Arid
	A very dry environment.
Cyber-activism
	A new way of taking action by using the Internet or text messages.
Epidemic
	An outbreak of an infectious disease that spreads rapidly and widely.
Favela
	A word used in Brazil to describe poor urban neighbourhoods or shanty towns.
GDP
	Gross Domestic Product, the total value of all the goods and services produced by a country in a year. It is often measured 'per capita' or per person, to make an average.
G8
	A group of eight countries representing the most powerful economies in the developed world. G8 members are USA, UK, Canada, France, Russia, Italy, Germany and Japan. The President of the European Commission and the President of the European Council also attend the annual G8 summit.
Horticulture
	Farming fruit, vegetables and flowers.
Human Development Index (HDI)
	A more accurate way of measuring development that combines several different indicators. Learn how to calculate the HDI from http://hdr.undp.org/statistics/indices/hdi_calculator.cfm.
Infant mortality
	The number of babies out of every thousand born that die before the age of one.
Malnutrition
	A condition when someone is not receiving a balanced diet, damaging their health.
Nomadic
	People that move from place to place in search of food and water for their animals.
Patent
	A rule that protects the ownership rights of someone or a company to make, use or sell his/her invention and prevents others from doing so.
Population density
	The number of people per square kilometre.
Savanna
	An ecosystem found in the sub-tropics. Characterised by grassland, scattered drought-resistant trees and a well-defined wet season.
Sub-Saharan Africa
	The portion of Africa that lies south of the Sahara desert.
Sustainable
	"Development which meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs". The Bruntland Commission's definition.
Telecommunications
	The extension of communications over a distance.
Transnational Company
	TNC for short and also known as a 'multinational corporation', this is a company that owns and operates manufacturing or service businesses in more than one country.
Union
	An organisation for employees that protects their rights at work.
WAP
	Stands for 'Wireless Application Protocol'. WAP is a new technology that allows us to instantly access information from the Internet from a wireless handset like a mobile phone or pager.