Final Exam Flashcards

1
Q

What are the geographic regions of the United States?

A

Coast Ranges, Great Basin, Rocky Mountains, Great Plains, Central Lowlands, Coastal Plains, Appalachian Mountains, Piedmont

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2
Q

Characteristics of the Piedmont

A

A rolling plateau inland from the coastal plain. Extends from NJ to AL. Includes America’s first cities.

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3
Q

Characteristics of Coastal Plain

A

Extends from New York to the border with Mexico along the Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico.

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4
Q

Characteristics of Rocky Mountains

A

From Canada to New Mexico, highest point over 14,000 ft at Mt. Elbert. Run for about 2000 miles.

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5
Q

Characteristics of Interior Lowland

A

Between Appalachian and Rocky Mountains. Include Great Plains and Central Lowlands.

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6
Q

Characteristics of the Appalachian Mountains

A

Oldest mountains in North America. Highest point is about 6600 ft at Mt. Mitchell. Extend for over 1500 miles.

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7
Q

Characteristics of the Great Plains

A

Part of the Interior Lowlands : Stretch west of the Mississippi River, much of the region is a prairie, once provided food for the Native Americans and buffalo that lived there. Have reserves of coal, oil, and natural gas.

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8
Q

Characteristics of the Central Lowlands

A

Part of Interior Lowlands : South of the Canadian Shield and west of the Appalachians. Grassy hills, rolling flat-lands, thick forests and fertile farmland. Contains Great Lakes, and Mississippi River. Includes Chicago, Detroit and Cleveland.

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9
Q

What are the major rivers in each geographic region? Where do they begin and end, which is the longer and which is the largest by volume?

A

Mississippi River- Minnesota (Lake Itasca) to Gulf of Mexico. Longest river at 2340 miles. Largest by volume
Missouri River- Second larges river in the United States. Starts in Montana and ends in the Mississippi River.
Colorado River- Rockies to Mississippi

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10
Q

Where do most of the people in the United States live?

A

Along the Atlantic coast in large cities such as NY City, Washington D.C, Boston. They call this the Atlantic Megalopolis

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11
Q

Which is the most densely populated region of the United States?

A

The North-east. Large cities and in the Atlantic Megalopolis. Along the coasts.

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12
Q

Which are the least densely populated regions?

A

Interior areas such as the Interior Lowlands.

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13
Q

What are the major mountain ranges in North America and where are they located?

A

Appalachian Mountains: Inner Atlantic Coast
Rocky Mountains: Inner Pacific Coast
Sierra Nevada Range: California

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14
Q

What is the Continental Divide?

A

High ridge of Rockies that determines the direction in which the rivers will flow. East of Rockies rivers flow toward Atlantic, West of Rockies, rivers flow toward Pacific.

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15
Q

What is the highest point of North America?

A

Mount McKinley in the Alaska Range at 20,320 feet.

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16
Q

What is Capitalism?

A

An economic and political system in which a country’s trade and industry are controlled by private owners for profit, rather than by state.

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17
Q

What is Democracy?

A

Form of united government in which power rests with the people and all people share a role in government.

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18
Q

What are the two main cultural groups in Canada? How are they different. Where would you find them?

A

French- 1/4 of Canada’s population, found in Quebec, wants to separate and become its own country.
British- 1/4 of Canada’s population, found in Ontario, the Atlantic Provinces and British Columbia

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19
Q

What are the Prairie Provinces of Canada? What are their natural resources and what takes place there?

A

Manitoba- rich wheat belt
Saskatchewan- world’s largest deposits of potash
Alberta- large deposits of fossil fuels
lots of farming and cattle herding.

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20
Q

How is the government of Canada organized?

A

Parliamentary democracy. Have three branches, each with its own role. Legislative members choose a prime minister to head government.

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21
Q

What are the branches of the Canadian government?

A

Executive- Made up of the head of state, Queen Elizabeth III, head of government, and a cabinet. Carries out the laws.
Legislature- Made up of Senate and the House of Commons. Makes the laws.
Judicial- Made up of the Supreme Court and subordinate courts. Prime Minister is the leader, figure-head leader is the Queen. Interprets the laws.

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22
Q

Who is the leader of Canada?

A

Prime Minister is actual leader, figure-head leader is Queen Elizabeth III

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23
Q

Where do the majority of the people of Canada live?

A

More than 75% of the Canadian population lives within 100 miles of the U.S border.

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24
Q

Where are the large cities of Canada located?

A

Toronto, Montreal, Calgary, Vancouver. Located near U.S border. Montreal is the financial and industrial center of Quebec and an important part of the St. Lawrence Sea Way.

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25
Q

What are Canada’s natural resources and where are they located?

A

Coastal areas are rich with fish.
Coniferous forests from the Atlantic to the Pacific for lumber and newsprint.
Minerals- Nickel, Zinc, Uranium, Coal, and Petroleum
Alberta- abundance of oil and natural gas.

26
Q

What are Latin America’s major bodies of water?

A

Caribbean Sea, Pacific Ocean, Atlantic Ocean.
Amazon Basin- east of Andes
Amazon River- starts in Andes to Atlantic Ocean

27
Q

What is South America’s largest river?

A

Amazon River at 4000 miles.

28
Q

What is South America’s largest lake?

A

Lake Maracaibo at 5100 square miles.

29
Q

What are the major mountain ranges in Central and South America?

A

Andes Mountains- located on the Pacific coast of South America

30
Q

What island groups make up the Caribbean Islands?

A

Greater Antilles- Cuba, Hispaniola, Puerto Rico, Jamaica
Lesser Antilles- Virgin Islands to Trinidad
Bahamas- also an archipelago

31
Q

What are hurricanes?

A

Wind system that forms over the ocean in tropical areas and bring violent storms with heavy rains.

32
Q

When and where are hurricanes most likely to strike Latin America?

A

Hurricane season: June - September

They are most likely to strike Middle America, the Caribbean Islands and the eastern coast of South America.

33
Q

What land-forms and countries make up Middle America?

A

Under 4 tectonic plates resulting in many volcanoes. Countries are Mexico, Belize, Guatamala Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama

34
Q

Which countries in Latin America possess the most fossil fuels, forests, and precious metals?

A

Fossil Fuels (oil and gas)- Venezuela and Mexico. Gasohol from Brazil
Forests- Amazon Rain-forest mostly in Brazil but also largely in Peru, Colombia, and Bolivia
Precious Metals- Silver from Mexico and Peru. Iron Ore from Venezuela. Copper from Chile. Bauxite from Jamaica.

35
Q

What are the three most populous nations in Europe?

A

Russia, Germany, Turkey respectively.

36
Q

What are Europe’s major rivers? Where do they begin and end?

A

Danube River- From Alps to Black Sea

Rhine River- Starts in Alps and ends in North Sea

37
Q

What are Europe’s major seas?

A

Baltic Sea, North Sea, Mediterranean Sea and Black Sea. Seas allow easy movement and trade. Not many countries are land-locked.

38
Q

What are Europe’s major land-forms? Which is the largest?

A

Plains - European Plain (largest land-form), Hungarian Plain, Ukrainian Steppe.
Mountains - Alps, Pyrenees, Carpathians
Central Uplands contain most of Europe’s coal.

39
Q

What are Europe’s major mountain ranges?

A

Alps - from Spain to the Balkan Peninsula.
Pyrenees - which lie between France and Spain. Carpathians - in east-central Europe. Highest point is Mont Blanc of the Alps in France at 4807 m.

40
Q

What are Europe’s major natural resources? Where is Europe’s oil located?

A

Resources are coal, petroleum, natural gas, hydroelectric power, iron ore, manganese, fertile soil for farming, fish.
Oil is mostly found beneath the North Sea.

41
Q

What is the European Union?

A

It is several democracies in western and eastern Europe joined together.

42
Q

What is the Europeans Union’s goals?

A

The goals are to unite Europe, allow goods, services, and workers to move more freely, created currency called Euro and allows countries to trade more easily.

43
Q

What are the major climate types of the Middle East?

A

Deserts - cover much of region and the Sahara (world’s largest desert) covers most of North Africa.
Steppes - Grassy plain climates are located in Turkey and to the east of Central Asia.
Mediterranean Climate - Coastal areas of North Africa, the Mediterranean and Turkey

44
Q

What are the Middle East’s major natural resources?

A

Oil and gas found near Persian Gulf. Coal and Iron Ore. Morocco and Kazakhstan have rich deposits of phosphates. Fish important in coastal countries.

45
Q

When was the nation of Israel formed?

A

May 1948

46
Q

What was the region and who were the people who lost their land for the creation of Israel?

A

After World War I, the British ruled Palestine.
The region = Palestine
The people = British

47
Q

What problems has the formation of Israel caused on the region?

A

Israel and its Arab neighbors have fought many wars. Conflicts over oil and resources.

48
Q

What was Mesopotamia?

A

The first civilization in history that formed along the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers in present day Iraq.

49
Q

In what nation would Mesopotamia be located today?

A

Iraq

50
Q

What is OPEC?

A

Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries.

51
Q

What is OPEC’s purpose?

A

Its goals are to regulate, control and unify the policies of the member countries to ensure a steady oil production as well as income.

52
Q

What three major religions began in the Middle East and where?

A

Islam - Saudi Arabia
Judaism - Israel
Christianity - Palestine

53
Q

What are the natural resources of China?

A

large oil deposits, coal, hydroelectric power, tin, iron ore, chromium, magnesium, tungsten

54
Q

What is China’s population?

A

1.351 billion.

55
Q

Why is China’s economy so strong?

A

It is a major agricultural producer of rice, tea, wheat and potatoes as well as has many natural resources. Textiles and other manufactured products also play a big role in China’s economy.

56
Q

What are the major mountain regions of the Far East?

A

Himalayas - has highest peak in the world, Mount Everest.
Kunlun Shan- in China, ranges for over 3000 km.
Plateau of Tibet lies between these two mountain ranges.

57
Q

What is the largest desert in the Far East?

A

The Gobi Desert that stretches 500,000 sq. miles. Located in Mongolia and in China.

58
Q

What is a monsoon?

A

seasonal winds that blow steadily from the same direction for several months at a time causing hurricanes, lots of rain and water coming in from the ocean.

59
Q

What percentage of the world’s population lives in the Far East?

A

East and South East Asia is home to over 2 billion people, 1/3 of the world’s population.

60
Q

What country in the Far East has highest population of Muslims in the world?

A

Saudi Arabia