Prisoners of Geography: Ten Maps That Explain Everything About the World

1. Russia has been invaded many times through what geographic corridor?

A) North European Plain

B) The Heartland

C) Sykes-Picot Line

D) Danube Basin

2. The Russian navy has always lacked what geographic advantage? (short answer)

3. Many European countries are highly dependent on Russian exports of:

A) wheat

B) natural gas

C) oil

D) armaments

4. When Ukraine overthrew its government and turned to the West for support, Russia responded by:

A) annexing Ukraine

B) annexing eastern Ukraine

C) invading the capital, Kiev

D) annexing the Crimean Peninsula

5. The political, cultural, and economic center of China is:

A) the Tibetan Plateau

B) Xinjiang Province

C) the North China Plain

D) Hong Kong

6. What country does China claim as one of its provinces? (short answer)

7. China claims which body of water?

A) Pacific Ocean

B) Strait of Malacca

C) Gulf of Thailand

D) South China Sea

8. The cradle of Chinese civilization is a river called the:

A) Yangtze

B) Aksai Chin

C) Yellow

D) Yalu

9. The South China Sea is bordered on the east by the ____________. (short answer)

10. The Mississippi Basin contains more of these than the rest of the world put together:

A) acres of farmland

B) miles of paved road

C) people of Irish descent

D) miles of navigable waterways

11. What sale of land to the US doubled its size?

A) the Gadsden Purchase

B) Alaska

C) the Louisiana Purchase

D) the Centennial Annexation

12. The United States of America grew geographically until it reached:

A) maximum density

B) Manifest Destiny

C) the Pacific

D) the Line of Control

13. The Mississippi basin in the US is bordered on the west by the Rockies and on the east by the:

A) Appalachians

B) Ohio River

C) Atlantic Ocean

D) Great Lakes

14. The main European military alliance is called _______. (short answer)

15. The European Union was formed in part to prevent war between which two nations?

A) Britain and Germany

B) Russia and Germany

C) The US and Germany

D) France and Germany

16. Spain is isolated from France by which geographical feature?

A) the Pyrenees

B) the North European Plane

C) the Alps

D) the Seine

17. Britain is separated from the rest of Europe because:

A) its people speak English

B) it refuses to accept immigrants

C) it’s an offshore island

D) it never signed the peace treaty with the European Union

18. Most eastern European countries pulled away from Russia, and many now belong to:

A) The North Atlantic Treaty Organization

B) The Warsaw Pact

C) The Saxe-Coburg Defense Alliance

D) The League of Nations

19. Which climate type prevails at both the northern and southern coasts of Africa?

A.Tropical

B. Angolan

C. Temperate

D. Mediterranean

20. An important cause of violent conflict in Africa is:

A) climate variation

B) lack of navigable rivers

C) colonial border lines

D) dense rainforests

21. What African nation has the highest population and most oil production?

A) Egypt

B) Nigeria

C) South Africa

D) Kenya

22. The middle of Africa is dominated by which geographic feature? (short answer)

A) plains

B) mountains

C) jungle

D) desert

23. Islam, the chief religion of the Middle East, has two main sects, _____ and _____. (short answer)

24. Most of Iran’s population lives in the:

A) deserts

B) mountains

C) coastal areas

D) northern plains

25. After World War I, Europe took over:

A) The Arab League

B) The Mughal Empire

C) The Sunnis

D) The Ottoman Empire

26. The Middle East is known for its:

A) blood diamonds

B) oil and gas reserves

C) A and B

D) hydroelectric resources

27. Which ethnic group in northern Iraq fights for independence?

A) the Kurds

B) the Yemeni

C) the Shia

D) the Druze

28. What river valley traditionally forms the border between Muslims and Hindus?

A) Ganges

B) Indus

C) Nile

D) Euphrates

29. The contested border between Muslims and Hindus in Kashmir is called the:

A) Sykes-Picot Line

B) Line of Truce

C) Demilitarized Zone

D) Line of Control

30. After 9/11, the US forced Pakistanis to turn against their allies, which were:

A) the Shia

B) the Taliban

C) ISIS

D) Iran

31. India and Pakistan have fought several wars, mainly over which territory? (short answer)

32. Which isolated nation in east Asia plays the “crazed, powerful weakling”?

A) China

B) Vietnam

C) Taiwan

D) North Korea

33. What major capital lies 35 miles from the Demilitarized Zone?

A) Seoul

B) Pyongyang

C) Beijing

D) Hong Kong

34. Japan’s military, called the ______________, protects the country from external threats, mainly from ________. (short answer)

35. The east side of the Korean Peninsula is mostly covered by:

A) desert

B) jungle

C) mountains

D) plains

36. North Korea borders which countries?

A) China and South Korea

B) China and Japan

C) Japan and South Korea

D) Japan and Taiwan

37. Which nation plans to build a waterway across Nicaragua to compete with the Panama Canal?

A) the US

B) China

C) Mexico

D) Brazil

38. Brazil has trouble developing economically why?

A) There’s almost no arable land.

B) The terrain makes transport difficult.

C) Most of the people live in the favela slums.

D) Its people speak more than 30 languages.

39. What resources promise to secure Argentina’s economic future?

A) shale oil and gas

B) beef and wheat

C) tourism and gambling

D) copper and silver mines

40. Most Latin American peoples speak Spanish or which language?

A) English

B) Catalan

C) Portuguese

D) native Tagalog

41. A once-mythical transit route across the frozen Arctic, the ___________, today is navigable during the summer. (short answer)

42. Several nations compete in the Arctic region for:

A) transit routes

B) natural resources

C) tourism

D) military victory

43. The largest fleet of Arctic icebreaker ships belongs to:

A) Canada

B) the US

C) Norway

D) Russia