Sunday quiz How much do you know about the world
1 / 10 |
On November 28, 1843, the British and French governments formally recognised the independence of this Island nation, becoming the first non-European indigenous state recognized by these powers. Earlier known as the Sandwich Islands, it is a group of eight major islands and numerous smaller ones stretching more than 2400 km across. The islands are the exposed peaks of a massive undersea mountain range of volcanoes, which also includes the tallest mountain on earth. Which islands are these that are the only state in their country to not have a straight line in its borders?
2 / 10 |
Due to its isolation, a third of the plant life on the island of Socotra is found nowhere else on the planet and has been described as the “most alien-looking place on earth”. Every plant on the island is on the critically endangered list and 94% of the animals are not found anywhere else on the planet. The most striking is the Dragon’s Blood Tree, which has bright red sap and looks like a giant umbrella. Politically this UNESCO World Heritage site is part of which country whose capital is Aden?
3 / 10 |
The Canary Islands are a Spanish archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean, which are a major tourist destination due to the beaches, tropical climate and the third tallest volcano in the world. Although one would expect the island to be named after a common yellow bird, the islands were actually named by the Romans as ‘Insula Canaria’, because they saw quite a lot of a certain kind of animals here. What animals are these which also appear on their flag or what does ‘Insula Canaria’ mean?
4 / 10 |
The flag of Iceland has been in use since 1918. It has three colours which represent the three elements that make up the island. The first colour stands for the fire produced by the island’s volcanoes, second for the ice and snow that covers Iceland and third for the mountains there. What are the three colours of the flag?
5 / 10 |
The island nation of Nauru raised its flag for the first time on 31 January 1968. The flag has a gold horizontal stripe which runs across a blue field. Nauru itself is symbolised by a white twelve-pointed star (each point represents one of the twelve indigenous tribes on the island) that is placed just below the gold line. Since this is a symbolically accurate depiction of Nauru’s geographical position, what does the gold line refer to?
6 / 10 |
The United Kingdom refers to the country comprising of Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and England. However, Northern Ireland lies on the separate island of Ireland. What is the name of the geographic entity of the island that is made up of Scotland, Wales and England?
7 / 10 |
North America is the most recently colonised continent and has 23 countries. It is the only continent with no landlocked countries, as all of them have access to at least one major water body. Which is the biggest island (in the world) that belongs to the continent of North America and is known for its sharks that live to 500 years?
8 / 10 |
The Republic of Kiribati is an archipelago in the Pacific Ocean, consisting of 33 reef islands and one large island. The total exclusive economic zone (the ocean area over which they have rights) covered by this country is about 3.5 million square kilometres. Kiribati is geographically special, as the spread of the islands cover both sides of the equator (latitude) and the 180th meridian (longitude). What unique status does this give Kiribati?
Answer : It is the only nation that occupies all four hemispheres — northern, southern, eastern and western
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9 / 10 |
Taal Lake has a very interesting location — it is located on an island that is in a lake, which is on an island in a lake and this lake is located on an island! Taal Lake itself lies in the hollow of the crater of a volcano. The country is located on what is known as the Pacific Ring of Fire, for its abundance of volcanoes. In which country is this nested lake located?
10 / 10 |
The Big Diomede and the Little Diomede are two neighbouring islands that are only 3.8 km apart but belong to two different countries on two different continents — the United States in North America and Russia in Asia. In addition to being the closest point of contact between two countries, the two islands share another unique relationship. Despite being only 3.8 km apart, one is in the past and the other is in the future. What goes through the gap between them that causes this strange situation?