Geography Review Sheet
1) River: long body of water, that runs through land.
Positives: trade, transport, communication irrigation (diverting water from the river to farm).
Negatives:Flooding
Notable examples (and civilizations associated with them): NileRiver (Egypt), Tigris and Euphrates Rives (Mesopatamia – Fertile Crescent), Ganges Rivers (India), Yangtze and Huang He/Yellow River (China), Amazon River (South America)
2) Mountain: very high and jagged rock formations
Positives: protection from invasion
Negatives: creates isolation; diversity within different parts of a country
Notable examples: Himalayas (India), Alps (Roman Empire), Greek City-States, JapaneseIslands
*Terrace Farming: Farming by creating steps in the mountain – done in Greece and Japan.
3) Plateau: high, flat cliff
Positives: protection from invasion
Negatives: creates isolation; diversity within different parts of a country
Notable examples: Africa, Tibetan Plateau (India)
4) Plains/Grasslands/Savanna: fertile lands with grass
Positives:excellent farmland, settle, domestication of animals (raising animals), easy to cross: cultural diffusion
Negatives: poor blockade for invasions
Notable examples: African Savanna, most areasof the world have plains/some good farming land.
5) Forest: Rain Forest/Jungle: areas with lots of trees/vegetation/rainfall.
Positives: Natural barrier, trees for building
Negatives: Poor farming areas, creates cultural diversity within a country, limits trade/communication, isolation
Notable examples: African Jungles, Amazon Rainforest
Example of Adaption: Bantu Tribe in Africa: used slash and burn farming (burning trees to create ash to give soils nutrients. However, could not be done over and over, so Bantus kept migrating).
6) Desert: barren and arid area
Positives: natural barrier
Negatives:isolation, poor farmland, creates cultural diversity within country, limits trade/communication
Notable examples: SaharaDesert (Africa), GobiDesert (China)
Example of adaption: desert nomads (people who don’t settle) using camels to cross deserts
7) Ocean: large body of water separating continents
Positives: food supply, trade, transportation, cultural diffusion, natural barrier
Negatives: isolation, route for invasion
Notable examples: Atlantic, Pacific, Indian, Artic, Southern.
Example of use: Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade and Triangle Trade (Spain) and using Atlantic to colonies in Western Hemisphere
8) Sea: large body of water connected to ocean and land.
Positives:food supply, trade, transportation, cultural diffusion, natural barrier
Negatives: route for invasion
Notable Examples: Mediterranean Sea (Roman Empire, Italian City-States)
9) Island: land surrounded by water on all sides.
Positive: food supply, possible trade, transportation, cultural diffusion, natural barrier
Negative: possible isolation, lack of cultural diffusion, cultural diversity within islands.
*Archipelago: nation that consists of a group of islands (Japan, Indonesia)
Notable Examples: England, Japan.
11) Peninsula: body of land surrounded by 3 sides of water
Positive: food supply, possible trade, transportation, cultural diffusion, natural barrier
Negative: possible isolation, lack of cultural diffusion, cultural diversity within islands.
Notable Examples: Spain(Mediterranean Sea/Atlantic Ocean), Korean Landbridge: Japan and China use Korea for trade and cultural diffusion between the two countries.
Geography Flashcard Words
1) Cultural Diffusion: Exchanging ideas, customs, etc. between cultures.
2) Cultural Diversity: Different cultures in one area/nation
3) Terrace Farming: Cutting out steps in mountains to farm (Japan/Greece)
4) Fertile Crescent: Area between the Tigris and Euphrates river that was fertile because of the soil (becomes Mesopotamia) .
5) Silt: Fertile soil that comes from rivers after flooding.
6) Bantu Migration: When the Bantu Tribe migrated from South Africa to the North and created lots of cultural diffusion.
7) Slash and Burn Farming: Destroying forests/jungles to enrich the soil and then moving on to next forest (example: Bantu Tribe).
8) Migrate: To move from one country or region and settle in another
9) Nomad: People who do not settle but constantly migrate.
10) Irrigation:To take water from a river and bring it to farmland.
11) Domestication: To train animals as work animals or to breed them to produce food (occurs during Neolithic Revolution).
12) Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade and Triangle Trade: When Spain, its colonies and Africa traded goods, slaves and money during the Age of Exploration.
13) Archipelago: A nation that is a series of islands (example: Japan).
14) Korean Landbridge: Japan and China use Korea for trade and cultural diffusion between the two countries.
15) Climate: the weather and temperature pattern of a region or country.
16) Natural Resources: resources that come from nature that are used by society (example timber, gold, oil, salt, etc.)
Study Questions:
1) How can a geographic feature be both positive and negative? (give two geographic examples)
2) How can geography positively and negatively affect the development of civilizations? Give one positive example and one negative example.