Exam #1 (geography)
What fraction of the world's population does not have access to adequate amounts of safe drinking water?
1/6
The United Nations is composed of how many countries?
193
Approximately how many languages are spoken on Earth today?
2500-3500
The loss of trees and forest organisms to deforestation accounts for as much as _____ percent of the world's CO2.
30%
Oil revenues make up approximately what percent of the Ecuadorean government's budget?
40%
How much water does the average human require daily to meet basic domestic needs?
5-13 gallons
What was the approximate human population on Earth in 2015?
7.3 billion
What is climate change?
Abnormal variations in climate
The center of Pangaea is thought to have been modern-day:
Africa
The 2007 spike in world corn prices was brought about by:
Alternative energy
When plates slip past each other, the result is:
An earthquake
A map is what by definition?
An unbiased view of the world
In addition to English, what languages are important to international trade?
Arabic, Spanish, Chinese, Hindi, and French
The highest point in the Americas is located in what country?
Argentina
An informal religion is also known as:
Belief system
Which relationship is accounted for in the rate of natural increase?
Birth rate vs. death rate
What are the major greenhouse gases associated with global warming?
CO2, methane, water vapor, etc.
The number of people a given place can support sustainably is its:
Carrying capacity
The making of maps is called:
Cartography
The term what is commonly used to describe the period from 1946 until the early 19902 when the U.S. and its western European allies faced off against the USSR and its allies?
Cold war
The development of food production has undergone a series of changes, starting with hunting and gathering; moving through labor-intensive, small-scale agriculture; and moving on to _____ and organic farming in the present day.
Commercial agriculture
The opposite of capitalism is:
Communism
Which type of plates are thicker and less dense: oceanic or continental?
Continental
Which heats up and cools faster: continents or oceans?
Continents
Humans have likely been so successful as a species because of their tendency toward:
Cultural diversity
What landform is created where rivers meet the sea?
Delta
The transition toward political systems guided by competitive elections is called:
Democratization
A regional variation in a language is often with its own variations in grammar, vocabulary, and pronunciation is called a:
Dialect
The reason for differences in behavior between cultures are complex but usually related to:
Differences in values
What kills more people annually than armed conflict?
Dirty water
What is a potential disadvantage of using GDP per capita as a measure of economic development?
Doesn't indicate health and well-being in a given area
What is the theory of plate tectonics?
Earth is made of plates that move and shift
The globe is divided into the Northern and Southern hemispheres at the:
Equator
The highest average temperatures on Earth fall within a band 30 degrees north and south of what important line of latitude?
Equator
What is a shantytown and what are some of the common characteristics?
Extremely dense slums; self-built "houses," no electricity
The term what refers to the unrestricted international exchange of goods, services, and capital?
Free trade
What term describes rainfall caused by the interaction of large air masses of different temperatures and densities?
Frontal precipitation
"Ethnic cleansing" is sometimes a euphemism for what more common term?
Genocide
What is GISc and how is it utilized in geography?
Geographic Information Science; supports spatial analysis technologies
In what sub-discipline of geography do researchers study landforms?
Geomorphology
The strategies that countries use to ensure that their own interests are served in relations with other countries are collectively known as:
Geopolitics
The prime meridian runs from the North Pole to the South Pole through where?
Greenwich, England
Several African countries are experiencing sharply lowered life expectancies due to:
HIV/AIDS
Wind is created through relationships of:
High and low pressures in the air
What is the green revolution?
Increase in food production because of technology
What term refers to native populations of a region, as distinct from those who later migrate there?
Indigenous
The narrow ribbon of land that connects Mexico with South America is called:
Isthmus
What famous classification system is utilized to classify regional climates around the world?
Koppen Classification System
Another name for molten rock is what when it is below the surface and what when it is above the surface?
Lava; magma
What is the term for wages that support a minimum healthy lifestyle?
Living wages
What 3 variables are utilized to calculate the Human Development Index?
Longevity, education, and income
The calendar day officially begins when midnight falls at what location?
Longitude line at 180 degrees through the pacific
What type of air pressure is associated with warm air pressures?
Low air pressure
In some of the countries of Central Europe, the population is aging and declining due to:
Low birth and death rates
The mission of the World Trade Organization is to:
Lower trade barriers
Cartographers solve the problem of showing the spherical Earth on a flat piece of paper by using:
Map projections
Lines of longitude are also known as:
Meridians
The term often used to refer to the mixed cultures of Middle/South America:
Metizocultures
The term used to refer to Mexico, Central America, and the Islands of the Caribbean:
Middle America
Massive, sometimes catastrophic, rainfalls are called:
Monsoons
Between 1945 and 2015, Earth's population grew by a multiple of?
More than tripled
What is the Arab Spring and what political freedoms came with it?
Movement-showed that massive public demonstrations can achieve amazing turnovers of power
Water is now the third most valuable commodity in the world, after:
Oil and electricity
What is the key goal of multinational corporations?
Operating across international borders
What type of rainfall results when air is forced to rise over mountains?
Orographic rainfall
The group of 17 NGOs that is the world leader in emergency famine relief is:
Oxfam International
Lines of latitude are also known as:
Parallels
Geography as a discipline links which two sciences?
Physical and social
The destructive earthquake in Haiti in 2010 was the result of:
Plate tectonics
The geographers who study the interactions among development, politics, human well-being, and the environment are known as:
Political ecologists
Warm, moist air rises and becomes less able to hold its moisture as it reaches higher altitudes. The result is:
Precipitation
The drier side of a mountain range is said to be in the:
Rain shadow
What concept is used to identify an area of Earth's surface that contains distinct patterns of human or physical activity or features?
Region
The push/pull phenomenon of urbanization pushes people out of __________ and pulls them into _______________.
Rural areas; urban areas
What term refers to the relationship between the distances shown on the map and the actual distance on Earth's surface?
Scale
What indigenous group negotiated with Occidental Petroleum over its plans to drill for oil in their native lands?
Secoya
Developing countries are usually characterized by what economies, while developed nations are usually characterized by the presence of what industries?
Service; technology
The most common way for shantytown dwellers across the globe to get water is through:
Shallow, open wells
The mountain chain that extends along the western edge of Middle/South America is known as __________________________ in Mexico and as ________________________ in South America.
Sierra Madre; Andes
What is a human resource?
Skills and brainpower that transform extractive resources (books, machines)
Two synonyms for shantytown:
Slums and ghettos
As one moves away from the equator, average temperatures drop due to what phenomena?
Solar energy
What is an extractive resource?
Sources that are mined from the earth or grown from it (minerals, plants)
The study of how people, objects, or ideas are related to one another across space is called:
Spatial analysis
To fit the spherical Earth onto a flat map, a Mercator projection uses what technique to fit to the flat paper?
Stretching out the poles, equal to the equator
What is the name of the tectonic process that has created many of the mountains in Middle and South America?
Subduction
Farming that meets human needs without harming the environment or depleting water and soil resources is called:
Sustainable agriculture
What are the two variables by which climates are usually classified?
Temperature and precipitation
The first U.S. company to establish an oil development business in Ecuador:
Texaco
The only developed country that did NOT sign the Kyoto Protocol was:
The U.S.
What is a general statement about the population that could be made for a population pyramid that narrows toward the top?
The country is wealthy and developed
What is culture represented and communicated by?
The ideas, materials, and methods people pass on
What is the grandmother hypothesis?
The notion that menopause in mid-life gives women the time, energy, and freedom to help seceding generations thrive
Tropical plants such as bananas and pineapples thrive in what temperature-altitude?
Tierra caliente
What temperature-altitude zone is the highest in elevation?
Tierra helada
The term used to describe the average number of children a woman in a particular country is likely to have during her reproductive years:
Total fertility rate
How is virtual water calculated?
Volume used to produce a product
Refers to short-term changes in temperature and other factors; a long-term balance of temperature and precipitation
Weather; climate
Through which landscape process is rock broken down into similar pieces?
Weathering
What two questions are central to the study of geography?
Where and why
