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.

barefoot doctor: Especially during the Cultural Revolution (q.v.), a paramedical worker possessing minimal formal training who provided part-time medical service, primarily in rural areas. Promoted basic hygiene, preventive health care, and family planning and treated common illnesses. Acted as a primary health-care provider at the grass-roots level.
Barisan Sosialis: The Socialist Front, a left-wing political party that was the primary challenger to the People’s Action Party (q.v.) in the 1960s and early 1970s.
import substitution: Also known as import-substitution industrialization, an economic development strategy that emphasizes the growth of domestic industries, often by import protection using tariff and nontariff measures. Proponents favor the export of industrial goods over that of primary products.
import-substitution industrialization: An economic development strategy and a form of protectionism that emphasizes the growth of domestic industries by restricting the importation of specific manufactured goods, often by using tariff (q.v.) and nontariff measures, such as import quotas. Theoretically, capital would thus be generated through savings of foreign-exchange earnings. Proponents favor the export of industrial goods over primary products and foreign-exchange considerations. In the post-World War II period, import-substitution industrialization was most prevalent in Latin America. Its chief ideological proponents were the Argentine economist Raúl Prebisch and the Economic Commission for Latin America (q.v.). Main weaknesses in Latin America: the domestic markets in the region were generally too small; goods manufactured domestically were too costly and noncompetitive in the world market; most states in the region had an insufficient variety of resources to build a domestic industry; and most were also too dependent on foreign technology.; Source: Library of Congress
International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD): Formal name for the World Bank Group (q.v.) which was conceived at the Bretton Woods Conference on July 22, 1944, and began operations in June 1946. Its primary purpose is to provide technical assistance and loans at market-related rates of interest to developing countries at more advanced stages of development.; Source: Library of Congress
Kraj (pl., kraje): Primary administrative region into which both the Czech and the Slovak socialist republics are divided.
maktab: Primary school operated by Shia clergy.
Polexco: Political Executive Committee. The politburo of the PCR (q.v.), the party’s primary policy-making body. In 1988 there were nineteen members, most of whom held other important party and government positions.
Primary exports: Peru’s traditional primary goods exports, as opposed to manufactured exports, included cotton, sugar, copper, silver, lead, zinc, and oil.
primary goods or products: Raw materials, such as ores, logs, and agricultural products, or other products with a high content of natural resources.; Source: Library of Congress
primary sector: Agriculture, extractive activities, and fishing.; Source: Library of Congress
ruble zone: Name given the group of newly independent states that continued to use the Soviet, then Russian, ruble as the primary currency for financial transactions after the collapse of the Soviet Union. The ruble zone existed from December 1991 until July 1993, when the Russian Central Bank withdrew all ruble notes issued before January 1993.
special economic zones: Small coastal areas established beginning in 1979 to promote economic development and introduction of advanced technology through foreign investment. Special preferential terms and facilities are offered to outside investors in taxation, land-use fees, and entry and exit control for joint ventures, cooperative ventures, and enterprises with sole foreign investment. Special economic zones have greater decision-making power in economic activities than provincial-level units. Market regulation is primary.
Sunni--(from Arabic sunna, tradition or precedent): A follower of the larger of the two primary denominations of Islam.
taiga: The extensive, sub-Arctic evergreen forest of the Soviet Union. The taiga, the largest of the five primary natural zones, lies south of the tundra (q.v.).
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.
VAT: Value-added tax. A tax applied to the additional value created at a given stage of production and calculated as a percentage of the difference between the product value at that stage and the cost of all materials and services purchased as inputs. The VAT is the primary form of indirect taxation applied in the EEC (q.v.), and it is the basis of each country’s contribution to the community budget.
Warsaw Treaty Organization: Formal name for Warsaw Pact. Political-military alliance founded by the Soviet Union in 1955 as a counterweight to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Albania, an original member, stopped participating in Warsaw Pact activities in 1962 and withdrew in 1968. Members in 1991 included Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, East Germany, Hungary, Poland, Romania, and the Soviet Union. Before it was formally dissolved in April 1991, the Warsaw Pact served as the Soviet Union’s primary mechanism for keeping political and military control over Eastern Europe.; Source: Library of Congress
World Bank: Name used to designate a group of four affiliated international institutions that provide advice on long-term finance and policy issues to developing countries: the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), the International Development Association (IDA), the International Finance Corporation (IFC), and the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA). The IBRD, established in 1945, has the primary purpose of providing loans to developing countries for productive projects. The IDA, a legally separate loan fund administered by the staff of the IBRD, was set up in 1960 to furnish credits to the poorest developing countries on much easier terms than those of conventional IBRD loans. The IFC, founded in 1956, supplements the activities of the IBRD through loans and assistance designed specifically to encourage the growth of productive private enterprises in less developed countries. The president and certain senior officers of the IBRD hold the same positions in the IFC. The MIGA, which began operating in June 1988, insures private foreign investment in developing countries against such non-commercial risks as expropriation, curl strife, and inconvertibility. The four institutions are owned by the governments of the countries that subscribe their capital. To participate in the World Bank group, member states must first belong to the IMF (q.v.).; Source: Library of Congress