Chapter 8

South Asia
Multiple Choice
Introduction
1.

The country with the second largest population in the world is:
A. Pakistan
B. the United States
C. Russia
*D. India
E. China

2.

Which of the following is not a major geographic quality of South

Asia?
A. India is located in the heart of one of the worlds largest population
clusters.
*B. South Asia is marked by strong linguistic homogeneity.
C. The Ganges-Brahmaputra and Indus river systems support hundreds of
millions of people.
D. Agriculture in South Asia is generally not as productive as in other parts of
Asia.
E. India constitutes the worlds largest and most complex federal state.

3.

Of Indias 1 billion population in 1999, _____ million are Muslims.

A. 6
B. 450
C. 65
*D. 115
E. 200

4.

Pakistan has recently received large numbers of refugees from:

A. India
B. Kashmir
C. Iran
*D. Afghanistan
E. Nepal

A Realm of Poverty
5. The physiological density in India is ________ than the arithmetic
population density.
*A. greater
B. less
C. the same
6. Indias population, at its current rate of natural increase, will reach
_____ billion by 2039.
*A. 2
B. 1
C. 5
D. 10
E. 150
7.

The rate of natural increase in South Asia is about _____ percent.

*A. 2.0
B. 3.0
C. 0.5
D. 1.0
E. 10.0

South Asia

Page 1

Physiographic Regions of South Asia

8.

Which of the following is not one of the 3 primary physiographic

regions of South Asia?
A. the northern mountains
*B. the wide western coastal plain
C. the southern peninsular plateau
D. the river lowlands extending from Pakistans lower Indus Valley to Assam's
Brahmaputra Valley
E. all are regions of South Asia

9.

The leading river of India is the:

A. Brahmaputra
*B. Ganges
D. Nile
E. Irrawaddy

10. The major river of Pakistan is the:

*A. Indus
B. Ganges
D. Tigris
E. Irrawaddy

C. Indus

C. Brahmaputra

11. The lava covered plateau that extends across most of southern India
is known as the:
A. Punjab
B. Bengla
C. Dravidian
*D. Deccan
E. Raj
12. The area known as the land of the five rivers is:
*A. Punjab
B. Hindustan
C. Assam
D. Pakistan
E. none of the above
13. The periphery of the Deccan plateau is marked by mountain ranges
called:
A. Punjabs
*B. Ghats
C. Himalayas
D. Karakoram
E. Hindu Kush
14. The Arabian Sea coast of India is known as the:
A. Coromandel Coast
B. Ghat Coast
*C. Malabar-Konkan Coast
D. Deccan Coast
E. none of the above
15. The Bay of Bengal coast of India is known as the:
*A. Coromandel-Golconda Coast
B. Ghat Coast
C. Malabar-Konkan Coast D. Deccan Coast
E. none of the above
16. The flow of warm, moist ocean air unto South Asia is known as:
*A. monsoons
B. Ghats
C. Bengals
D. sea/land breezes
E. none of the above

South Asia

Page 2

The Human Sequence

17. Which of the following statements is false?
A. Prince Siddhartha, better known as Buddha, was born in northeastern India.
*B. The oldest civilization to arise in South Asia began in what is presently
Bangladesh.
C. The Brahmans are at the head of the complex caste system of social
stratification.
D. A_oka was the ruler of the Mauryan Empire who was converted to
Buddhism.
E. The Taj Mahal is a remnant of Indias Muslim-dominated period.
18. Which of the following had no influence on early India?
A. Harappans
B. Aryans
C. Persians
*D. Indonesians
E. Greeks
19. The peoples and languages of southern India are collectively known
as:
A. Sinhalese
B. Aryan
*C. Dravidian
D. Deccanite
E. Buddhist
20. The caste system is most associated with which of the following
religious group?
A. Rastafarian
B. Muslim
C. Buddhist
*D. Hindu
E. Christian
21. The first true indigenous empire in India was the:
A. Aryan
B. Indus
C. Dravidian
D. Buddha
*E. Mauryan
22. Telugu, Tamil, Kanarese, and Malayalam are:
A. border provinces of India, facing Southeast Asia
B. four major cities in Pakistan, all with over 250,000 inhabitants
*C. four leading Dravidian languages spoken in southern India
D. the political divisions of Bangladesh, created after independence in 1963
E. the local names for important crops grown in Sri Lanka

A_okas Mauryan Empire

23. A_oka was a believer in:
*A. Buddhism
B. Hinduism
D. Judaism
E. Confucianism

C. Islam

The Power of Islam

24. The power coming through India in the tenth century was:

South Asia

Page 3

A. Roman
D. Buddhist

B. Greek
E. Aryan

*C. Islam

25. The Hindu religion predominates in which country?

A. Pakistan
*B. India
C.C. Bangladesh
D. Papua New Guinea
E. Sri Lanka
26. Which of the following statements about Islams advance into India is
false?
A. Islamic armies vigorously, even violently, spread the faith.
*B. The majority of the people eventually converted to Islam.
C. This area was called the Islamic Mogul empire.
D. Placid Hinduism and aggressive Islam have never coexisted easily.
E. Islam did not spread significantly into Dravidian India.

The European Intrusion

27. The _______Rebellion led to the replacement of the British East India
Company by the British government.
*A. Sepoy
B. Mauryan
C. Sikh
D. Malthusian
E. Dravidian
28. The direct administration of India by the British government lasted
for:
A. 18 years
*B. 90 years
C. 124 years
D. 163 years through 1991, and still continues
E. 247 years
29. In 1947, British India was partitioned into which of the following
states?
A. the Punjab and Assam *B. India and Pakistan
C. Kashmir and India
D. Ceylon and Sri Lanka E. Bangladesh and West Pakistan
30. British colonial rule in India brought all of the following except:
*A. attempts to standardize the subcontinent on the use of the Tamil language
B. an economic setback to farmers
C. a system of Native States
D. the education of Indias elite in England
E. an attempt to end undesirable features of Indian culture
31. The partitioning of Hindu India from Muslim Pakistan occurred in:
A. ca. 460 B.C.
B. 1857
*C. 1947
D. 1971
E. the two areas have never been partitioned
32. A minority group within India that has been seeking independence are
the:
A. Hindis
B. Pakistanis
C. Melanesians
*D. Sikhs
E. Kurds

South Asia

Page 4

33. A city that lost a good part of its hinterland to Pakistan in the
partitioning of British India is:
*A. Calcutta
B. Bombay (Mumbai)
C. Lahore
D. Madras (Chennai)
E. Karachi
34. Which of the following acted as a centripetal force in West Pakistan
upon independence:
*A. geography
B. history
C. Islam
D. Nehru
E. rice cultivation

Pakistan: The New Challenge

35. Which of the following countries does not share a common border
with Pakistan?
A. Iran
B. China
*C. Bangladesh
D. Afghanistan
E. India
36. Which of the following associations is incorrect?
A. Sri Lanka and Colombo B. Bangladesh and Dhaka C. Nepal and Kathmandu
*D. Pakistan and Delhi
E. Bhutan and Thimphu
37. Which of the following is not located in Pakistan?
*A. Deccan Plateau
B. Sind
C. Punjab
D. Islamabad
E. Baluchistan
38. Pakistan is:
A. an Islamic Republic
B. a dry-world country
C. different in many ways from its former federal partner East Pakistan
D. poor in known mineral resources
*E. characterized by all of the above
39. In Jammu and Kashmir:
A. the people are Hindu and the rulers are Muslims
*B. the people are Muslims and the rulers are Hindu
C. India supports elections
D. the people are Buddhist and the rulers are Hindu
E. both sides have avoided violence through compromise
40. One concern in Pakistan about India and Kashmir is that:
A. Pakistan uses the area as a base for terrorist activity in India, with guerrillas
using the
mountains to hide
B. the Indus River flows through Kashmir
C. Muslims are being ruled by Hindu rulers
D. Indians are persecuting the Hindu majority in Jammu
*E. B and C above

South Asia

Page 5

41. Which of the following is false?

A. During the Cold War, India tilted toward the Soviet Union, Pakistan toward
the United States.
B. Bangladesh is even less developed than is Pakistan.
C. India is a democracy, while Pakistan has often been ruled by a military
dictatorship.
D. India's treatment of its Muslim minority has upset Pakistan.
*E. India and Pakistan have agreed to partition Kashmir.
42. An area whose control is still disputed by India and Pakistan is:
A. Punjab
*B. Jammu and Kashmir C. Bangladesh
D. Bengal
E. Goa
43. Which of the following is the core area of Pakistan?
*A. Punjab
B. Sind
C. Assam
D. Islamabad
E. Baluchistan
44. Which of the following received large groups of refugees from India?
*A. Sind
B. Punjab
C. Northwest Frontier
D. Islamabad
E. Baluchistan
45. The forward capital of Pakistan, completed in the 1970s, is:
*A. Islamabad
B. Baluchistan
C. Rawalpindi
D. Karachi
E. Dhaka
46. Which of the following cities is located in Pakistans Sind region?
*A. Karachi
B. Kabul
C. Islamabad
D. Lahore
E. Rawalpindi
47. About _____ percent of Pakistan is Shiite.
A. 5
*B. 20
D. 95
E. 1

C. 90

48. A city that lost its hinterland to India in 1947 is:

A. Bombay (Mumbai)
B. Karachi
C. Islamabad
*D. Lahore
E. Dhaka
49. India adds nearly _____ million persons per year to its population.
*A. 20
B. 100
C. 2
D. 5
E. 150
50. The Pathans irredentist movement in the Northwest Frontier of
Pakistan is based on cultural affiliations with the neighboring country
of:
A. Iran
*B. Afghanistan
C. Jammu and Kashmir
D. Bangladesh
E. India
51. After the South Asian realm achieved its modern independence, a

South Asia

Page 6

number of changes occurred, some quite recent. Among the

developments listed below, which one has not occurred?
A. East Pakistan freed itself from its political bonds with West Pakistan and
became
independent as Bangladesh.
*B. Pathanistan achieved independence from Pakistan after a long, irredentistsupported struggle.
C. Ceylon was renamed Sri Lanka.
D. India has shifted state boundaries to accommodate regional and local
demands.
E. Pakistan moved its capital from Karachi to Islamabad.
52. Which of the following statements is false?
A. Though the official language of Bangladesh is Bengali, the official language
of Pakistan is Urdu.
B. While the major natural hazard faced by Bangladesh is flooding, the major
natural hazard
faced by Pakistan is drought.
C. While rice is the major staple grain in Bangladesh, wheat is the major staple
grain in Pakistan.
*D. Bangladesh and Pakistan have no known mineral resources.
E. Bangladesh and Pakistan were once united into a single country.
53. Bangladesh came into existence:
A. following a war of independence against India
B. when British India was partitioned in 1947
C. as a refuge for Hindus
*D. following a war of independence against Pakistan
E. out of the former Indian state of West Bengal
54. Which of the following is not a major contributor to the Pakistani
economy?
A. cotton textiles
B. rice
C. carpets
*D. oil production
E. all of the above are major contributors
55. Two countries that test atomic weapons in the late 1990s were:
A. Afghanistan and Pakistan
B. Taliban and Hindu
C. Nepal and Kashmir
*D. Pakistan and India
E. Kashmir and India

India: Fifty Years of Federation

56. India is comprised of:
A. 6 large states
B. 6 large states and 2 Union Territories
C. 5 Hill states, Assam, and Punjab
D. India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh

South Asia

Page 7

*E. 25 States, 6 Union Territories, and 1 National Capital Territory

57. Which of the following areas of India is located in the Brahmaputra
Valley?
A. Deccan
*B. Assam
C. Punjab
D. Kashmir
E. Tibet
58. Which state contains the city of Calcutta?
A. Tamil Nadu
*B. West Bengal
D. Kashmir
E. Tibet

C. Punjab

59. Which state is located in southern India?

A. Assam
*B. Tamil Nadu
C. Punjab
D. Kashmir
E. Tibet
60. The official language of India, one of 14 given national status, is:
*A. Hindi
B. English
C. Charisma
D. Sikh
E. Nehru
61. Centrifugal forces:
A. tend to pull a state together, unifying it and increasing its cohesion
B. determine the effectiveness with which the boundary system functions to
control the population
C. affect the binding function of the capital city
*D. have the effect of dividing a state, promoting disunity and internal
fragmentation
E. pull a state from representative to authoritarian forms of government
62. In India, a leading centrifugal force is:
A. Hinduism
*B. multiple languages
D. the Sikh population
E. none of the above

C. the personality of Nehru

63. Which of the following statements about the caste system is false?
A. It may have a racial basis.
B. The Brahmans are members of the upper caste.
C. Both Gandhi and Nehru tried to modify the system.
D. The lowest caste is the untouchables.
*E. The caste system is stronger in urban areas than in rural areas.
64. The dominant centripetal force in India has been the:
*A. cultural and religious strength of Hinduism
B. universality of the English Language
C. united opposition to Islam
D. national effort against the colonial power
E. war on hunger and malnutrition
65. The Sikhs desire a separate state to be called:
A. Sikhistan
*B. Khalistan
C. Jharkand
D. Kashmir
E. Seekland

South Asia

Page 8

66. The priestly caste in India is known as the:

A. Hindus
*B. Brahmans
D. Sikhs
E. none of the above

C. Harijans

67. The untouchable caste in India is known as the:

A. Hindus
*B. Harijans
C. Brahmans
D. Sikhs
E. none of the above
68. The untouchables in India are better treated in the:
A. rural areas
*B. cities
C. west
D. east
E. harijans
69. The doubling time for Indias population, at present rates of growth,
is approximately:
A. 6 months
*B. 36 years
C. 115 years
D. 3500 years
E. 5 years
70. India is in the ______ stage of the demographic transition.
A. first
*B. third
C. second
D. fourth
E. fifth
71. The portion of India where the population today is growing the fastest
is:
A. the Kashmir area
B. the Bombay (Mumbai) urban region C. the upper
Gangetic Plain
*D. the states to the northeast of Bangladesh E.
Kathiawar Peninsula
72. The city located closest to the Ganges Delta is:
*A. Calcutta
B. New Delhi
C. Madras (Chennai)
D. Islamabad
E. Colombo
73. Calcutta, Bombay (Mumbai), and Madras (Chennai) are:
*A. all cities selected by the British as regional trading centers
B. Hindustan's three largest urban areas
C. positioned at the mouths of Indias longest navigable rivers
D. agricultural market centers in Hindustan
E. the capitals of India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh respectively
74. The capital of India is:
A. Calcutta
B. Islamabad
D. Kashmir
E. Bombay (Mumbai)

*C. New Delhi

75. Which of the following statements about Indian agriculture is false?

A. Rice is grown in the east and wheat in the west.
*B. Wheat is grown in the east and rice in the west.
C. The Green Revolution led to significant increases in production.

South Asia

Page 9

D. Cotton is produced in west-central India.

E. All of the above are false.
76. Which of the following statements is false?
A. Approximately 25 percent of Indias population lives in urban areas.
B. The Indian government endorses family planning as part of its official
development program.
C. Calcutta, Bombay (Mumbai), and Madras (Chennai) were all British military
outposts in the 17th century.
*D. Near the beginning of the 20th century, the British moved their colonial
capital from New
Delhi to the safer interior city of Calcutta.
E. The British raj lasted less than a century.

South Asia

Page 10

77. Agriculture in India:

A. is marked by the equal division of land among the countrys millions of
farming families
B. ranks the country third in the world in terms of acreage under rice
C. remained unaffected by the so-called Green Revolution
D. is rapidly closing the gap between national food needs and grain supplies
*E. remains inefficient and tradition-bound, so that yields per worker and per
unit area are low
78. Land reform in India:
A. has resulted in the redistribution of land to the peasant farmers
B. has resulted in significant increases in agricultural production
C. has done away with the problem of land fragmentation
*D. never got off the ground
E. all but D above
79. The ___________ Revolution of the 1960s introduced miracle varieties
of wheat and rice that significantly increased the productivity of these
crops.
A. Communist
*B. Green
C. Agricultural
D. Malthusian
E. Gandhian
80. India has more land devoted to _____ production than any other
country in the world.
*A. rice
B. wheat
C. corn
D. cotton
E. none of the above
81. The leading center of India's Bihar-Bengal manufacturing region is:
A. New Delhi
B. Bombay (Mumbai)
*C. Calcutta
D. Madras (Chennai)
E. Amritsar
82. Which of the following is India's least industrialized region?
A. Calcutta
B. Bombay (Mumbai)
C. Madras (Chennai)
D. Bihar-Bengal
*E. Assam
83. Which of the following is India's silicon valley?
A. Calcutta
B. Bombay (Mumbai)
C. Madras (Chennai)
D. Bihar-Bengal
*E. Bangalore
84. Much of Indias coal supply is found in the:
A. Assam region
*B. Chota-Nagpur Plateau C. Western Ghats
D. Kathiawar Peninsula E. Kashmir province
85. Industrialization in India:
A. suffered due to under investment by the countrys planners
B. reduced unemployment somewhat
C. been accompanied by a decline in per-capita income
*D. is developing more in the west than in the east
E. diverted all formerly exported iron ore to the nation own steel mills
86. Your textbook indicates that a newly developing regional disparity in
India is between:
A. urban and rural areas *B. east and west
C. north and south

D. coastal and interior

E. none of the above

Bangladesh: Persistent Poverty

87. Which of the following statements about Bangladesh is false?
A. Only about 17 percent live in urban areas.
B. The GNP per capita is only about $260.
C. Dhaka is the centrally located capital.
D. A 1991 cyclone devastated the country.
*E. The inland city of Chittagong is leading the way toward economic
redevelopment.
88. The country bordering Bangladesh on its north and east is:
A. Myanmar (Burma)
B. Pakistan
C. China
*D. India
E. East Pakistan
89. 8 of the 10 costliest natural disasters in the world have struck which
of the following
countries?
A. India
*B. Bangladesh
C. Pakistan
D. Sri Lanka
E. Nepal
90. Which of the following statements is false?
A. By the year 2000, the South Asian realm will be the largest population
cluster in the world.
B. Agriculture in South Asia is comparatively inefficient when contrasted with
other parts of Asia.
C. India is the worlds most populated federal state.
*D. Bangladeshs landlocked status partially explains the poverty of its nearly
210 million inhabitants.
E. Sri Lankas dominant religion is not the same as Indias.
91. Bangladesh was formerly known as:
*A. East Pakistan
B. West Pakistan
D. Nepal
E. Burma

C. Ceylon

92. Which of the following cities suffered severely in the devastating 1991
cyclone that came ashore north of the Bay of Bengal?
A. New Delhi
B. Bombay (Mumbai)
*C. Dhaka
D. Karachi
E. Beijing
93. A leading commercial crop that Bangladesh relies heavily on for
export revenues is:
A. rice
B. rubber
*C. jute
D. wheat
E. bananas

The Mountainous North

94. The two countries in the Mountainous North of South Asia are:
*A. Nepal and Bhutan
B. Pakistan and Bangladesh C. Sri Lanka and Bhutan
D. Assam and Punjab
E. Jammu and Kashmir
95. Which of the following statements about Nepal is false?
A. Deforestation is a problem.
*B. Agriculture is a true success story.
C. The Himalayas are the principal physical feature.
D. About 90 percent of the population are Hindu.
E. Kathmandu is the country's core area.

96. Which of the following statements about Bhutan is false?

A. It has a significant Nepalese minority.
B. The king rules the country with virtual absolute power.
*C. The country absorbed the neighboring state of Sikkim.
D. Buddhism is the state religion.
E. Bhutan is located in a mountainous area

Sri Lanka: South Asian Tragedy

97. The Hindu population of Sri Lanka is called the:
A. Ceylonese
B. Sinhalese
*C. Tamils
D. Ghats
E. Lankanese
98. Which of the following statements concerning Sri Lanka is false?
A. Tamil was recently granted national language status.
B. Coconuts, rubber, and tea are the country's successful plantation
crops.
C. The majority of people are not Dravidian.
*D. Tamils, now a minority, were the early invaders who brought
Buddhism and a knowledge of
irrigation techniques.
E. Industrial development is constituted mostly by factories which
process agricultural products.
99. Which of the following countries is characterized by a plantation
economy?
A. Pakistan
B. India
C. C. Bangladesh
D. Nepal
*E. Sri Lanka
100.The Tamil and Sinhalese groups are currently in dispute over:
A. Kashmir
B. Jammu
*C. Sri Lanka
D. Dravidia
E. Delhi

101.The initial stage in the evolution of an insurgent state is the

stage of:
A. equilibrium
*B. contention
C. counteroffensive
D. subsequence
E. disintegration
102.The small group of islands 400 miles south of India are the:
A. Sri Lanka
B. Punjabs
*C. Maldives
D. Dravidians
E. Colombos

Chapter 8
South Asia
True-False
Introduction
1.

The population of Bangladesh is nearly 50 percent larger than that of Pakistan.

(F)

2.

India today is the worlds second most populous state. (T)

3.

Pakistan clearly should be included in South Asia. No reasonable argument

could be made to include it in the North African/Southwest Asian realm. (F)

A Realm of Poverty
4.

South Asia contains 20 percent of the worlds population, but two-thirds of its
poorest inhabitants. (T)

5.

The physiologic population density of a country is always lower than the

arithmetic density. (F)

6.

The doubling time of a population refers to the number of years it will take for
a population to receive new immigrants equal in number to its current
population. (F)

Physiographic Regions of South Asia

7. The three major rivers of South Asia are the Ganges, the Indus, and the
Nepalese. (F)

Page 14

South Asia

8.

The word India was derived from indus, which means river and was first
applied to the area that now forms the heart of Pakistan. (T)

9.

The Ghats are the southernmost range of the Himalayas. (F)

10. The Malabar-Konkan Coast of India contains the Eastern Ghats and the city of
Madras (Chennai). (F)
11. The ancient Indus civilization was a contemporary of, and interacted with,
ancient Mesopotamia. (T)
12. Southern India contains the Deccan plateau. (T)
13. The Ganges and Brahmaputra River valleys converge. (T)
14. India's climate is significantly influenced by wet monsoons. (T)

The Human Sequence

15. The Dravidian languages are the easternmost and southernmost
representatives of the Indo-European language family. (F)
16. The Indo-Europeans were known as Aryans. (T)
17. Dravidians are in the majority on the island formerly called Ceylon. (F)
18. The caste system has completely disappeared from Indian society. (T)
19. The Aryans brought the Sanskrit language with them which eventually
developed into many of the languages in South Asia. (T)

A_okas Mauryan Empire

20. The Mauryan Empire incorporated the majority of the Indian subcontinent,
emerging upon the decline of Greece. (T)
21. Prince A_oka was the founder of the Buddhist religion in the third century B.C.
(F)
22. The Mauryan Era was the first Indian empire to include most of the
subcontinent in one unit. (T)
23. Lahore, capital of Pakistan, was an Islamic center even during the Mauryan
period. (F)

The Power of Islam

South Asia

Page 15

24. Islam from the beginning was a faith alien to India, and the country
successfully resisted its penetration throughout history. (F)
25. Historically, the Islamic faith was never able to penetrate the Indian
subcontinent. (F)
26. Prince Siddhartha is better known as Muhammad in modern India. (F)
27. Less than 15 percent of the population in southern India became Muslim. (T)

The European Intrusion

28. The British East India Company administered India from 1728 until the country
became independent in 1947. (F)
29. The British East India Company was controlled by a consortium of British,
French, Dutch, and Portuguese merchants. (F)

Page 16

South Asia

30. The Sepoy Rebellion meant replacing the British East India Company with the
British government. (T)
31. More than 600 Native States with British advisors existed during colonial
times. (T)
32. India was an important Asian industrial center before the arrival of the British.
(T)
33. The British managed to unify the entirety of South Asia. (T)
34. One of the positives of British colonialism was the development of such cities
as Bombay (Mumbai), Calcutta, and Madras (Chennai). (T)
35. Throughout their history, the Sikhs have been fiercely pro-Muslim, and since
partition have desired to have their territory united with Pakistan. (F)
36. The Punjab area extends into Pakistan and India. (T)
37. During the partitioning of the Indian subcontinent in 1947, approximately 15
million people took part in migrations to and from India and Pakistan. (T)
38. Indias Muslim population now constitutes less than two percent of the
countrys population. (F)

Pakistan: The New Challenge

39. The majority of Kashmirs population is Hindu. (F)
40. The partition into Pakistan and India occurred soon after World War I. (F)
41. In Jammu and Kashmir, the traditional rulers have been Hindu, but the
population is about 75 percent Muslim. (T)
42. Karachi always has been the cultural and emotional focus of the Pakistani
nation. (F)
43. Lahore is the cultural heart of Pakistan. (T)
44. Karachi grew at a very fast rate as a result of an influx of refugees after
partition. (T)
45. Afghan irredentism has affected Pakistans mountainous northwest, where
Pathan residents within Pakistan are being encouraged to demand the creation
of a separate state. (T)

South Asia

Page 17

46. The Pathan irredentist movement in northern Pakistan is based on cultural

linkages to neighboring India. (F)
47. Pakistans textile industry has grown rapidly and now is a major export sector.
(T)
48. Pakistan has seen much success in its agricultural development and now
exports rice. (T)
49. Pakistan generally looked toward the Soviet Union in the cold war. (F)
50. The loss of Bangladesh from Pakistan after 1971 was no disaster to West
Pakistan. (T)

India: Fifty Years of Federation

51. In India, states in the east are generally smaller than those in the west. (T)
52. New Delhi, the capital of India is located within one of the five Uts. (F)
53. One of the reasons for Indias continued unity in the face of great cultural
diversity is the government's flexibility on such issues as language. (T)
54. English is the lingua franca of the business world of India. (T)
55. The Sikhs seek a separate state to be called Khalistan. (T)
56. Sikhism developed and is still based in the Punjab region. (T)
57. The caste system may well have a racial foundation since caste means color
in Sanskrit. (T)
58. The so-called untouchables of the Indian caste system are untouchable
because it is believed that they are directly descended from a Hindu god. (F)
59. After British rule ended, Indian leaders sought to reestablish the traditional
caste system which the British had tried to modify. (F)
60. The lowest-ranking social group in the Hindu caste system are the Brahmans.
(F)
61. Gandhis daughter, Indira, served as India's president in the years between her
fathers regime and the revolution led by Nehru that overthrew her
government in 1966. (F)
62. Compelling personalities of Gandhi and Nehru did much to unite India. (T)

Page 18

South Asia

63. Indias population of about 1 billion is growing at about 1.9 percent per year.
(T)
64. South Asias doubling time is now approximately 36 years. (T)
65. Demographic transition theory describes changes in birth rates, death rates,
and population growth over time. (T)
66. In the first stage of the demographic transition both birth rates and death rates
are high. (T)
67. In the second stage of the demographic transition, the population explosion
begins. (T)
68. Over 80 percent of Indians live in great, crowded cities like Calcutta, Madras
(Chennai), and Bombay (Mumbai). (F)
69. About 260 million Indians live in urban areas, although India is only about 26
percent urban. (T)
70. Animal-drawn carts still outnumber motor vehicles in India. (T)
71. Due to the Green Revolution and the introduction of miracle rice, India has
one of the highest average yields per acre of rice in the world. (F)
72. The great majority of Indias workers are employed in agriculture. (T)
73. The leading crop grown in the Punjab is wheat. (T)
74. Rice is the dominant crop in monsoon regions of southern India. (T)
75. Physiologic density, the amount of cultivated land per person, is decreasing as
Indias population continues to grow rapidly. (T)
76. Indias most densely populated areas also are the areas where rice is the
staple food. (T)
77. In 1947, only 2 percent of Indias workers were engaged in manufacturing and
mining. (T)
78. Unlike Pakistan and Bangladesh, very little cotton textile production takes place
in India. (F)
79. Calcutta anchors the Bihar-Bengal district where jute manufacturing is
important. (T)

South Asia

Page 19

80. Cotton textile production in the Ghats is helped by the availability of

hydroelectric power. (T)
81. Much of India's coal supply is found in the Chota Nagpur region and India is
among the worlds 10 leading coal producers. (T)
82. The west in India is now developing faster than the east. (T)
83. The Calcutta area is now Indias rustbelt as its industrial equipment is
outdated, uncompetitive, and in decline. (T)

Bangladesh: Persistent Poverty

84. The territory of Bangladesh is essentially the deltaic plain of the GangesBrahmaputra river system. (T)
85. Bangladesh and Pakistan together contain less than a third of Indias
population in the 1990s. (T)
86. Much of Bangladeshs land lies close to sea level, leaving the country prone to
frequent flooding. (T)
87. Bangladesh faces a nearly constant threat of famine because its soils are
generally infertile. (F)
88. Jute and tea are major cash crops in Bangladesh. (T)
89. Bangladesh, with a larger population than Pakistan, is about 85 percent
Muslim. (T)
90. Dhaka and Chittagong are the only large urban centers in the rural country of
Bangladesh. (T)
91. Bangladesh has suffered from repeated political uprisings and changes in its
government. (F)
92. Like India, Bangladesh is blessed with a very good internal transportation
system, one of the positive vestiges of British colonialism. (F)

The Mountainous North

93. Nepal and Bhutan are landlocked. (T)
94. Nepal today, because of deforestation and soil erosion, faces a serious

Page 20

South Asia

ecological crisis. (T)

95. About 90 percent of the population of Nepal are Hindus, although Buddhist
ideals are blended into their religious beliefs. (T)
96. Bhutan now has a representative government, whereas Nepal still has an
absolute monarchy. (F)
97. Nepalese form a significant minority in Bhutan. (T)
98. Bhutan is largely mountainous. (T)

Sri Lanka: South Asian Tragedy

99. Ceylon was formerly known as Sikkim. (F)
100. The majority of Sri Lankas people are Aryans, who trace their history to
ancient northern India. (T)
101. Like India, Sri Lanka is a predominantly Hindu country. (F)
102. Sri Lankas chief exports (tea, rubber, and rubber products) are produced on
plantations rather than small farms. (T)
103. Very little industrial development has occurred in Sri Lanka and that which has
is mostly clustered around the capital and major port of Colombo. (T)
104. Tea and jute are the most important Sri Lankan crops. (F)
105. Since 1974, Sinhalese extremists have been demanding nothing less than an
independent country of Eelam in the area around Colombo. (F)
106. The first stage in the insurgent state model is called contention. (T)
107. The Tamil people in Sri Lanka have established an insurgent state in the north.
(T)
108. The three stages of the insurgent state model are contention, equilibrium, and
counteroffensive. (T)
109. The Maldives are a group of about 100 small islands about 1,500 miles from
India. (T)

Matching

South Asia

Page 21

110. The name of the proposed Sikh homeland (A)

111 The minority Hindu population of Sri Lanka (B)
112. Forces that tend to hold a state together (D)
113. The mountainous escarpment along the margin of the Deccan Plateau (E)
114. Forces that tend to pull a state apart (C)
A. Khalistan
B. Tamil
C. Centrifugal
D. Centripetal
E. Ghats
115. Aryan Buddhist (B)
116. Bihar-Bengal industrial region (E)
117. Sikh religious capital (D)
118. Forward capital today (C)
119. India's lingua franca (A)
A. English
B. Sinhalese
C. Islamabad
D. Amritsar
E. Calcutta

Page 22

South Asia

120. Dravidian language (C)

121. Takeover of India by British government (A)
122. Holy city of Hindustan (D)
123. Disastrous 1971 typhoon (E )
124. Western Ghats (B)
A. Sepoy Rebellion
B. Malabar-Konkan Coast
C. Tamil
D. Varanasi
E. Bangladesh

Fill Ins
125. The lava-covered plateau extending across most of the southern portion of
India is the ________. (Deccan)
126. The lowland of far southeastern India that borders the Indian Ocean and
contains the city of Madras (Chennai) is called the __________ Coast.
(Coromandel)
127. The partitioning of the Indian subcontinent into the modern states of India and
Pakistan occurred in the year ___________. (1947)
128. The cultural focus of Islam in Pakistan today is the city of __________. (Lahore)
129. The social stratification that dominates Hindu India is known as the ________
system. (caste)
130. __________ forces bind a state together, unifying and strengthening its
foundations. (Centripetal)
131. The amount of cultivated land per person is known as the __________ density.
(physiological)
132. The __________ Revolution of the 1960s introduced miracle varieties of wheat
and rice that significantly increased the productivity of these crops. (Green)
133. The former state of East Pakistan, which separated from West Pakistan after a
brief war in 1971, is now called ____________. (Bangladesh)
134. The mountain range containing Mt. Everest, the worlds highest peak, is called
the _________. (Himalayas)