Deck 10: Central Asia

Question 1

What Central Asian sea is actually the world's largest lake?

A) Aral Sea
B) Black Sea
C) Caspian Sea
D) Lake Baikal
E) Red Sea

Answer 1

C

Question 2

Which of the following characteristics defines the region of Central Asia?

A) the historical unity of the region
B) the similarity of the environment
C) the recent re-entry of this region into global geopolitics
D) A and B above
E) A, B, and C above

Answer 2

E

Question 3

The Pamir Knot

A) is a complex tangle of east-west and north-south trending mountain ranges on the borders of Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Pakistan, and China.
B) is the term for the border between Mongolia and China.
C) refers to the political isolation experienced by Azerbaijan on the western side of the Caspian Sea.
D) refers to the mountainous region lying on the border between Nepal and China.
E) is located in Turkmenistan.

Answer 3

A

Question 4

In which country of Central Asian is the Gobi Desert found?

A) Turkmenistan
B) Azerbaijan
C) Tibet
D) Mongolia
E) Afghanistan

Question 5

Where are the desert regions of Central Asia mostly located?

A) eastern edge of the region
B) western edge of the region
C) center of the region
D) northern edge of the region
E) southern edge of the region

Question 6

A nearly continuous swath of grasslands extending from east to west in Central Asia is partially broken by which of the following physical features?

A) Pamir Knot
B) the kyzyl Kum Desert
C) Hindu Kush Mountains
D) Altai Mountains
E) the Karakorum Range

Question 7

Beginning with increased diversion of water during the 1950s, what happened to the Aral Sea?

A) Its shoreline retreated at an unprecedented rate, causing villages that previously enjoyed a "seaside" location to be stranded 40 miles inland from the shore.
B) Oil has been discovered on the seabed.
C) Salinity levels increased in the Aral Sea, causing fish species to disappear.
D) Eventually, the Aral Sea consisted of two separate lakes.
E) All of the answers are correct, except the discovery of oil on the Aral seabed.

Question 8

Even though the Aral Sea and Caspian Sea have the word "sea" in their names, they are not true seas. Why are they not true seas?

A) They are too small, in terms of their surface area.
B) They are not connected to an ocean.
C) Their salt content is not high enough.
D) They are too shallow.
E) There are no hurricanes along their coastlines.

Question 9

Which of the following deserts is NOT found in Central Asia?

A) Kara Kum
B) Kalahari
C) Kyzyl Kum
D) Taklamakan
E) Gobi

Question 10

Where is oil pollution worst in Central Asia?

A) Aral Sea
B) Afghanistan
C) Caspian Sea
D) Tibet
E) Mongolia

Question 11

In Central Asia, many of the more favorable areas are populated by which of the following groups of people?

A) subsistence farmers
B) dryland farmers
C) nomadic pastoralists
D) commercial dairy farmers
E) fruit and vegetable farmers

Question 12

Virtually the entire area of the Tibetan Plateau is higher than ________ feet above sea level.

A) 24,000
B) 21,000
C) 18,000
D) 15,000
E) 12,000

Question 13

What is the livelihood of pastoralists?

A) growing wheat
B) cultivating rice
C) growing grapes to produce wine
D) growing opium poppies
E) raising livestock

Question 14

What is the primary reason for the shrinking of the Aral Sea?

A) There is climatic change in Central Asia.
B) Large-scale irrigation projects implemented by the Soviets in the 1950s have diverted water from the two rivers that feed the sea.
C) Tectonic rifting in the region is causing the sea's water to be removed beneath the ground surface.
D) Much of the water has been removed directly from the sea surface by the numerous nuclear desalinization plants along the Aral's shore.
E) All of the choices are correct.

Question 15

What do most climate change experts predict will happen to Central Asia as climate change continues?

A) It will be hit hard by climate change, leading to melting of glaciers and reduced river flows.
B) Because of the region's low density, the problems will be minimal.
C) This dry region will benefit from higher overall precipitation.
D) The region will move to the forefront of solar energy technology development.
E) This region will not be affected by climate change.

Question 16

Which of the following parts of Central Asia remains relatively unspoiled?

A) southern Uzbekistan
B) northwestern Tibet
C) eastern Kazakhstan
D) Azerbaijan
E) Central Kyrgyzstan

Question 17

Which Central Asian lake is the largest lake in the world?

A) Aral Sea
B) Lake Baikal
C) Kara Deniz
D) Lake Erie
E) Caspian Sea

Question 18

People of which of the following countries of Central Asia are noted for their traditional economy based on transhumance?

A) Afghanistan
B) Kazakhstan
C) Tibet
D) Turkmenistan
E) Kyrgyzstan

Question 19

Why is the environment in Central Asia relatively clean?

A) stringent environmental standards and controls
B) a strong "green" political movement in the region
C) favorable breezes that sweep the heavy industrial pollution that would otherwise permeate the region
D) low population density coupled with low level of economic development
E) All of the choices are correct.

Question 20

What development led to the emergence of nomadic pastoralism in Central Asia?

A) domestication of the sheep
B) a climate change that made the region dryer
C) domestication of the horse
D) domestication of wheat
E) All of the choices are correct.

Question 21

Kazakhstan's population in the agricultural lands of the north

A) is highly concentrated near the border of Russia.
B) lives primarily in the cities of the northern region.
C) is relatively evenly spaced throughout the region.
D) has declined to nearly zero over the past three decades.
E) has been migrating to the south in the past decade.

Question 22

Where do most Central Asian people live?

A) on the Tibetan Plateau
B) near the intersection of mountains and plains
C) in high mountain valleys
D) where it is easy to practice transhumance
E) in Kyrgyzstan

Question 23

What geologic event created Central Asia's mountain ranges?

A) the collision of the Indian subcontinent with Asia
B) extensive and recent volcanic eruptions
C) tectonic plate divergence
D) subsidence along local earthquake faults
E) All of the choices are correct.

Question 24

In which part of Tibet do most of its people reside?

A) in the northern portion of the country
B) in the eastern portion of the country
C) in the western portion of the country
D) in the central portion of the country
E) in the southern portion of the country

Question 25

Which city of Central Asia has considerable seasonal temperature variation?

A) Tashkent, Uzbekistan
B) Almaty, Kazakhstan
C) Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia
D) Kabul, Afghanistan
E) All of the choices are correct.

Question 26

Which of the following is one of the most densely populated regions of Central Asia?

A) the Gobi Desert
B) the lowlands of Azerbaijan
C) northern Tibet
D) Xinjiang
E) the Kara Kum

Question 27

Which of the following countries of Central Asia lies farthest north?

A) Tibet
B) Kazakhstan
C) Turkmenistan
D) Afghanistan
E) Uzbekistan

Question 28

Which country of Central Asia has the lowest population density in the region?

A) Azerbaijan
B) Mongolia
C) Uzbekistan
D) Tajikistan
E) Afghanistan

Question 29

Which of the following countries does NOT meet with the others at the Pamir Knot?

A) Pakistan
B) Armenia
C) Afghanistan
D) China
E) Tajikistan

Question 30

Why has the government of China encouraged Han Chinese to migrate well into western China over past 30 years?

A) to even out China's population
B) to provide teachers and doctors to an un region in China
C) to drain some of the population from China's capital city, Beijing
D) to promote development in the region
E) All of the choices are correct.

Question 31

Which of the following countries of Central Asia lies farthest south?

A) Mongolia
B) Kazakhstan
C) Turkmenistan
D) Afghanistan
E) Uzbekistan

Question 32

Since the 1960s, where has the largest proportion of migrants to Tibet and the western provinces of China come from?

A) Indians fleeing because of the border conflict with Pakistan
B) Nepalese who are searching for more productive agricultural land
C) Afghans fleeing internal political conflict
D) Han Chinese from eastern China
E) Mongolians

Question 33

Kazakhstan, like other former republics of the USSR, has experienced a substantial migration of people out of the region since the Soviet Union broke up. Who are these migrants, and why are they leaving?

A) They are ethnic Russians returning to the Russian homeland after the end of the policy of Russification.
B) They are ethnic Kazakhs migrating to the United States for economic opportunity.
C) They are ethnic Kazakhs fleeing their country to escape civil war.
D) They are ethnic Afghans returning to Afghanistan after the stabilization of their homeland.
E) They are ethnic Turkic peoples migrating to the Turkish homeland for economic opportunity there.

Question 34

Which of the following cities of Central Asia is largely a Soviet creation?

A) Tashkent, Uzbekistan
B) Kabul, Afghanistan
C) Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia
D) Baku, Azerbaijan
E) Astana, Kazakhstan

Question 35

The Caspian Sea

A) drains into the Mediterranean.
B) has increased in size over the last three decades.
C) is substantially threatened by oil-industry pollution.
D) is in much greater danger than is the Aral Sea.
E) is the smallest lake in Central Asia.

Question 36

Which two climate types dominate in Central Asia?

A) dry and highland
B) continental and highland
C) highland and polar
D) polar and mild
E) mild and dry

Question 37

Which of the following descriptions does NOT apply to Central Asia?

A) mountainous
B) a place of many deserts
C) a place with a history of domination
D) lies south of Russia
E) densely populated

Question 38

In the Tarim Basin, where do most of the people reside?

A) in the foothills of the mountains along the basin's edge
B) near the basin's center
C) high in the mountains surrounding the basin
D) toward the eastern opening of the basin
E) in an evenly distributed pattern, throughout the region

Question 39

Of the following climates, which one is LEAST common in Central Asia?

A) tropical monsoon
B) midlatitude desert
C) midlatitude steppe
D) highland
E) humid continental

Question 40

Where do the majority of people in Uzbekistan reside?

A) in the cool mountainous uplands
B) near the river valleys and alluvial fans
C) near the coast of the Aral Sea
D) on a plateau area near the border of Afghanistan
E) in the center of the country

Question 41

What sets Tibetan or Lamaist Buddhism apart from other forms of Buddhism?

A) Lamaist Buddhism is less oriented toward magic, but it is more tightly organized than other forms of religion.
B) Lamaist Buddhism is more oriented toward magic, and it is more tightly organized than other forms of religion.
C) Lamaist Buddhism is less oriented toward magic, and it is also less tightly organized than other forms of religion.
D) Lamaist Buddhism is more oriented toward magic, but it is less tightly organized than other forms of religion.
E) There is no real difference.

Question 42

What is the most common language group in Central Asia, based on the number of native speakers?

A) Farsi
B) Indo-European
C) Mongolian
D) Tibetan
E) Turkic

Question 43

What is the name of the collapsible, felt-covered structures that Mongolians live in as they tend their herds of sheep and cattle?

A) yak
B) yurt
C) tent
D) lean-to
E) shelter

Question 44

Which of the following statements about the Uyghur language is most accurate?

A) Uyghur is an Indo-European language, and the main native language of Russia's eastern provinces.
B) Uyghur is an Indo-European language, and the main native language of China's Xinjiang province.
C) Uyghur is a Turkic language, and the main native language of Russia's eastern provinces.
D) Uyghur is a Turkic language, and the main native language of China's Xinjiang province.
E) Uyghur is a Tibeto-Burman language, and the main native language of China's Xinjiang province.

Question 45

When Central Asia has been under the communist rule of China, the Soviet Union, and Mongolia, what has happened to religion?

A) All forms of religion were discouraged.
B) Religion was tolerated.
C) Islam was declared the official religion.
D) Orthodox Christianity was declared the official religion.
E) Buddhism was declared the official religion.

Question 46

To which of the following languages is Tajik most closely related?

A) Turkish
B) Chinese
C) Russian
D) Uyghur
E) Persian

Question 47

In which country of Central Asia did Islamism emerge as a powerful political movement in the mid 1990s?

A) Tibet
B) Azerbaijan
C) Mongolia
D) Afghanistan
E) Kazakhstan

Question 48

What is the religion of the Uyghur people of western China?

A) Lamaist Buddhism
B) Coptic Christianity
C) Islam
D) Bon
E) Animism

Question 49

Followers of which religion in Central Asia suffered brutal persecution when China invaded Tibet?

A) Judaism
B) Shiite Islam
C) Sunni Islam
D) Lamaist Buddhism
E) Zoroastrianism

Question 50

Which country of Central Asia has the strongest tradition of monasticism?

A) Mongolia
B) China
C) Kazakhstan
D) Tibet
E) Afghanistan

Question 51

Where are the large cities of Central Asia located?

A) in the center of the region
B) in the north and northwest
C) on the boundary between Tibet and India
D) near the region's periphery or in major river valleys
E) along the northern boundary with China

Question 52

What was the most common foreign language of the countries of Central Asia in the 1970s?

A) Chinese
B) Turkish
C) English
D) Pashtun
E) Russian

Question 53

Which language of Central Asia is an Indo-European language?

A) Azeri
B) Kirghiz
C) Pashtun
D) Mongolian
E) Tibetan

Question 54

From which country in Central Asia has Osama bin Laden and al-Qaeda operated?

A) Afghanistan
B) Kyrgyzstan
C) Turkmenistan
D) Uzbekistan
E) Kazakhstan

Question 55

The Dalai Lama

A) is the religious and political leader of Tibet.
B) is the new political leader of Afghanistan after the ousting of the Taliban in 2001-2002.
C) is a political leader of Tibet who was installed by the Chinese government after their invasion of the region in 1959.
D) has been found to have ties to the Taliban and al-Qaeda.
E) is the political leader of Mongolia.

Question 56

What is the name of the ultra orthodox Islamic group that was in power in Afghanistan until the United States military intervened in fall of 2001?

A) Taliban
B) al-Qaeda
C) Loya Jurga
D) Northern Alliance
E) Wahhabis

Question 57

Which country of Central Asia was NOT previously a republic of the former USSR?

A) Kazakhstan
B) Afghanistan
C) Kyrgyzstan
D) Turkmenistan
E) Uzbekistan

Question 58

Which group (or groups)of people protested against the Chinese government in 2008 and 2009?

A) Buddhist monks and Uyghur Muslims
B) Buddhist monks, Roman Catholics, and Uyghur Muslims
C) Buddhist monks
D) Uyghur Muslims
E) Roman Catholics

Question 59

What is the Taliban?

A) a fundamentalist Christian group in Azerbaijan
B) an offshoot of Orthodox Judaism whose believers are calling for the formation of the Central Asian Jewish state in Kyrgyzstan
C) a fundamentalist Islamic group in Afghanistan
D) a liberal Islamic group in Kazakhstan that is very tolerant of other belief systems
E) a sect of Buddhist monks in Tibet

Question 60

Which of the following religions are found among the peoples of Central Asia?

A) Christianity
B) Islam
C) Islam, Christianity, and Judaism
D) Buddhism
E) Buddhism, Christianity, Islam, Judaism, and other minor religions

Question 61

The Russian war in Afghanistan

A) was started by Islamic fundamentalists.
B) was a major victory for the Soviet military.
C) quickly eradicated the communists as a significant force in the country.
D) resulted in Taliban control of most of the country in 1997.
E) continues today.

Question 62

Which country objected to the boundary lines separating it from Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan after the breakup of the USSR?

A) China
B) Uzbekistan
C) Turkmenistan
D) Afghanistan
E) Pakistan

Question 63

Afghanistan is currently

A) ruled by the Taliban.
B) being absorbed by Pakistan.
C) a member of the United Nations.
D) developing a new government.
E) at war with Russia.

Question 64

In the nineteenth century, what country began to displace China from Central Asia?

A) Britain
B) Russia
C) Iran
D) Afghanistan
E) Turkey

Question 65

In Central Asia just before the 1700s, what military developments changed the balance of power and allowed the sedentary agricultural states to conquer the nomads?

A) gunpowder and effective hand weapons
B) catapults
C) improved armor
D) Soldiers from sedentary agricultural states learned to ride horses.
E) a larger army

Question 66

Which countries are members of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization?

A) Kyrgyzstan
B) Russia
C) China, Kazakhstan, and Uzbekistan
D) Tajikistan
E) All of the choices are correct

Question 67

What Southwest Asian country has offered itself as a model secular state for Central Asian republics to emulate?

A) Turkey
B) Iran
C) Saudi Arabia
D) Kyrgyzstan
E) Syria

Question 68

What was the source of the military dominance of Central Asia's nomads before 1500?

A) firearms, which were invented in the region
B) armor, which protected them against their enemies
C) catapults, which were the most advanced weapons of their era
D) a bigger military than their enemies
E) horses, which made them more mobile

Question 69

The Manchus

A) conquered Mongolia.
B) had very little experience in cavalry warfare.
C) were at the height of their power in the late 1800s.
D) were not able to extend their power over Tibet.
E) were from Siberia.

Question 70

Which Central Asian country had been engaged in a civil war that was brought to a head by the aftermath of the September 11?? terrorist attacks?

A) China
B) Azerbaijan
C) Turkmenistan
D) Kazakhstan
E) Afghanistan

Question 71

In which of the following countries of Central Asia have both the U.S. and Russia had military bases at the same time located just a few miles apart?

A) Afghanistan
B) Uzbekistan
C) Kyrgyzstan
D) Tajikistan
E) Pakistan

Question 72

How long has Afghanistan been at war?

A) since the early 1950s
B) since the late 1960s
C) since the late 1970s
D) since the late 1980s
E) since the late 1990s

Question 73

Which part of Afghanistan remains the most dangerous and battle-scarred?

A) the north
B) the south
C) the city of Kabul
D) the city of Feyzabad, near Tajikistan
E) the city of Mazar-e Sharif, near Uzbekistan

Question 74

As the nomadic armies of Central Asia declined, which of the following countries benefited?

A) China
B) Britain
C) Russia
D) Britain, China, and Russian
E) China and Russia

Question 75

Which country of Central Asia was never colonized by outside powers, and is one of the few countries of the world to have inherited the boundaries of its pre-modern indigenous kingdom?

A) Kazakhstan
B) Mongolia
C) Qinghai
D) Afghanistan
E) Tibet

Question 76

What neighboring county has provided support and cover for the Taliban in Afghanistan?

A) India
B) Iran
C) Uzbekistan
D) Iraq
E) Pakistan

Question 77

How many new countries appeared in Central Asia as a result of the break-up of the Soviet Union?

A) three
B) four
C) five
D) six
E) ten

Question 78

By what other name do we know Nei Mongol?

A) Outer Mongolia
B) Mongolia
C) Southern Mongolia
D) Inner Mongolia
E) Northern Mongolia

Question 79

What was Pakistan's response after the September 11?? attack on the U.S.?

A) It has remained neutral.
B) It placed their support behind the Taliban.
C) It took advantage of the confusion generated by the terrorist strikes, and launched a terrorist strike in Bombay, India.
D) It has undergone a series of peaceful meetings with its neighbor India regarding the possible reunification of the two nations.
E) It joined the anti-Taliban coalition and supplied the U.S. military with intelligence about the Taliban.

Question 80

Who were the eighteenth-century founders of Afghanistan?

A) Warriors from China
B) Members of the Pashtun ethnic group
C) Mostly Jews who have since been expelled from the nation
D) Quisling leaders who were installed by the British government
E) Turkic peoples