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Sacred space
Any locale that people hold in reverence, such as places of worship, cemeteries, and battlefields.
Category: Glossary
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Sahara
The largest desert globally, stretching 3,000 miles across the African continent, from the Atlantic ocean to the red sea, and measuring 1,200 miles (1,931 km) from north to south.
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Sahel
A narrow band of dry grassland, running east to west on the southern edge of the Sahara, is used for farming and herding.
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Salinization
The deposition of salts on, and subsequent fertility loss in, soils experiencing a combination of overwatering and high evaporation.
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Salt flat
Flatland is made of chemical salts that remain after winds evaporate the moisture in the soil.
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Samurai
A professional soldier in Japan who served the interests of landowners and clan chiefs.
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Sanctions
Sanctions: penalties imposed by one or more countries on another to persuade that country to follow a certain course of action.
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Sand sea
A virtual “ocean” of the sand characteristic of parts of the Middle East, where people, plants, and animals are all but nonexistent.
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Santeria
Practiced in Cuba, the merging of Nigeria’s Yoruba religion with Roman Catholicism and native Indian traditions.
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Savanna
Savanna – open grassland in a tropical or subtropical region.
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Scandinavia
Scandinavia is the region in northern Europe that includes the Scandinavian Peninsula and its surrounding countries.
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Schistosomiasis
Parasitic trematode flatworm Schistosoma causes schistosomiasis. Freshwater snails act as an intermediate host and release the larval form of the parasite that penetrates the skin of people exposed to contaminated water.
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Scrub and thorn forest
The low, sparse vegetation in tropical areas where rainfall is insufficient to support tropical deciduous forests.
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SDR
Special Drawing Right. The reserve currency, introduced by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in 1970, was intended to replace gold and national currencies in settling international transactions.
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Seawork
A structure used to control the sea’s destructive impact on human life.
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Second law of thermodynamics
A natural law stating that high-quality, concentrated energy is increasingly degraded as it passes through the food chain.