central asia geo exam 4

• steppes: semiarid grasslands, grass usually shorter and less dense than prairies
• desertification: spread of deserts resulting from poor land-use practices
• salinization: accumulation of salt in soil
• desiccation: drying up of lakes and wetlands
• pastoralists: ppl who raise livestock for subsistence purposes
• alluvial fans: fan shaped deposits of sediment dropped by streams flowing out of mntns.
• loess: fertile, silty soil deposited by wind, plentiful in region
• silk road: historical trade route, links china w europe and sw asia
• forward capital: new capital city est. in previous peripheral area to strengthen political and economic power there
• taliban: extremist org. founded by religion students: insist society to conform to harsh version of islamic orthodoxy
• dalai lama: leader of tibetan buddhist faith
• theocracy: political state led by religious authorities
• buffer state: country situated between stronger countries to reduce conflict between powerful countries by eliminating common border
• autonomous region: region granted certain degree of political/cultural autonomy (freedom from centralized authority), bc they contain large number of minority ppl
• (SCO) shanghai cooperation org.: china, russia, kazakhstan, kyrgyzstan, uzbekistan, tajikistan; focus on common security threats/works to enhance economic cooperation and cultural exchange
• (CSTO) collective security treaty org.: russian led, CTSO and SCO work together to address military threats, crime, drug smuggling
• central asia climate and biome: semi-arid, grasslands and savannas
• result of tectonic impact: created worlds highest mountains (himalayas)
• environmental issues: clean environment but low pop density, industrial pollution, desertification, salinization, desiccation
• destruction of aral sea: more water to irrigate crops, less freshwater for sea, river flow dec., inc. salty destroying fish stocks
• economic/cultural damage from shrinking of aral sea: major fisheries closed, ag suffered when windstorms picked up salt and chemicals from exposed lake bed deposited into fields, public health threatened, local climate became more extreme
• how does desertification happen in region: overgrazing/poor farming practices
• what has deforestation in region result in: wood shortages, reduced dry seaon water flow
• most of region is too arid for what: forests but many mountains/riversides were once well wooded
• why iss tibetan plateau harsh: only sparse grasses/herbaceous plants can survive
• where does much of pop growth in region stem from: han chinese migration
• earliest language in region: indo-european
• chinas suppression of islam: prevented broadcasting for prayer, after school religous classes banned, islamic clothing forbidden
• panturkism: turkic-speaking central asians wanted to move away from russia and emphasize their own cultural/historical commonalities
• buffer state between china and russia: mongolia
• struggle in afghanistan: new gov suppressed religion leading to resistence, soviet unions massive invasion, severe restriction (recreation banned; tv, film, music, kite flying)
• massive water demands for cotton result: uzbekistan relies on forced labor, 2/3 tajikistan poverty
• challenges of arid climates: lakes diminished, desert conditions spread
• pros of mongolia mining: vital for world economy, few ppl in country (can't depend on labor-intensive forms of development)
• cons of mongolia mining: limited mineral reserves, heavily dependent on china, causes environment degradation and health risks