Indochina - The name given to the mainland of Southeast Asia. It includes Vietnam, Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia, and Laos.

Karl Marx - The principle writer of the Communist Manifesto. He is one of the chief influences of Mao Tse Tung.

Asoka - Considered the greatest leader of the Mauryan Empire in India. He is responsible for taking Buddhism and raising it from an obscure Indian religion to one found all over the world.

Ainu - The native inhabitants of Japan. They are tall, blond/red haird and have beards - very much unlike the typical Japanese man.

Japan's Acceptance of Western Ideas - Under the leadership of Emperor Meiji, Japan turned itself into a colonizing power. He sent diplomats to many countries to discover the best aspect of that country, so that Japan could model their country after them. From Britian he took naval ideas, from Germany he took military ideas, from America industrialization, and from France government administration.

Archipelago - A series of islands, usually crescent shaped. Examples include the Lesser Antilles, Japan, and Indonesia

Transnational corporations - A corporation with activities and interests in foreign countries.

Doubling Time - The amount of time it takes a population to double.

Mughal Empire - The Muslim Empire that was in control of India for several hundred years.

Japan's Physical Geography - Japan, being an archipelago, is a collection of islands. There are four large islands (Honshu, Hokkaido, Kyushu, and Shikoku) and many smaller islands.

Emperor Meiji - The Emperor responsible for transforming Japan into a colonizing power.

Shinto - The native religion of Japan.

Confucianism - Not really a religion in China, but rather a way of life. It is based on the teachings and writings of Confucius, who is considered China's greatest philosopher and teacher. It is a set of principles and ideas that are to govern the way to live ones life, full of peace and harmony.

4 sectors of an economy - Any aspect of the economy can be narrowed down to one of four areas:

• Primary - Extractive - deals with agriculture and mining
• Secondary - Manufacturing - deals with refining raw materials into finished products
• Tertiary - Services - deals with any service performed by one individual for another (management, clerks, salespeople, etc)
• Quaternary - Information - deals with the handling of information (newspapers, cable, etc.

Kurile Islands - A small series of islands between Japan and Russia. At one time they belonged to Japan but Russia took them during World War II. Japan wants them back, but Russia is keeping them as spoils of war. The sad thing is that there is really nothing of note on the islands. They are pretty much barren wasteland.

Demographic Transition Model - A model developed by demographers to explain population through space and time. There are 5 stages of this model:

• Stage 1 - characterized by high birth rate and high death rate (very little population growth)
• Stage 2 - characterized by high birth rate and declining death rate (population explosion)
• Stage 3 - characterized by declining birth rate and low death rate (population explosion)
• Stage 4 - characterized by low birth rate and low death rate (very little population growth)
• Stage 5 - characterized by a birth rate that had fallen below the death rate (negative population growth)