Russia and Central Asia Geography Quiz

The Princes of ____________ served the Mongols but eventually formed the nation of Russia.

Muscovy

What railway in Russia, finished in 1916, crosses the entire nation and carries thirty percent of its export goods?

Trans-Siberian Railway

Kremlin

means citadel

A climatic region that has low temperatures and extensive coniferous forests is called a ____________.

taiga

Which of the following are nations in Central Asia? (choose all that apply)

Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Georgia

During the early Medieval period, Central Asian architects built which of the following types of buildings that have stood for centuries? (choose all that apply)

mosques, minarets

Which of the following resources can be found in Central Asia? (choose all that apply)

natural gas, sulfates

Which body of water served as Russia's primary access to sea trade early in the nation's history?

Baltic Sea

What region of Russia accounts for most of its agricultural production?

Black Soil Belt

What city in Uzbekistan dates back to the eighth century BC and became a center of trade and learning because of its location on the Silk road?

Samarkand

Which of the following are true about the high-latitude regions of Russia? (choose all that apply)

The winters are long, and the summers are very short. The weeks around the summer solstice are bright nearly twenty-four hours a day.

Which of the following are major environmental issues in Russia and Central Asia? (choose all that apply)

deforestation, overfishing, river pollution

Why has interest increased in investing in Central Asia? (choose all that apply)

its natural resource wealth, its geographical location

Novosibirsk

located on the Ob River

Red Square

military parades

Which of the following was a main characteristic of Soviet rule in Central Asia?

the Soviet government seeking to industrialize and make Central Asia modern

St. Petersburg

window on europe

Why does the Volga River have such importance for the Russian people? (choose all that apply)

It helps produce hydroelectric energy. It's an irrigation source. It's a source of drinking water.

What gas crater in Turkmenistan has been burning since 1971?

Darvaza gas crater

Kazakh Steppe

flat grasslands

Vladivostok

largest port city on the pacific coast

Where are the heaviest populated regions of Russia?

mid-latitude regions

What is the most common religion in Central Asia?

Islam

Who became the first Russian czar?

Ivan the Terrible

What is the largest country on Earth by land area?

Russia

Which of the following are true about the climate in Central Asia? (choose all that apply)

Steppes dominate the landscape in the northern part of the region. The region receives little precipitation.

In one sentence, explain the difference between the Russian grasslands and the Kazakh Steppe.

The Kazakh Steppe is much drier than the Russian grasslands.

The southern portion of the Northern European Plain in Russia contains rich black soil called _________.

chernozem

In one sentence, explain what is meant by privatizing business.

A privatized business is controlled by an individual as opposed to the government.

A large part of Central Asian culture and a portion of Russian culture is heavily influenced by which two cultures?

Mongols and Turks

What is the deepest freshwater lake in the world?

Lake Baikal

Moscow

Capital of Russia

What is the largest inland body of water in the world?

Caspian Sea

St. Basil's Cathedral

Cathedral built in Moscow by Ivan IV.

What power plant was the location for the worst nuclear disaster in history?

Chernobyl

In one sentence, list the various names that St. Petersburg, Russia has had at one point.

Petrograd, Leningrad, and St. Petersburg.

Ustyurt Plateau

clay desert

What form of dance is Russia renowned for?

ballet

In one or two sentences, explain Lenin's beliefs about communism.

Lenin believed that communism would enable people all over the world to live in a utopia.

Due to Soviet rule, most people in Central Asia speak Russian, but there are numerous other languages and dialects in the region that descend from primarily ________ roots.

Turkic

Which mountain range divides Russia into its western and eastern sections and also serves as a boundary between Europe and Asia?

Ural Mountains

Who believed that communism should be adopted by the entire world and said, "Experience has proved that, on certain very important questions of the proletarian revolution, all countries will inevitably have to do what Russia has done"?

Vladimir Lenin

What region of Central Asia was used as a testing ground for the nuclear arsenal of the Soviet Union?

deserts

Which of the following is a major difficulty in the Russian economy?

difficult transportation

What is the greatest enduring legacy of the Soviet Union in Central Asia?

environmental damage in the region

Russia is famous for a set of ornately decorated jeweled eggs called ___________.

faberge eggs

Which of the following is true about the apartment complexes built in the Soviet era?

Rooms were small and confined.

Who invaded Russia in the early 1200s and controlled the Russian states indirectly for over two hundred years?

Mongols

Which of the following groups conquered or controlled Central Asia at some point in history? (choose all that apply)

Arabs, Ottoman Turks, Persians

Which body of water in Central Asia used to be the fourth largest lake in the world but has now shrunk to only a fraction of the size it used to be due to extensive irrigation?

Aral Sea

Foreign countries have begun investing in Central Asia to help the region develop the infrastructure it needs to extract its natural resources and to connect Europe and Asia. Which country is the largest of these foreign investors?

China

Pamir Mountain Range

Tajikistan

What Soviet leader decided to relax government control of the economy and allowed for limited market economy?

Mikhail Gorbachev

Which of the following is a reason why most of Russia has cold temperatures?

Most of the landmass consists of steppes and deserts.

What harsh landscape accounts for two-thirds of Russia's total landmass?

Siberia

Which of the following is a famous Russian composer?

Tchaikovsky

In two or three sentences, explain the results of the Muscovy Principality.

The Muscovy Principality was a time of relative peace between the Mongols and the Russian Princes. As a result, the Russian Princes were able to become more powerful, and Ivan the Great was able to take over most of the territory.

What area of Russia sprawls eastward from the Ural Mountains and is one of the world's largest areas of flat lands?

West Siberian Plain

A _________ economy is one in which the government makes all economic decisions.

command

Tian Shan Range

heavenly mountains

Why did the Aral Sea begin to dry up?

lack of water flow due to irrigation

What is the most overriding characteristic of Russian religious life?

the promotion of atheism and repression of religion by the Soviet Union

A climatic region that has extreme low temperatures with only mosses and shrubs is called a ______________.

tundra