GEOGRAPHY FINAL REVIEW:
UNITS 1 THROUGH 4
UNIT 1: BASICS



Geography: the study of land
features and people on planet
Earth
Physical Geography: Physical
features such as rivers, mountains,
etc.
Cultural Geography: Religion,
Traditions, Housing, Location (how
we as people interact with the land
as traditions are passed down)

Absolute Location: Exact place on
planet, uses Longitude & Latitude

Relative Location: What we use
daily, uses landmarks

Movement: How we move things
and ideas

Region: Characteristics that are
similar in two different places

H.E.I.: How we interact with our
environment

Location: Where is it?

Place: What is it like?
UNIT 1: BASICS

Elements of a Map

Origin

Title

Author

Source

Date

Grid

Index

Legend

Scale
 Land
Features: Mountain,
Plateau, Range, Island,
Peninsula, Valley, Plain
 Water
Features: River,
Ocean, Bay, Strait,
Channel, Canal, Sea,
Gulf
UNIT 2-Southwest Asia & North Africa
 Climate
 Oil: Has made the
 Desert: Hot and dry most of the
countries of the region
year, little rainfall
lots of money. Improved
 Semiarid: Transition zone around
Standard of Living
desert. Little rain and vegetation

Mediterranean: Cooler winter
temperatures and dry summers
 Population
Distribution:
People are more
concentrated in cities and
near rivers
 Water:
Scarce resource,
more valuable than oil.
People fight over it and
disputes have occurred
UNIT 2: SWA & NA
 Judaism:
area.
Oldest religion of the
 Christianity:
Christ
Belief in Jesus
 Islam:
That Mohammad is the
last prophet of Allah
 Zionism:
The belief that Jews
should get their own
homeland in Israel
 Kurds:
Small ethnic group
in Syria and Jordan (they
want their own country)
 Arab:
Largest ethnic
group of SWA & NA
 Persians:
Primary ethnic
group of Iran
Unit 3: Sub-Saharan Africa
 Climate

Sahara

Sahel

Rainforest

Savana
 Population:
Similar to SWA,
people live in their own
communities, cities, or near
water sources
 Resources:
Too many to list
(gold, copper, oil, diamonds,
etc.)
 Bantu:
People from
Cameroon several thousand
years ago. Largest migration
in history. Influenced ethnic
groups of Africa
 Zulu:
Direct descendants of
Bantu. Fought a lot with
European colonists
 Colonialism:
Europeans went
it to harvest resources.
Clashed with Africans (some
good, but mostly bad)
Unit 3: Sub-Saharan Africa
 Drought:
Deserts in North
Africa cause massive periods
of drought at times
 Deforestation:
When people
chop down trees and do not
allow them to grow back
(harms the land and people)
 Desertification:
Process of
arable land becoming desert
(caused by deforestation
mostly)
 Swahili:
Ethnic Group on
the eastern coast of
Africa (Arab influence)
 San:
Bushmen of centralsouth Africa (descendant
of Zulu)
 Masai:
eastern ethnic
group of Africa, red robes
and bead work
Unit 4: Asia

Climate



Diverse. Best way to describe it is
tropic wet and dry in many regions.
Exceptions are desert in North &
West China as well as Pakistan.

Cyclone: Violent windstorms in
Southeast Asia (consider a water
tornado)

China’s Population: One of two
most populated areas. Has caused
resource depletion and pollution.
Instilled One Child Policy (until this
year)

India’s Population: Most people live
in cities. Others live in the more
traditional north areas.

Japan Population: As said over
there , people live on coast
because of mountains
Population

Most people live on the coast/near
rivers

Chinese people live in the east,
west is too rocky

Japan people live on coast, interior
too rocky
Monsoons: Seasonal rains. Floods
mostly South Asia. Brings necessary
water
Unit 4: Asia

Pacific Rim: Countries that border
Pacific Ocean. On tectonic plates.
Do a lot of trade with each other

Kashmir: Fertile area of land in
Northwest India. Pakistan and India
fight over it

India & Pakistan: Britain owned the
area until the 1940s. When they split
the country into Hindu and Muslim
areas, they made East & West
Pakistan as well as India

Outsourcing: Because of massive
population and poor currency,
people send factory jobs there to
be done cheaper

Hmong: Southeast ethnic group.
Not very good at assimilating. Rigid
customs

Han: Largest ethnic group in the
world. 99% of China

Indo-Aryan: AKA Indian. Population
of India with tradition in Hindu
TURKEY
IRAQ
Saudi
Arabia
IRAN
MEDITERRANEAN
ARABIAN SEA
RED SEA
RUB AL-KHALI
EGYPT
SUDAN
S.
SUDAN
CONGO
ANGOLA 
SOUTH
AFRICA
 SOMALIA
SAHARA
 NILE
SAHEL
VICTORIA
MOZAMBIQUE 
S. CHINA SEA
VIETNAM
INDONESIA
MONGOLIA
GOBI DESERT
HUANG HE
RIVER
HIMALAYS
CHINA
GANGES 
YANGTZE RIVER
INDIA
BAY OF
BENGAL
JAPAN
GEOGRAPHY FINAL REVIEW:
UNITS 5-8
UNIT 5: EUROPE
 Climate
 Warm
in the Southern parts
 Colder
in the North
 Transportation:
Because
of the river system in
Europe, a lot of shipping
happens. Trains can pass
easily through borders
too.
 East
vs West
 East
Europe: Under the
Communist Bloc for 50
years. Not as developed
as the west
 West
Europe: Free Markets
and no USSR allowed the
west European countries
to flourish
UNIT 5: EUROPE


European Union

Shengen: Free passage between all
EU countries

Euro: Currency for the EU. Has
replaced most native currency

Not everyone is a member of the EU

Pollution

Chernobyl: Worst nuclear accident
in history. Power Plant exploded.
Irradiated land in Ukraine (affected
people all the way in the USA)

Acid Rain: Coal deposits in the
atmosphere cause acidic rain,
damages plants and ancient
structures

Danube River: Poisoned with
cyanide from mines. Killed
thousands of fish
Population Distribution

Most people live in West Europe

Good majority live along the coasts,
specifically Mediterranean Sea

Places like Iceland and
Scandinavia too cold for bustling
cities
UNIT 6: LATIN AMERICA
 Population: Most choose
to live in cities. Rainforest
and Andes make it hard
to live in those regions.
 Drug
Trade: Has lead to
an increase in violence in
the region as well as
corruption and political
issues
 Natural
Disasters:
 El
Nino: Warm weather
current from Pacific
Ocean. Throws off all
climate in L.A.
 Hurricanes:
Storms from
Africa that cause high
winds and rain
 Earthquake:
Shifting
tectonic plates that hurt
coastal cities and island
UNIT 6: LATIN AMERICA

Rainforest: Amazon hosts a lot of
trees. Been affected by loggers and
ranchers.

Also has a good amount of
resources. It is in danger to say the
least

Brazil: Has had a cycle of boom and
bust economy. Problems with
poverty and corruption

Political Instability: If a country is
instable, its economy is also
probably unstable.
 Quechua:
Ethnic group
related to the Incas. Live
in the Andes Mountains
 Zapotec:
Ethnic Group
related to the Aztec. Live
in Mexico
UNIT 7: US & CANADA

Urban Sprawl



Cities that are mapped close to
one another

Impacts environment often

Mostly in US & Canada
Megalopolis

Two cities close to each other as
one big region (Think the 5
Boroughs of NYC)
Urban Core


Main center of a major city

Regions of the US

Midwest

West

South

Northeast
Migration

Political instability push people out
of countries

Good education pull them to the
US

Loss of American jobs and
government assistance
UNIT 8: OCEANIA
 Ethnic Groups
 Aborigines:
Natives of
Australia for 40,000 years
 Maori:
Natives of New
Zealand
 Samoan:
 Papua
Natives of Samoa
New Guinea: Most
diverse area of Oceania
Regions
of Oceania
 Polynesia
 Micronesia
 Melanesia
ICELAND
RUSSIA
U.K.
SPAIN
GERMANY
POLAND
UKRAINE
GREECE
NORWEGIAN
SEA
DANUBE
COLOMBIA
BRAZIL
CHILE 
ATLANTIC
OCEAN
CARIBBEAN
 AMAZON RIVER
PACIFIC OCEAN
PAMPAS
CANADA
UNITED STATES
MISSISSIPPI 
MEXICO
GULF OF MEXICO