Terms : Hide Images
| 12472032 | Benin | powerful city-state (in Africa) which came into contact with the Portuguese in 1485 but remained relatively free of European influence; important commercial and political entity until the 18th century | 0 | |
| 12472033 | demography transition | shift to low birth rate, low infant death rate, stable population; first emerged in western Europe and United States in late 19th century | 1 | |
| 12472034 | chinampas | beds of aquatic weeds, mud, and earth placed in frames made of cane and rooted in lakes to create "floated islands"; system of irrigated agriculture utilized by Aztecs | 2 | |
| 12472035 | demography | study of population | 3 | |
| 12472036 | Great Zimbabwe | Bantu confederation of Shona-speaking peoples located between Zambezi and Limpopo rivers; developed after 9th century; featured royal courts built of stone; created centralized state by 15th century; king took title of Mwene Mutapa | 4 | |
| 12472037 | griots | professional oral historians who served as keepers of traditions and advisors to kings within the Mali emperor | 5 | |
| 12472038 | Indian | misnomer created by Columbus referring to indigenous peoples of New World; implies social and ethnic commonality among Native Americans that did not exist; still used to apply to Native Americans | 6 | |
| 12472039 | Kongo | kingdom, based on agriculture, formed on lower Congo River by late 15th century; capital at Mbanza Kong; ruled by hereditary monarchy | 7 | |
| 12472040 | Muhammad the Great | extended the boundaries of the Songhay Empire; Islamic ruler of the mid-16th century | 8 | |
| 12472041 | Quetzalcoatl | Toltec deity; feathered serpent; adopted by Aztecs as a major god | 9 | |
| 12472042 | quipu | system of knotted strings utilized by the Incas in place of a writing system; could contain numerical and other types of information for censuses and financial records | 10 | |
| 12472043 | Songhay | successor state to Mali; dominated middle reaches of Niger valley; formed as independent kingdom under a Berber dynasty; capital at Gao; reached imperial status under Sunni Ali | 11 | |
| 12472044 | stateless societies | african societies organized around kinship or other forms of obligation and lacking the concentration of political power and authority associated with states | 12 | |
| 12472045 | tambos | way stations used by Incas as inns and storehouses; supply centers for Incan armies on move; relay points for system of runners used to carry messages | 13 | |
| 12472046 | Tenochtitlan | founded 1325 on marshy island in Lake Texcoco; became center of Aztec power; joined with Tlacopan and Texcoc in 1434 to form a triple alliance that controlled most of central plateau of Mesoamerica | 14 | |
| 12472047 | timbuktu | port city of Mali; located just off the flood plain of the great bend in the NIger River; population of 50,000; contained a library and university | 15 | |
| 12472048 | toltec culture | succeeded Teotihuacan culture in central Mexico; strongly militaristic ethic including human sacrifice; influenced large territory after 1000 C.E. | 16 | |
| 12472049 | Zenj | Arabic term for the east African coast | 17 | |
| 12472050 | Nok | ancient Nigerian civilization that practice agriculture and used iron tools; artistic traditions spread widely through the forest areas | 18 | |
| 12472051 | sahel | extensive grassland belt at the southern edge of the Sahara | 19 | |
| 12472052 | Sudanic States | kingdoms in west Africa; had effective control of subordinate societies and the legal or informal control of their sovereignty; conquest states with rulers that were considered sacred | 20 | |
| 12472053 | Mali | empire between the Senegal and Niger rivers in the 13th through 15th centuries | 21 |
