ICSE CLASS 8 GEOGRAPHY // ASIA LOCATION AND EXTENT 

A. Fill in the blanks

1.      A mountain range in South-west Asia that separates Asia from Europe : Caucasus mountains.

2.      I am a plain formed by the rivers Ob, Yenisei, and Lena :Great Siberian Plain or Northern Lowlands.

3.      An area of inland drainage into which the Amu Darya and, Syr Darya drain : Turan Plain.

4.      I am a small zone from which several mountain ranges appear to radiate out: Pamir Knot.

5.      A plateau that lies between the Alborz and Zagros mountain ranges : Plateau of Iran.

B. Match the following

Answer:

C. State whether the following are true or false

1. Together with Europe, Asia is often referred to as Eurasia.
Answer. True.

2. Most of the Asian countries gained independence only after World War I.
Answer. False.
Most of the Asian countries gained independence only after World War II.

3. Three rivers which flow northwards into the Arctic Ocean are the Ganga, the Brahmaputra and the Yamuna.
Answer. False.
Three rivers which flow northwards into the Arctic Ocean are the Ob, the Yenisei and the Lena.

4. The Karakoram Range is a short range, which extends south-eastwards from the Pamir Knot between the Kunlun and the Himalayas.
Answer. True.

5. The Deccan Plateau of India lies between the Western Ghats and the Eastern Ghats.
Answer. True.

D. Answer the following questions in brief

Question 1.
Name the geographical features that border Asia in the north, south, east, and west.
Answer:
To the West of Asia are Ural mountains and the Caspian Sea. To the South-West are the Caucasus Mountains. To the North of Asia lies Arctic Ocean. To East lies the Pacific Ocean and to the south of Asia is Indian Ocean.

Question 2.
What do you understand by the term ‘archipelago ? Give two examples from the Pacific Ocean.
Answer:
Archipelago means a group of islands. Two examples in the Pacific Ocean are Japan and Philippines.

Question 3.
Name the rivers of the Great Siberian Plain.
Answer:
Rivers Ob, Yenisei and Lena have together built the Great Siberian Plain.

Question 4.
What kind of plateau is the Plateau of Tibet ?
Answer:
The Plateau of Tibet is an inter-mountain plateau, i.e., a plateau located between mountain ranges. It lies between the Kunlun and the Himalayas. The Plateau of Tibet, is also called the ‘Roof of the World’ as it is the highest flat land in the world.

Question 5.
In which country of Asia are the Mesopotamian plains situated ?
Answer:
The Mesopotanian plains are situated in Iraq.

E. Answer the following questions in detail

Question 1.
Describe the location of Asia.
Answer:
Asia lies almost wholly in the northern and eastern hemisphere. It is separated from Europe by the Ural Mountains and the Caspian Sea in the west and the Caucasus Mountain in the South-West. The Arctic Ocean lies to the north of Asia, the Pacific Ocean to the east and the Indian Ocean to the South of Asia.
Latitudinally, Asia extends from 10°S to 80°N, (8690 km). It east-west extent is 9,700 km, from 25°E to about 170°W. There are 48 independent countries in Asia. They vary in size from Russia, China and India which are the largest to Singapore, the Maldives and Bahrain which are the smallest. Some countries consist of group of islands like Japan, Philippines and Indonesia.

Question 2.
Describe the Northern Lowlands of Asia.
Answer:
The Northern Lowlands of Asia extend from the Ural Mountains in the west up to the Bering Strait in the north-east. These lowlands are traingular in shape and widest in the west. Lying between the Arctic Ocean in the north and the Central Mountains in the south,they form the world’s greatest continuous plains. Three rivers which flow northwards into the Arctic Ocean — Ob, Yenisey and Lena, have together built this plain. These marshy and swampy lowlands are also called as the Great Siberian plain. The lower courses and mouths of the rivers freeze in winter. So, water coming from the upper courses in warmer latitudes spreads out over large part of the plains. Another low lying land exists south of the Siberian Plains in Central Asia called as the Turan Plain. This plain is an area of inland drainage and is drained by rivers AmuDarya and SyrDarya.

Question 3.
Explain why the Pami Knot is called so. Write briefly about the mountain ranges that radiate from the Pamir Knot.
Answer:
Pamir Knot is called so because many mountain ranges appear to radiate outwards in different directions from this small zone. To the east of the Pamir Knot extend the Kunlun mountains and to the north extend the Tien Shan mountains. The Himalayas emerge from the Pamir Knot towards south-east direction. The Karakoram Range extends south-eastwards from the Pamir Knot between the Kunlun and the Himalayas. To the west of the Pamir Knot lies the Hindu Kush Range
and to the south-west radiates the Sulaiman Range.

Question 4.
Write briefly about the Arabian Plateau and the Deccan Plateau.
Answer:
The Arabian Plateau in Asia is steeper in the west but gently slopes eastwards towards the Persian Gulf. It is a dry plateau as it is in the region of low rainfall and has no rivers. It grew in importance to the rest of the world after petroleum reserves were discovered here.
The Deccan Plateau of India lies between the Western Ghats and the Eastern Ghats. It is steeper and higher along the Arabian Sea in the west but slopes gently towards the Bay of Bengal in the east. A number of rivers flow across this plateau like Godawari, Indravati, Krishna, Kaveri.

Question 5.
Describe the river valleys of Asia.
Answer:
The snow-fed and perennial rivers from the mountains form the river valleys which are very fertile and densely populated. Some of the river valleys of Asia are :

1.      The Mesopotamian plains in Iraq consist of the land between the two rivers – Tigris and Euphrates.

2.      The Ganga – Brahmaputra plains spread across north India and Bangladesh. It is built by the rivers Ganga and Brahmaputra.

3.      Plains in China are built up by the three big rivers — Huang He, Chang Jiang and Si Kiang.

4.      The Manchurian Plain is formed by river Amur.

5.      Plains of Indo-China are formed by the rivers Mekong and Menam.

6.      Large plain in Myanmar is formed by river Irrawaddy.

7.      Plains of Pakistan and Punjab are built by the river Indus and its five tributaries.

F. Picture study
The mountain peak seen in the picture is the highest peak in the world.

Question 1.
What is the height of this peak ?
Answer:
8850 m

Question 2.
In which mountain range does it lie ?
Answer:
Himalayas

G Map study
On an outline map of Asia, mark and name the following

1.      Rivers — Amur, Ob, Chang Jiang

2.      Gulfs — Persian Gulf, Gulf of Martaban

3.      Straits — Bering Strait, Strait of Malacca

4.      Seas — Arabian Sea, Caspian Sea, Sea of Japan

5.      Oceans — Arctic, Pacific, Indian

6.      Mountain ranges — Himalayas, Urals, Hindukush

7.      Write ROOF OF THE WORLD and GREAT SIBERIAN PLAIN in appropriate places on the map.

Answer:

Extra Questions

Question 1.
What do you mean by Eurasia ?
Answer:
The land mass of Europe and Asia as a whole is called Eurasia. (Europe + Asia—Eurasia)

Question 2.
What are perennial rivers ?
Answer:
Perennial rivers are rivers that flow throughout the year, even in the dry season.

Question 3.
Name the five physical regions of Asia
Answer:
Asia is broadly divided into five physical regions

1.      The Northern Lowlands (The Great Siberian Plain)

2.      The Central Fold Mountains and Inter-mountane Plateaux.

3.      The Southern Plateaux

4.      The Great River Valleys

5.      The Island Chains

Question 4.
Which mountain range has some of the world’s highest peaks ?
Answer:
The Karakoram Range

Question 5.
Name the plateaux (plural of plateau) of the Southern Plateaux of Asia.
Answer:
The Southern Plateaux include the Arabian Plateau, the Deccan Plateau, the shan plateau and the Yunnan Plateau.

Question 6.
Name the rivers that have built the Great River Valleys of Asia.
Answer:
The Great River Valleys of Asia have been built by the rivers Tigeris, Euphrates, Indus, Ganga, Brahmaputra, Chao Phraya or Menam, Chang Jiang or Yangtze, Huang He and Si Kiang. Small Plains have been formed along the rivers Irrawaddy, Salween, MeKong and Amur.

Question 7.
Write a note on the Island Chains of Asia.
Answer:
A series of island chains lies to the east and south-east of mainland Asia forming archipelagoes (group of islands) in an arc shape. The islands from the tip of the Kamchatka Peninsula in the Pacific Ocean are the Kuril Islands, the Japanese Islands (Hokkaido, Honshu, Shikoku and Kyushu), the Rhyukyu Islands, the Philippines, and the Indonesian Islands. The Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Sri Lanka, the Maldives and the Lakshadweep Islands are in South Asia.

Question 8.
Which is the largest and the smallest country in Asia ?
Answer:
Largest country in Asia — Russia
Smallest country in Asia — The Maldives

Question 9.
Name the following (in Asia)

1.      Most industrialized country –

2.      Highest elevation

3.      Highest Plateau

4.      Lowest point

5.      Deepest sea

6.      Deepest lake

7.      Longest strait

8.      Coldest Place

9.      Warmest place

10. Number of countries in Asia

Answer:

1.      Japan

2.      Mount Everest (8,850 m)

3.      The Plateau of Tibet (‘THE ROOF OF THE WORLD’)

4.      The Dead Sea (400 m below sea level)

5.      The South China Sea

6.      Lake Baikal

7.      The strait of Malacca

8.      Verkhoyansk, Russia (-70°C)

9.      Dasht-e Lut (Iran)

10. 48

Question 10.
What are the six regional divisions of Asia ?
Answer:
The six regional divisions of Asia are :

1.      East Asia — It consists of China, North Korea, South Korea, Japan, Taiwan and Mongolia.

2.      North Russia — It includes the Asian part of Russia (Siberia and the Russian far East).

3.      Central Asia — It consists of several landlocked countries like Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyztan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Afghanistan.

4.      South-East Asia — The countries of South-East Asia fall into two different sections. The northern part consists of Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Thailand and Myanmar. The Southern part consists of the island countries of Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei, Indonesia, East Timor and the Philippines.

5.      South Asia — It consists of India, Pakistan, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, Bangladesh and the island country of Maldives. ‘

6.      West Asia — It comprises of Armenia, UAE (United ArabEmirates), Yemen, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Lebanon, Oman, Cyprus, Syria, Turkey, Georgia, Iran, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Qatar and Saudi Arabia.

Question 11.
Name some important cities of East Asia.
Answer:
East Asia has some of the world’s busiest cities such as Tokyo, Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Kong.

Question 12.
Which are the two main rivers of Central Asia and why are they important ?
Answer:
The two main rivers of the Central Asia are the Amu Darya and the Syr Darya. The rivers are very important to the Central Asian countries as the region remains quite dry for most of the year. 60% of Central Asia is deserts.

Question 13.
Write a short note on South Asia.
Answer:
South Asia refers to the Southern Asian countries of India, Pakistan, Nepal, SriLanka, Bhutan, Bangladesh and the island country of Maldives. This region is home to about one fifth of the world’s population and is the most densely population region in the world. It is bounded in the north by the Himalayan mountains, to the east by the Bay of Bengal, to the West by the Arabian Sea and to the South by the Indian Ocean. South Asia has a wide variety of natural vegetation and wildlife.

Question 14.
Why is West Asia not densely populated ?
Answer:
West Asia is not densely populated because of its inhospitable climate.

Question 15.
Why is the Plateau of Tibet called the ‘Roof of the World’?
Answer:
The Plateau of Tibet is called the ‘Roof of the World’ as it is the highest flat land in the world at an average height of 4,880 m above sea level.

Question 16.
Which is the highest and the second highest peak in the world and where are they situated ?
Answer:
Mt. Everest (8,850 m) in the Himalayas is the highest peak in the world and Mt K2 or Godwin Austin (8,611 m) in the Karakoram Range is the world’s second highest peak.

Question 17.
Name few glaciers found in Himalayas and Karakoram range of mountains.
Answer:
Siachen glacier Baltoro glacier

Question 18.
Name few passes in the Central Fold Mountains and Inter – Montane Plateaux which allow the movements of goods and people across the mountains.
Answer:
Khyber pass, Bolan pass and Solan pass.

Question 19.
Why did the Arabian Plateau become important to the rest of the world ?
Answer:
The Arabian Plateau became important to the rest of the world after petroleum reserves were discovered here in the 20th century.

Question 20.
Why are the fertile river valleys and plains of Asia and such as the Mesopotamian Plains, the Indo-Gangetic Plains and the Great Plains of China called the cradles of civilization ?
Answer:
This is because the earliest civilization developed along these river banks.

Question 21.
What makes Asia a continent of contrasts ?
Answer:
The outstanding feature of the geography of Asia is the great variety and diversity in physical, cultural and economic characteristics. This makes it a continent of contrasts.

22. Fill in the blanks

1.      Asia lies wholly in the northern and eastern hemispheres.

2.      Together with Europe, Asia is called as Eurasia.

3.      Pacific Ocean lies to the east and Indian Ocean to the south of Asia.

4.      There is a time difference about 11 hours between the Anatolian Plateau (Asia Minor) in the west and the Pacific Coast in the east of Asia.

5.      There are 48 independent countries in Asia.

6.      Asia is the largest continent in the world.

7.      Asia occupies one-third of the total land area and three-fifths of the total population of the world.

8.      USSR broke up into several independent republics in 1991, some of which are in Europe and some in Asia now.

9.      North Asia is divided by a long mountain range known as the Ural Mountains.

10. Siberia lies in the East of Ural Mountains.

11. The two main rivers of Central Asia are the Amu Darya and the SyrDarya.

12. South Asia is the most densely populated region in the world.

13. The Northern Lowlands (the Great Siberian Plain) are the world’s greatest continuous plains.

14. The Himalayas emerge from the Pamir Knot in south-east direction.

15. Mt Everest, the world’s highest peak lies on the border between Nepal and the Tibet Autonomous Region of China.

16. The Arabian Plateau is a dry plateau as it is in the region of low rainfall and no rivers.

17. Punjab is also called as the land of five rivers.

18. The Chang Jiang (Yangtze) is Asia’s longest river.

19. The Lakshadweep Islands and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands are in South Asia.

20. The Maldives is the smallest country in Asia.

21. The zone from where the mountain ranges appear to radiate outwards in different directions in the Central Fold mountains in Asia is called Pamir Knot.