Geography Midterm

The primary difference between weather and climate is that ________:

"Weather" refers to relatively short term temperature and precipitation conditions while "climate" refers to the long-term temperature and precipitation patterns

At the current rate of deforestation, tropical forests in Middle America will be gone in how many years?

20 years

Recent research suggest that investments in energy conservation, alternative energy, and other measures would cost EU economies 1 of their GDP, but that doing nothing about climate change could shrink their GDP by ______%

20%

Between 1960 and 2014, the proportion of Europe's population that is 14 years old and younger went from ____ to ____:

27% to 16%

Since 1990, the value of exports between Mexico, Canada, and the US have increased by approximately ____%:

300

Approximately how many Europeans are not citizens of member states of the EU?

40 million

With only _____% of the world's population, North American's contribute _____% of global greenhouse gases:

5% 26%

What percentage of Saudi Arabia's water is produced by desalination plants?

70%

In the 150 years following European arrival in Middle and South America, the indigenous population was reduced by (percentage):

90%

The Russian Federation is best described as:

A federation of 30 internal republics, all under the umbrella of the Russian government

All of the following statements accurately describe European colonialism except:

A positive aspect of colonialism was the the colonial powers paid relatively higher wages to workers in the colonies than local businesses did

The physical geography of Europe is best described as:

A series of peninsulas upon peninsulas with complex patterns of lowland, uplands, and mountains

People began to arrive in North America thousands of years ago. It is believed by researchers that these early arrivals to North America migrated ______:

Across the Bering land bridge from Asia

Soviet military involvement in which country finally stretched the Soviet Union past the breaking point, leading to its eventual dissolution

Afghanistan

A recent trend in European transportation is:

An increasing focus on multi-modal transport linking air, rail, water, and car transport

Imagine that you just won a trip to Paris! Assuming that you leave BWI Airport and fly east, what ocean will you fly over on your way to Paris?

Atlantic Ocean

All of the following statements describe approaches to water management in the region except:

Because of strong water conservation measures, this region does not face the problem of future water shortages

The Spanish colonized most of Middle and South America, but the Portuguese colonized much of the land that today makes up ______:

Brazil

The mountainous region between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea is called ______:

Causcasia

The economic model of central planning utilized in Central Europe after 1945 can be described by all of the following except:

Central planning was largely unsuccessful at alleviating poverty and illiteracy among the masses

All of the following were important differences between the North and South in pre-civil war America except:

Cities in the South had begun industrializing rapidly, while the Northern economy remained focused on subsistence farming

In which climate zone is Moscow located?

Continental, moist all year

Which of the following countries is a member of the EU?

Czech Republic

The large, triangular-shaped plain of sediment that formed where the Nile flows into the Mediterranean Sea is called the Nile _______:

Delta

All of the following accurately describe the Soviet Union under Stalin except:

Democracy flourished in the Soviet Union under Stalin

The Mediterranean climate of North America's southern west coast is characterized by:

Dry, warm summers and cool, moist winters

All of the following describe European Russia except:

European Russian is the most sparsely populated area of the entire region

Which statement best describes the relationship between European colonialism and the industrial revolution?

Extraction of global resources through colonialism fueled the industrial revolution by providing enormous wealth and raw materials to Europe

All of the following statements accurately describe the feudal period in European history except:

Feudalism dominated Europe until the early 20th century

The city Norilsk is known primarily:

For mining and smelting based on its large mineral deposits

The first European county to establish control over a colony in North Africa was:

France

All of the following statements accurately describe the general condition of women compared to men at the global scale except:

Girls are more likely than boys to receive early medical attention

Haciendas were originally created to:

Grant land to colonists as a reward for conquering territory

Which of the following countries is at roughly the same latitude as we are in Maryland?

Greece

In which of the following countries does more than half of the population live in poverty?

Haiti

Which of the following was not one of the achievements of the Soviet style economy?

High quality consumer goods were produced in mass quantities

Which of the following statements does not accurately describe the conditions of North America's water resources?

In North America, rainfall becomes increasingly plentiful the farther west one goes

The Earth's largest remaining expanse of tropical forest is located:

In the Amazon Basin

After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the agricultural sector experienced all of the following changes except:

In the Central Asian states, farming was reorganized to emphasize export crops

Which of the following is not one of the effects of oil drilling in Ecuador?

Increase in access to good medical care for the indigenous people

The UN Human Development Index is compromised of all of the following measures except:

Infant mortality rates

The Tigris and Euphrates Rivers run through _______ before draining into the Persian Gulf:

Iraq

The shrinkage of the Aral Sea was caused primarily by:

Irrigation for the production of cotton

North Africa and Southwest Asia is the cultural hearth for which three major monothestic religions:

Islam, Judaism, and Christianity

The most diverse economy of the region is:

Israel

The distance (in degrees) north or south of the equator is called ______:

Latitude

What percentage of residents of the US work directly in agriculture or farming today?

Less than 1%

Which of the following is not one of the reasons for the widespread global hunger problem?

Low rates of agricultural productivity at the global scale

Recently, many migrants have been crossing the _____ Sea from North Africa to Europe:

Mediterranean

Maquiladoras are found along the:

Mexico-US border

Which climate region applies to Hagerstown, Maryland?

Mid-latitude, moist all year

Rate of natural increase considers all of the following factors except:

Migration

North America's largest river system is the _______:

Mississippi

Which of the following is most likely to grow in tundra?

Mosses and lichens

Which of the following countries has both a Caribbean and a Pacific Coast?

Nicaragua

Lake Nasser is formed by a dam on the ______. The dam prevents seasonal flooding from replenishing nutrients along the river bank:

Nile River

Hagerstown, Maryland is located in the _______ hemisphere and the _______ hemisphere:

Northern, Western

Individuals who are so wealthy that they wield enormous political power are called:

Oligarchs

Orographic precipitation falls _______.

On the windward side of mountains

Approximately how much of the world's population does not have access to clean drinking water?

One-sixth

The _______ Ring of Fire is a zone of frequent earthquakes and volcanoes resulting from tectonic activity.

Pacific

Which of the following crops originated in the Americas?

Potatoes

Which of the following does not accurately describe the water situation in Middle and South America?

Privatization of water resources is a positive solution that seems to be working well in Bolivia

After a decade of economic instability, Russia's economy began to recover primarily due to:

Profits from oil and gas extraction

Islam originated in:

Saudi Arabia

The more conservative Islamic countries that favor female seclusion include:

Saudi Arabia and Kuwait

About 70% of Europeans now work in which sector of the economy?

Services

The Alps extend into all of the following countries except:

Spain

In the post WWII period, US foreign policy in North Africa and Southwest Asia can best be described as:

Support for undemocratic governments that protected the interests of international energy companies

In South America, the part of the 10,000 mile mountain chain that runs along the western edge of the American continents is called:

The Andes

The combined effect of the cold Peru Current and the rain shadow of the Andes have created which unique landscape?

The Atacama Desert

The region known as North America's breadbasket is:

The Great Plains

By the late 1400's, much of the Eastern Mediterranean, Egypt, Mesopotamia, and Eastern Europe was controlled by:

The Ottomans

The river that carries more traffic than any other in Europe is:

The Rhine

All of the following accurately describe the ancient Slavs except:

The Slavs remained very isolated until the 19th century

All of the following statements accurately describe events in the North Africa/Southwest Asia region at the end of WWI except:

The State of Israel was created

The Red Sea and the Mediterranean Sea are connected by _________:

The Suez Canal

Which of the following statements is most accurate?

The United States and Canada are roughly the same size in terms of total land area

All of the following statements accurately describe the European Union except:

The countries belonging to the European Union are all at the same level of development

Immigrants to North America generally compete with which social group for jobs?

The lowest paid, least educated workers

The North Atlantic Drift is largely responsible for which of the following climatic conditions in Europe?

The surprisingly mild and wet conditions of Western Europe

The climate of the region of North Africa and Southwest Asia is accurately described by all of the following except:

There are no areas in this region that receive enough rainfall for farming

Which of the following statements best describes the Aztecs at the time of European contact?

They had built a sophisticated urban society that had a higher quality of life than European societies at the time

How did the first people arrive in North America?

They walked across the Bering Land Bridge from Asia

Which of the following temperature-altitude zones has a spring-like climate year-round and was preferred by many indigenous people and Europeans?

Tierra templada

From 1945 to 2011, the world's population:

Tripled

The country in the region of North Africa and Southwest Asia that has the most plentiful water resources is:

Turkey

The world's worst nuclear disaster took place at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in:

Ukraine

The first British colony in North America was established in 1607 in what is today known as:

Virginia

The primary sources of immigration to North America today include all of the following except:

West Africa