Glossary — G

Glossary terms beginning with G.

gada system: An Oromo term used to refer to a system that groups persons (invariably males) of the same generation (rather than age) into sets. The sets are ordered hierarchically and assigned a range of social, military, political, and ritual rights and responsibilities. Generation-set systems are found in varying forms among the Oromo and other groups, e.g., the Konso and Sidama.
gamonales (sing. gamonal): Ruthless rural bosses who used armed force as well as the law to obtain land, displacing many native Americans in the process.
Gang of Four: Term used by the post-Mao leadership to denote the four leading radical figures--Jiang Qing (Mao’s fourth wife), Zhang Chunqiao, Yao Wenyuan, and Wang Hongwen--who played a dominant political role during the Cultural Revolution (q.v.) decade (1966-76) until Mao’s death in September 1976 and their arrest several weeks later. Their ""antiparty"" deeds are often linked with Lin Biao, an early leader of the Cultural Revolution, who also has been discredited.
Garifuna: An ethnic group descended from the Carib of the Eastern Caribbean and from Africans who had escaped from slavery. The Garifuna resisted the British and the French in the Windward Islands until they were defeated by the British in 1796. After putting down a violent Garifuna rebellion on Saint Vincent, the British moved the Garifuna across the Caribbean to the Bay Islands (present-day Islas de la Bahía) in the Gulf of Honduras. From there they migrated to the Caribbean coasts of Nicaragua, Honduras, Guatemala, and southern British Honduras. Garifuna also refers to their language.; Source: Library of Congress
GATT (General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade): An intergovernmental agency related to the United Nations and headquartered in Geneva, GATT was established in 1948 as a multilateral treaty with the aim of liberalizing and stabilizing world trade. GATT’s fundamental principles included nondiscriminatory trade among members, protection of domestic trade through the customs tariff, and agreement on tariff levels through negotiations among the contracting parties. The Uruguay Round of major multilateral trade negotiations, the eighth such round of negotiations, began at Punta del Este in September 1986.
Gaza Strip: former Egyptian territory occupied by Israel in the June 1967 War.; Source: Library of Congress
Gdansk Agreement: The first of several major concessions made by the Polish communist government in late 1980 to the rising Solidarity movement. The agreement granted public expression to many groups in Polish society hitherto restricted, promised new economic concessions, removed discredited communist officials, and recognized workers’ right to establish free trade unions.
GDP--(gross domestic product): A value measure of the flow of domestic goods and services produced by an economy over a period of time, such as a year. Only output values of goods for final consumption and intermediate production are assumed to be included in the final prices. GDP is sometimes aggregated and shown at market prices, meaning that indirect taxes and subsidies are included; when these indirect taxes and subsidies have been eliminated, the result is GDP at factor cost. The word gross indicates that deductions for depreciation of physical assets have not been made. Income arising from investments and possessions owned abroad is not included, only domestic production. Hence, the use of the word domestic to distinguish GDP from gross national product (q.v.).
gecekondus: Literally, ""built overnight""; term used for shantylike squatter housing erected on outskirts of large cities. Ottoman custom dictated that once a structure was built, it could not be destroyed.
General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT): An intergovernmental agency related to the United Nations and headquartered in Geneva, GATT was established in 1948 as a multilateral treaty with the aim of liberalizing and stabilizing world trade. GATT’s fundamental principles include nondiscriminatory trade among members, protection of domestic trade through the customs tariff, and agreement on tariff levels through negotiations among the contracting parties. The Uruguay Round of major multilateral trade negotiations, the eighth such round of negotiations, began at Punta del Este in September 1986 and was still underway at the end of 1991.; Source: Library of Congress
General People's Committee: Name given the cabinet (formerly the Council of Ministers) in March 1977.
general price index (GPI): A statistical measure of sustained change in the price level (rate of inflation) weighted according to spending patterns.; Source: Library of Congress
general secretary: The title of the head of the Communist party Secretariat, who presided over the Politburo and was the Soviet Union’s de facto supreme leader. From 1953 until 1966, the title was changed to first secretary.
Generalized System of Preferences (GSP): A policy promoted by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development under which developed countries grant tariff exemptions to imports from developing countries. The United States GSP program was authorized by the International Trade and Tariff Act of 1974 and was extended by the International Trade and Tariff Act of 1984. Singapore ""graduated"" from the United States GSP program as of January 1, 1989, as it was no longer considered a developing country.
ger: Mongol term for the round, felt-covered tent known by its Russian (from the Turkic) name of yurt.
Gini coefficient: A measure of inequality in a country’s wealth distribution. It contrasts actual income and property distribution with perfectly equal distribution. The value of the coefficient, or index, can vary from 0 (complete equality) to 1 (complete inequality).
glasnost: Russian word meaning openness. Public discussion of issues; accessibility of information so that the public can become familiar with it and discuss it. Mikhail S. Gorbachev’s policy of using the media to make information available on some controversial issues in order to provoke public discussion, challenge government and party bureaucrats, and mobilize greater support for his policy of perestroika (q.v.).; Source: Library of Congress
Global 2000: An organization founded and chaired by Mr. Jimmy Carter (former President of the United States) to aid Third World farmers with improved seedlings, financial assistance, and extension services. The goal was to create agricultural self-sufficiency in the selected countries. Ghana became a Global 2000 member in the mid- 1980s.
GNA: Grand National Assembly. Nominally the supreme organ of state power, it is essentially a rubber-stamp legislature of 369 deputies elected every five years. It meets twice yearly and in special sessions as necessary.
GNP (gross national product): GDP (q.v.) plus the net income or loss stemming from transactions with foreign countries. GNP is the broadest measurement of the output of goods and services by an economy. It can be calculated at market prices, which include indirect taxes and subsidies. Because indirect taxes and subsidies are only transfer payments, GNP is often calculated at a factor cost, removing indirect taxes and subsidies.; Source: Library of Congress
gobi: Mongol term for arid pastureland, and source of the name Gobi.
Golan Heights: former Syrian territory occupied by Israel in the June 1967 War and formally annexed by Israel in 1981.; Source: Library of Congress
gold córdoba (C$o, sometimes C$): Nicaraguan monetary unit divided into 100 centavos. Introduced in mid-1990, the gold córdoba replaced the new córdoba at a rate of 1 gold córdoba to 5 million new córdobas (q.v.). In mid- 1993, US$1 = C$o6.15.
Golden Horde: A federative Mongol state that extended from western Siberia to the Carpathian Mountains from the mid-thirteenth century to the end of the fifteenth century. Generally, it exacted tribute and controlled external relations but allowed local authorities to decide internal affairs.
Golkar: Golongan Karya (Functional Groups); the ruling political parties; a federation of groups within society, such as peasants, workers, and women.
Gorkha: A principality west of Kathmandu and the ancestral home of the Shah kings, which became the House of Gorkha.
gourde (G): The Haitian monetary unit, divided into 100 centimes. The official exchange rate of US$1=G5, established in 1919, remained in place in 1989. On the black market, however, the gourde traded at US$1=G7 or higher.
Goyigama, Govi: Highest Sinhalese (cultivator) caste. Traditional ruling caste and leaders of established order, comprising at least half of the Sinhalese population. Agriculturalists, now challenged for status by Karavas (q.v.).
GPC: General People’s Congress. Body combining executive and legislative functions that became the formal supreme organ of government in March 1977.
Great Depression: The 1929-34 economic slump in North America and other industrialized areas of the world. It was precipitated by the collapse of the United States stock market in October 1929. The term ""depression"" denotes, in its economic sense, a cyclical phase of the economy with high unemployment of labor and capital, business and consumer pessimism, accumulated inventories, minimal investment, and, in some sectors, falling prices.
Great Leap Forward: A drive to increase industrial and agricultural production following the suspension of Soviet aid and the desire to catch up with the advanced nations of the world. The campaign was conceived by Mao Zedong in late 1957, adopted by the National People’s Congress (q.v.)in 1958; it continued through 1960. Emphasis was placed on accelerated collectivization of agriculture, national self-sufficiency, and labor-intensive methods. The campaign resulted in widespread waste of resources and was partially responsible for famine in 1960 and 1961.
Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution: See Cultural Revolution.
Great Terror: A period from about 1936 to 1938 of intense repression in the Soviet Union when millions were imprisoned, deported, and executed by Stalin’s secret police for spurious political or economic crimes. The Great Terror affected all of Soviet society, including the highest levels of the party, government, and military.
Greater Romania: Following World War I, Romania incorporated Transylvania, Bessarabia, Bukovina, the eastern Banat, and southern Dobruja. It subsequently lost much of this territory.
Greater Syria: Term used by historians and others to designate the region that includes approximately the present-day states of Jordan, Israel, Lebanon, and Syria before those states were formed.; Source: Library of Congress
Green Book: Muammar al Qadhafi’s ideological testament, containing his political, economic, and social thought, revolutionary precepts, and definition of ""Arab socialism."" The first volume was published in 1976 and the second in 1978.
Green Line: name given to the 1949 Armistice lines that constituted the de facto borders of pre-1967 Israel.; Source: Library of Congress
gross domestic product (GDP): A value measure of the flow of domestic goods and services produced by an economy over a period of time, such as a year. Only output values of goods for final consumption and intermediate production are assumed to be included in final prices. GDP is sometimes aggregated and shown at market prices, meaning that indirect taxes and subsidies are included; when these have been eliminated, the result is GDP at factor cost. The word gross indicates that deductions for depreciation of physical assets have not been made. See also gross national product.; Source: Library of Congress
Group of 77: Founded in 1964 as a forum for developing countries to negotiate with developed countries for economic aid, by the 1980s its membership had expanded from the original 77 nations to include the 127 members of the Nonaligned Movement (q.v.).
Group of Eight: A permanent mechanism for consultation and political coordination that succeeded the Contadora Support Group (q.v.) in December 1986. It consisted of Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Mexico, Panama, Peru, Uruguay, and Venezuela. Its second meeting, attended by the presidents of seven member- countries (Panama’s membership was temporarily suspended in February 1988), was held in Punta del Este, Uruguay, in October 1988. Like the Contadora Support Group, the Group of Eight advocated democracy and a negotiated solution to the Central American insurgencies. Its name was changed in 1990 to the Group of Rio, which had eleven members in 1992. Peru was suspended from the Rio Group following President Alberto K. Fujimori’s self-coup on April 6, 1992, but was formally reinstated in April 1993.
Group of Fifteen: Group of Third World countries that participated in the Conference on International Economic Cooperation, held in several sessions between December 1975 and June 1977; it has continued to meet and add additional members since 1977. The group in 1992 included nineteen members: Algeria, Argentina, Brazil, Cameroon, Egypt, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Jamaica, Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan, Peru, Saudi Arabia, Venezuela, Yugoslavia, Zaire, and Zambia.
Group of Fifteen (G-15): Group of Third World countries that participated in the Conference on International Economic Cooperation held in several sessions between December 1975 and June 1977. At the Ninth Nonaligned Movement Summit in Belgrade in May 1989, the G-15 was designated a ""Summit Level Group of South-South Consultation and Cooperation"" and charged with opening a dialogue with the industrialized nations, specifically the members of the Group of Seven (Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Britain, and the United States). G-15 summits were held in Kuala Lumpur (June 1990), Caracas (November 1991), Dakar (November 1992), and New Delhi (March 1994). The group includes Algeria, Argentina, Brazil, Egypt, India, Indonesia, Jamaica, Malaysia, Mexico, Nigeria, Peru, Senegal, Venezuela, Yugoslavia, and Zimbabwe.
Group of Seven: The seven major noncommunist economic powers: Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, and the United States.; Source: Library of Congress
Group of Seven (G-7): The seven-nation organization was established in 1973, with an annual summit beginning in 1975, to attempt to coordinate its members’ economic policies. Members are Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, and the United States.
Group of Seventy-seven: Established in October 1967 with the aim of promoting economic cooperation among developing countries. Indonesia was among the seventy-seven original members. Despite the name, which persists, by 1992 there were 123 members.
guaraná (G): The national currency. From 1960 to 1982 the guaraní remained pegged to the United States dollar at G126=US$1. Responding to the completion of construction of the Itaipú hydroelectric plant and lower commodity prices for soybeans and cotton, in July 1982 the Central Bank established a multitiered exchange rate system. The most favorable rate was reserved for the imports of certain state-owned enterprises and for external debt-service payments. Three other controlled rated were applied to imports of petroleum and petroleum derivatives; distribursements of loans to the public sector; and agricultural imports and most exports. Commercial banks set a fifth, free-market rate that governed most of the private sector’s nonoil imports. In early 1988, these five rated were G240=US$1, G320=US$1, G400=US$1, G550=US$1, and approcimately G900=US$1, respectively. The multitiered system constituted a massive subsidy to state-owned enterpreses. Central Bank losses in controlled exchange rate transactions accounted for nearly half of public-sector deficit in 1986. In July 1988, the Central Bank eliminated the two most favorable exchange rates; set G400=US$1 as the rate for imports of state-owned enterprises; external debt-service payments, and petroleum imports; and established G550=$US1 as the rate for disbursements for loans to the public sector, agricultural imports, and most exports. In January 1989, the Central Bank further devalued the guaraní by setting the controlled rates at G600=US$1 and G750=US$1 and also required petroleum imports to be paid at the higher rate. In early 1989, the free-market rate exceeded G1,000=US$1.
gult: A principle of land tenure among the Amhara, Tigray, and, with modifications, elsewhere. Abolished by the military government in 1975. Gult rights were rights granted by the emperor or his designated representative either to members of the ruling group as a reward for service or to Ethiopian Orthodox churches or monasteries as endowments. The holder of gult rights, often but not always an official, was entitled to collect tribute and demand labor from those on the land over which he held rights. Some of the tribute was kept, and the remainder was passed upward.
gum arabic: water-soluble gum obtained from several varieties of acacia and used in textile finishing and in inks, confectionery, pharmacy, and the manufacture of adhesives.
Gurkha: the British derivative of Gorkha evolved from the name Gorkha, which originally was applied to the soldiers of that region. The Gurkha soldiers of Nepal, who became famous for their service in the British and Indian armies in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, principally were composed of members of the Magar, Gurung, Limbu, and Rai tribes, and were not a single ethnic group, tribe, clan, or caste.; Source: Library of Congress
guru: In the Sikh faith, one of ten spiritual leaders and teachers, the first of whom was Nanak Dev, the last being Gobind Singh. In Hinduism, a religious teacher or guide.