World Geography
Map Skills & Introduction to Geography
Study Guide
Name___________________________
Map Skills
1. What is a representation of the earth or a region or the earth – it is also an important tool of
geography?
2. What are five things most maps have in common?
3. What does the compass rose show?
4. What are the cardinal directions?
5. What are the directions in between the cardinal directions known as?
6. What tare used on a map to represent real objects located in the area shown on the map?
7. What is used to explain the symbols on a map (both names)?
8. What is a scale used to indicate on a map?
9. How does the scale work?
10. What is the most common type of scale used?
11. What is the practice of making maps called?
12. What is a perfect map of the earth?
13. What is the problem with trying to make a flat map of the earth?
14. What is a distortion?
15. What do cartographers make in an effort to try to limit distortions?
16. What map projection shows the shapes of the continents accurately but not their sizes or the
distances between them?
17. On the Mercator projection, where does the map get the most distorted?
18. Why was the Mercator projection created?
19. What map projection shows the sizes and shapes of the continents fairly accurately except near the
poles?
20. What happens to the map on the Robinson projection as you near the poles?
21. What map projection shows the sizes and shapes of the continents accurately but not the distances
and directions between them?
22. What map projection curves the lines of latitude and longitude in an effort to minimize the
distortions on the map?
23. What map projection puts the North or South Pole in the center of the map?
Introduction to Geography
24. What is the study of the earth and how people use it?
25. What are the two main branches of geography?
26. What is the study of the earth and how it varies from place to place?
27. What are three areas of physical geography?
28. What do you call the physical surroundings in which people live?
29. What two things are included in describing the natural environment of an area?
30. What is a landform?
31. What is a climate?
32. What do you call materials made by nature that people can use?
33. What are the two types of natural resources?
34. What are renewable resources?
35. What are nonrenewable resources?
36. What are human resources?
37. What is the study of people and their activities and how they vary from place to place?
38. What does the study of human geography mainly focus on?
39. What is one of the main influences on a people’s culture?
40. As we study culture, what are the four main areas we will concentrate on?
41. How many distinct languages are spoken in the world?
42. What is happening to some of the languages that are spoken today (by a small group of people)?
43. What do you call the regional differences in pronunciation and syntax in the same language?
44. What is the most spoken language in the world?
45. What are the other five most spoken languages in the world?
46. What is a value system that incorporates worship and faith in some divine, creative force?
47. What are the world’s four largest religions?
48. What is the nonreligious group?
49. What denotes a part of a population that is distinct because of some inherited biological
characteristics?
50. What incorporates racial characteristics with other characteristics such as language, religion and
nationality?
51. What are the four racial classifications the world’s population can be divided into?
52. How many ethnic groups are there in the world?
53. What does occupation refer to?
54. Occupations are usually divided up into different types of what?
55. What is a subsistence economy?
56. What is a pastoral economy?
57. What is an agrarian economy?
58. What is a diversified economy?
59. What are the five themes of geography?
60. What are the two types of location?
61. Absolute location gives you your exact position on the earth using what?
62. What is latitude?
63. What is longitude?
64. What type of location gives the location of a place in regard to some other place or landmark?
65. What is the most common type of location used by people?
66. What is an area of the earth that has one or more common characteristic?
67. What type of region has a common characteristic running through it?
68. What type of region applies to a certain place and the surrounding area it affects?
69. How is a place described?
70. What are the physical characteristics of a place?
71. What are the human characteristics of a place?
72. What does human-environment interaction refer to?
73. What does the geographical theme of movement involve?
74. When we talk about movement in area, we will concentrate on what three things?