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INDEX

Asia 1

1. 601-1 Azerbaijan 1 444

2. 601-2 Azerbaijan 2 444

3. 619-1 Kazakhstan 1 444

4. 619-2 Kazakhstan 2 444

5. 638-1 Solomon Islands 1 444

6. 638-2 Solomon Islands 2 444

 
PETERSON MEANING CLUSTERS
ASIA: AZERBAIJAN 1 444
 
Azerbaijan is located
north of Iran
on the Caspian Sea.
 

The country’s heritage

descends from two

ancient civilizations—

the Seljuk Turks

and the Persian Empire.

In 642 A.D.

the Arabs

conquered the country

and converted its people

to Islam.

After the decline

of the Arab Empire,

the country was ravaged

by Mongol invaders.

Persia ruled next,

then split Azerbaijan

with Russia

in 1828.

The country’s oil wealth

was exploited

to create prosperity

in the period

before World War I.

At the collapse

of the Russian Empire

in 1917,

Azerbaijan enjoyed

a brief independence.

It was taken over

by the Red Army

in 1922,

and became

a soviet republic.

Azerbaijan broke away

from the U.S.S.R.

in 1991.

Source: U.S. State Department

E-learning format by Carl Peterson

Copyright 2007

PETERSON MEANING CLUSTERS
ASIA: 
AZERBAIJAN 2 444
 

After declaring

its independence,

Azerbaijan began

a territory dispute

with Armenia.

The area claimed

by both countries

is called

Nagorno-Karabakh.

The population

of this enclave

is largely Armenian.

A cease-fire was declared

in 1994,

but the two countries

have not yet resolved

this conflict.

Azerbaijan has lost

sixteen percent

of its territory.

It must support

528,000

displaced persons

as a result

of the dispute.

Corruption is rampant,

and the promise

of widespread wealth

from petroleum reserves

is largely unfulfilled.

Source: U.S. Central Intelligence Agency

E-learning format by Carl Peterson

Copyright 2007

PETERSON MEANING CLUSTERS
ASIA: 
KAZAKHSTAN 1 444
 
The area

now called Kazakhstan

has been inhabited

since at least as far back

as the Stone Age.

In the 13^th century

the Mongols invaded

and built cities

along the northern route

of the Great Silk Road.

By the late

18^th century,

tsarist Russia began

to colonize the region.

The Soviet Union

swallowed the region

in the 1920s.

In 1953,

Russian Premier Khrushchev

started the ambitious

"Virgin Lands" program.

This converted

traditional pasturelands

into major grain-producers

and sped up development

of agriculture.

To this day farming

remains the main source

of livelihood

for many Kazakhs.

Source: U.S. State Department

E-learning format by Carl Peterson

Copyright 2007

PETERSON MEANING CLUSTERS
ASIA: KAZAKHSTAN 2 444

Growing tensions

in Soviet society

sparked a demand

for political

and economic reforms.

In 1986,

young ethnic Kazakhs

in Almaty

protested the methods

of the communist system.

Soviet troops

jailed dozens

of demonstrators.

In the waning days

of Soviet rule,

public protests flared

under Gorbachev's policy

of glasnost.

After a coup attempt

in Moscow failed

in 1991,

the Soviet Union

broke up.

Kazakhstan declared

its independence

that December,

and is now developing

a market economy.

Economic growth

is fueled in part

by large reserves

of oil, gas,

and minerals.

Source: U.S. State Department

E-learning format by Carl Peterson

Copyright 2007

PETERSON MEANING CLUSTERS
ASIA: SOLOMON ISLANDS 1 444
 

The Solomon Islands

form an archipelago

in the Southwest Pacific

1,200 miles northeast

of Australia.

The terrain ranges

from rugged mountains

to low-lying

coral atolls.

The first European

to discover the Solomons

was the Spanish explorer

Alvaro de Mendana.

He set out from Peru

in 1567

to seek the legendary

“Isles of Solomon.”

Missionaries began

to visit the Solomons

in the mid-1800s,

but progress was slow.

So-called “blackbirding”--

the brutal recruitment

of island laborers

to work sugar plantations--

provoked violent reprisals.

But missionaries

eventually converted

most Solomon Islanders

to Christianity.

Economic growth

was very slow.

Source: U.S. State Department

E-learning format by Carl Peterson

Copyright 2007

PETERSON MEANING CLUSTERS
ASIA: SOLOMON ISLANDS 2 444

During World War II

the Solomons witnessed

many horrific battles.

U.S. forces landed

on Guadalcanal

virtually unopposed

in August 1942.

But they were soon engaged

in a bloody fight

for control

of the islands' airstrip.

One of the most furious

sea battles ever fought

took place

off Savo Island,

that same summer.

Over 7,000

American troops

and 21,000

Japanese defenders

died there.

Following World War II,

British colonial

rule returned.

Indigenous protest groups

opposing British rule

slowly brought about

“evolutionary” change.

Since 1978

a parliamentary

democracy has governed.

Source: U.S. State Department

E-learning format by Carl Peterson

Copyright 2007