road, rail, and communication networks and other facilities necessary for economic activity

ancient natural underground reservoirs of water

a term used to refer to all Spanish-speaking people from Middle and South America, although their ancestors may have been European, African, Asian, or Native American

the dominant economic region within a larger region

the discrepancy in access to information technology between small, rural, and poor areas and large, wealthy cities that contain major governmental research laboratories and universities

old industrial sites whose degraded conditions pose obstacles to redevelopment

the business of farming conducted by large-scale operations that purchase, produce, finance, package, and distribute agricultural products

the quality of belonging to a particular culture group

a method of logging that involves cutting down all trees on a given plot of land, regardless of age, health, or species

the renovation of old urban districts by affluent investment, a process that often displaces poorer residents

precipitation that has formed through the interaction of rainwater or moisture in the air with sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides emitted during the burning of fossil fuels, making it acidic

an area formed when several cities expand so that their edges meet and coalesce

a family consisting of a married father and mother and their children

the extent to which the money earned by exports is exceeded by the money spent on imports

the services provided by the government—such as welfare, unemployment benefits, and health care—that prevent people from falling into extreme poverty

factors that get people to consider the drastic move of leaving family and friends and a familiar place to strike out into the unknown, with what are usually unknown resources

a term that refers to all the countries that border the Pacific Ocean

cities of 50,000 or more and their surrounding suburbs and towns

products produced without chemical fertilizers and pesticides

the encroachment of suburbs on agricultural land

a combination of industrial emissions, car exhaust, and water vapor that frequently hovers as a yellow-brown haze over many North American cities, causing a variety of health problems

a free trade agreement made in 1994 that added Mexico to the 1989 economic arrangement between the United States and Canada

populated areas along the peripheries of cities