NewsTracker Answers for week of Sep. 21, 2015

Q: Indonesia has arrested executives from seven companies accused of being behind illegal fires causing widespread air pollution in the region. Where is the Southeast Asia island nation of Indonesia?

Circle the area on this map

Q: Every year corporations and small-scale farmers use the illegal slash-and-burn method to clear vegetation for palm oil, pulp and paper plantations. The smoke is causing trouble in Indonesia and its neighbors, including the city-state . . .

A. Bangkok

B. Jakarta

C. Kuala Lumpur

D. Singapore

D. The prosperous Singapore city-state is comprised of a diamond-shaped main island and more than 60 significantly smaller islets. It is located at the tip of the Malay Peninsula just across the Singapore Strait from Indonesia.

Q: Another neighbor, Malaysia, closed more than 2,000 schools because of the choking smoke which also blanketed that nation's capital . . .

A. Bangkok

B. Jakarta

C. Kuala Lumpur

D. Bandar Seri Begawan

C. With about 1.6 million people, Kuala Lumpur is among the fastest growing metropolitan regions in Southeast Asia, in terms of population and economy. Jakarta is the capital of Indonesia. Bangkok is the capital of Thailand, and Bandar Seri Begawan is the capital of Brunei. Those nations also have been affected by the smoke.

Q: While fires and logging cause large-scale deforestation, environmental issues in Indonesia often take a lower priority to coping with high levels of poverty in the world's fourth most populous nation. Which nation is the world's third most populous nation?

A. United States

B. Russia

C. China

D. India

A. With nearly 320 million people, the United States ranks behind India's population of 1.2 billion and China's 1.3 billion. Indonesia's 255 million people live on a land area less than a fifth the size of the U.S. Indonesia's island of Java is one of the most densely populated areas in the world. Half the nation's people live on Java.

Q: Most of the fires have been set on the islands of Sumatra and Borneo, two of Indonesia's 17,508 islands, some 6,000 of which are inhabited. Indonesia shares the island of Borneo with the small nation of Brunei and . . .

A. Australia

B. Malaysia

C. Philippines

D. Papua New Guinea

B. Indonesia shares land borders with Malaysia on Borneo and Papua New Guinea on the island of New Guinea. Australia and the Philippines are maritime neighbors of Indonesia.