Text Readings -- at a minimum, read these pages in preparation for taking Exam 2.

• Chapter 2   (Russia)
• Chapter 4   (Middle America)
• Chapter 5   (South America)

Below are class notes with supplemental review terms included.  You should learn the terms.

RUSSIA I
Major geographic qualities
·  Immense territorial state: northernmost large and populous country in the world.
·  A comparatively small (<150 million) and concentrated population.
·  Raw material exporter; but minimal ports and locational disadvantages.
·  Multicultural state, many problems with restless minorities.

Russia’s dimensions
·  Spans 11 time zones; nearly twice the area of the US or China
·  East to West: Gulf of Finland to Alaska.  North to South: Arctic Circle to Wayne, NE
·  Siberia: this “sleeping land” is two-thirds of Russia's territory.

So, Russia is a big place with a relatively small population.  How was it created?
·  What is imperialism?  Why was the Russian Empire created and what did Russians seek? 
·  Who were the leaders of the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany in WW II?
·  What is colonialism?  How did the Russians russify minorities?  Why did the USSR break up?
·  What does it mean that St. Petersburg was made a forward capital by Peter the Great?
·  But who are the people of Russia?  Nationalities and demographics?
·  Population of the old USSR?  Population of Russia today?  Russian rate of natural increase today?
·  What is the distribution of ethnic Russians; who else lives here?

Russian climate affected by 3 natural conditions:
·  (1) Latitudinal position,  (2) Continental position or continentality,  (3) Major mountains.
·  What are characteristic features of tundra and taiga vegetation?  
·  What is permafrost and what are the problems associated in settling on it?

"I cannot forecast to you the action of Russia.  It is a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma."
-- Winston Churchill, 1939

RUSSIA II
Collapse of the Soviet Union
·  How many years did the Soviet Union exist? (1924-1991)
·  Sharp decline in agricultural production (why didn't collectivization work?).
·  Sharp decline in industrial production (why didn't command economy work?).
·  Intensification of ethnic nationalism and cultural separatism.
·  Erosion of Communist Party monopoly and power (Afghanistan: The "Soviet Vietnam").
·  Birth of the Russian Federation.  Is Russia a true federation?
·  Why such a severe population decline among the Russian people?

Transcaucasia
·  Historically, who battled for control of this region?
·  What was Russian involvement with this region?  What did the Soviets want here?
·  How will Baku oil be exported from the region?  Who are close cousins just south of the Azeris?

Eastern Frontier
·  Siberia is larger than continental U.S., but less than 15 million people live here.
·  What are the difficulties in developing this region?  What is continentality?  Permafrost?
·  Lake Baykal (Baikal):  Age?  How formed?  Surface area and volume compared to Lake Superior?
·  Why did the Russians build the Trans-Siberian Railroad?  
·  Why did the Soviets move their planned economy eastward during World War II?

Russia's External Challenges
·  Natural resource distribution: many resources now in former Soviet Republics.
·  What is happening in Chechnya?  Why did Russia invade Georgia?
·  National Pride: Russia is determined to remain the champion of Slavic interests.
·  Russia desires to remain a power in the international community (a "nuclear" power?).
·  Centrifugal Forces: separatist aims in the Caucasian peripher.
·  Specifically, what Russian geography do the Chinese and the Japanese each want returned to them?

MIDDLE  AMERICA I
How many "Americas" are there?
·  How do Geographers divide up the Americas?
·  Middle and South America have a combined population of just under 600 million people.

Major Geographic Qualities of Middle America
·  Fragmented - physically and politically
·  Barrier between oceans - what's a land bridge?  What's an archipelago?
·  Culturally diverse; developing countries - poverty is endemic; Mexico dominates the realm.

Culture Hearths
What is a culture hearth?  Why are they important in human history?
·  Mesoamerica: domestication of what plants and animals?  
Lowland Maya
·  Unique: rose in a tropical lowland (present-day Yucatan Peninsula, Honduras, Guatemala).
·  Zenith: 3rd to 10th Centuries, but many Mayan dialects still around today.
Highland Aztecs
·  Aztec state founded 14th Century north of Mexico City in the Valley of Mexico (Tenochtitlan > 100,000 people).
·  Subjugated many others for taxes/tribute; better borrowers/refiners than inventors.
Caribbean
·  African cultural influences still very strong.

1492: Impact of Europeans?
·  Which European countries had the greatest effect?  What about Africans?  Chinese?  Indians?
·  What caused depopulation?  Why deforest the landscape?
·  Specifically, what livestock did Europeans introduce and breed in large quantities?
·  Why concentrate Amerindians into villages?  What was the effect of introduced Roman Catholicism?
·  Differences in European land tenure systems: Mainland (hacienda) vs. Rimland (plantation).
·  European empires eventually collapse.  What was (is) U.S. influence in the realm?  Cuba?  Puerto Rico?

MIDDLE  AMERICA II
Who is Hispanic?  
·  Where do the terms Latino/Latino and Chicano/Chicano originate?
·  Who is mestizo?  Who is mulatto?  Are these "categories" necessary today?

Mexico
·  The "giant" of Middle America.  
·  Positives and negatives: Population?  Urbanization?  Transculturation?  Petroleum?
·  Migration to "El Norte" and within Mexico: why are they migrating?  Controversies?
·  Percent of Americans today who consider themselves Hispanic?  By 2050?
·  What are maquiladoras?  Where is the Dry Canal?

Central America
·  Seven countries; relatively small in area and population; deadly natural hazards.
·  What is altitudinal zonation?  Names of the two lowest zones?  Important crops?

Tourism in Middle America
·  Why is tourism referred to as the "irritant industry?"

SOUTH  AMERICA I
Why so many languages in Middle and South America?
·  Where is Spanish spoken?  Portuguese?  French?  English?

Major Geographic Qualities of South America
·  Andes Mountains & Amazon Basin dominate physically.
·  Brazil: half of both area and population in South America.
·  Population: cling to coasts; multicultural both regionally and within countries.
·  Poverty: incredible contrasts and disparities between regions and between elites and poor.

Incan Culture Hearth
What is an altiplano?  How many subjects did Incans dominate at their zenith?
·  Plural society today in South America; many cultures but not much mixing.

Urbanization
·  Very high rate of urbanization--nearly 80%.
·  What is a megacity?  Why such a high rural-to-urban migration?
·  What is a barrio?  What is a favela?

Agriculture
·  What is the difference between commercial and subsistence agriculture?
·  How does the agricultural landscape reflect cultural fragmentation?
·  What are South America's culture spheres?

Brazil
·  The "giant" of South America.  Principal spoken language?  Principal religion?
·  Ethnically diverse: Europeans, Africans, Amerindians.
·  Abundant minerals (iron ore, aluminum) and oil & gas on the horizon.
·  Why was Brasilia created as a forward capital?  What is the growth-pole concept?

The North
·  Early European plantation development; Blacks and South Asians as laborers.
·  But "mountainous fingers" created isolation, populations became clustered and many practice subsistence agriculture.
·  Venezuela is oil- and coffee-rich, but poor government operations bankrupted country.  Importance of Lake Maracaibo?
·  Colombia: much going for it (land, space, soil, oil, coastline), but a disaster in many ways.
·  What is an insurgent state?  Is Colombia a "real" country?

The West
·  Mestizo/European coasts, Amerindian interior.  More subsistence agriculture.
·  A prosperous coastal strip with irrigated oasis agriculture, but poverty/cultural inequality aimed at landless Indians.
·  Why is Lima (the capital) not centrally located in Peru?
·  What went wrong with the Esmeraldas pipeline in Ecuador?
·  How much territory has Bolivia lost?  What made early Europeans rich here?
·  What is significant about the Andes Mountains?  The Atacama Desert?

The Southern Cone
·  Highly Europeanized; modern; industrial; commercial agriculture.
·  Very highly urbanized (85-92%) region of South America.
·  Pampa contains massive Buenos Aires + half Argentina's population + cattle ranching.
·  What is characteristic of Patagonia's physical geography?
·  Chile: European-commercial Middle has Mediterranean Climate, good soil, Andean rivers.
·  Uruguay: benefits from position between Brazil and Argentina

The Amazon River Basin
·  World's largest river drainage basin, nearly the size of Australia; 2nd longest world river.
·  Carries 20% of all the world's river water, as much as next four rivers combined.
·  1000 tributaries, but no dams or bridges across the main trunk; navigable to Iquitos.
·  Provides nutrients for coastal life as far north as Newfoundland.
·  Future of the Amazonian rainforest?  Why bother to preserve rainforest?

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