Crossing the Line Trivia Quiz

Answer: Canada

The total length of the border between the United States and Canada is 5,525 miles which also makes it the longest border between two countries. It is undefended in the military sense of the word; it is monitored by border patrol agents of both countries. The border was first set by the Treaty of Paris in 1783 which ended the American Revolutionary War.

Answer: Windsor, Ontario

Windsor is actually south of Detroit. The two cities are separated by the Detroit River which is a part of the St Lawrence Seaway which allows ships to travel from the Atlantic Ocean to Lake Superior. It is not a continuous canal but rather is a series of rivers, canals and locks that allows traffic to bypass dams and rapids.

Answer: Kenya

Mt Kilimanjaro is the highest mountain in Africa and is located in Tanzania. It is a dormant volcano that rises 19,341 feet above sea level. It is located near the border with Kenya. Queen Elizabeth was vacationing in Kenya with her husband Prince Phillip when her father King George VI died, so she had to cut her vacation short to claim the throne.

Answer: Argentina

The Equator is about 24,901 miles in length and passes through a total of 11 countries. In South America is passes through Ecuador, Colombia and Brazil. The majority of it passes over ocean. The precise location is not a fixed point. Due to the Earth's rotation the true equatorial plane that is perpendicular to the Earth's axis wobbles about 30 feet over the course of a year.

Answer: Berlin

Checkpoint Charlie was located in the Friedrichstadt neighborhood of Berlin. It was a crossing point in the Berlin Wall. It is called Charlie because Charlie represents the letter C in the NATO phonetic alphabet. There is also a Checkpoint A, B and so on.

It was the single crossing point for foreigners and Allied Officials. Due to it being the most well known crossing point, it has been featured in many novels and movies such as the 1983 James Bond movie "Octopussy". A museum now stands near its former location.

Answer: Rio Grande

The Rio Grande begins in Colorado and flows into the Gulf of Mexico. It forms part of the border between Mexico and Texas. There are three international bridges that span the Rio Grande in Brownsville.

Answer: Morocco

Gibraltar is a British overseas territory on the Iberian Peninsula. The Rock of Gibraltar is a large limestone formation that reaches almost 1,400 feet. It was known as the Pillars of Hercules by the Romans. Gibraltar is separated from Morocco by a nine mile strip of water known as the Strait of Gibraltar. The Strait separates the Atlantic Ocean from the Mediterranean Sea.

Answer: Dominican Republic

The island of Hispaniola is one of two islands that are shared by two nations. Haiti occupies the western side and the Dominican Republic the east. St Martin is the other shared island, with one half being French (Saint Martin) and the other half belonging to the Netherlands (Sint Maarten).

Hispaniola is the island that Christopher Columbus landed on during his first voyage to the New World in 1492. Haiti declared its independence from France on January 1, 1804. The Dominican Republic initially declared its independence from Haiti in 1844 and is on its 39th constitution, which was ratified in 1966.

Answer: France

The Maginot Line was a series of fortifications in France along its border with Italy, Luxembourg, Switzerland and Germany. It was built in the 1930s in an attempt to prevent a cross border attack from Germany. It did not extend to the border with Belgium because the French plan was to move into Belgium to meet the German Army if it invaded.

The Germans did come through Belgium and they came so quickly that France had no time to move its army. Germany was able to defeat the Maginot Line by just going around it.

Answer: The Equator

In the US Navy (along with many other navies) an initiation rite called the "Line Crossing Ceremony" is done to signify the sailors first crossing of the equator. The pollywogs receive a subpoena to appear before King Neptune's Court which consists of shellbacks or sailors that have already crossed the equator.

The ritual consists of a series of tasks and trials designed to embarrass the pollywogs. Once the festivities end, the pollywogs are promoted to shellbacks and receive a certificate denoting their shellback status.

Many other navies and merchant vessels have similar ceremonies.