Australia, Antarctica, & Pacific Islands Geography Quiz

The thing to remember is that Antarctica is south of everywhere.

New Zealand is Australia’s southeastern neighbor.

The Pacific islands are grouped into three regions—Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia. Polynesia has more than one thousand islands. Some are sovereign and some are not.

About one-fifth of Australia is desert, which makes desert that country’s largest climate zone.

New Zealand is mountainous. Herding is part of the traditional way of life.

Like New Zealand, the Pacific islands were created by volcanic eruptions. Many still have active volcanoes.

Either or both theories may be correct. A land bridge may have formed during the ice age.

An outrigger canoe is a large canoe with additional floatation devices (outriggers) that make it possible to stay afloat in the ocean. Sails are used to increase speed.

Australia was a penal colony. British courts gave convicted felons a choice in the nineteenth century—go to an inhumane prison or become a farmer in Australia.

Assisted migration was the Australian equivalent of the American policy of forcing Native Americans to live on reservations.

Like Native Americans, the population of Aborigines is much smaller today than when Europeans arrived, but both peoples are growing in numbers.

Because fragmented countries, like Indonesia and other Pacific island countries are separated by water, their people may not see themselves as having anything in common. That perception makes it hard to unify people.

APEC promotes free and trade, intraregional investment, regional economic integration, and a favorable and sustainable business environment.

Rabbits were accidentally introduced by Europeans in the nineteenth century. Having few natural predators in Australia, they bred rapidly and became wild animals, destroying native plants throughout Australia. They are considered a major environmental threat.

The Great Barrier Reef is dying and may soon be lost due to environmental changes and poisoning of the water caused by all three of these.

Adventure travel is a type of niche tourism, involving exploration or travel in an unusual, exotic, remote, or wilderness destination. It brings in foreign money (C), but can be bad for the environment (B), though it does not have to be. Typically, there is no cultural exchange involved (A) and (D).

Oral history is an important part of Polynesian culture.

Antarctica is very dry because it is too cold for precipitation. It is also very windy, and has a very high elevation even in areas that are not mountainous.

Though some countries have claimed parts of Antarctica, no one has colonized it because it is too cold and has no way to grow food, which rules out (B) and (D). Likewise, mining (A) would be difficult. It is to be used for scientific purposed only (C).

Alaska is the eastern most state in the Union because it crosses into the western hemisphere. However, it is not the U.S. territory that is immediately west of the International Date Line, which is where the day begins. That location belongs to Wake Island, which is part of Micronesia. Wake Island’s motto is “Where America’s Day Really Begins.” The island is administered by the U.S. Airforce. Less than one hundred people live there, and access to the island is restricted. Hawaii and Guam are Polynesian islands. The U.S. has no territories in Melanesia.