This document provides a review of key terms and concepts related to world geography of South Asia. It covers topics like religious practices (Ramadan), landforms (archipelago, atoll), climate patterns (monsoons), political systems (constitutional monarchy, caste system), historical civilizations (Indus Valley, Mughal Empire), and current issues (population growth, impact of natural disasters, poverty). The review examines the diverse cultures, environments, and development challenges across South Asia.

1. World Geography
Unit 8 Review – Mr. Allen
1. A month-long period of fasting and prayer observed by Muslims is known as Ramadan.
2. A storm surge is best described as high water that swamps low-lying areas.
3. A sub-continent is a landmass like a continent, only smaller.
4. A system of social classes, which divides people on the basis of inherited social status, is known as the
Caste system.
5. A wind that blows from the southwest across the Indian Ocean toward South Asia from June through
September is a summer monsoon. Drought can be the result of a winter monsoon.
6. According to Hindu beliefs, the Ganges River brings life to its people.
7. An atoll is an island formed from a peak of a submerged volcano.
8. Archipelago is the term used to describe a group of islands.
9. As a result of civil war in Sri Lanka that started in 1983, tourism decreased.
10. Bangladesh used people as its abundant resource to construct the dam on the Feni River.
11. Constitutional monarchy names a type of government in which a ruler's powers are limited by a
constitution.
12. Education is the key to controlling population and improving the quality of life in South Asia.
13. Highland climates are cool to cold, found in mountains and high plateaus.
14. Hinduism is the religion of most people who live in India.
15. In the sixth century B.C., the Sinhalese settled in Sri Lanka and created an advanced civilization.
16. India and Pakistan have fought several wars over the territory of Kashmir.
17. Indian families continue to have large numbers of 1) children because children are a source of income
2) children represents security in one's old age 3) the infant mortality rate is very high.
18. India's government considers food, shelter, and clothing as basic necessities.
19. Land reform describes a balanced distribution of land among farmers.
20. Monsoons are seasonal winds that bring moist ocean air to South Asia for part of the year. Monsoons
are crucial to life in South Asia. Yet, the monsoons can cause severe hardship for millions, especially
those living in the lowlands of India and Bangladesh.
21. Muslim rulers, or sultans, governed the Maldives for many years.
22. Non-violent resistance is a protest movement that uses all means except violence.
23. Poverty resulting from crop failures, loss of property to weather-related catastrophes, and heavy debt
from international aid are all examples of the economic impact of weather on South Asia.
24. Raj is the term that describes the period of British rule in India, which lasted for almost 200 years.
25. South Asia contains 6 of the 13 Climate zones of the world.
26. South Asia and Bangladesh in particular, was the site of some of the worst natural disasters in the
20th century.
27. South Asia's population explosion is considered a mixed blessing because it is difficult to ensure
life's basic necessities for so many people.
28. Sri Lanka is one of the world's leading tea-producing countries.
29. The broadened seaward end of a river is known as an estuary.
30. The clash between India and Bangladesh over the Farakka Dam is an example of how weather can
create political tensions.
31. The Himalaya Mountains help form a barrier that separates South Asia from the rest of Asia.
32. The Indus Valley civilization was a highly developed urban civilization in B.C. 2500.
33. The most extreme weather pattern in South Asia is the cyclone, a violent storm with fierce winds and
heavy rain.
34. The Mughal Empire represented Muslim rule of India in the early 1500s.
35. The system of giving small loans to poor people who want to start their own business is microcredit.
36. When rivers flood, they deposit soil onto alluvial plains that become rich farmlands.