Cultural Geography Exam (COUNTRY CHARACTERISTICS)

Afghanistan

Opium farming/selling, war with Taliban

Antarctica

Dry, Cold, Endurance, Ernest Shackleton(sigma as can be)1914, Ronald Amundsen(Norway), Robert Scott(UK) race to South Pole

Australia

“urban rim”, “outback”, diverse animals, Great Barrier Reef, Prisoner colony.

Bangladesh

East Pakistan, independence in 1971, allegiance with India, flooding

China

surveillance, communism,

D.R. Congo

Leopold II of Belgium enslaved country, Mobutu Sese Seko (1967)

Egypt

Rosetta stone, pyramids, pharaohs

India

highest population in the world, Buddhism/Hinduism, involvement with Pakistan, once was a British colony.

Indonesia

most Muslims, thousands of islands

Iran

hostage crisis, Anti-western, Islamic republic, Ayatollah Khomeini

Iraq

Saddam Hussein, invaded Kuwait, terrorism, human rights violations

Israel

Gaza, West Bank, Golan heights, War with Arabs

Japan

Shintoism, Shoguns and Samurai, Kamikaze

Kenya

Diverse land, animals, and people, Mau Mau Rebellion, safaris

Lebanon

Hezbollah, “Paris of Middle East”, PLO activity

Liberia

Founded by freed American slaves, capital Monrovia, Charles Taylor

Libya

Muhammar Qadafi, support for terrorism, oil

Myanmar

Opium production, Aung San Suu Kyi led democratic protests

Nepal

Mt. Everest, Sherpas

Nigeria

Boko Haram attacks, tension in the North, most populous nation in all Africa

North Korea

Disconnected from the world, communist, closed borders

Pakistan

Muhammed Ali Jinnah, most addicted country in the world, Kashmir region tensions, tense border with India

Russia

Siberia, Joseph Stalin, Aral Sea, Chornobyl, tension with Western world

Saudi Arabia

home of Hajj and Wahabbism, oil, OPEC, Mecca and Ryiadh

Somalia

War, Black Hawk Down, battle of Mogadishu,

South Africa

Rugby, Nelson Mandela, Apartheid, Boer War,

Sri Lanka

“Magnificent Island”, rubber, tea, Ceylon until 1972, Sinaleyse and Tamil

Sudan / South Sudan

Lost Boys, civil war

Syria

Damascus (trade center), Bashar Al-Assad, Ba-ath party

Thailand

never colonized, Bangkok (airline hub and longest official name)

Turkey

from the ruins of the Ottoman empire, unique position, “gateway”

Vietnam

Ho Chi Minh, civil war over communism, French Indochina

Zimbabwe

Formerly known as Rhodesia, Robert Mugabe, hyperinflation (10,000,000 dollar bill)