union (EU): Until November 1993, the EU was known as the European Community (EC). The EU comprises three communities: the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC), the European Economic Community (EEC), and the European Atomic Energy Community (Euratom). Each community is a legally distinct body, but since 1967 they have shared common governing institutions. The EU forms more than a framework for free trade and economic cooperation: the signatories to the treaties governing the communities have agreed in principle to integrate their economies and ultimately to form a political union. Belgium, France, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, and the Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany) were charter members of the EU; Britain, Denmark, and Ireland joined on January 1, 1973; Greece became a member on January 1, 1981; and Portugal and Spain entered on January 1, 1986.; Source: Library of Congress
exchange rate mechanism (ERM): Mechanism established in 1979 to regulate currency exchange rates in the European Monetary System (EMS--q.v.). Member currencies are permitted to fluctuate in value only within a narrow margin (the so-called snake).; Source: Library of Congress
Habsburg Empire: Also known as the House of Austria, one of the principal European dynasties between the fifteenth and twentieth centuries. Controlled a variety of separate monarchies, reaching its most powerful stage in the sixteenth century under Emperor Charles V of the Holy Roman Empire (q.v.). After 1867 what remained of the empire was commonly known as Austria-Hungary.
Hasid (pl., Hasidim): Member of a religious movement, known as Hasidism, founded in the eighteenth century by Israel Ben-Eliezer Baal Shem Tov in Eastern Europe. The movement, still active in the 1980s, stresses the importance of serving God in ecstasy and has strong mystical elements.; Source: Library of Congress
Helsinki Accords: Signed in August by all the countries of Europe (except Albania) plus Canada and the United States at the conclusion of the first meeting of the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe, the Helsinki Accords endorsed general principles of international behavior and measures to enhance security and addressed selected economic, environmental, and humanitarian issues. In essence, the Helsinki Accords confirmed existing, post-World War II national boundaries and obligated signatories to respect basic principles of human rights. Helsinki Watch groups were formed in 1976 to monitor compliance. The term Helsinki Accords is the short form for the Final Act of the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe and is also known as the Final Act.; Source: Library of Congress
hijra: Literally, to migrate, to sever relations, to leave one’s tribe. Throughout the Muslim world, hijra refers to the migration of the Prophet Muhammad and his followers to Medina. In this sense, the word has come into European languages as hegira. The year of Muhammad’s hijra constitutes the beginning of the Islamic calendar.; Source: Library of Congress
Iranian: Linguistically, a subgroup of the Indo-Iranian branch of Indo-European languages, which in modern times includes Persian (q.v.)--the most widely used--Pushtu, Kurdish (q.v.) dialects, and Ossetic. In the Middle Iranian stage of the group’s development (third century B.C. to tenth century A.D.), the chief languages were Parthian, Pahlavi (middle Persian), and Soghdian.
Kurdish: Term referring to a mainly Muslim people speaking an Indo-European language similar to Persian. Kurds constitute significant minorities in Iran, Iraq, and Turkey, with smaller groups in Armenia and Syria. Despite international proposals in response to minority persecution, never united in a single state.
Kurds: A mainly Muslim people speaking an Indo-European language similar to Persian. Kurds constitute significant minorities in Iran, Iraq, and Turkey, with smaller groups in Armenia and Syria. Despite international proposals in response to minority persecution, never united in a single state.
Lomé Convention: An agreement between the European Community (EC) and the African, Caribbean, and Pacific (ACP) states whose provisions call for the EC to extend economic assistance to ACP countries. Much of the aid is for project development or rehabilitation, but a large portion is set aside for the Stabilization of Export Earnings (STABEX) system, designed to help developing countries withstand fluctuations in the prices of their agricultural exports.; Source: Library of Congress
Maastricht Treaty: See Treaty on European Union.
Marshall Plan: In full the European Recovery Program, a United States- sponsored program to rehabilitate European nations after World War II and prevent communist subversion of countries weakened by war.; Source: Library of Congress
Marxism-Leninism/Marxist-Leninist: The ideology of communism, developed by Karl Marx and refined and adapted to social and economic conditions in Russia by Lenin, which guided the communist parties of many countries including Albania and the Soviet Union. Marx talked of the establishment of the dictatorship of the proletariat after the overthrow of the bourgeoisie as a transitional socialist phase before the achievement of communism. Lenin added the idea of a communist party as the vanguard or leading force in promoting the proletarian revolution and building communism. Stalin and subsequent East European leaders, including Enver Hoxha, contributed their own interpretations of the ideology.; Source: Library of Congress
Mesoamerica: literally middle America. Anthropological term for region from central Mexico to northern Honduras that contained advanced civilizations before the arrival of the Europeans.
Nordpolitik, or pukbang chngch'aek: The name given to the foreign policy pursued by South Korea since 1984 aimed at improving its diplomatic and economic ties with the former communist nations of Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union.
offshore banking: Term applied to banking transactions conducted between participants located outside the country. Such transactions increased rapidly worldwide after the mid-1960s because of the growth and liquidity of Eurocurrency (q.v.) markets.
Organisation for Economic Co- operation and Development (OECD): Established in 1961 to replace the Organisation for European Economic Co-operation (OEEC), the OECD is an international organization composed of the industrialized market economy countries (twenty-four full members as of 1993). The OECD seeks to promote economic and social welfare in member countries, as well as in developing countries, by providing a forum in which to establish and coordinate policies.; Source: Library of Congress
Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE): Established as the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE) in July 1972 by Canada, the United States, and all of the European states except Albania. In August 1975, these states signed the Helsinki Accords, confirming existing, post-World War II boundaries and obligating signatories to respect basic principles of human rights. Subsequently the CSCE held sessions and consultations on European security issues. The Charter of Paris (1990) established the CSCE as a permanent organization. In 1992 new CSCE roles in conflict prevention and management were defined, potentially making the CSCE the center of a Europe-based collective security system--a role advocated by Russia in the mid-1990s. The CSCE became the OSCE in January 1995. As of 1996, fifty-three nations were members.
Ottoman Empire: Formed in thirteenth and fourteenth centuries when Osman I, a Muslim prince, and his successors, known in the West as Ottomans, took over the Byzantine territories of western Anatolia and southeastern Europe and conquered the eastern Anatolian Turkmen principalities. The Ottoman Empire disintegrated at the end of World War I; the center was reorganized as the Republic of Turkey, and the outlying provinces became separate states.; Source: Library of Congress
overseas Chinese: Term usually used to refer to any person of Chinese origin living abroad on a permanent basis, without regard to his or her current citizenship. Overseas Chinese minorities are concentrated principally in Southeast Asia but are also found in other parts of Asia, the Middle East, Europe, North America, South America, and the Caribbean. Overseas Chinese have long been important to the government in power in China as a source of business contacts and of financial and moral support from abroad. The majority of foreign investment in China is by overseas Chinese, and more than 90 percent of all foreign tourists who visit China are overseas Chinese. Also used in China to refer to persons living in China who have returned from sojourns abroad.
Persian: As a language, a member of the Iranian subgroup in the Indo-European language family. The official language of modern Iran and spoken widely in Afghanistan. Middle Persian (Pahlavi) was used between the third century B.C. and the ninth century A.D. and was the official language of the Sassanid Empire that ruled parts of Central Asia from the third century to the sixth century A.D. Modern Persian is called Farsi by native speakers.
Rastafarian(ism): An Afro-Christian revivalist cult formed in Jamaica in the early 1920s. The so-called Rastafarian Brethren emphasized rejection of both Jamaican and European culture in favor of eventual repatriation to Africa. Identifying Africa with Ethiopia, Rastafarians viewed then Emperor Haile Selassie of Ethiopia as God incarnate. As hope of returning to Africa dwindled, Rastafarianism became more of a religious than a political movement. Rastafarians developed a system of beliefs compatible with their poverty and aloofness from society and similar to mystical experiences found in other protest religions. Rastas (as they are known in common parlance) have come to symbolize the movement away from white domination and toward a heightened black identity and pride. Rasta thought, reggae music, dance, and literature have been popularized throughout West Indian culture.; Source: Library of Congress
Reformation: Sixteenth-century movement against dogma of the Roman Catholic Church, in favor of grace through faith, the authority of the Scriptures, and the direct relationship of believers with God. Met with resounding force by the established church, the Reformation influenced Christian practice to varying degrees in all European countries, resulting in a schism between the Roman Catholic church and Protestant reformers.
Securitate: Popular term for the Departmentul Secevit#atii Statului (Department of State Security), the secret police. On a per capita basis, Romania has the largest such service in Eastern Europe.
Sinhala: An Indo-European langauge of the Indo-Iranian group. It was derived from a Prakrit, or dialectical, form of Sanskrit. Majority language of Sri Lanka.
Slavophiles: Members of the Russian intelligentsia in the mid-nineteenth century who advocated the preservation of Slavic, and specifically Russian, culture rather than opening Russian society and institutions to the influences of West European culture. Philosophically opposed to Westernizers (q.v.).
socialism/socialist: According to Marxism-Leninism (q.v.), the first phase of communism (q.v.). A transition from capitalism in which the means of production are state owned and whose guiding principle is ""from each according to his abilities, to each according to his work."" Soviet socialism bore scant resemblance to the democratic socialism that some West European countries adopted in the twentieth century.