Prepare for your 9th Grade Geography exam with these practice questions and answers. This guide covers map skills, physical geography, regions, climate, and human geography.
Q: geography
Answer: the study of the distribution and interaction of physical and human features on the earth
Q: absolute location
Answer: the exact place on earth where a geographic feature is found
Q: relative location
Answer: a place in comparison to other places around it
Q: equator
Answer: the imaginary line that divides the north and south halves
Q: prime meridian
Answer: the imaginary line dividing the earth est and west
Q: latitude
Answer: a set of imaginary lines that run parallel to the equator
Q: longitude
Answer: a set of imaginary lines that go around the earth over the poles
Q: atmosphere
Answer: surrounding the earth in a layer of gases
Q: lithosphere
Answer: solid,rock portion of the earth’s surface includes the crust and the uppermost mantle
Q: hydrosphere
Answer: made up of the water elements on earth
Q: biosphere
Answer: the part of the earth where plants and animals live
Q: hydrologic cycle
Answer: the continuous circulation of the water between the atmosphere, ocean, and earth
Q: ground water
Answer: the water held in the pores of rock
Q: landform
Answer: naturally formed features on the surface of the earth
Q: continental shelf
Answer: the earth’s surface from the edge of the continent to the deepest part of the ocean
Q: topography
Answer: the combination of the surface shape and the composition of the landforms and their distribution in a region
Q: fault
Answer: a fracture in the earth’s crust
Q: fault
Answer: a special device can detect earthquakes
Q: seismograph
Answer: uses information collected by seismographs to determine the relative strength of an earthquake
Q: richter scale
Answer: a giant wave in the ocean
Q: tsuami
Answer: a crack in the earth’s surface
Q: volcano
Answer: magma that has reached the earth’s surface
Q: lava
Answer: a zone around the rim of the pacific; location of the vast majority of active volcanoes
Q: ring of lava
Answer: physical/chemical processes that changes the characteristics of rock on/near the earth’s surface
Q: weathering
Answer: weathered material is moved by the action of wind,water,ice and gravity
Q: erosion
Answer: wind blown slit/clay sediment that produce very fertile soil
Q: loess
Answer: the changing of landforms by slowly moving glaciers
Q: glaciation
Answer: the condition of the atmosphere at a particular location and time
Q: weather
Answer: the term for weather conditions at a particular location over a long period of time
Q: climate
Answer: land on the leeward side
Q: rainshadow
Answer: the layer of gases released by the burning of coal and petroleum traps some solar energy
Q: greenhouse effect
Answer: the subsoil is constantly frozen
Q: permafrost
Answer: an interdependent community of plants and animals
Q: ecosystem
Answer: ecosystem of a region
Q: biome
Answer: located in the tropical zone and is covered with heavy concentration of broadleaf trees
Q: rainforest
Answer: the total of knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors shared by and passed on by the members of a specific group
Q: culture
Answer: a group that shares a geographic region, a sense of identity and a culture
Q: society
Answer: a group that shares a language, customs , and a common heritage
Q: ethnic group
Answer: a site of innovation from which basic ideas, materials, and technology diffuse to many cultures
Q: cultural hearth
Answer: consists of a belief in a supernatural power(s) that are regarded as the creators/maintainers of the universe
Q: religion
Answer: the number of live births per thousand population
Q: birthrate
Answer: shows the average number of children a women of childbearing years would have in her lifetime
Q: fertility rate
Answer: (death rate) the number of deaths per thousand people
Q: mortality rate
Answer: the number of deaths among infants under the age of 1 per thousand live deaths
Q: infant mortality rate
Answer: population growth rate
Q: rate of natural increase
Answer: a graphic device that shows gender and age distribution of a population
Q: population pyramid
Answer: the average number of people who live in a measurable area
Q: population density
Answer: a group of people with a common culture living in a territory and having a sense of unity
Q: nation
Answer: when a nation and a state occupy the same territory
Q: nation state
Answer: citizens hold political power, either directly or through elected representatives
Q: democracy
Answer: a ruling family headed by a king/queen hold political power and may/may not share the power with citizen body
Q: monarchy
Answer: an individual or group holds complete political power
Q: dictatorship
Answer: government and economic system, and nearly all political power and means of production are held by the government in the name of the people
Q: communism
Answer: the study of how people use space in cities
Q: urban geography
Answer: political units touching the borders of the central city or touching other suburbs that touch the city
Q: subarbs
Answer: the city, its subarbs ,and exurbs link together economically to form a functional area
Q: metropolitan area
Answer: dramatic rise in the number of cities and change in lifestyle
Q: urbanization
Answer: the core of a city based on a commerical activity
Q: central business district(CBD)
Answer: consists of the production and exchange of goods/services among a group of people
Q: economy
Answer: production of goods/services is determined by a central government , which usually owns means of production ;production doesn’t necessarily reflect the consumer demand
Q: command economy
Answer: production of goods/services is determined by the demand from the consumer(demand economy/capitalism)
Q: market economy
Answer: materials on or in the earth hat have economic value
Q: natural resources
Answer: winds that blow from west to east in the middle of the latitudes
Q: prevailing winds (westerlies)
Answer: people who move from place to place
Q: nomad
Answer: movement of people within their country
Q: migration
Answer: the movement of plants, animals , and diseases between the eastern and western hempispheres during the age of exploration
Q: columbian exchange
Answer: the free,open land in the american west that was available for settlement
Q: frontier
Answer: the people rule through elected representatives
Q: representative democracy
Answer: goods sold to another country
Q: exports
Answer: goods brought in the country
Q: imports
Answer: an economic system in which private individuals own most of the resources, technology, and businesses, and can operate them for profit with little control from the government
Q: free enterprise
Answer: any kind of economic activity that produces a service rather than a product
Q: service industry
Answer: a region in which several large cities and surrounding areas grow together
Q: megalopolis
Answer: grassy, treeless areas used for livestock grazing and farming
Q: llanos
Answer: savannas with flat terrain and moderate rainfall that made them suitable for farming
Q: cerrado
Answer: areas of grassland and rich soil
Q: pampas
Answer: a way of clearing fields for planting by cutting trees,brush, and grasses and burning them
Q: slash and burn
Answer: an ancient technique for growing crops on hillsides or mountain slopes
Q: terraced farming
Answer: the basic support systems needed to keep an economy going
Q: infrastructure
Answer: people of mixed spanish and native american heritage
Q: mestizo
Answer: factories in mexico that assemble imported materials into finished products that are then exported
Q: maquiladora
Answer: an important trade agreement creating a huge zone of cooperation on trade and economic issues in north america
Q: NAFTA
Answer: takes place outside offical channels
Q: informal economy
Answer: an economic common market that began operating in the southern cone of south america in 1995
Q: mercosur
Answer: wide range of plant and animal species
Q: biodiversity
Answer: cutting down and clearing away of trees
Q: deforestation
Answer: the build up of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, preventing heat from escaping into space and causing rising temperatures ans shifting weather patterns
Q: global warming
Answer: a government run by a few persons or a small group of people
Q: oligrachy
Answer: a government run by generals after a military
Q: junta
Answer: steep u shaped valleys that connect to the ocean and that filled with seawater when the glacier melted
Q: fjord
Answer: hills or very low mountains that may also contain mesas and high plateaus
Q: uplands
Answer: hot,steady south winds that blows from north africa across the mediterranean sea into southern europe
Q: sirocco
Answer: cold,dry wind from the north
Q: mistral
Answer: earthen banks
Q: dike
Answer: land that is reclaimed by diking and draining
Q: polders
Answer: structures that are used to control the sea’s destructive impact on human life
Q: seaworks
Answer: high earthen platforms used in seaworks
Q: terpen
Answer: a political unit made up of a city and its surrounding lands
Q: city state
Answer: a government in which citizens elect representatives to rule in their name
Q: republic
Answer: structures that carried water for long distances
Q: aqueduct
Answer: political system in which powerful lords owned most of the land
Q: feudalism
Answer: the belief that people should be loyal to their nation, the people with whom they share, culture, and history
Q: nationalism
Answer: a common currency proposed by the european union for its member countries
Q: euro
Answer: the process of a region breaking up into small,hostile units
Q: balkanaization
Answer: discrimination against jews
Q: anti-semitism
Answer: policy of trying to eliminate an ethnic group through violence
Q: ethnic cleansing
Answer: brown haze that occurs when the gases released by burning fossil fuels react with sunlight to create hundreds of harmful chemical
Q: smog
Answer: provides the EU with reliable info about the environmental
Q: european environmental agency
Answer: one of the world’s most fertile soil (black earth)
Q: chernozem
Answer: the part of russia that lies on the continent of asia
Q: siberia
Answer: a region’s distance from the moderating influence of the sea
Q: continentality
Answer: estonia, latvia, and lithuania
Q: baltic republics
Answer: the revolt of 1917, in which the russian communist party led by Lenin took control of the government from the czars
Q: russian revolution
Answer: the conflict between the united states and the soviet union after world war 2 called “cold” because it never escalated to open warfare
Q: cold war
Answer: large teams of laborers were gathered to work together on enormous farms
Q: collective farms
Answer: the name of the soviet union
Q: red army
Answer: the 4000 mile route between china and the mediterranean sea
Q: silk road
Answer: the struggle between the british and russian empire for the control of central asia in the 19th century
Q: great game
Answer: one of the republics that remain a part of the soviet union despite independence movements and violent upheavl
Q: chechnya
Answer: a term referring to the concept that increasing distances between places tend to reduce interactions among them
Q: distance decay
Answer: the selling of government owned business to private citizens
Q: privatization
Answer: a sometimes violent movement of the earth