Longitude 60 West Trivia Quiz

Answer: Lincoln Sea

It was actually named after President Lincoln's son, Robert Todd Lincoln, then US Secretary of War, when it was explored by Adolphus Greely in 1881-84.

The sea is covered in ice for the majority of the year, and the only human settlement is the remote military and scientific research town of Alert, the northernmost town in Canada. The Washington Sea and Trump Sea do not exist, and the Polk Sea can be found on the planet Alderaan, in the "Final Fantasy" video game.

Answer: Alonso de Ojeda

He sailed with Columbus on his second voyage to the New World from 1493-96. In 1499, de Ojeda led an expedition back to South America, always thinking they were on their way to India and the Spice Islands. He arrived in what is now Guyana, skipping along the coast until he reached Paraguaná Peninsula, on the coast of Venezuela. His navigator, Amerigo Vespucci, who gave his name to the American continents, saw houses on stilts in the area which reminded him of Venice. Venezuela can be translated as 'Little Venice'.

Magellan's historic voyage took place 21 years later, but they did not go near Venezuela- the closest landfall was in southern Brazil. Cook made three circumnavigations, the first of which was in 1768, almost three centuries after de Ojeda. Jimmie Angel has his name in Venezuela's history. He was an American pilot who discovered the waterfall that bears his name, in 1933. It is the tallest waterfall in the world.

Answer: Goose Bay

Goose Bay was founded in WWII as a home for construction workers, who built the Canadian Air Force Base there.

Osprey is a township on the west coast of Florida, and Pigeon Forge is a Tennessee town, made famous by the country music diva, Dolly Parton. There are many places named Swan Lake around the world, but it is probably best known as the title of a Tchaikovsky ballet.

Cape Breton Island, part of Nova Scotia, in the only other Canadian province crossed by 60 W.

Did you know that you can take a direct flight from Goose Bay to Gander?

Answer: Plurinational State of Bolivia

It was originally just known as Bolivia, since 1925, deriving its name from the well-known South American freedom fighter, Simon Bolivar, who helped several countries break free from Spanish rule.

Plurinationalism is a governmental term for 'multiculturalism', referring to the mixture of different ethnic nations within the country. Bolivia does not have states, but has nine departments. Unusually, it has two capital cities, Sucre and La Paz.

Answer: Stanley

The capital, located on the eastern coast, is named after Lord Stanley, a British Prime Minister. 60 W bisects the two main islands, East and West Falkland.

Basseterre is the capital of St Kitts and Nevis and Douglas belongs to the Isle of Man. Libreville is the capital of the African country of Gabon.

The Falklands War has been described as 'two bald men fighting over a comb" as the islands are not particularly strategic. Almost 1,000 people lost their lives in a pointless war.

Answer: Kalaallit Nunaat

Greenland was discovered by the Vikings in the 10th century and come under Danish rule in 1814.

Ditunga dia Kongu wa Mungalaata is the Democratic Republic of the Congo, in Swahili. Y Deyrnas Unedig is the Welsh term for England and Druk Yul is Bhutan in their native language of Dzongkha.

Answer: Goya, Argentina

The residents of Goya hold a big festival every November, to welcome their feathered friends. Goya is a small city (population about 100,000), and is located in the north of the country, about 700 kms from the capital of Buenos Aires.

Lethem, Guyana and Mariscal Estigarribia, Paraguay are both very close to the 60 longitude line, and swallows would find the frozen Antarctic just a bit chilly!

Answer: Antarctica

The islands are only about 120 kms away from Antarctica, and the only occupants are research staff from a variety of nations, oh, and seals and penguins. They are named after the Shetland Islands, off the north coast of Scotland- both groups are a similar distance from the equator, but because of their proximity to the southernmost continent, the Southern version is MUCH colder. Up to 80% is covered by ice and snow.
They are almost 800 kms south of the bottom tip of South America and about 5,000 kms from Africa.

Answer: Rio Paraná

It is 4,880 kms from its source, the Paranaíba River, in Mata da Corda mountains down to its junction with the Río de la Plata, which is part of the Uruguay/Argentina border. Guaíra Falls disappeared in 1982, due to the creation of the Itaipu Dam reservoir.

The Grijalva River is in southern Mexico and the Guadiana River is in Spain. The Ria Loa is only 440 kms long, but it is the longest river in Chile.

Answer: 20,000 kms

If you take the shortest route through the core of the planet, the distance is just over 12,725 kms (7,900 miles). Because Earth is not quite spherical, the equatorial diameter is about 30 kms (20 miles) longer.