situation, state of affairs - the general state of things; the combination of circumstances at a given time; "the present international situation is dangerous"; "wondered how such a state of affairs had come about"; "eternal truths will be neither true nor eternal unless they have fresh meaning for every new social situation"- Franklin D.Roosevelt

circumstance, context - the set of facts or circumstances that surround a situation or event; "the historical context"

ecology - the environment as it relates to living organisms; "it changed the ecology of the island"

scope, setting, background - the state of the environment in which a situation exists; "you can't do that in a university setting"

home - an environment offering affection and security; "home is where the heart is"; "he grew up in a good Christian home"; "there's no place like home"

milieu, surroundings - the environmental condition

arena, domain, sphere, area, orbit, field - a particular environment or walk of life; "his social sphere is limited"; "it was a closed area of employment"; "he's out of my orbit"

street - the streets of a city viewed as a depressed environment in which there is poverty and crime and prostitution and dereliction; "she tried to keep her children off the street"

ambiance, ambience - the atmosphere of an environment

medium - the surrounding environment; "fish require an aqueous medium"

setting, scene - the context and environment in which something is set; "the perfect setting for a ghost story"

element - the most favorable environment for a plant or animal; "water is the element of fishes"

geographic area, geographic region, geographical area, geographical region - a demarcated area of the Earth

habitat, home ground - the type of environment in which an organism or group normally lives or occurs; "a marine habitat"; "he felt safe on his home grounds"

melting pot - an environment in which many ideas and races are socially assimilated

parts - the local environment; "he hasn't been seen around these parts in years"