Central Asia -End of Year Study Guide

Question 1

Pastoral

Answer 1

animal herders

Question 2

Gulags

Answer 2

Labor camps

Question 3

Collectives

Answer 3

Combining small farms into large, government farms

Question 4

Skill Road

Answer 4

Network of trade routes, linking China and Europe

Question 5

Maddrasses

Answer 5

Islamic centers of learning

Question 6

Oasis

Answer 6

Green areas by a water source in a dry region

Question 7

Yurts

Answer 7

Rounded tent with a domed roof, covered with heavy, waterproof wool or animal skins

Question 8

How do you describe the 1st people to arrive in Southern Siberia?

Answer 8

Nomads and Hunter gatherers

Question 9

What forced the early people of Siberia to move onto the Central Siberian plateau and conquer other parts of Siberia?

Answer 9

They were driven out by invaders of China

Question 10

Once Russia control extended to the Pacific Ocean, what did the czars use for this area?

Answer 10

Excited political prisoners

Question 11

What helped encourage settlement settlement in Siberia in the late 1800’s -early 1900’s?

Answer 11

the Trans-Siberian Railroad and free land offered by the Czar

Question 12

What group led to Siberia becoming a part of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics/Soviet Union/U.S.S.R.?

Answer 12

The Communists

Question 13

Why did so many groups try to rule the region of Central Asia?

Answer 13

To gain control of the Silk Road

Question 14

How was Islam brought to the region?

Answer 14

Arab conquest

Question 15

Mid-1300’s, the conqueror, Yimur, conquered a huge area of Central Asia and the major city of Samarkand. What happened to the city?

Answer 15

It became a center for Art, Science, math, and madrassas were established

Question 16

What major event in 1917 lead to Central Asia declaring Independence from Russia?

Answer 16

The Russian Revolution

Question 17

What are the positive affects of the Soviet Union regaining control of the region of Central Asia in the 1920’s?

Answer 17

Built dams for power and irrigation, built one of the worlds’s largest canals to irrigate desert land, and increased industry through mining and factories

Question 18

What are the negative effects of the Soviet Union regaining control?

Answer 18

Forced people to resettle in other regions, forced farmers and herders into collectives, uprooted local cultures and closed mosques

Question 19

The Caucasus is a crossroads between what 2 areas?

Answer 19

Europe and Asia

Question 20

What countries of the Caucuses have had briefs periods of self-rule and established kingdoms?

Answer 20

Georgia and Armenia

Question 21

What conquerer of Central Asia also claimed the Caucasus for their empire?

Answer 21

Timur

Question 22

How did the relationship between Armenia and Russia change from 1700’s to 1800”s and how did it effect Armenia?

Answer 22

Armenia asked Russia for protection from Muslim rulers. Russia annex only part of the region leaving the rest in the Ottoman Empire. When the Ottoman part of Armenia asked for reform, they were accused of supporting Russia, leading to the Armenian Genocide.

Question 23

What were the positive effects of the Soviet Union regaining control of the Caucses in the 1920”s?

Answer 23

Changed the region from agricultural to industrial and ended other invasions and instability in the region

Question 24

What were the negative effects of the Soviet Union regaining control of the Caucses in the 1920”s?

Answer 24

Crushed other oppositions, groups were resettled into other areas of the USSR, and people were punished for showing ethnic pride

Question 25

What other groups live in Siberian Russsia other than the Russians?

Answer 25

Mongols, Turks and Indigenous people

Question 26

What is the only country in Central Asia with a largely urban population?

Answer 26

Kazakhstan

Question 27

What country in Central Asia has most of their population living in oasis area?

Answer 27

Turkmenistan

Question 28

Other than major ethnic group for each country, how many smaller groups are in the region of the Caucasus?

Answer 28

50

Question 29

What is the main language in Siberia and Central Asia?

Answer 29

Russian

Question 30

What group in the Caucasus has been involved in several ethnic conflicts?

Answer 30

Armenians

Question 31

What has been the major challenge in the Caucasus and Central Asia after the end of the Soviet rule?

Answer 31

Establishing a stable, democratic government

Question 32

What has been the major issue with the Aral Sea and what led to this?

Answer 32

Losing its water from canas built for irrigation. This has led to the area becoming dry and filled with salt and farm chemicals which was carried hundreds of miles away by wind, causing lung diseases and cancer rates to rise

Question 33

What have been the main areas of territorial disputes in these regions

Answer 33

Ethnic-related disputes, disputes ove the Caspian Sea, dispute between Russia and Japan over the Kurili islands