GEO Final Study Guide

Who were the Khmer Rouge- what was their aim, what methods did they use and what was the result?

*Khmer Rouge was a communist organization in Cambodia that opposed Westernization and believed in a return to an agrarian society. *They opposed westernization and us involvement in the newly independent country and believed in a return to an agrarian society. Pol Pot led a campaign to eliminate the country's schools, hospitals, and other institutions and make the entire society work on collective farms. *Most of the country's intellects were killed. Large prison camps were set up to house those who believed to be a threat to communism.

What were the Asian Tigers and how did they develop?

*Refers to Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea, and Taiwan which have experienced rapid industrialization and economic development led by export-driven economies, low taxes and free trade. *Each country also developed a distinct specialty and maintains a competitive advantage in that area.

How and When did European settlement begin in Australia and New Zealand?

*1606, Dutch landed in Australia but did not settle *Late 18th century the British established their first Australian settlement with the intention fo creating an overseas location to send convicts *NZ was originally claimed by the British as a colony of Australia, but it became its own colony in mid- 19th century.

What are the geographic advantages that the United States has in its favor?

1. Largest contiguous tract of arable land in the world 2. natural Barries on all sides (oceans, lakes, forest, deserts). 3. Continental core is one large navigable watershed 4. More navigable inland waterways than the rest of the world combines 5. More deep water ports than the rest of the Western Hemisphere combines 6. nearly boundless natural resources

Green Revolution

A large increase in crop production in developing countries achieved by the use of fertilizers, pesticides, and high yield cop varieties

The Great Dividing Range (GDR)

A large mountain range located on the East coast of Australia. Third longest land-based range in the world

Himalayas

A mountain range in Asia separating the plains of the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau. Highest mountains in the world, yet they are one of the youngest, forming 50 million years ago.

What is Buen Vivir?

An alternative concept of development that focuses on the attainment of the "good Life" in a bad sense only attainable within a community that included nature.

El Niño

An irregular occurring and complex series of climate changes affecting the equatorial pacific region and beyond every few years, characterized by the appearance of unusually warm, nutrient poor water off Northern Peru and Ecuador, typically late in December

How is Antarctica actually a desert?

Antarctica is considered a desert because its annual precipitation can be less than 51 mm in the interior.

When and How did the first humans arrive in the Americas ?

Around 15,000 years ago people first entered the Americas; although there is some evidence that people were already in place. the theory is that people got the the America's by foot, walking across the Bering Land Bridge up in the arctic connecting Asia to North America.

Why does Australia have a robust export economy?

Australia remains relatively unique among more developed countries in that its economy is based heavily on the export of commodities. Geography plays a key role in Australia's export oriented economy. The country is relatively large and has a significant amount of natural resources.

What is significant about the Han period in Chinese History?

China became a unified state under the Han dynasty, which ruled from 206 BCE to 220 Ce, and this period of stability is viewed as a golden age in Chinese history.

Where and why did successive Chinese dynasties construct a wall along part of its territory?

Chinese dynasties were largely isolationists. The only part of China that was not isolated by a physical barrier was the north eastern region. Therefore, the ruling families of china built a series of walls (Great Wall of china).

Latin American City Model

Combines elements of Latin American Culture and globalization by combining radial sectors and concentric zones. Includes a thriving CBD with a commercial spine. The quality of houses decreases as one moves outward away from the CBD, and the areas of worse housing occurs in the Disamenity sectors.

Why do you think Confucionism came to dominate Chinese culture and society more than buddhism ?

Confucianism focused on the importance of relationships, both within the family and within society as a whole and the religion emphasizes human goodness and self-reflection rather than the worship of a divine being.

Who are the Maori and when did they arrive in NZ?

Eastern Polynesians arrived in NX around 1250 CE, these groups developed their own ethnic and cultural identity known as the Maori.

What brought about China's Cultural Revolutions, and what was the result?

Following the failure of the Great Leap Forward, Mao aimed to eliminate any remaining traditional elements of Chinese culture or capitalist thinking. Millions were imprisoned, forcibly relocated or tortured and historical relics and cultural sites were destroyed.

What is GNH and what country uses it?

Gross national Happiness. Instead of relying strictly on measures of economic and industrial development, it has sought sustainable ways to develop. Bhutan's government promotes GNH.

How did the geography of energy resources I the U.S. relate to the geography of industrial manufacturing?

Hydropower was the key source of energy for early manufacturing plants and thus they were located almost exclusively in the Northern United States, the only area with fast-moving rivers. Iron fueled steel manufacturing in the Pittsburgh-Lake Erie region. Textile manufacturing in the South. Coal from Appalachia fueled industrial development in the mid-atlantic states.

What was the geography of European settlement?

In 1492 columbines made contact with the Bahamas, Cuba, and the island of Hispaniola. Overtime they also gained control of indigenous territory and made permanent colonies.

What changed did the Aryan incursion bring to the region?

In 1500 BCE the Aryans invaded Northern India, bringing their language, culture and ideas of social order. Hinduism and the caste system would both emerge from the Aryan Culture.

Who are the aboriginals- how and when did they arrive in Australia?

Indigenous people of Australia and comprise a number of different ethnolinguistic and culture groups. *arrived in Australia between 40,00 and 500,000 years ago when sea levels were lower and land bridges and relatively short sea crossings separate Australia from mainland Southeast Asia.

What is the relationship between industrialization and urbanization ?

Industrial development occurred in urban areas spurring people to move from rural farming communities to cities to find work.

How did Islam diffuse into Asia, where is it found and where is it dominant today?

Islam diffused into Asia because of trade along the Silk Road. Today, it is mainly found in Indonesia, Malaysia and Western China.

What were the impacts of the British East India Company/ British Empire on the economic development of India?

It took over large stretches of land in India. The British established tea and cotton plantations, and took control of South Asia's resources. The British saw local industries as competition and shifted their development to export raw materials. British rule also increased Westernization in South Asia and created an extensive rail transportation system.

What impact did European colonialism have on the indigenous population?

Many were forcibly relocated to the interior of North America to free up land for European settlement. Disease and war also had a devastating impact on the indigenous people.

Who was Mohandas Gandhi and what was his cause?

Mohandas Gandhi was a London-educated lawyer and one of the leaders in India's struggle for Independence. He organized local communities to participate in nonviolent protests and his commitment to nonviolent resistance would inspire later civil rights leaders like Martin Luther King.

Why did some Ukrainian Kulaks resist Stalin's rule and what happened to them?

Most successful peasant farms resisted collectivization because it would take away their land and source of income. Stalin killed thousands of Kulaks and banished others to Siberia.

Where odd we see oi and gas extraction in Russia/

Mostly western Siberia which supplies 2/3 of Russian oil.

Why have Nepal and Bhutan showed relatively low levels of economic development?

Nepal and Bhutan largely existed as buffer states, caught between the British empire and china. This left them with less economic and industrial development that their more powerful neighbors.

what is north americas physiographic regions?

North America can be divided into 5 physical regions: the mountainous west, the Great Plains, the Canadian Shield, the varied eastern region, and the caribbean

What was the immediate and lasting human and ecological impact of the Us war in result?

Over 1 million Vietnamese and 58,000 Americans died in the fighting. Millions others were exposed to agent orange causing health problems and disabilities, and the chemical had devastating effects on Vietnam's ecosystem where it has lingered in the soil.

How is oceania divided into Micronesia, Polynesia, and Melanesia?

Polynesia is a large, triangular region stretching from New Zealand to Easter Island to the Hawaiian and Midway Islands. West of Polynesia and to the Northeast of Australia are the islands of Melanesia, including New Guinea, Solomon islands and Fiji. North of Melanesia are the tiny islands of Micronesia.

what is the significance of oil/gas to Russia's economy?

Russia contains 3.5% of the world's oil reserve and 6.8% of gas reserve. Oil and gas are responsible for more than 60% of Russia's exports and provide more than 30% of the country's gross domestic product.

What was the Japanese Shogunate, and what was the aim of the Meiji Restoration>

Shogunate was a ruling class of warriors that would later take control of Japan beginning a feudal period in the country's history. *taking note of imperial pursuits, the Japanese Emperor Meiji ended the shotgante and began a series of reforms known as Meiji Restoration: as part of the reform, the government sought to increase Japan's modernization and industrialization and began a systematic study of the developed world.

What is the significance of Siberia?

Siberia accounts for over 3/4 of Russia's land area, but only 1/4 of it is populated. Recently giant hole have been found, which are pockets of methane gas trapped in previously frozen soil that has thawed due to climate change. If global temps continue to increase, it will increase the potential for agricultural in Northern Russia.

What drives urban sprawl>

Sprawl is associated with urban decentralization. Which is the spending out of the population that resulted from suburbanization.

What were the priorities of Stalinist Russia and how were they achieved?

Stalin instituted both a socialist economy and collective agriculture. Ideally, the changes were intended to address the failures of Nicholas 11 providing more stable wages and food supplies. Rather than have individual peasant farms that had limited interconnections and poor systems of distribution, the state would collectivize farming with several farming families collectively owning the land.

What triggered the 2004 Indonesian tsunami and what was the result?

Tectonic plates movements triggered the tsunami. As a result, the Indonesian government has implemented early warning systems.

What was the split between Taiwan and Mainland China?

The Chinese nationalist party leaders felt to Taiwan following the communist victory in the Chinese civil war. Taiwan wants it's sovereignty after a history of authoritarian Chinese rule had dominated the island. China recently proposed a one country, two system policy, but Taiwan rejected it. China claimed that Taiwan is still a Chinese territory, yet Taiwan claims their sovereignty. Taiwan has its own constitutions, democratically elected leaders, and over 300,000 troops.

What was the Indus Civilization and when/how did it flourish and decline?

The Indus Civilization was in the Indus River valley beginning in 3300 BCE. They relied on the monsoon rains to provide water to the Indus River. They also developed systems of urban planning baked brick houses. By 1800 BCE, it began to decline due to weakened monsoon rains that led to drought conditions and changes in precipitation.

what is one main uses of the Mississippi River? what other water resources does it have?

The Mississippi River provided drinking water for millions, supports a $72.6 billion shipping industry, with 35,300 jobs. It connects to the nations longest river, the Missouri River. It also flows to the port of south Louisiana which is the largest port in the United States in terms of tonnage.

What is the Moghal Empire?

The Moghal Empire ruled most of India and Pakistan in the 6th and 17th centuries. It consolidated Islam in South Asia, and spread muslim arts and culture as well as the faith.

What economic function did the British colonies in North America play and what forms of labor produced this economic activity?

The New England colonies were centers of commerce, The Chesapeake Bay Area of Virginia and Maryland had a number of Tobacco plantations, and in the mid-atlantic there were a number of small, independent farmer colonies. The Carolinas were home to large plantations cultivating cops like cotton. The labor was produced by slaves and indentured servants.

What is the Three Gorges Dam and what was the social and ecological impact of its construction?

The Three Gages Dam is a hydroelectric dam in China on the Yangtze River. The dam is the world's larger power station, being a vital source of energy for a large region of China. Ecologically, the dam disrupts natural fish migrations and also has slowed down the earth's rotation by a small percent.

Foreign Direct Investment (FDI)

The control of a business in one country by a company based in another country

What was the aim of the Great Leap Forward and what was the result?

The great leap forward sought to reshape China's agrarian society into an industrial power. Unfortunately, the changes led to widespread famine and the deaths of tens of millions of Chinese as a direct result.

Who was Sir Cyril Radcliffe, what was his task and what information did he have to carry it out?

The man who drew the Partition line. He was a British lawyer and was asked to divide British ruled India into the new indecent nations of India and Pakistan. He had 5 weeks to do it, and the lives he drew sparked a tragedy that still poisons ties between the two countries today.

What was the economic relationships between Northern and Southern US states?

The southern states were peripheral in terms of their economic development. Slavery provided them with the maximum profit for their commodities and the notion of "Othering", the idea that people who look different from you are definitively not you. The North was a more commercial and manufacturing economy. The northern states made profit off of slave work in the south.

Central Business District (CBD)

The traditional North American city had a core commercial area

In Oceania, why are so many island nations still governed as overseas territories?

The vast majority of the world's remaining colonies today are islands because of their strategic locations and resources potential, particularly after the UN convention on the law of sea.

How did the Korean Peninsula come to be divided? Why did the US consider this territory strategically significant?

When the Japanese empire was dismantled at the end of WW11, Korea fell victim to the Cold War. It was divided into 2 spheres of influence along the 38th parallel. The US occupied the Southern portion, where it assisted a pro-western government in its political and economic development.

Gentrification

Where increased property values displace lower-income families and small businesses

prime city

a city that is the largest city in a country, is more than twice as large as the next largest city and are representative of the national culture (Uruguay)

Caste system

a form of social stratification characterizes by endogamy, hereditary transmission of a style of life which often included an occupation, ritual status in a hierarchy, and customary social interaction and exclusion based on cultural notions of purity and pollution

Population Pyramid

a graphical illustration that shows the distribution of various age groups in a population

Ring of Fire

a major area in the basin of the Pacific Ocean where many earthquakes and volcanic eruptions occur. It is the Ring of fire because it is a circle that encompasses many volcanoes

Mestizo

a man of mixed race, especially the offspring of a Spaniard and an American Indian.

The Great Barrie Reef

a massive underwater reef that is the world's largest coral structure

Megacity

a metropolitan area with over 10 million people (Mexico City)

Ural Mountains

a mountain range that runs approximately from north to south through western Russia, from the coast of the arctic ocean to the Ural river and northwestern Kazakhstan. Forms part of the conventional boundary between Europe and Asia

Liberation Theology

a movement in christian theology, developed mainly by Latin American Roman Catholics, that emphasizes liberation from social, political, and economic oppression as an anticipation of ultimate salvation

rain shadow

a region with dry conditions found on the leeward side of a mountain range as a result of humid winds from the ocean causing precipitation on the windward side

Monsoon

a seasonal reversing wind accompanied by corresponding changes in precipitation

Altiplano

a series of high elevation plains found in western south america

Special economic Zones (SEZs)

a special region in china where more fee-market oriented economics are allowed

Tsar

a title used to designate East and South slavic monarchs or supreme rulers of Eastern Europe

Tundra

a vast, flat, treeless Arctic region of Europe, Asia, and North America in which the subsoil is permanently frozen.

What is the Indus water treaty

a water-distribution treaty between India and Pakistan, brokered by the world bank to use the water available in the Indus System of Rivers located in India.

GDR effects on climate change

affects the weather and overall climate on the east coast as air travels over its mountains and cools. Creates rain and fertilizes the plants of the area, meaning that the east coast has a much milder and more tropical climate than anywhere else in Australia

Command Economy

an economic system where the production, prices of goods, and wages received by workers is set by the government

Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)

an international organization that seeks to promote political security, economic growth, and social development among ember countries in Southeast Asia

edge cities

an urban area situated outside of the traditional central business district

why was slavery introduced into the americas?

as indentured servants gradually earned their freedom, the system of intended servitude was placed with slavery. The Portuguese were the first to bring slaves during the 1400s. The vast majority of slaves were destined for the sugar colonies in the Caribbean and Brazil.

Why is Australia home to unique species of monotremes and marsupials?

because Australia is on isolated region (Because of Pangaea).

Archipelago

describes the natural layering of ecosystems that occurs at district elevations due to varying environmental conditions

russification

form of culture assimilation process during which non-Russian communities, voluntarily or not, give up their culture and language in favor of the Russian one

How does a tundra form?

forms because the area takes in more carbon dioxide than it produces (one of earth's three major carbon dioxide sinks)

high islands

islands that were formed from volcanoes and soil enables the high islands to have fertile soil and ample rainfall

low islands

islands that were formed mostly from coral and have relatively low elevation. These islands only rise a few feet about water and their dry, sandy soil makes farming difficult

What accounts for New Zealand's historic biodiversity, and what has contributed to biodiversity loss there?

its isolation allowed for species to remain relatively unchanged. However several species of birds went extinct due to hunting. Few mammal exist in NZ until human settlement introduced rats and weasels, which led to a widespread extinctions of native species that never had to evolve to compete with these species.

Yangtze River

longest river in China and Asia and third longest in the world. It is the most important river in China because it is the country's principal waterway, and its basin is china's great granary and nearly 1/3 of the national population

Floating population

members of a population who reside in an area for a period of time but do not live there permanently (Thailand has the largest population of overseas Chinese)

Coral Bleaching

occurs when coral experience "stress" due to warm waters and expel the colorful, algae-like organisms that live within them

Compare and contrast subsistence farming and plantation farming

plantations was where the slaves worked focusing on growing crops, most often sugar, for export. *Subsistence farming was where farmers grew enough food to feed themselves and their families.

Orographic precipitation

rainfall that results from a physical barrier forcing air masses to climb where they then cool, condense and form precipitation

Outback

remote area of extensive grassland pastures. The outback is quite fragile because it gets limited precipitation and vegetation. There is also overgrazing which puts the region at risk for desertification

Atolls

ring-shaped chains of coral islands surrounding a central lagoon

What is secularism in the Indian Context?

secularism in India means a state that is neutral to all religious groups

Buffer states

small neutral country situated between two larger hostile countries and serving to prevent the outbreak of regional conflict

How did the Viet Long use the terrain in Vietnam to its advantage in its resistance against the US army?

the Viet Song engaged in guerrilla warfare, using the terrain to support small, mobile military units.

partition

the division of a territory into smaller units, as with the former British empire in south asia

urban sprawl

the expansion of human settlements away from central cities and into low-density, car-dependent communities

Geographic Determinism

the physical conditions of a location determines the fate of a civilization that develops there

Taiga

the sometimes swampy coniferous forest of high northern latitudes, especially that between the tundra and steppes of Siberia and North America.

indentured servitude

these laborers paid to their passage to North America by agreeing to work for an employer under contract for a set number of years

Serf

unfree person who, unlike a slave, could be sold only with the land he or she was "attached" to

How is the Great Barrier Reef vulnerable to climate change?

warming ocean temps and pollution threaten it's entire existence.

Megalopolis

when the metropolitan area grows so large that it overlaps with neighboring metropolitan areas