World Hot Spots, 1999-2001 Trivia Quiz

Answer: Uzbekistan

Located midway between Portugal and Japan, Uzbekistan is a pleasing mixture of Eastern and Western cultures.

Answer: Chechnya

Chechnya is a republic in southern Russia which has been fighting for its independence from Russia. The bloody 1994-1996 war ended in a stalemate. Russia again attacked Chechnya in the Fall of 1999, and after almost 5 months of fighting captured its capital, Grozny, on Feb. 6, 2000.

The West condemned Russia'a actions, and Russia eventually softened its ultimatum that Grozny be completely evacuated.

Answer: Yellow Sea

The 1953 demarcation line juts north through the Yellow Sea so as to give a number of small islands to South Korea. Fortunately the dispute over control of these islands has not yet erupted into a shooting war.

Answer: Tibet

'Pendebas' is Tibetan for 'one who does good deeds'. Similar to the U.S. Peace Corps, the pendebas are working with rural peasants to improve their lives, as part of a settlement of a dispute between the government and the peasants over the destruction of the forest and wildlife that has historically provided their livelihood.

Answer: Panama Canal

A 1977 treaty set up joint U.S.-Panamanian control of the canal, with full control to be turned over to Panama at the end of 1999.

Answer: Tonga

Located 1,200 miles northeast of New Zealand, and just west of the International Dateline, this tiny country was the first, and is now the last, Polynesian kingdom. It is considered the best place to observe Polynesian culture still largely intact.

Answer: Ethiopia

Although Eritrea finally gained its independence from Ethiopia in 1991, the two countries have been engaged in a border war described metaphorically as 'two bald men fighting over a comb', because the argument is over a piece of barren land sometimes described as 'a pile of rocks'.

Answer: Burkina Faso

The traditional Gurunsi family lives in a compound of dwellings set in a circle around a courtyard. The fortress like design of the villages is a manifestation of their independent nature, and of their isolation from Western influence.

Answer: Yemen

The remaining five countries are the United States, Iran, Nigeria, Pakistan, and Saudi Arabia.

Answer: Afghanistan

The Taliban is a religious army which took control of Afghanistan. During their reign they imposed severe restrictions on the activities of the Afghan people, such as banning TVs, VCRs, music and dancing. Women were beaten for going outdoors without a male relative. Critics say the Taliban edicts were rooted more in tribal traditions than in the Koran. Thankfully, this brutal regime has now been ousted.

Answer: Sri Lanka

Historically there have been two distinct kingdoms on the island of Sri Lanka (formerly known as Ceylon): the Tamil kingdom in the North, and the Sinhala kingdom in the South. For ease of administration the British combined the two nations into a single entity.

Then when independence was granted to Ceylon in 1948, control over the island was given to the Sinhalese, who have oppressed the Tamils ever since.

Answer: Myanmar

In a depressingly familiar scenario, ethnic strife followed independence from Britain in 1948 in the country of Myanmar (formerly called Burma). The government claims that there are 135 different races in the country, and ceasefires have been negotiated with 17 different ethnic groups. The Karen, however, carry on the struggle, although many have fled to neighboring Thailand.

Answer: Democratic Republic of the Congo

Kabila, who came to power in 1997 after overthrowing the longtime dictator Mobutu, was the victim of a coup, shot by one of his bodyguards.

Answer: Philippines

The four-count impeachment complaint filed in October of 2000 accused Estrada of bribery and corruption. With his support crumbling, Estrada stepped down a few months later, reminiscent of the ousting of Marcos in 1986.

Answer: Lithuania

Lithuania was the first Baltic republic to proclaim its independence from the Soviet Union, doing so in 1990. The Soviet Union finally recognized Lithuania's independence a year later. The stone marking the center of Europe is located in eastern Lithuania, near the capital of Vilnius.

Answer: a bridge and tunnel route between Denmark and Sweden

The $4 billion dollar, 10-mile route was opened in July of 2000, cutting the time down for cars from the more than an hour it takes by ferry, to only 20 minutes. It marks the first transcontinental land link through Western Europe from the Arctic Circle to the Mediterranean Sea.

Answer: Maine and New Hampshire

The dispute was over the 201-year-old Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, which is located on a 297-acre island in the middle of the Piscataqua River which separates the two states. At stake was the {$5} million dollars in Maine state income tax paid by the 1,300 New Hampshire residents who work at the shipyard.

The Court rather quickly ruled against New Hampshire, citing a 1740 decree signed by King George II, and a 1977 decision settling a lobster fishing dispute between the two states.

Answer: Damascus

Currently the capital of Syria, Damascus is known to have been a thriving city in the third millennium B.C.

Answer: Papua New Guinea

About 800 Peace Corps volunteers have worked in Papua New Guinea since 1981, but in June of 2001 the decision to withdraw from the country was made because of crime and security problems.

Answer: Alaska

The cruises through the island area south of Juneau are so popular that the state was compelled to take action to reduce the pollution being generated.

Answer: a Confederate submarine

The Hunley is historically significant as the first submarine successfully used in battle. It sank in February 17, 1864, in the aftermath of its maiden attack. It was discovered in 1995 off Sullivan's Island, South Carolina, and was finally raised in 2000.

Answer: Sierra Leone

The United Nations has sent peacekeeping troops to Sierra Leone to help enforce the tenuous ceasefire.

Answer: India and Pakistan

Kashmir, known as 'the Switzerland of the East' for its mountains and natural beauty, has been the subject of dispute since the independence of India and Pakistan from Britain in 1947.

Answer: Turkey

Answer: Albanians

The term means 'Albanian Domain'. The first independent state of Albania was created in 1912, but it excluded about 45 percent of the ethnic Albanian population. That figure still roughly applies today, with the 45 percent found in neighboring Kosovo and Macedonia.