World Regional Geography

Atlas Exercise

 

DIRECTIONS:  Place all your answers on this sheet.  This exercise is designed to acquaint you with the many uses of an atlas such as Goode's.  As the questions indicate, many different types of information can be extracted from an atlas.  Learn to use it well and it will become a valuable source of information. All of these questions were taken from Goode's World Atlas, 20th edition.

1.

 Name the seven continents.  Circle the one with the smallest land areas.
2. What country has the greatest land area?  What is this land area in square miles?
3. Which country has the largest land area - the United States or Canada?  How much larger is it?
4. Expressed in square miles, what is the area of Alabama? of Alaska? of Montana? of New York?
5.  

What is the total population of the state of Alabama?  Compare the population of Alabama to the population of Alaska, New York and Montana.  Using the answer to Question 4 what can you surmise about the populations compared to the area of each state?  What does this tell you about how the population is dispersed across each state?
6.

Using the information from Questions 4 and 5, calculate the population per square mile of Alabama, Alaska, Montana, and New York.  Explain what the term "population per square mile" means.  Compare population density with total population.  Explain which is a better description of a population and why.
7. Turn to the map titled "World Political: near the front of your atlas.  Locate Tokyo, Japan and Bombay, India.  What is the straight-line distance, in miles, between these two Asian cities? 
8. Turn to the map titled "Southeastern USA."  Measure the straight-line distance, in miles, between the cities of Florence, Alabama and New Orleans, Louisiana. 
9. Using the same map, what lake is located west of Palm Beach, Florida?
10. Using the same map, locate the Gulf of Mexico.  Three basic map colors and shown in the the Gulf waters -- white, light blue, and darker blue.  What do these colors represent?  Include the units of measurement for your answers. 
  White
  Light Blue
  Dark Blue
11. Turn the map titled "AFRICA - NORTHERN" in your atlas.  In the interior of north Africa in the Sahara Desert, there are thin lines of red dots.  What does this map symbol represent?
12. Turn to the map titled "ASIA - SOUTHWESTERN" and locate the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman.  Separating these two bodies of water is one of the world's most straits.  What is the name of this strait?
13. What type of climate is found in central Australia?
14. On which side of the city of Rome, Italy (north, south, east, west) is Vatican City located?
15. What map symbol is used to represent the Jewish religion?  Draw the map symbol to complete your answer. 
16.

Locate Columbia, South Carolina in the "Pronouncing Index" of your atlas.  What are its geographic coordinates (latitude and longitude).  Give the exact answer. 
17. Using the Index again, on what page are you referred to if you were attempting to locate the city of Athens, Greece?
18. Using the Index again, in what country is the Orinoco River located?
19. Using the "WORLD - Political" map, which city is located farthest north - the city of Quebec, Canada or the city of Vancouver, Canada?
20. Using the same map, which city is located farthest to the west - New York or Boston? 
21. What are the names of the states which border the state of Nevada?
22.  What river forms the boundary between California and Arizona?
23. Niagara Falls is located between Lake Erie and Lake Ontario.  In which direction does the water flow after it drops over the falls (Erie to Ontario or Ontario to Erie)?
24. How do you know what its direction of flow is?
25. Which city has the greatest metropolitan population -- London, England or Seoul, Korea?  What is the size difference of the populations?
26. Which river is the longest - the Snake, Tennessee, or the Nile? 
27. Your atlas states that  "Ho" is the Chinese world for "river".  What is the English translation of the German word "spitze"?
28. Due south of Australia is the island named what?
29. Which is larger -- the Gulf of Mexico or the Mediterranean Sea?  Approximately how much larger?
30. Look at the map title "Africa-Southern."  Find Botswana.  There are three water symbols in this country (one line and two areal symbols).  What do these symbols represent?
31. Of the countries listed in your atlas, which one has the greatest life expectancy at birth for males? In this country who is expected to live longer males or females?
32. List two countries that are currently involved in "Civil Conflicts."  What is the major cause/factor of these conflicts?
33. What is the infant mortality rate for the country of India?
34. What  minority population is heavily concentrated in the southwestern United States? 
35. In the United States, adequate numbers of doctors are available to attend to our medical needs.  However, in the Burkina Faso, this is not  true.  What is the ratio of population per physician for the country of Burkina Faso?
36. Which country leads the world in imports of coffee?
37. Which country leads the world in production of olive oil?
38. Which country leads the world in total number of cattle?
39. Turn to the table titled "World Demographic Table."  Compare the percentage of people living urban areas in the United States with those in India.  What are these figures?
40. Excluding the state of Hawaii, what are two states in the US that grow can sugar?
41. Name one state that grows beet sugar.
42. Which country leads the world in total production of wine?
43. What form of government does the country of the United Arab Emirates have?
44. The eastern boundary of two states borders the 104° meridian.  Name the two states.  
45. The same meridian also serves as the western boundary for three states.  Name these states.
46. Which parallel serves as the northern boundary for the states of Alabama, Georgia, and Mississippi?
47. List two countries that are members of both the Arab League and the Organization of African Unity.
48. What is the name of the river that runs through the center of the city of London, England?
49. On which side of the above named river is the Greenwich Observatory located?
50. Go to the map titled "CHINA-Eastern" and locate the city of Beijing (40th parallel). Just west of Beijing is the Great Wall of China.  What map symbol is used to show the wall?
51. Just north of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge is a small island.  What is the name of that island?
52. Look at the map titled "United States -Labor Structure/Manufacturing."  What is the size of the labor force in Birmingham, Alabama?
53. On the same map (Question 52), what are the two predominant employment sectors in Washington D.C.?
54. What is the predominant "Natural Vegetation" in Alabama? 
55. From the page of maps titled "United States and Canada-Climate," determine the average dates of the first and last killing frost in Florence, Alabama?
56. What is the predominant land use on the west coast of South Island, New Zealand?
57. On the map titled "Pacific Ocean, " determine the name of the current, the direction of flow, and the generalized temperature of the ocean currents flowing through the northern section of the Marshall Islands.