Questions

by


Instructions: As you read chapter 1 and 2 from Finlayson’s World Regional Geography, respond to the following questions within this document. Save your document, and then return the updated file

Student Name:

Chapter 1

  1. How does question of “where” differ from “why” in the field of geography?

 

  1. Who was the “Father of Geography”?

 

  1. Finlayson argues that all geographers share one thing in common in regards to looking at the world—what is it?

 

  1. Describe the difference between relative and absolute location:

 

  1. What does GIS stand for in the field of geography?

 

  1. What is “distortion” when referring to map-making? (see the following video for a nice overview of this concept: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kIID5FDi2JQ)

 

  1. What is the definition for “scale” when referring to map-making?

 

  1. What is “diffusion”?

 

 

  1. Distinguish between a CBD (central business district) and a hinterland:

 

  1. According to Finlayson, how can “regional geography” take a “holistic approach” when surveying physical and human geography?

 

 

  1. How many “major” tectonic plates are there on earth?

 

  1. What are some factors involved in the TFR in a country that continues to develop and industrialize?

 

 

  1. What characterizes a city as a “mega city”?

 

  1. Viewing Figure 1.14, concerning religion in Europe and Southwest Asia, point out one anomaly on the map—a distinct region that seems unusually different from its surrounding premises (this may require research outside of your textbook reading):

 

 

  1. What is the difficulty about defining “vernacular regions” in geography?

 

  1. Describe the main difference between a “unitary state” and a “federal state”:

 

  1. What does GDP mean? Why is this classification helpful in determining the economic strength/weakness of a nation?

 

 

  1. Provide one contemporary example of how our world today is a product of “globalization”:

 

Chapter 2

  1. Europe has a large number of navigable waterways. How have they helped those on this continent historically?

 

  1. What influence(s) does the Roman Empire of close to two thousand years ago have on today’s Europe?

 

 

  1. What are the advantages and disadvantages for a nation to join the European Union?

 

  1. Describe what “balkanization” means:

 

 

  1. Summarize the Industrial Revolution:
  2. What is a nation-state?

 

  1. Compare centrifugal forces to centripetal forces:

 

  1. Humanism and secularism are both relevant philosophies that have influenced modern Europe. How are they similar? And how are they slightly different from one another?

 

 

  1. How did the “European Migrant Crisis of 2015” impact local economies?

 

 

 

Instructions: As you read chapter 3 from Finlayson’s World Regional Geography, respond to the following questions within this document. Save your document, and then return the updated file

Chapter 3

  1. The opening paragraph under 3.1 in this chapter highlighted several facts about Russia’s uniqueness as a nation and geographical place. What was most intriguing to you—and why?

 

  1. How have the Ural Mountains affected the development of history?

 

 

  1. What is significant about the Volga River?

 

  1. How do the regions of Russia’s tundra differ from the taiga?

 

 

  1. What is significant about Oymyakon? (see this video for an interesting glimpse of this place: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iqpoa_rsrO0):

 

  1. What does Figure 3.7 imply about Russia’s population density?

 

  1. How did Ivan IV (“Ivan the Terrible”) impact Russian history?

 

 

  1. What is a “forward capital”?

 

  1. What did the Soviet Union institute in their “command economy”?

 

 

  1. What role did ethnicity play in the “SSRs” of the USSR?

 

  1. Figure 3.11 displays the percentage of native Russian speakers by subdivision in Ukraine. Why is “location” relevant in this map? (notice the high versus low percentages)

 

 

  1. Briefly summarize the Cold War:

 

 

Instructions: As you read chapter 4 from Finlayson’s World Regional Geography, respond to the following questions within this document. Save your document, and then return the updated file

Chapter 4

  1. What is the type of forest that covers most of Canada’s land area?

 

  1. What is the largest port in the United States, in terms of tonnage?

 

  1. Define the term “aquifer”:

 

 

  1. Describe the way in which the earliest “migrants” reached the Americas (from Asia):

 

  1. Distinguish between the ways in which France, the United Kingdom, and Spain attempted to colonize the Americas:

 

 

  1. What was required of an indentured servant in the Americas?

 

  1. About how many Africans were shipped to the New World as slaves?
  2. Once the Industrial Revolution arrived in the United States, what was the key source of power?

 

  1. In regards to urban geography, what is a CBD?

 

 

  1. Define an “edge city”:

 

  1. How does a “megalopolis” occur?

 

 

  1. Explain what “gentrification” is, and how does it affect neighborhoods?

 

  1. What does figure 4.13 tell us about poverty in the U.S.?

 

 

  1. Provide one observation from the final paragraphs of this chapter that dealt with immigration:

 

 

Instructions: As you read chapter 5 from Finlayson’s World Regional Geography, respond to the following questions within this document. Save your document, and then return the updated file

Chapter 5

  1. Physically, North and South America and divided by what geographical feature?

 

  1. Due to the complexity of classifying parts of the Americas, how does Finlayson define “Middle America”?

 

 

  1. Describe the “altitudinal zonation” found in much of Central America:

 

  1. Explain how the Panama Canal struggled to be built, but eventually was achieved:

 

 

  1. Discuss some of the mysteries around the decline of the Maya:

 

  1. What does it mean to be “mestizo”?

 

  1. Why was the Treaty of Tordesillas significant?

 

 

  1. What are “squatter settlements”?

 

  1. Define liberation theology:

 

 

  1. What is “brain drain” and how does it impact Middle America?

 

  1. What is “dependence theory”? Do you agree with this as being true? Why or why not?

 

 

 

Instructions: As you read chapters 6-7 from Finlayson’s World Regional Geography, respond to the following questions within this document. Save your document, and then return the updated file to the digital dropbox function within week 5 on Moodle. Please answer right below each question, and write as your responses both sufficiently and clearly.

Student Name:

 

Chapter 6

  1. Africa is the only continent that is crossed by both of these geographical delineations, located at 23 degrees north and south of the Equator:

 

  1. Which lake in Africa is both the second-largest and second-deepest freshwater lake in the world?

 

 

  1. What is the Horn of Africa?

 

  1. What makes the Sahel region of Africa significant?

 

 

  1. Describe some of the responsibilities women and men had in pre-colonial Africa:

 

  1. What does Figure 6.6 tell us about ethnographic regions of Africa?

 

  1. Explain the concept of colonialism:

 

 

  1. Describe the system of apartheid, which was significant in South African history in particular:

 

  1. What is the mission of the African Union?

 

 

  1. Contrast neocolonialism with colonialism:

 

  1. Observing the map from Figure 6.13, what do GDP rates seem to indicate about many African nations’ economies?

 

 

Chapter 7

  1. Why was the region of North Africa and Southwest Asia (NASWA hereafter in the questions) historically called the “Middle East”? Why is this term probably not the best designation?

 

  1. Name two major deserts in NASWA:

 

 

  1. What is the prevailing climatic feature of NASWA?

 

  1. Where was the Fertile Crescent and why was it significant?

 

  1. What is OPEC?
  2. (4+ sentences) Compare and contrast the three Abrahamic faiths that originated in NASWA:

 

 

  1. What is a theocracy?
  2. Describe the nature of Wahhabism, a type of Islam:

 

  1. Summarize the Arab Spring:

 

 

 

Instructions: As you read chapter 8 from Finlayson’s World Regional Geography, respond to the following questions within this document. Save your document, and then return the updated file

Chapter 8

  1. A massive tectonic collision resulted in what is perhaps the most well-known physical feature in South Asia. What is the feature?

 

  1. What mountain range has the highest concentration of peaks above 8,000 meters?

 

 

  1. What is orographic precipitation?

 

  1. How did religion play a part in the territorial dispute of Jammu and Kashmir in Northern India?

 

 

  1. Describe some of the beliefs and influence of Hinduism:

 

  1. Explain the hierarchy of the caste system:

 

  1. Provide an overview of some of the main tenets of Buddhism:

 

 

  1. Describe some of the distinctive characteristics of Sikhism:

 

  1. What does Figure 8.10 tell us about India’s population disparity between men and women?

 

 

Instructions: As you read chapter 9 from Finlayson’s World Regional Geography, respond to the following questions within this document. Save your document, and then return the updated file

Chapter 9

  1. What is Asia’s longest river?

 

  1. Why is the Ring of Fire a particularly unstable area?

 

 

  1. What made the 2011 tsunami in Japan so devastating?

 

  1. Briefly describe the essence of Confucianism:

 

 

  1. What is Angkor Wat’s original purpose? And what about its later transformation?

 

  1. What is the country that possesses more Muslims than in any country on Earth?

 

 

  1. Describe the Meiji Restoration in Japan:

 

  1. Explain what is meant by Westernization:

 

 

  1. What happened in China during the Great Leap Forward?

 

  1. How was Vietnam split ideologically/religiously between the north and south in the 1950s?

 

 

  1. Describe the domino theory of foreign policy during the Cold War era:

 

  1. What happened during the Khmer Rouge administration in Cambodia?

 

 

  1. Define the term “shatter belt”:

 

  1. How have the SEZs in China affected their economy?

 

 

 

Instructions: As you read chapter 10 from Finlayson’s World Regional Geography, respond to the following questions within this document. Save your document, and then return the updated file

Chapter 10

  1. Which country dominates Oceania in terms of size, economics, and population?

 

  1. Compare and contrast Australia’s physical geography with New Zealand’s:

 

 

  1. Why is the Great Barrier Reef significant?

 

  1. Why is Melanesia referred to by this name?

 

 

  1. Compare and contrast the high islands and low islands:

 

  1. Analyze territorial waters means in a geo-political context, and how this practically plays out in the world:

 

 

  1. What is an Exclusive Economic Zone?

 

  1. Define biogeography:

 

 

  1. Compare and contrast the Aborigines and Maori people of Oceania:

 

  1. What is Pidgin English?

 

 

  1. How has a changing climate had an influence on the region of Oceania and the Arctic?