Glossary — U

Glossary terms beginning with U.

UAE dirham (Dh): National currency of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), consisting of 100 fils.; Source: Library of Congress
Uganda shilling: USh; basic unit of currency divided into 100 cents. The Uganda shilling was introduced in 1966 and was tied to the United States dollar until 1975, when its value was tied to the special drawing right (SDR; q.v.) of the IMF (q.v.). I
UGSR: Uniunea Generalâ a Sindicatelor din România (General Union of Trade Unions). Official organization incorporating all labor unions of blue- and white-collar workers. Membership in 1985 was 7.3 million.
Uighurs: Inner Asian ethnic group of oasis-dwelling, Turkic-speaking, traditionally Muslim agriculturalists resident largely in northwest China’s Xinjiang-Uygur Autonomous Region.
ulama: Man trained in Islamic theology.; Source: Library of Congress
ulpan (pl., ulpanim): center for study, particularly for the study of Hebrew by adult immigrants to Israel.
UM: The currency symbol for the ouguiya (q.v.).
umudiyah (pl., umudiyat): Formerly a political division under an umda, encompassing a number of villages in the case of sedentary peoples or a section of a tribe in the case of nomadic peoples. Among nomadic or seminomadic peoples several such divisions constituted a naziriyah (q.v.).
UNADE: Unión Nacional Democr*atica (National Democratic Union). Pro- government coalition of six parties formed to contest 1984 elections; remained officially in place in late 1987.
UNESCO: United Nations Education, Science, and Cultural Organization.
Uniate: A branch of the Roman Catholic Church that preserves the Eastern Rite (Orthodox) liturgy and discipline but recognizes papal authority.
Uniate Church: An Eastern Christian Church that preserves the Eastern rite and discipline but submits to papal authority. The Uniate Church was established in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth (which included Ukraine and Belarus) in 1596 at the Union of Brest.; Source: Library of Congress
UNICEF: United Nations Children’s Fund.
union: A rural administrative unit, subdivision of a subdistrict (upazila--q.v.). In 1988 there were 4,401 unions in Bangladesh.; Source: Library of Congress
Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR): Successor state to the Russian Empire. Officially founded by Vladimir I. Lenin, head of the Russian Communist Party (Bolshevik), in 1922. Dissolved on December 25, 1991.
united front: Chinese Communist Party strategy that attempts to utilize an organization or movement for the purpose of building a consensus and an organized following for party-supported programs and goals. Historically, the term is associated with the Guomindang-Chinese Communist Party first united front (1923-27) and second united front (1937-45).
United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF): Acronym retained from predecessor organization, United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund, established in December 1946. Provides funds for establishing child health and welfare services.
United Nations Development Programme (UNDP): Created by the United Nations in 1965, the UNDP is the world’s largest channel for multilateral technical and preinvestment assistance to low-income countries. It functions as an overall programming, financing, and monitoring agency. The actual fieldwork is done by other UN agencies.
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR): Established by the United Nations in 1949, it did not become effective until 1951. The first world institution to aid refugees, the UNHCR seeks to ensure the humanitarian treatment of refugees and find a permanent solution to refugee problems. The agency deals with the international protection of refugees and problems arising from mass movements of people forced to seek refuge.
United States Export-Import Bank (Eximbank): An independent corporate agency of the United States government, founded in 1934 to stimulate foreign trade during the Great Depression. The Eximbank facilitates export financing of United States goods and services by neutralizing the effect of export credit subsidies from other governments and by absorbing reasonable credit risks beyond the reach of the private sector.; Source: Library of Congress
upazila: See subdistrict.; Source: Library of Congress
upstream: The converse of downstream (q.v.), it includes the exploration and drilling of wells in the petroleum production process.
Urga: see Yihe Huree.
Uruguay Round: The trade negotiating round, under the auspices of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT--q.v.), concluded at the end of 1993. It pitted the United States against France and some other European Union (EU--q.v.) states over EU agricultural subsidies, with Germany in the middle. A compromise was reached, including agreement for establishing a World Trade Organization (WTO). On January 1, 1996, GATT was succeeded by the WTO.
Uruguayan new peso: The Uruguayan unit of currency, consisting of 100 centésimos. Often referred to in short form as the peso. The Uruguayan new peso was introduced in 1975 to replace the old peso at the rate of 1,000 old pesos for each new peso. Since 1975 the exchange rate, linked to the United States dollar, has been frequently adjusted, with the value of the new peso declining. The average exchange rate per US$1 was N$Ur101 in 1985; N$Ur152 in 1986; N$Ur227 in 1987; N$Ur359 in 1988; N$Ur606 in 1989; and N$Ur1,171 in 1990. So extreme has the devaluation of the peso been that in 1991 Uruguayan authorities began to consider introducing another new peso, equal in value to 1,000 units of the existing new peso.
UTC: Uniunea Tineretului Comunist (Union of Communist Youth). Official organization that functions as the youth branch of the PCR (q.v.). Membership open to young people between ages fifteen and twenty-six. Membership in 1984 estimated at 3.7 million.
Uzbeks: Central Asian ethnic group of Turkic-speaking, Muslim agriculturalists, resident primarily in the Soviet Union.