FINAL EXAM STUDY GUIDE
Following, in the first section, is a list of 16 questions. Out of these are 4 short essay questions that you will have to
answer 2 of on this 200 point exam. The short essays will make up 20% or 40 points of the exam. The 2nd section is
composed of 20 questions that can be used to study for the remaining objective questions, which will be all multiple
choice. There is no guarantee that all of these questions will be used, but they should prepare you well for the exam.
SHORT ESSAY STUDY GUIDE
1. What is “globalization” and what are some different examples of globalization and ways
that different societies have reacted to it?
2. What are the major controls of climate, and which are the most important? How do the
climates of coastal locations compare with continental ones in the United States?
3. What is Geography and why is it considered to be a Social Science?
4. How did the World Wars of the past century affect the development of Europe, and
what has been the result?
5. What are the revolutions that have modernized Europe, give an example of how
each one affected it, and when they took place?
6. How is Eastern Europe and Western Europe different, and how will it influence
how well they will work together in the European Union (EU)?
7. How did the Soviet Revolution take place and how long did the Soviet Union
survive? What was the end result of the dissolution of the Soviet Union in the
1990s? How did this affect the structure and geography of the Soviet Union?
8. What is land tenure and land alienation, and what effect did these have on the
evolution of land use, as well as the social and economic development of
countries and/or individual regions?
9. What is desertification? Is it a major factor in Africa? Why or why not? What are its
economic and social effects?
10. What is cultural or spatial diffusion? What are the different types? What are
some examples of the different types of diffusion? Is it an important process?
Why?
11. What are the 3 major world religions that are associated with “Middle East? What
similarities do they share? Would we consider them to be related? Why or why
not?
12. Where are the geographic “zones” where oil is found? Which nations are in the
Big 5, and which country is the largest producer and exporter? Is the “real” cost
of oil at the highest point ever? Why would this be important?
13. Did Islam ever make it to India? What would explain its lack of success,
compared to Hinduism, in this area? How do the number of Muslims in India
compare to the number in Pakistan? What would explain this?
14. How is the rate of population gain, in a place like India, compare to the absolute
