Everybody Needs Good Neighbours: Odd One Out Quiz

Answer: Belgium

The full list of eight is Germany, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Slovenia, Italy, Switzerland and Lichtenstein.

Location and geography played a huge part in the importance of Austria down through the centuries. It was a centre for transport along the Danube River between West and East and through its mountainous valleys between North and South.

It was also the centre of the Austro-Hungarian Empire from the early 1800s until the end of World War One.

The country produced many notable figures in the worlds of music, science and the arts.

Answer: Texas

Kansas is bordered by Nebraska to the north, Missouri to the east, Oklahoma to the south, and Colorado to the west.

If you end up in Kansas you can visit a yellow brick road in the town of Liberal, where there is a museum devoted to the movie "The Wizard of Oz".

Kansas, The Sunflower State, was noted in older times for wheat production and oil wells. It was the native state of many actors, politicians, sportspeople and explorers.

The exact geographic centre of contiguous 48 states is located about two miles northwest of Lebanon, a city in Smith County- population 182 in 2021. The central point was identified in 1918.

Answer: Louth

Tyrone has boundaries with Counties Armagh, Derry, Monaghan, Fermanagh and Donegal. Louth is south of Monaghan. This quiz author drives through it regularly: it doesn't take long since it is the smallest county in Ireland, measuring 29 miles north to south.

Tír Eoghain was in ancient times one of the most important counties in Ireland. It was home to the O'Neill family, which fought to preserve their homeland from both other Irish families and the encroaching Normans/English.

The county is associated with three American presidents whose families were from the county. In the 21st Century, the county was noted for agriculture, tourism and gold mining.

Answer: India

Afghanistan has borders with Pakistan, Iran, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and China.

Throughout history, Afghanistan has been important as a trading route between Europe and Asia. Other empires have fought to control the country from as early as 522BC - generally their rule has not lasted long.

In the early part of the 21st Century, Afghanistan became regarded as one of the world's poorest countries and was dependent on foreign aid. The country possessed large mineral deposits, though these proved difficult to exploit. In 2021, Europol (European Union Agency for Law Enforcement Cooperation) estimated Afghanistan's opium harvest accounted for more than 80% of the world's heroin supply.

Answer: New York

Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut are the New England states.

The area was one of the first in what is now the USA to be settled by European immigrants. The area dates this to 1620 and the arrival of he Pilgrims on the "Mayflower". While there was an early settlement for Europeans, it was the power keg of the revolt by Americans against British rule.

As well as insurrection, New England was famous for its food, including maple syrup and clam chowder. Eight of the first 46 presidents of the United States of America were born in New England.

Answer: Bermuda

Once more for the kids at the back: Bermuda is not in the Caribbean Sea - it is in the North Atlantic. Bermuda is 2,016 kilometres (1,251 miles) from Jamaica.

In terms of area, Jamaica is the third largest island in the Caribbean. The island first saw European settlers with the arrival of the Spanish in 1509. The island had originally been settled 2,000 years before by travellers from south America. Christopher Columbus is said to have landed there in 1494.

In 1655, the English took Jamaica from Spain and for several centuries made it a centre of the slave trade to produce sugar. It was not until 1838 that all slaves in the island were freed. Jamaica remained a colony of Britain until independence in 1962.

Going into the 21st Century, Jamaica became a tourist destination, but visitors were advised to stick to 'safe' holiday areas because of the high crime rate elsewhere.

Answer: Cambridge

Scarborough is a market town in the historic county of Yorkshire and britannica.com notes: "The historic counties bordering Yorkshire are Durham to the north, Westmorland to the northwest, Lancashire to the west, Cheshire and Derbyshire to the southwest, and Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire to the southeast." Yorkshire as a county is just a historical memory. A redrawing of maps in the 1970s divided it into several new counties.

The lyrics quoted were used by Simon and Garfunkel and described as their own composition when, in fact, the song is much older. They were introduced to the song by the English folk singer Martin Carthy. Their assumption of credit left bad blood between them and Carthy for many years.

The first fair in the town of Scarborough was established by Royal Charter in 1253. The annual fair drew trades from a wide area, but the last traditional fair was held in 1788.

Answer: Adams

The only Adams River I could find in North America is in British Columbia, Canada. The Missouri is itself a tributary of the Mississippi. It is formed in the Rocky Mountains by the confluence of the Jefferson, Madison, and Gallatin rivers.

Sometimes known as "Big Muddy", the Missouri is 2,341 mi (3,767 km) long and runs through ten states. As well as those ten states, it is home to 28 indigenous American tribes.

The fist Europeans to see the river were Father Jacques Marquette and Louis Joliet when they voyaged from the Mississippi in 1673. The initial European settlers were the French, but in 1803 the area was sold to the new USA as part of the Louisiana Purchase.

Answer: La Plagne

The Three Valleys ski area encompassed the villages of Méribel, Courchevel, Val Thorens, Les Menuires, La Tania, Saint Martin de Belleville, Brides les Bains and Orelle.

With one ski pass it was possible to cruise more than 300 reds, blues, blacks and greens. At busy times, more than a quarter of a million people hourly could ride the 200 various lifts to access more than 600km of pistes.

Meanwhile, La Plagne and its neighbour Les Arcs became the third largest ski area when they were linked by cable car to form the Paradiski area.

Answer: Villanelle

The original city of Romulus was built upon Palatine Hill. The other hills are the Capitoline, Quirinal, Viminal, Esquiline, Caelian, and Aventine. Villanelle is the name of the comic/tragic assassin in the TV show "Killing Eve".

The seven hills mark the ancient boundary of Rome. Several are the locations of some of Rome's best-known monuments. The Vatican is not located on the seven hills, instead it is on the other side of the River Tiber.

Legend has it the city was founded by the the twins Romulus and Remus who were the sons of the god of war, Mars. They were ordered to be drowned by King Amulius but they were saved from the river and a she-wolf and a woodpecker suckled and fed them until they were found by the herdsman Faustulus.

Rome became the capital of Italy and by 2023 was named the fourth most-visited city in Europe, with ten million tourists annually. (The top five were London, Paris, Istanbul, Rome, Amsterdam.)