Geography Exam

What are the three largest countries of the Middle East? How do they compare?

Egypt: mostly Arabic, relatively poor, with democratic, Western-oriented government; Turkey: mostly Turkic, relatively industrialized; with democratic, Western-oriented government; Iran: mostly Persian, relatively poor, under conservative Islamic republic.

How are Africa's climates influenced by its tropical location?

Either very wet or very dry, generally warm climates; tendency over most of Africa is drought and seasonal rainfall.

What is the significance of the "West Bank" and the "Gaza Strip" to Israel and the Palestinians?

Historical path to full independence from the State of Israel.

What is the relative importance of agriculture and fossil fuels to the Russian economy?

However, Russia is not a major exporter of agricultural products. The major export product and industry in Russia today is oil and natural gas production.

Where are most of the fossil fuel deposits found in Sub-Saharan Africa?

Petroleum, Gulf of Guinea, Coal, southern Africa (South Africa).

What were some of the limitations of European Communism? Some of the benefits?

Restricted freedom of expression, mediocre consumer goods, limited economic opportunities; essentially free medicine and education, guaranteed employment, more opportunities for women and minorities, development of frontier regions.

In what ways is ethnicity still an issue in the former Soviet Union?

Russia still has internal republics with mostly non-Russian, non-Christian populations that want independence from the Russian federation.

How has poverty changed in Russia since the end of Communism?

Russia's poverty rate has declined.

What combination of factors makes the Middle East so dry?

Subtropical high pressure; blocking effect of mountains; continentality or remoteness from oceans.

What is the most widely spoken Niger-Congo language? Where are most of its native speakers located?

Swahili. East Africa.

What role are the Chinese playing in Sub-Saharan Africa's development and immediate future?

The Chinese are the biggest investor in African economies and the biggest source of foreign residents in African countries.

What are the two predominant cultural traits in the North Africa/Middle East region? What are the major exceptions to either of these traits?

The religion, Islam and the ethnicity, Arabic. The major non-Arabic ethnic groups in the Middle East are the Turks, Persians, Kurds, Armenians, and Jews. The Turks, Persians, and Kurds are Muslims. The Armenians are Orthodox Christians, while Jews follow Judaism.

Why did the United States become militarily involved in Afghanistan in 2001?

The terrorist group, al-Qaeda, was based in Afghanistan after the defeat of the Marxist government and the take-over by the Taliban. Responsible for 9/11

What was the political origin of the modern state of Israel?

Palestine

What were the political origins of the modern countries of Lebanon, Syria, and Iraq? How does this help explain current difficulties within these countries?

After the defeat of the Ottoman Turk empire in WW I, the French became the "protector" of what became Lebanon and Syria, while the British were the "protector" of what became Iraq, Kuwait, Jordan, and Israel.

Why are locations near the Equator so wet and locations near the Tropics so dry?

Air is constantly rising over the Equator, This rising air cools and then descends into the Tropics, both warming as it descends and suppressing cloud formation and precipitation.

Where are true mid-latitude climates found on Africa?

Along the Mediterranean coast of North Africa, there is a small area of Mediterranean climate at Capetown, on the Atlantic side, and Humid Sub-Tropical climate along the Indian Ocean coast.

Where are the major regions of Highlands climate on Africa?

Along the flanks of the Great Rift Valley, around the Lake District of Burundi, Rwanda, and Uganda, and into the central mountains of Ethiopia

What are the most basic beliefs of animistic religions?

Animistic religions occur in many parts of the world and have in common a belief in a spirit world, invisible to humans, and the idea that all things have an in-dwelling spirit, an anima. It is common for animistic religions to be polytheistic, with named gods who have specific roles and identities.

What is the geologic explanation for the overall topography of Africa?

As a result of this central position, most of Africa's coasts have a narrow coastal plain with a rapid rise up to the generally flat tableland over most of the continent.

What historic influence contributed to making African countries multi-ethnic?

European colonizers created political boundaries for their own convenience, without considering tribal or ethnic boundaries; these political identities became the basis for the independent countries.

Why has Europe's population become so "mature"? How does the phenomenon of the "guest worker" figure into this?

For several generations, Europeans have opted to have smaller families or not have children at all. Women have more rights and contraception is legal and affordable. To fill low wage, entry level positions, the Western European countries have had relatively liberal immigration policies,

Explain what is meant by "Christianity in Africa is both very old and very new".

In the early days of Christianity, most of the world's small Christian population lived either in the coastal communities of North Africa or in the Abyssinian empire of East Africa.

Why has Southern Sudan separated from the rest of Sudan, and is now under an independent government?

It has been said that the British should have created three separate countries when they recognized the independence of the immense Sudan colony.

What are the three major African religious traditions? How are they distributed across Africa?

Most Africans today profess either Christianity or Islam as their religious belief. A relatively small percentage profess traditional African religions (animism) as their only religious belief.

What is the religious preference of most Russian citizens? What is the largest religious minority in Russia

Most Russians are Orthodox Christians. The largest non-Christian group in Russia is Muslims, who are also mostly non-Russian ethnicities.

How do the climates in Europe compare, in type and in location, with climates at the same latitude in North America?

Most of Western Europe has a very ocean-influenced climate, Southern Europe is the largest region of Mediterranean climate in the world - just like southern California - summer drought Central Europe is relatively remote from the ocean and has a more continental climate, like the northern states of the U.S. and eastern Canada - short mild summers, long snowy winters. The northern-most regions of Europe have a very cold, dry climate, like most of Canada and Alaska

Describe the basic geographic distribution of language and religion in Europe.

Northern Europeans are mostly Protestant and speak Germanic languages

What is the purpose of OPEC? Who are the major non-members?

Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, a cartel. Max profits.

What countries within Europe have the highest percentages of Muslim citizens?

The European countries with the highest percentage of Muslims actually do not receive many immigrants. Their populations have had high percentage of Muslims since the period of Ottoman Turk control in the late Middle Ages. These are East European countries near Greece and Turkey. In Western Europe, the liberal immigration policies toward people from former European colonies have resulted in relatively high percentages of Muslims, also.

Why is the "Horn of Africa" considered to be of strategic importance to the U.S. and our allies?

The Horn is a narrow opening from the Red Sea to the Indian Ocean. There are various percentages of Christians and Muslims in the countries in the Horn, and al-Qaeda is attempting to gain influence in all of them

What is "NATO"? What is its purpose?

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization formed during the Cold War era of the Soviet Union, to protect Western Europe and its allies from the threat of nuclear war involving the Soviet Union and its allies.

Compare the historic and political concepts of the Russian Empire, the Soviet Union, and the Russian Federation.

The Russian Empire controlled several parts of what are today independent countries in the European Union, as well as non-Russian ethnicities on the southern border of what is today Russia. The Russian Empire was one of the losers in WW I and immediately plunged into a civil war that resulted in the formation of a Soviet Union controlled by the Communist Party. Much of what had been subject peoples of the Russian Empire became co-equal republics in the Soviet Union. With the break-up of the Soviet Union, these ethnically defined Soviet republics became independent countries under multiparty elected democratic governments. Russia itself retains several small bordering ethnic regions as well as internally based ethnic regions, although most of the Russian Federation is made up of historic Russian territory.

What are the basic political and economic differences between Western Europe and Eastern Europe?

The countries of Western Europe developed the idea of European unity after WW II during a period of hostility. Eastern Europe was once under Communist and Soviet domination

Why did the post-Apartheid government in South Africa increase the number of internal administrative divisions?

The idea is to increase the representation at the local level of South Africa's diverse population, to better share in the political process.

What is the most widely spoken Afro-Asiatic language in the world? What are some Sub-Saharan Afro-Asiatic languages? What do most speakers of Afro-Asiatic languages in the world have in common?

The most widely spoken Afro-Asiatic language in the world is Arabic. Some Sub-Saharan Afro-Asiatic languages are Hausa, Amhara, Tuareg. Since most speakers of Afro-Asiatic languages in the world speak Arabic, they have in common the religion Islam. However, Hebrew is an Afro-Asiatic language and the Amhara in Ethiopia are Christians.

Mr. Harris said "the mountains in northern Europe are very mature and the mountains in southern Europe are relatively young." How does this help explain the different topographies in the two regions of Europe?

The mountains in Europe are relatively modest in elevation, but are generally steep sloped - this is due to either the last Ice Age and glacial erosion

How does Chechnya illustrate the problems of internal unity in the Russian Federation

They have wanted to separate from Russia and become an independent country since the time of the Soviet Union.

What is the primary purpose of the European Union?

To reduce costs of doing business within Europe and to promote selling European products to the world.

How does the Republic of South Africa differ from most of Africa?

Very urbanized (66%) and industrialized (40% of Africa's industrial production), large minority of European ancestry, history of white minority rule, areas of mild mid-latitude climate, deposits of fossil fuels, largest military on the continent, much of Africa's infrastructure

What is the basic physical difference between Western Europe and Eastern Europe? How does this help explain the different histories of the two regions?

Western Europe has an environment heavily influenced by the ocean, in terms of mild, wet climates and economies oriented toward ocean resources and trade. Eastern Europe is relatively landlocked and has historically been dominated by empires from outside of Eastern Europe. The climate is also much more continental, cold and dry.

What countries have the world's major oil deposits, What countries are the world's major producers of oil?

the major oil deposits are mostly in the Persian Gulf (Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Iran, Kuwait, U.A.E.), Venezuela, Russia, and Canada.