Key Geographic and Economic Terms Defined

Estuary

Landforms produced at the mouth of a river when its amplitude penetrates inland. They are usually good places for communication, due to the mixture of currents.

Common Agricultural Policy (CAP)

The Common Agricultural Policy, or CAP, was created in 1961 (Spain joined in 1986) in order to ensure the living standards of farmers, market stability, and reasonable prices in supplies to consumers.

Vegetative Growth

Vegetative growth data is used in demographic studies to express the difference between birth and death rates. It can be positive (population increases) or negative (population falls).

Black Economy

The black economy encompasses economic activities taking place outside the established legal channels, therefore, without paying taxes, Social Security contributions, etc. It is especially abundant in sectors such as domestic service or craft production.

Parallel

Parallel: An imaginary line parallel to the Equator and within the network of geographic coordinates. It serves to define the latitude (north or south) of a specific point.

Bedroom City

Bedroom City: Populations situated in the vicinity of large cities, very economically dependent on them, whose main purpose is to serve as the residence of workers in large cities. The tremendous development achieved in some cases is due to cheaper land prices compared to what exists in the main city. They are usually organized around the major roads to facilitate daily transport.

Dolina

Dolina: One of the typical landforms of limestone or karst landscapes. They appear in areas where water has stagnated, resulting in the disintegration of the rock. The resulting reliefs have various forms, such as circular, funnel, or well shapes.

Migration

Migration: Any population movement involving a change of residence. It includes the concepts of "emigration" (out of population) and "immigration" (entry of population). Migration can be classified according to several criteria:

• Internal or external
• Pendular, seasonal, temporary, or definitive
• Voluntary

Fishing Area

Fishing area: This is the place, more or less extensive, where fishing is plentiful. The factors that determine the abundance of fish include the abundance of plankton, the extent of continental shelves, the proximity of cold water, and contact between cold and warm water. Spanish fishing areas currently present problems due to poor water resources, overexploitation, and the limited area of the continental shelf.

Endorheic

Endorheic: The absence of oceanic drainage; that is, the phenomenon that exists in an area where water does not drain into the ocean but instead drains into a lake (temporary or permanent). These are therefore closed basins. The causes may be climatic (aridity) or morphotopographic (depressed reliefs or feeder cells). Lake Carucedo in Leon is an example of an endorheic basin, which was closed by the accumulation of debris from The Médulas.

Humus

Humus: The organic component of soil, found in the topsoil, resulting from the decomposition of organic matter that is mixed with the mineral soil.