Drop In The Bucket Trivia Quiz

Answer: Gran Colombia

Of the options mentioned, only Gran Colombia was ever the name of a real place. It existed from 1819 to 1831 and was founded by Simon Bolivar. Twelve short years is just a "drop in the bucket" in terms of time for a country to exist.

"Covecuapanpegubra" is a made-up name starting with the first few letters of each of the countries that formed Gran Colombia. "Panamerica" is another invented place, which would have made a good name for a country that spanned large swaths of South America, but it never existed in that form. The Panamerican Games are an athletic competition that allow teams from the Americas to take part. "Bolivar's Republic" is also an invented region, as a tip of the hat to the Liberator and founder of Gran Colombia.

Answer: Ecuador

Ecuador and Chile are the only two countries that do not share a border with Brazil. Most of the Amazon River is in Brazil (much more than a "drop in the bucket"), and the Amazon Rainforest is one of the most important regions in the country. Brazil also has more airports than any other country in the world except the United States, due to its large area and the difficult terrain in some places.

Answer: Equator

There are actually three countries in South America that the Equator passes through (Ecuador, Colombia and Brazil). Ecuador is the smallest of the three and the Equator is one of the most important features of the country, along with the Galapagos Islands (rich in biodiversity) and the many active volcanoes that can be found there. Worldwide, there are 13 countries that are crossed by the Equator: Sao Tome and Principe, Gabon, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda, Kenya, Somalia, Maldives, Indonesia, Kiribati, in addition to Ecuador, Colombia and Brazil.

The land area crossed by the equator represents less than 22% of the water area crossed by it. So the land is just a "drop in a" big old "bucket"!

Answer: Chilean poet, Pablo Neruda

Neruda purchased the house, Isla Negra, which means "Black Island", in 1938 and he continued to add on to it until 1965. It is filled with iconic collections of things related to the sea, such as mastheads, sails, model ships in bottles, etc. The sound of the waves crashing is ever-present, and it is obvious how the presence of the sea was more than a "drop in the bucket" in terms of how it inspired Neruda's writings.

The other authors mentioned are all beloved creators from South America, but none fit the description other than Neruda.

Answer: True

Though it is true that Paraguay continues to recognize Guarani as an official language, the number of people who speak it are dwindling every year. The same is true for most indigenous languages in Central and South America, as the governments have put extreme pressure on groups to teach the mainstream European language to their children.

Some linguists worry that even those languages that are thriving, like Quechua (which is spoken today in Peru, Brazil, Bolivia, Argentina, Ecuador, and Colombia, albeit in different dialects, some of which are very different from each other), may disappear before the beginning of the 22nd century. Each language contributes its "drop in the bucket" to culture and human understanding, so I hope that these languages and the histories of their people do survive.

Answer: Argentina

The first travelers to the River Plate ("Rio de la Plata") Region thought that the area had a beautiful silvery sheen or shimmer to it. The first formal mention of the area as "Argentina" in writing came in 1612, when Ruy Díaz de Guzmán published a book called "Historia del descubrimiento, población, y conquista del Río de la Plata" ("History of the Discovery, Population and Conquest of the Río de la Plata"), naming the territory "Tierra Argentina" ("Land of Silver", "Silvery Land").

The name stuck, and I guess that's a "drop in a" silver "bucket"!

Answer: Jimmy Carter

The Canal Zone's administration by the U.S. was controversial almost from the start. It came to a head in 1964, and Lyndon Johnson proposed a treaty returning control of the Canal to Panama in 1967. Under the Johnson Treaty, Washington agreed to end the original 1903 treaty in return for granting U.S. control and operation of the Canal until 1999.

The Treaty never got any attention, though since the nation was focused on the Vietnam War. It took another ten years for Jimmy Carter to resubmit a Canal Treaty to Congress on 1 August 1977, which refined and defined many of the Johnson Treaty's original ideas.

It took many months for Congress to accept the agreement, and the process of turning over the Canal began in 1979, just as Carter's term in office was ending.

The many ships and gallons of water that have passed through the locks of the canal are much more than "a drop in the bucket".

Answer: Peru

The Andes Mountains follow the western side of South America, extending from Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia. They go the length of Chile, reaching the southernmost tip of South America (almost 9,000 km), making this range the longest in the world.

The Andes spread across Peru and form the largest concentration of snow peaks in the Americas. The Southern Huascaran is the tallest of these peaks, and represents a big "drop in the bucket" in terms of Peru's mountains.

Answer: Venezuela

The "Joropo" musical style is typical of the plains region, known as "Los Llanos" in Colombia and Venezuela. It has African, Native South American and European influences. Though the other countries mentioned share borders with Colombia, only Venezuela shares "Los Llanos" Plains region.

There are many other musical styles popular in both Colombia and Venezuela, including salsa, cumbia, and many others. In that sense, the "joropo" is just a "drop in the bucket".

Answer: Colombia

Colombia's flag is the simplest of the three, with the upper yellow strip being thicker than the subsequent blue and red ones. Ecuador's flag is much like Colombia's, but it also has the coat of arms of Ecuador on the middle of the pattern. Venezuela's flag has stripes of equal thickness and also has eight white stars in an arc in the center of the flag.

These stars are like eight small "drops in the bucket" in the blue stripe. There is also an optional coat of arms in the yellow field that can be included on the Venezuelan flag. Brazil's flag is totally different, and is mainly green with a blue and white globe in the middle.