GEO105 South Asia Quiz
How much has the World Bank loaned India to clean up the waterways?
$1 billion, but larger scale infrastructure improvements are needed to improve the region's water quality.
What is gross national happiness?
(GNH) Measures a country's ability to promote equitable and sustainable socioeconomic development by preserving and promoting cultural values, conserving the natural environment, and establishing good governance.
How many people die while attempting to summit K2?
1 out of 4.
What are the Four Noble Truths of Buddhism?
1. Suffering is universal and inevitable. 2. The immediate cause of suffering is desire and ignorance. 3. There is a way to dispel ignorance and relieve suffering. 4. The eight-fold path is the means to achieve liberation from suffering.
When did East Pakistan become Bangladesh?
1971.
What percent of people in Bangladesh live in cities?
28%.
What percent of people in India live in cities?
31%.
What percent of people in Pakistan live in cities?
36%.
When did the Indian plate collide with the Eurasian plate?
40 to 50 million years ago.
At what rate is the Himalayan mountain range climbing?
5 mm each year.
When did Hinduism begin?
500 BCE.
When did modern humans first settle in South Asia?
75,000 years ago.
What percent of rain does India get from the monsoon season?
80%.
What percent of Hindus live in India?
95%.
Who was Mohandas Gandhi?
A London-educated lawyer who led the Indian people in their struggle for independence.
What is the "Middle Way"?
A basic Buddhist teaching that rejects both the pleasures of sensual indulgence and the self-denial of asceticism, focusing instead on a practical approach to spiritual attainment.
Define a partition.
A division.
What is Jainism?
A form of Hinduism that believed everything in the universe has a soul and should not be harmed.
What was the Maurya Empire?
A geographically extensive Iron Age historical power which dominated the Indian subcontinent between 322 and 185 BCE.
Define Hinduism.
A polytheistic religion with a wide variety of individual beliefs and practices.
Define a rain shadow.
A region having little rainfall because it is sheltered from prevailing rain-bearing winds by a range of hills.
Define a buffer state.
A small neutral country, situated between two larger hostile countries, serving to prevent the outbreak of regional conflict.
Define social stratification.
A system in which categories of people are ranked in a hierarchy.
When was the partition in India?
After Britain agreed to withdraw from India in 1947.
How many people live in South Asia?
Around 1.8 billion.
When did the Aryans invade northern India?
Around 1500 BCE..
When did the first major civilization in South Asia begin?
Around 3300 B.C.
How many followers does Buddhism have worldwide?
Around 500 million.
What percent of illnesses in India result from water-borne diseases?
Around 80%.
What are the monsoon rains essential for?
Both subsistence agriculture and commercial agriculture, replenishes the water supplies and increases crop yields.
When did the Indus Valley civilization begin to decline?
By 1800 BCE.
What are the downside to the monsoon rains?
Cause widespread flooding, destroying agricultural lands and transportation infrastructure. Also contributes to water-borne and insect-borne illnesses.
Define orographic precipitation.
Caused when physical barriers form air masses to climb where they then cool, condense, and form precipitation.
What are the four key features of Hinduism?
Dharma, karma, reincarnation, and worship.
What did the British Empire do in India?
Established tea and cotton plantations and took control of South Asia's resources. Also increased Westernization in South Asia and created an extensive rail transportation system.
True or False: The caste system was outlawed and discrimination came to an end.
False, even though the caste system was outlawed, widespread discrimination and persecution still exists.
True or False: Much of the impressive physical geographic features of South Asia are not a result of tectonic activity.
False.
Who are the Vaishyas?
Farmers, tradesmen, merchants.
What did Gandhi do?
He led a long, non-violent struggle against British rule in India. Inspired future civil rights leaders like MLK jr.
What emerged from Aryan culture?
Hinduism and the caste system.
When was the ruling Islamic Mughal Empire in decline?
In the 18th century.
When did China, without the knowledge of India, build a road through the northern portion of the state and receive territory from Pakistan?
In the 1950's.
Where is Vajrayana Buddhism practiced?
In the Himalayas and Tibet.
Where did the first major civilization in South Asia begin?
In the Indus River valley, present day Pakistan, Afghanistan, and northwestern India.
When did Bhutan transition from an absolute monarchy to a constitutional monarch?
In the early 21st century, when the country held its first general election.
What are many Dalits?
Indigenous, non-Aryan Indians.
Who were the Aryans?
Indo-European group from modern day Iran.
What is significant about the region of South Asia?
It was home to one of the earliest and most widespread ancient civilizations, it is the hearth area for several of the world's religions, and a region whose population will soon be the largest on Earth.
When was Gandhi assassinated?
January 30th, 1948.
What is the highest peak in the Karakoram mountain range?
K2.
Who was responsible for the widespread diffusion of Buddhism?
Maurya Emperor Ashoka in the 3rd century BCE.
What is the most important climatic feature of South Asia?
Monsoons.
What is the tallest mountain in the world?
Mount Everest in Nepal at 29,028 ft.
What two countries remain isolated in terms of physical geography and global economic integration?
Nepal and Bhutan.
What two states existed as buffer states during the India's revolution against Britain?
Nepal and Bhutan.
List some of the mega-cities located in South Asia?
New Delhi, India (26 million) Karachi, Pakistan (14 million) Mumbai, India (21 million)
Where are the Himalayas located?
On the border of Nepal and China.
Where is Mahayana Buddhism practiced?
Practiced by most Buddhists worldwide, particularly China and Japan.
Who are the Brahmins?
Priests, teachers. Represent around 3% of India's population.
Define outsourcing.
Refers to contracting out a portion of a business to another party, which might be located in a different country.
What is Vedism?
Refers to the religious ideas and practices among most Indo-Aryan-speaking peoples of ancient India after about 1500 BCE.
What is Buddhism?
Religion indigenous to India that includes traditions, beliefs, and practices based on the teachings of Siddhartha Gautama (Buddha).
What is a monsoon?
Seasonal shifts in wind that result in changes in precipitation.
Who are the Shudras?
Servants laborers.
Where is Theravada Buddhism practiced?
Southeast Asia, primarily Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, and Thailand and also Sri Lanka.
Who are the Dalits?
The "untouchables"; Latrine cleaners, street sweepers, etc.
What are the different castes in Hinduism?
The Brahmins, Kshatriyas, Vaishyas and the Shudras.
What is a key physical feature of South Asia that formed through tectonic activity?
The Deccan Plateau.
What is the highest mountain range in the world?
The Himalayas.
What is the caste system?
The Hindu class system of social distinctions determined by birth.
What are the primary rivers of South Asia?
The Indus in Pakistan, the Ganges River flows across northern India into Bangladesh, and the Brahmaputra flows through northeastern India and also into Bangladesh.
What mountain range has the highest concentration of peaks over 26,000 feet?
The Karakoram Mountain Range that passes through Pakistan, India, China, and Afghanistan.
What is reincarnation?
The belief in rebirth of the soul.
What is Karma?
The belief that both good and bad deeds will return to the doer.
What was the result of the collision of the Indian and Eurasian plate?
The formation of the Himalayan Mountain Range.
What is Dharma?
The laws and duties of being that are different for every person.
What direction do the winds come from during October to April?
The northeast, creating dry conditions.
What is ahisma?
The practice of nonviolence.
How did Hinduism develop?
The religious texts of Vedism combined with local religious beliefs.
What is the leeward side of a mountain?
The side sheltered from the wind by the mountain's very elevation (downwind), making it more dry.
What is the windward side of a mountain?
The side which faces the prevailing wind (upwind), making it more wet.
What is samsara?
The soul's continual death and rebirth.
What direction to the winds come from after April?
The southwest, picking up moisture over the Arabian Sea, Indian Ocean, and Bay of Bengal.
What did the Aryans bring to South Asia?
Their language Sanskrit, their culture, and their ideas of social order.
What are the three branches of Buddhism?
Theravada, Mahayana, Vajrayana.
What was the result of the partition in India?
There was a division between Hindu and Muslim areas.
What are the Vedas?
These ideas and practices are found in the Vedic texts, and they were one of the major influences that shaped contemporary Hinduism.
When did the British Empire take over large stretches of land in India?
Through the mid-18th and early 19th century.
True or False: India is one of the global leaders in fiber production.
True, and textile production remains an important part of Pakistan's and Bangladesh's economies as well.
True or False: The Indian plate is still moving towards the Eurasian plate.
True, over the next 10 million years will move an additional 1,500 km (932 miles) into Asia.
True or False: Buddhism emerged out of Hinduism.
True.
True or False: Formidable physical barriers separate the region from the rest of the Eurasian landmass.
True.
True or False: South Asia is a hearth for many of the world's religions.
True.
True or False: South Asia is a well-defined region in terms of its physical landscape.
True.
True or False: South Asia is the most populous region in the world.
True.
True or False: The Himalayas are some of the world's youngest mountains.
True.
True or False: The monsoon rains have begun to stop and start sporadically throughout the rainy season.
True.
What did early settlers of the Indus river valley develop?
Urban planning, baked brick houses, and the civilization peaked at over five million people.
Who are the Kshatriyas?
Warriors and rulers.
What do the rivers of South Asia provide?
Water for the region's people, irrigation for agricultural lands, and an abundance of fish.
