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.

adelantado: In the sixteenth century, the Spanish crown awarded the office of adelantado to selected individuals who, at their own expense, undertook the discovery and conquest of new overseas territories. Adelantados served as executive officers to govern a region, to act as head of military forces at distant frontier posts, or to command a military expedition.; Source: Library of Congress
Andean Group: An economic group, the Andean Common Market, created in 1969 by Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela as a subregional market to improve its members’ bargaining power within the Latin American Free Trade Association (LAFTA) and to encourage increased trade and more rapid development. LAFTA, which dated from 1960, was replaced in 1980 by the Latin American Integration Association (Asociación Latinoamericana de Integración--ALADI), which advocated a regional tariff preference for goods originating in member states. Chile left the Andean Group in 1976. The threat that Peru might withdraw from the pact had receded by August 1992.; Source: Library of Congress
Andean Initiative (or Andean Strategy): At the February 1990 Cartagena (Colombia) Drug Summit, the presidents of Bolivia, Colombia, Peru, and the United States agreed to mount a regional attack on the drug trade. Their governments thereby qualified for United States counternarcotics assistance. After taking office in July 1990, President Alberto K. Fujimori proposed a comprehensive counternarcotics effort, to include narcotic law enforcement, demand reduction, public diplomacy, and economic development. However, progress in organizing this strategy was hindered by police/military rivalries and corruption. Furthermore, in late September 1990 Fujimori turned down US$35.9 million in authorized FY1990 United States military assistance after the United States failed to meet his concerns about the military focus of its antidrug strategy in Peru. After extensive talks, Fujimori signed the Peru-United States umbrella agreement on drug control and economic assistance on May 14, 1991, establishing a political understanding at the highest level and serving as a framework for a coordinated, comprehensive program to dismantle the drug trade in Peru with assistance with the United States, other developed countries, and international organizations. It addresses the role of the police and military in counternarcotics activities, alternative econmic assistance, crop substitution, and access to establishing legitimate economies versus the cultivation and illicit processing of coca leaf into cocaine products.
Andean Pact: An economic group, the Andean Common Market, created in 1969 by Bolivia, Colombia, Chile, Ecuador, and Peru as a subregional market to improve its members’ bargaining power within the Latin American Free Trade Association (LAFTA) and to encourage increased trade and more rapid development. LAFTA, which dated from 1960, was replaced in 1980 by the Latin American Integration Association (Asociación Latinoamericana de Integración--ALADI), which advocated a regional tariff preference for goods originating in member states. Chile left the Pact in 1976. The threat that Peru might withdraw from the Pact had receded by August 1992.
Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN): Founded in 1967 for the purpose of promoting regional stability, economic development, and cultural exchange. ASEAN’s membership includes Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam. India is a ""dialogue partner"" along with Austria, Canada, China, Japan, New Zealand, the Republic of Korea (South Korea), Russia, and the United States.
Autonomous Region: Governorates of As Sulaymaniyah, Dahuk, and Irbil, the Kurdish majority area. In this region--popularly known as Kurdistan--Kurdish has status of official language, and residents enjoy limited autonomy from central government.
Bessarabia: Region between the Dniester and Prut rivers north of the Black Sea. Seized by the Soviet Union in 1940, it was merged with Bukovina (q.v.) to form the Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic.
Bukovina (var., Bucovina): Region in the foothills of the Eastern Carpathians at the headwaters of the Prut, Siret, and Dniester rivers. The region belonged to Romania between World War I and World War II, but was annexed by the Soviet Union in 1940.
Central America: Here used in a geographic sense. Central America is considered to be the entire isthmus between Mexico and Colombia, including present-day Belize, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and Panama. A more traditional political view of the term, most often used in the region itself, is that Central America encompasses only the five successor states to the United Provinces of Central America (1821-38): Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica.
Central American Common Market (CACM): The CACM was established by the Organization of Central American States under the General Treaty of Central American Economic Integration signed in Managua, Nicaragua, on December 15, 1960. Its members include Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua. Its original goals included the establishment of a Central American regional free-trade area, a customs union, and the integration of the industrialization efforts of its member countries. Its efforts were curtailed following the 1969 war between El Salvador and Honduras, when the Hondurans reestablished import duties on CACM products. Despite the continued existence of the organization, most intraregional economic relations have been handled on a bilateral basis since 1970.
China Proper: Used broadly to mean China within the Great Wall, with its eighteen historic provinces. Divisible into two major, sharply contrasting regions, north China and south China. The dependencies on the north and west--Manchuria (now usually referred to as northeast China), Mongolia, Xizang (Tibet), and Xinjiang or Chinese Turkestan--were known in the imperial era as Outer China.
Chittagong Hill Tracts: Commonly used name for area comprising Rangamati, Khagrachari, and Bandarban regions in southeastern Bangladesh.; Source: Library of Congress
Colombo Plan for Cooperative, Economic, and Social Development in Asia and the Pacific (Colombo Plan): Founded in 1951, originally under a slightly different name, to coordinate and aid development among newly independent countries. Members include nations throughout the Asia-Pacific region (Nepal joined in 1952; Bhutan in 1962). Donor countries include Australia, Britain, Canada, India, Japan, New Zealand, and the United States. The organization’s headquarters are in Colombo, Sri Lanka.; Source: Library of Congress
Common Market of the South (Mercado Comum do Sul--Mercosul): An organization established on March 26, 1991, when the Treaty of Asunción was signed by Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay for the purpose of promoting regional economic cooperation. Chile was conspicuously absent because of its insistence that the other four countries first had to lower their tariffs to the Chilean level before Chile could join. Mercosul became operational on January 1, 1995. Chile became an associate member that month and agreed to join as a full member on June 25, 1996. Bolivia was admitted into Mercosul in March 1997. Mercosul is more commonly known by its Spanish acronym, Mercosur (Common Market of the South--Mercado Común del Sur).; Source: Library of Congress
Contadora: A diplomatic initiative launched by a January 1983 meeting on Contadora Island off the Pacific coast of Panama, by which the ""Core Four"" mediator countries of Mexico, Venezuela, Colombia, and Panama sought to prevent through negotiations a regional conflagration among the Central American states of Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica. In September 1984, the negotiating process produced a draft treaty, the Contadora Acta, which was judged acceptable by the government of Nicaragua but rejected by the other four Central American states concerned. The governments of Peru, Uruguay, Argentina, and Brazil formed the Contadora Support Group in 1985 in an effort to revitalize the faltering talks. The process was suspended unofficially in June 1986 when the Central American governments refused to sign a revised Acta. The Contadora process was effectively superseded by direct negotiations among the Central American states.
Contadora peace process: A diplomatic initiative launched by a January 1983 meeting on Contadora Island off the Pacific coast of Panama, by which the ""Core Four"" mediator countries of Mexico, Venezuela, Colombia, and Panama sought to prevent through negotiations a regional conflagration among the Central American states of Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica. In September 1984 the negotiating process produced a draft treaty, the Contadora Acta, which was judged acceptable by the government of Nicaragua but rejected by the other four Central American states concerned. The governments of Peru, Uruguay, Argentina, and Brazil formed a Contadora Support Group in 1985 in an effort to revitalize the faltering talks. The process was suspended unofficially in June 1986 when the Central American governments refused to sign a revised Acta. The Contadora process was effectively superceded by direct negotiations among the Central American states.
Contadora Support Group: A diplomatic initiative launched by a January 1983 meeting on Contadora Island off the Pacific coast of Panama, by which the ""Core Four"" mediator countries of Mexico, Venezuela, Colombia, and Panama sought to prevent through negotiations a regional conflagration among the Central American states of Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica. In September 1984, the negotiating process produced a draft treaty, the Contadora Act, which was judged acceptable by the government of Nicaragua but rejected by the other four Central American states concerned. The governments of Peru, Uruguay, Argentina, and Brazil formed the Contadora Support Group in 1985 in an effort to revitalize the faltering talks. The process was suspended unofficially in June 1986 when the Central American governments refused to sign a revised treaty. The Contadora process was effectively superseded by direct negotiations among the Central American states.
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.
Cossacks: Originally peasants (primarily Ukrainian and Russian) who fled from bondage to the lower Dnepr and Don river regions to settle in the frontier areas separating fifteenth-century Muscovy, Poland, and the lands occupied by the Tatars. They later organized themselves into military formations to resist Tatar raids. Renowned as horsemen, they were absorbed into the army of the Russian Empire (q.v.) by the late eighteenth century. In the early 1990s, there were attempts to reestablish a Cossack military tradition in Ukraine.; Source: Library of Congress
Cyrenaica: Largest of Libya’s three historic regions, occupying the eastern half of the country. Name derived from the ancient Greek city-state, Cyrene; in Arabic known as Barqu.
dependency analysis: A theory that seeks to explain the continuing problems of Latin American underdevelopment and political conflict by positing the existence of an imperialistic, exploitative relationship between the industrialized countries and the developing nations of Latin America and other developing regions.
dependency theory: A theory that seeks to explain the continuing problems of Latin American underdevelopment and political conflict by positing the existence of an imperialistic, exploitative relationship between the industrialized countries and the developing nations of Latin America and other developing regions.; Source: Library of Congress
Diaspora: Refers to the Jews living in scattered communities outside Eretz Yisrael (the Land of Israel) during and after the Babylonian Captivity (sixth century B.C.) and, especially, after the dispersion of the Jews from the region after the destruction of the Temple by the Romans in A.D. 70 and the Bar-Kokhba War in A.D. 132- 35. In modern times the word refers to the Jews living outside Palestine or present-day Israel. When the word is applied--usually lowercased--to non-Jews, such as the Palestinian Arab refugees, the word describes the situation of the people of one country dispersed into other countries.; Source: Library of Congress
district: zila in Bangla (q.v.). One of major administrative subdivisions in Bangladesh; an average of three districts make up each of the twenty-one regions of Bangladesh. In 1988 there were sixty-four districts in Bangladesh.; Source: Library of Congress
Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC): A United Nations regional economic commission established on February 25, 1948, as the Economic Commission for Latin America (ECLA). More commonly known in Latin America as Comisión Económica para América Latina (CEPAL). In 1984 ECLAC expanded its operations and title to include the Caribbean. Main functions are to initiate and coordinate policies aimed at promoting economic development. In addition to the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean, ECLAC’s forty-one members include Britain, Canada, France, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, and the United States. There are an additional five Caribbean associate members.; Source: Library of Congress
Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO): Established in 1985, an economic union of Islamic countries to promote regional cooperation in trade, transportation, communications, culture, and overall economic development. Members in 1996 were Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Iran, Kazakstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Turkey, the ""Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus,"" Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan.
Fezzan: One of Libya’s three historic regions, located in the southwestern part of the country.
Greater Syria: Term used by historians and others to designate the region that includes approximately the present-day states of Jordan, Israel, Lebanon, and Syria before those states were formed.; Source: Library of Congress
Gurkha: the British derivative of Gorkha evolved from the name Gorkha, which originally was applied to the soldiers of that region. The Gurkha soldiers of Nepal, who became famous for their service in the British and Indian armies in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, principally were composed of members of the Magar, Gurung, Limbu, and Rai tribes, and were not a single ethnic group, tribe, clan, or caste.; Source: Library of Congress
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
Inner Mongolia: The southern part of traditional Mongolia; during the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), comprised the provinces of Suiyuan, Qahar, and Rehol; the present-day Nei Monggol Autonomous Region of China (Outer Mongolia, q.v.).
jizzu: Located in the area of latitude 16o in northwest Darfur and in Chad; region beyond the semidesert where the late rains produce a combination of grass and herbaceous plants in winter such that camels and sheep can graze without additional water supply.
Kraj (pl., kraje): Primary administrative region into which both the Czech and the Slovak socialist republics are divided.
kray (territory): Term for six widely dispersed administrative subdivisions whose boundaries are laid out primarily for ease of administration. Two include subdivisions based on nationality groups--one autonomous oblast (q.v.) and two autonomous regions (okruga--q.v.).
Latin American Free Trade Association (LAFTA): A regional group founded by the Montevideo Treaty of 1960 to increase trade and foster development. LAFTA’s failure to make meaningful progress in liberalizing trade among its members or to move toward more extensive integration prompted the leaders of five Andean states to meet in Bogotá in 1966. This meeting led to the creation in 1969 of the Andean Group (q.v.)--consisting of Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru (Venezuela joined in 1973)--to serve as a subregional structure within LAFTA. LAFTA was replaced in 1980 by the Latin American Integration Association (Asociación Latinoamericana de Integración--ALADI), which advocated a regional tariff preference for goods originating in member states. ALADI has since declined as a major Latin American integration effort in favor of regional efforts, such as the Southern Cone Common Market (q.v.).
Maghrib: The western Islamic world (northwest Africa); distinguished from the Mashriq, or eastern Islamic world (the Middle East). Literally, ""the time and place of the sunset--the west."" For its Arab conquerors, the region was the ""island of the west"" (jazirat al maghrib), the land between the ""sea of sand"" (the Sahara) and the Mediterranean Sea. Traditionally includes Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, and Tripolitania (in Libya); more recently some sources have treated Mauritania as part of the region. Also transliterated as Maghreb.; Source: Library of Congress
Maghrib (adj. Maghribian): The western Islamic world (northwest Africa); distinguished from the Mashriq or eastern Islamic world (the Middle East). Traditionally includes Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, and what is now Libya. Literally, ""the time or place of the sunset--the west."" For its Arab conquerors, the region was the ""island of the west"" (jazirat al maghrib), the land between the ""sea of sand"" (Sahara) and the Mediterranean Sea. Also translated as Maghreb.
Mercosur (Mercado Común del Cono Sur-- Southern Cone Common Market): An organization established on March 26, 1991, by Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay for the purpose of promoting regional economic cooperation. Chile was conspicuously absent because of its insistence that the other four countries first had to lower their tariffs to the Chilean level before Chile could join. Mercosur aimed to form a common market by December 31, 1994.
Mesoamerica: literally middle America. Anthropological term for region from central Mexico to northern Honduras that contained advanced civilizations before the arrival of the Europeans.
Metro Manila: Metropolitan Manila; also called the National Capital Region. Includes the cities of Manila, Pasay, Caloocan, and Quezon City and several other major population centers.
mfecane: ""Crushing"" or ""hammering"" (isiZulu); refers to early nineteenth-century upheaval in southeastern Africa caused by expansion of Zulu society under the military leadership of Shaka and combined economic and population pressures throughout the region; difeqane, in seSotho.
middle belt: Traditionally an ethnic and political zone stretching from east to west across the central section of Nigeria and inhabited by many minor ethnic groups who had been unable to obtain significant political influence because of long-term dominance by the Hausa-Fulani and Kanuri emirates. As used by economists and geographers, the term does not always coincide with ethnic and political divisions but usually designates the area between the characteristic northern and southern economies; in this context the area extends roughly from 7o30’N to 11oN. Since the civil war of 1967-70 and the replacement of the former administrative regions by states, use of the term has diminished among Nigerians who wish to downplay the regional connotation formerly attached to it.
Moldova: Former principality, one of two major historical regions inhabited by a Romanian-speaking population (along with Walachia, q.v.). Moldovan territory east of the Prut River was added to the original Bessarabia (q.v.), and the entire region was called Bessarabia when it was annexed by the Russian Empire (q.v.) in 1812. Also the name of a region in modern Romania.; Source: Library of Congress
Mount Lebanon: A term first used during the Ottoman era to designate the central part of the Lebanon Mountains inhabited mostly by Maronites and Druzes. After 1864 the area was administered as a separate entity and Christians prospered. Most of the region surrounding Mount Lebanon (often called simply ""the Mountain"") was considered part of Greater Syria, an area that encompassed present-day Syria, Lebanon, Israel, and Jordan. In 1920, while under the French Mandate, parts of Greater Syria (q.v.) were annexed to Mount Lebanon to create Greater Lebanon. This newly established territory eventually became the present- day state of Lebanon.
muhafazaat (sing., muhafazat): Governorates into which Libya’s three traditional regions were divided in 1963. Each was headed by a governor (muhafiz). The muhafazat were abolished in 1975.
Nordic Council: Founded in 1952, the Nordic Council promotes political, economic, cultural, and environmental cooperation in the Nordic region. Members in 1995 were Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden.
one country, two systems: A policy originating in the early 1980s that promotes reunification of Hong Kong, Macao,and Taiwan with the mainland and offers them a high degree of autonomy as special administrative regions of China. Through separate agreements with Britain and Portugal, Hong Kong and Macao are to revert to Chinese control in 1997 and 1999, respectively.
Organization of American States (OAS): Established by the Ninth International Conference of American States held in Bogotá on April 30, 1948, and effective since December 13, 1951. Has served as a major inter-American organization to promote regional peace and security as well as economic and social development in Latin America. Composed of thirty-five members, including most Latin American states and the United States and Canada. Determines common political, defense, economic, and social policies and provides for coordination of various inter-American agencies. Responsible for implementing the Inter-American Treaty of Reciprocal Assistance (Rio Treaty) (q.v.), when any threat to the security of the region arises.; Source: Library of Congress
Outer Islands: Term used by some sources to refer to all islands of the Indonesian archipelago other than Java and Madura. Other sources, however, use the term to refer to all islands except Java, Madura, Bali, and Sumatra; still others say except Java and Bali or exclude Java, Madura, and Bali. The term as translated from Dutch--buitengewesten--means outer terroritories or regions while a similar term from Bahasa Indonesia (q.v.)--tanah seberang--means land (or lands) over there, or across the seas. The term is sometimes considered pejorative by those people living on the islands indicated.