WORLD REGIONAL GEOGRAPHY
ASSESSMENT EXAM REVIEW
QUESTIONS WITH COMPLETE
ANSWERS
Nation - Answer-a large group of people who share numerous cultural elements
(refers to people)
State - Answer-a political entity with territorial boundaries recognized by other
countries and internally governed by an organizational structure (like a country;
refers to government)
Nation-State - Answer-a nation that has their own government (Japan)
Stateless Nation - Answer-a group of people who do not live in a country that they
control (Kurds)
Multinational State - Answer-a state with more than one nation living within them
(U.S. and South Africa)
Colonialism - Answer-formal establishment of governmental rule over a foreign
population
Decolonialism - Answer-the process of a colony gaining or regaining control over its
territory and establishing a separate, independent government
Neocolonialism - Answer-economic and political strategies by which powerful states
indirectly (and sometimes directly) extend their influence over other, weaker states
Third World, Second World, First World - Answer-Third: less developed,
synonymous with poor, everything besides first/second world; Second: USSR,
China, Vietnam, North Korea, and other communist allies; First: United States,
Western European Countries, and other democratic/capitalistic allies; Cold War
Terminology
More Developed - Answer-High GDP and HDI literacy, income and life-expectancy
Less Developed - Answer-Low GDP and typically, and low HDI literacy, income and
life-expectancy
Development - Answer-structural changes in an economy and the use of labor,
capital, and technology, usually leading to improvements
, Culture - Answer-is learned, not innate, and is shared, not individual, behavior; it is
held in common by a group of people, empowering them with what could be called a
"way of life"; both abstract and material; dynamic, not static, constantly changing
4 Subsets of Culture - Answer-folk culture, ethnic culture, popular culture, world
culture
Folk (Vernacular) Culture - Answer-of the people; rural, largely self-sufficient
homogenous group of people with a conservative traditional way of life
Ethnic Culture - Answer-characterized by a strong sense of tradition because of clear
lines of authority (family, church, clan); minority in a majority
Popular Culture - Answer-opposite of folk culture; urban based with great
heterogeneity; constantly changing and fluid, strong association with consumerism
and mass production
World Culture - Answer-subset of popular culture that includes transnational
economies, international communication/electronic communication, and international
policies
Geopolitics - Answer-describes and explains the close link between geography and
political activity; it focuses on the interaction between power, territory, and space, at
all scales
Growth - Answer-increase in the size of the system
Growth vs Development - Answer-when a system grows, it gets bigger; when it
develops, it gets better
Gross Domestic Product (GDP) - Answer-final value of all the goods and services
produced in the country
Gross National Income (GNI) - Answer-gross domestic product of the country plus all
of the income from abroad
Economic Growth Rate - Answer-annual expansion or contraction of the GNI
expressed as a percent; can be computed quarterly as well
GNI Per Capita - Answer-take GNI and divide it by the total population of a country
Percent Living Below $2 A Day - Answer-a rough measure of absolute poverty
Life Expectancy - Answer-average number of years expected for a person calculated
at birth; length of life
Mortality Rate Under 5 Years - Answer-number of children who die before 5th
birthday
Adult Literacy Rate - Answer-percent of adults that can read or write
ASSESSMENT EXAM REVIEW
QUESTIONS WITH COMPLETE
ANSWERS
Nation - Answer-a large group of people who share numerous cultural elements
(refers to people)
State - Answer-a political entity with territorial boundaries recognized by other
countries and internally governed by an organizational structure (like a country;
refers to government)
Nation-State - Answer-a nation that has their own government (Japan)
Stateless Nation - Answer-a group of people who do not live in a country that they
control (Kurds)
Multinational State - Answer-a state with more than one nation living within them
(U.S. and South Africa)
Colonialism - Answer-formal establishment of governmental rule over a foreign
population
Decolonialism - Answer-the process of a colony gaining or regaining control over its
territory and establishing a separate, independent government
Neocolonialism - Answer-economic and political strategies by which powerful states
indirectly (and sometimes directly) extend their influence over other, weaker states
Third World, Second World, First World - Answer-Third: less developed,
synonymous with poor, everything besides first/second world; Second: USSR,
China, Vietnam, North Korea, and other communist allies; First: United States,
Western European Countries, and other democratic/capitalistic allies; Cold War
Terminology
More Developed - Answer-High GDP and HDI literacy, income and life-expectancy
Less Developed - Answer-Low GDP and typically, and low HDI literacy, income and
life-expectancy
Development - Answer-structural changes in an economy and the use of labor,
capital, and technology, usually leading to improvements
, Culture - Answer-is learned, not innate, and is shared, not individual, behavior; it is
held in common by a group of people, empowering them with what could be called a
"way of life"; both abstract and material; dynamic, not static, constantly changing
4 Subsets of Culture - Answer-folk culture, ethnic culture, popular culture, world
culture
Folk (Vernacular) Culture - Answer-of the people; rural, largely self-sufficient
homogenous group of people with a conservative traditional way of life
Ethnic Culture - Answer-characterized by a strong sense of tradition because of clear
lines of authority (family, church, clan); minority in a majority
Popular Culture - Answer-opposite of folk culture; urban based with great
heterogeneity; constantly changing and fluid, strong association with consumerism
and mass production
World Culture - Answer-subset of popular culture that includes transnational
economies, international communication/electronic communication, and international
policies
Geopolitics - Answer-describes and explains the close link between geography and
political activity; it focuses on the interaction between power, territory, and space, at
all scales
Growth - Answer-increase in the size of the system
Growth vs Development - Answer-when a system grows, it gets bigger; when it
develops, it gets better
Gross Domestic Product (GDP) - Answer-final value of all the goods and services
produced in the country
Gross National Income (GNI) - Answer-gross domestic product of the country plus all
of the income from abroad
Economic Growth Rate - Answer-annual expansion or contraction of the GNI
expressed as a percent; can be computed quarterly as well
GNI Per Capita - Answer-take GNI and divide it by the total population of a country
Percent Living Below $2 A Day - Answer-a rough measure of absolute poverty
Life Expectancy - Answer-average number of years expected for a person calculated
at birth; length of life
Mortality Rate Under 5 Years - Answer-number of children who die before 5th
birthday
Adult Literacy Rate - Answer-percent of adults that can read or write
