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Unit 5 Study Guide Answer Key
The Unit 5 Test will cover chapters 15, 16, and 17 in the book. The test will also cover everything discussed in class as well as some map skill based questions. Please review the following vocabulary terms.
Part 1. Vocabulary
1. Ural Mountains = Mountain range that separates the Northern European Plain and the West Siberian Plain. This is also considered the dividing line between Europe and Asia. 2. Caucasus Mountains = Form a border with Russia and Transcaucasia. 3. Chernozem = fertile soil found on the Northern European Plain. 4. Volga River = Longest river on the European Continent. 5. Lake Baikal = Oldest and deepest lake in the world. 6. Siberia = Located in Russia. Known for its cold temperatures and abundant resources. 7. Continentality = describes a region’s distance away from the moderating influence of the sea. Example: Russia is influenced by continentality. 8. Permafrost = permanently frozen ground. 9. Turan Plain = Dry lowland area that has two large deserts. 10. Thermal Pollution = the discharge of hot water from dams and manufacturing plants. 11. Ivan the Great = Russian leader that wanted to end Mongol rule. 12. Russian Revolution = Ended the rule of czars in 1917. 13. Mikhail Gorbachev = Russian leader that granted more economic and political freedom. 14. Command Economy = an economy in which the central government makes all the decisions about a country’s economic policies. 15. Transcaucasia = this region was a meeting point for many peoples. It is known as the “Mountain of Language” due to the large amount of different ethnic groups living in this region. 16. The Silk Road = Linked the Mediterranean Sea to China. 17. Nomads = people known to have no permanent home and move according to the seasons in search of food, water, and grazing land. 18. Distance Decay = describes the idea that increasing distances between places tends to reduce the interactions among them.
Part 2. Questions
1. What type of vegetation would NOT be found in Russia? Answer = swamp vegetation 2. Which sea was damaged in order provide water for irrigation? Answer = Aral Sea 3. How many time zones does Russia cross? Answer: 11 time zones
4. What is one reason the Northern European Plain can produce an abundance of crops? Answer: It has an abundance of Chernozem soil. 5. Which forest gives Russia and the Republics the resources to produce 1/5 of the world’s timber? Answer= Taiga 6. What caused the environmental problems of the Aral Sea? Answer = poorly planned irrigation policies. 7. What has happened to the people living around the Aral Sea? Answer= they have experienced an increase in disease due to pollution problems. 8. Why do people living in Siberia have to build their houses on stilts? Answer = to prevent the permafrost from melting (the house will sink if the permafrost melts). 9. What countries are known as the “Baltic Republics?” Answer= Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. 10. What was the Soviet military called after the Russian Revolution? Answer = the Red Army. 11. Why are some countries concerned if the Caspian is a Sea or a Lake? Answer: A Sea will divide up the resources based on land. A Lake will have the nations share the resource wealth. The Caspian Sea has a large amount of oil reserves that are not spread out equally and Azerbaijan has a large reserve of oil under their sea bed. Russia does not have a large reserve of oil under their sea bed and think that the Caspian is a lake in order to share the oil resources equally. 12. What is one reason for so many conflicts in the Caucasus region? Answer = there are over 50 ethnic groups that call this area home. 13. What are some examples of small republic’s in the Caucasus region? Answer = Chechnya, North Ossetia, Dagestan 14. Which event led to the beginning of ethnic and regional conflicts in the Caucuses? Answer = the breakup of the Soviet Union. 15. What process was used to move the Russian economy from a command based economy to a capitalist based economy? Answer = privatization 16. What criminal organization threatens Russia’s economy? Answer = the Russian Mafia. 17. What mountainous region has caused conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan? Answer = Nagorno-Karabakh 18. Why do Russian leaders want to store and treat the world’s nuclear waste? Answer = they want to revive the Russian economy. 19. What is a major concern of the United States about Russia’s nuclear legacy? Answer = the theft or misuse of Russian nuclear materials. 20. What contributed to Russia’s economic crash in 1998? Answer: failure of new businesses.