GEO 1310 World Geography Exam 3 (Asia) - Texas State University - Brian Cooper (Lecture Notetaking Slide Questions)

What is the nature of the tectonic movement that created both the Zagros and the Alborz Mountains?

Both of these mountain ranges were formed as a result of the same tectonic process -

When the supercontinent of Africa broke up, the Arabian Plate (which most of Arabian peninsula sits on) moved away from Africa and crashed into southwestern Asia. -

This collision resulted in the uplift that created the Zagros and Alborz mountains

(and the Caucasus mountains + Anatolian plateau).

What natural hazard risk does the ongoing tectonic movement create in both ranges?

Movement is still going on, continuing tectonic movement creates serious risk of earthquakes

Mount Damavand is an example of what kind of mountain?

Mount Damavand is an excellent example of a stratovolcano - The highest stratovolcano in all of Asia (18,405 ft) - Stratovolcanoes will have a triangular, conical shape

What makes the Asir Mountains unique within Saudi Arabia?

This region gets the most precipitation in all of Saudi Arabia (about 30 inches per year)

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Due to the orographic effect

Why do a number of wealthy Saudis have summer homes here in the Asir Mountains?

The elevation, and the rainfall caused by the orographic effect leads to cooler temperatures in the Asir Mountains

What does the word "Mesopotamia" mean?

"Land between the two rivers"

What physical characteristics of river floodplains made these areas ideal for the development of early agriculture?

For agriculture to develop and succeed in a region you need

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Good soils

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A steady water supply

Broad river flood plains have both -

Frequent flooding deposits sediments, creating rich soil

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Frequent flooding provides regular water, and acts like a natural fertilizer

What was the first civilization to arise here in Mesopotamia?

Ancient Sumerians were the first civilization to arise here

Where is most of the oil and natural gas in Southwest Asia located relative to the Plateau of Saudi Arabia?

Most of the oil and natural gas is located to the east of the Plateau, there is no oil or natural gas on the Plateau itself

What are the resources we group together as fossil fuels?

Oil, natural gas, and coal

What ancient organisms left the remains that were transformed into most of our fossil fuel reserves?

Ancient microorganisms that lived in ancient seas and oceans

What is necessary to transform the remains of ancient organisms into fossil fuels?

Ancient microorganisms must die, drift to the bottom of the sea, and be covered with layers of sediment

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Those layers of sediment provided the heat and pressure needed to transform those organic remains into hydrocarbon

Why does it make sense that there is little oil or gas on the Plateau of Saudi Arabia?

The Plateau was always above water, so there was no chance for the fossils of aquatic microorganisms to be transformed into hydrocarbon

What does "basin and range" mean?

A basin and range system is one with low ranges and alternating low-lying basins

Are the deserts (Dasht-e-Lut and Dasht-e-Kavir) found in the high ranges or in the low-lying basins?

They are found in the low-lying basins. The rain shadow effect is the reason why they are so dry.

Where do most of Iran's people live in relation to the Iranian Plateau? Why?

The Plateau is so dry, with incredibly hot summers and cold winters, that most Iranians live to the north and west of the plateau

What happened to the Ottoman Empire after World War I?

The Ottoman Empire sided with the Central Powers, and lost WWI. After the war, their empire was dismantled.

Who was the man who is considered the father of modern Turkey?

Mustafa Kemal Atatürk (Atatürk means "Father of the Turks"). He led the Turkish War of Independence after the dismantling of the Ottoman Empire.

What is a secular country, and how did that apply to Atatürk's vision for Turkey after the Turkish War for Independence?

A secular country is one with no official state religion.

Atatürk wanted to modernize Turkey in the image of a European state, as he believed that the Ottoman system was too weak and stuck in the past.

This was one of his most important reforms.

Who are the Kurds, and what is their issue with Turkey?

The Kurds are a stateless nation that has long desired a state of their own. Kurdish lands cross over into Turkey, and Turkey knows that a future Kurdish state would take territory from Turkey, causing the Turks to poorly treat the Kurds.

Why are Iranians not considered to be Arabs?

Iranians are not Arabs because they don't speak Arabic.

They speak Persian (Farsi), which unlike Arabic (a Semitic language), is an Indo-European language

Why was the last Shah so unpopular among Iranians?

Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi attempted to rapidly Westernize Iranian culture.

This created a backlash among religious conservatives in Iran, who believed he was destroying native Iranian culture, and turning Iran into an apostate society.

Pahlavi tried to use his SAVAK secret police to squash dissent, but this only made him more unpopular.

What denomination of Islam is, by far, the dominant one in Iran?

Shia Islam, which is 90% of the population of Iran.

Who led the Islamic Revolution of 1979 in Iran?

The Revolution was led by the Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the most prominent Shiite Muslim cleric who criticized the Shah.

Generally speaking, how did the Islamic republic type of government differ from the monarchy in Iran?

The Islamic Republic is a theocracy, as opposed to a Westernized monarchy.

Religion and government are completely intertwined, with all real power held by senior Shiite Muslim clerics

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Legal system is based on the Shiite school of Shariah law

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Judges are all senior Shiite Muslim clerics.

Why did Iraq invade Iran in 1980?

Multiple Reasons:

First - pure land grab

Second - pure resource grab (atacks were concentrated in the south, where oil reserves)

Third - Iraq's only access to the open sea is the Shatt al-Arab. Iraq wanted to secure the Shatt al-Arab and expand their coastline.

Why did Iraq invade Kuwait in August 1990?

Still looking to secure the Shatt al-Arab

Some of it was a pure resource grab

Iraq owed billions of dollars in war debt to Kuwait, invasion canceled the debt

Part of it was an allocational boundary dispute

What was the allocational boundary dispute between Iraq and Kuwait?

The Rumaila Oil Field is mostly in Iraq, but some of it extends into northern Kuwait.

Leading up to the invasion, Iraq accused Kuwait of illegally slant-drilling oil out of Iraq's portion of the field.

Why did the U.S.-led coalition invade Iraq in March 2003?

Saddam Hussein had previously had and used weapons of mass destruction.

After Gulf War, UN weapons inspections were implemented to ensure that Hussein could no longer possess WMDs, Hussein began violating the terms of the peace agreement.

This frustrated US, which felt that Hussein was hiding something, and that he still had WMDs

Hussein didn't have WMDs, but felt he couldn't admit that due to fear of attack by Iran

What was some of the environmental damage that resulted from Operation Desert Storm?

The losing Iraqi army dumped hundreds of thousands of barrels of Kuwaiti oil into the Persian Gulf

They set on fire 580 (out of 700, attempted all) of the Kuwaiti oil wells, so much smoke and ash in the atmosphere that temperatures lowered 20 degrees

How were the oil well fires put out so quickly in Kuwait after Operation Desert Storm?

A Hungarian engineer attached jet engines to tank treads, used to blow out oil well fire and allow them to be recapped.

Where does Saudi Arabia rank worldwide in proven oil reserves?

2nd in the world, after Venezuela

Still most influential oil-producing country in the world:

Oil is high quality and easy to refine

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Oil is cheap to extract

How does Saudi Arabia pay for its extensive social welfare services?

Saudi Arabia uses their oil revenues to subsidize extensive social welfare services

Essentially bribing their citizens to being okay with one of the most undemocratic governments on the planet

How does the absolute monarchy of Saudi Arabia differ from the constitutional monarchy of the United Kingdom?

Saudi Arabia is an absolute monarchy, the king has absolute power, whatever he says goes, all power originates with him

In the UK, the monarch has little real power, while real power is held by parliament and prime minister

What is the Hajj?

The Hajj is one of the Five Pillars of Islam.

During the 12th month of the Islamic calendar, Muslims are expected to travel to Mecca at least once in their life, the holiest city in Islam, and walk seven times around the Kaaba, the alter that Abraham built with his son Ishmael

Prayer five times per day is done toward this altar

Where does Qatar rank among countries in terms of proven natural gas reserves?

3rd largest proven reserves of natural gas on Earth

Almost all in the North Field

Is the North Field mostly associated or non-associated natural gas?

One of the largest non-associated natural gas fields on earth

Means it's not found along with oil, just natural gas

How is Qatar shipping its natural gas to buyers like Japan?

Gas is shipped as liquefied natural gas (LNG), under extremely cold temperature and high pressure, in specially designed tanker ships

How many emirates comprise the United Arab Emirates?

7 emirates

Which emirate is the capital of the UAE?

Abu Dhabi is the largest emirate, and the city of Abu Dhabi serves as the capital of the UAE

President of UAE is the emir of Abu Dhabi

Dubai is now the largest city in the UAE

When countries like the UAE undertake projects like the Burj Khalifa, what is the more symbolic meaning of these grand projects?

Burj Khalifa is 2,722 ft, over half a mile

They are symbolic manifestations of the rapid modernization and increase of wealth that these countries have experienced, that signals to their people and the rest of the world

What territory gives Oman control of the navigable channel of the Strait of Hormuz?

The Musandam Peninsula

What is so critical about Oman's control of the navigable channel of the Strait of Hormuz?

By controlling it, they control the shipping lane of the Strait of Hormuz

It's so critical because 20% of the world's oil supply passes through it

The current civil war in Yemen is a proxy conflict between which two major Southwest Asia powers?

Saudi Arabia and Iran

Yemen is located on the Bar-el Mandeb (Mandeb Strait), where the Red Sea joins the Indian Ocean

This strategic location has led to a proxy conflict, a conflict where other powers are indirectly fighting against one another by supporting opposing sides

Who have made up a significant number of the famine victims in Yemen due to the civil war?

13 million in Yemen are on the brink of starvation

800,000 children have starved to death in the famine

Where did most of the world's Jewish population end up living after the Jewish Diaspora?

90% of the world's Jewish population was living in Europe, after the Jewish Diaspora scattered the Jews throughout the Roman Empire

How did the Dreyfus Affair influence the rise of modern Zionism as a political movement?

France was one of the largest Jewish populations in Europe

Alfred Dreyfus being wrongfully accused and convicted of treason.

Widely believed that he had been accused because he was Jewish

Last straw for Theodor Herzl and other Jewish leaders, who believed in the need to create a modern Jewish homeland, Zionism

What did the Balfour Declaration say regarding the creation of a Jewish state?

This 1917 declaration promises to create a homeland for the Jewish people in the territory of Palestine, in the event that the British win the war and gain control of the territory

Who received the League of Nations Mandate over Palestine after the end of World War I?

The British received the Mandate over Palestine after World War I

What were the basics of the United Nations Partition Plan regarding Palestine after World War II?

The 1947 UN outlined 56% of the territory for a Jewish state

43% for an Arab Palestinian state

Jerusalem is an international free city under UN control, where anyone could freely come and go

Why was Jerusalem supposed to be a free or international city under UN control in the United Nations Partition Plan?

UN hoped to avoid controversy over who owned the city

No other city on the planet has been fought over more than Jerusalem

It's a holy site for Jews, Christians, and Muslims

How much of the Palestine Mandate territory did Israel control after 1948-49 war?

Israel won control of 72% of the Mandate, including western 2/3 of Jerusalem

Who ended up with control over the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip after the 1948-49 Arab-Israeli War

Jordan has control of West Bank and East Jerusalem

Egypt has control of the Gaza Strip

What was the outcome of the 1967 Six-Day War between Israel and its Arab neighbors of Egypt, Jordan, and Syria?

Israel takes control of the entire Mandate and more:

West Bank, East Jerusalem from Jordan

Gaza Strip, Sinai Peninsula from Egypt

Golan Heights from Syria

What three territories make up the Occupied Territories that involve the Palestinians?

What is the current status of the Sinai Peninsula and the Golan Heights?

The West Bank, East Jerusalem, the Gaza Strip

Israel still controls the Golan Heights

Israel gave the Sinai Peninsula back to Egypt during the Camp David Accords, when Egypt became the first Arab nation to make peace with Israel

What agreement saw some of the Occupied Territories' land turned over to the Palestinians?

How did Hamas winning elections in portions of the West Bank and Gaza complicate continued talks with Israel?

Oslo Accords resulted in territories in the West Bank and all of Gaza being turned over to the Palestinian Authority

Hamas is considered a terrorist group by Israel, and so Israel refuses to talk to them

Why does it make geographic sense that the largest number of Palestinian refugees settled in Jordan?

Proximity matters -

Jordan is right next door, so it makes sense that the largest number of Palestinian refugees wound up in Jordan

Why does Jordan support the right of return of Palestinian refugees?

Jordan wants the Palestinian refugees to have the right to return to their homes, because Palestinian refugees outnumber Jordanians

Why is Israel opposed to the right of return?

Israelis would outnumber them, and change the demographics of Israel

How did the Arab Spring lead to the Syrian Civil War?

Arab Spring was a series of massive protests and revolutions throughout the Middle East in 2011

Bashar al-Assad refused to step down when demanded by protestors

Where did Bashar al-Assad flee to after being ousted from office in December 2024?

He and his wife fled to exile in Russia

What was Beirut's nickname before the Lebanese Civil War broke out in 1975?

The Paris of the Middle East

Why did the Christian rule over Lebanon become minority rule by the mid-20th century?

France wanted to create a territory with a Christian majority, so they cut off Lebanon from the French Mandate of Syria

The Maronite Christian majority became the rulers of a minority-ruled state after being out-reproduced by the Muslim population

Minority rule is incompatible with democracy, Lebanon erupts in civil war in 1975

What is Hezbollah?

Hezbollah is a Shiite Muslim terrorist group based in southern Lebanon, launches attacks on Israel

What tectonic movement created the Pamir Knot and its associated mountain ranges?

The movement of the Indian Plate from East Africa, crashing into the Eurasian Plate

What is the scientific term for mountain-building or mountain creation?

Orogenesis

Why is the terrain of the Hindu Kush so well-suited for guerrilla warfare tactics?

The narrow mountain passes and caves in Afghanistan is perfect for a guerrilla's use of mobility and surprise

How have the Hindu Kush contributed to Afghanistan being nicknamed the "graveyard of empires"?

The tribes that live in Afghanistan have used the rugged terrain to resist invasion on numerous occasions

Great powers have been unsuccessful in their military campaigns here for centuries due to the ruggedness of the Hindu Kush and the difficulties it creates

What does the name of the Tian Shan mountains mean in English?

Mountains of Heaven

What is notable about the Turpan Depression and Ayding Lake?

The Turpan Depression, with the Ayding Lake within it, is the lowest point in all of China

What is the importance of the Kunlun in Chinese mythology?

In the origin story for the Han people, they originated in the Kunlun Mountains

The Kunlun represent the drainage divide between which two major Asian rivers?

The Chang Jiang (Yangtze River) and Huang He (Yellow River)

Any precipitation flowing to the north of the Kunlun Mountains will end up in the Yellow River, any to the south will end up in the Yangtze

Why is the Tibetan Plateau often referred to as "the roof of the world"?

It's the largest and highest plateau on Earth

Why is the Tibetan Plateau referred to as the "Third Pole"?

This region has the largest stretches of surface ice on Earth, outside of the North and South poles

How were the Himalayas formed?

Is this process still going on?

They're still growing, created by the same orogenesis process that created the Kunlun Mountains:

Indian subcontinent pushing north into the southern tier of Asia

What hazard is a particular danger for mountaineers in the Himalayas?

Avalanches

Mount Everest is located on the border between which two Himalayan countries?

Nepal and China

Why is the name "Manchuria" not used by China to refer to this region?

The last imperial dynasty to rule over China was the Qing, or Manchu dynasty, which originated from this area.

Current Chinese government would like to ignore the last imperial dynasty

What is alluvium?

Sediment deposited by a river.

Northeast China Plain was formed by repeated deposits of alluvium creating a flat floodplain

What status does the North China Plain hold in East Asia due to being an ancient culture hearth?

This is the Cradle of Eastern Civilizations, where East Asia's earliest civilizations developed

Is this area still the core area of China today?

It's still the core area of China to this day

What is the significance of the Han ethnicity among China's ethnic groups?

They are the majority in China, the single largest

What is loess?

Wind-blown sediments carried thousands of miles from the deserts of western China, and deposited on the north China plains

Makes excellent quality soil

Why is the Yellow River known as a depositing river?

It carries lots of sediment, and deposits lots of sediment in the floodplain and the riverbed itself

How does the Yellow River's status as a depositing river contribute to flood risk?

It deposits so much sediment on the river bed that it shallows out, easily spilling its banks

Why is wheat, not rice, the major grain crop in the Yellow River area?

The climate is too far north to grow rice

Where does the Chang Jiang (Yangtze River) rank among Asia's rivers in terms of length?

Longest in Asia

3rd longest in the world

What is a hydrophyte?

A plant that lives in water or waterlogged soil

Sericulture is the production of what fiber?

Silk

Favorite food of silkworms are the leaves of the mulberry tree

Where does the Three Gorges Dam rank among the world's hydroelectric facilities in terms of capacity?

Presently, this is the world's largest hydroelectric facility

How long has there been a continuous agricultural civilization in China?

For over 8,000 years

The most recent 4,000 have a continuous reliable, written record

What was the first dynasty of Imperial China?

Qin Dynasty, over 2,000 years ago

What imperial dynasty was the last one to rule over China?

Qing (Manchu) Dynasty

Who led the Nationalist overthrow of the last imperial dynasty in the 1911 Revolution

Sun Yat-sen, leader of the Kuomintang, or Nationalist Party

How did the Long March ultimately help the Chinese Communist Party achieve victory in the Chinese Civil War?

1. As they traveled through rural villages, they gained support from the Chinese peasantry

2. Their leadership emerged from the experience, people like Mao Zedong

What happened between the Nationalists and Communists in China during the Japanese invasion of China

The Nationalists and Communists set aside their differences to defeat the Japanese

What were some of the reasons why the Communists had the advantage in the Second Chinese Civil War, leading them to victory on October 1, 1949?

The Communists were much more effective at fighting the Japanese than the Nationalists were, and many Chinese people blamed the Nationalists for letting the Japanese invade to begin with

What impact has Deng Xiaoping's "socialism with Asian characteristics" had on China's economic growth to present?

Xiaoping began moving away from Maoist economics, and introduced aspects of capitalism into the Chinese economy

These reforms have caused China's economy to explode

A mixed socialist market economy, combined with authoritarian capitalism

Reintegration of Hong Kong has been a huge boost to the Chinese economy as well

What major port city was returned to China by the United Kingdom in 1997?

Hong Kong

How did the "one child policy" misalign with Chinese tradition to produce the imbalance in the sex ratio in China's population today?

Chinese tradition has long favored male children -

Elderly parents are expected to live with their son and his family

Male children were even more favored during the one child policy, producing a severe imbalance in the male/female sex ratio in China

Some have estimated 50 million women are missing from China