10 Degrees of the World - Part V Quiz

Answer: Amsterdam

Even though Amsterdam is the capital and largest city in the Netherlands, the Dutch government is based out of The Hague. As you probably know already, Amsterdam is found at sea level, with the average height at two meters, and the airport found at four meters below sea level.

There are plenty of museums in Amsterdam, more than 140, including the Rijksmuseum, Van Gogh Museum, Hermitage, and the house of Anne Frank. Some of Amsterdam's sister cities are Kiev, Montreal, and Manchester.

Answer: Athens

The Acropolis or "high city" is the sacred site where Greeks built temples to honour their gods and/or goddesses. The Parthenon is the most well-known, built to remember Athena, the Greek goddess of wisdom and skill, and also the basis of Athens' name.

The Olympic Games were first held in 776 BC in Olympia, some 260 km (160 miles) from Athens, and were well attended. Instead of gold medals awarded today, victors got olive wreaths, and ones who backed out of the Games were fined for cowardice. The modern Olympics started in Athens in 1896, and returned in 2004. Athens has many sister cities, including Seoul, Washington D.C., and Barcelona.

Answer: Bethlehem

The city of Bethlehem dates all the way to the Paleolithic Era, and was named after the goddess Beit Lahmu in the 14th century BC. The Hebrew words "beit" and "lahmu" have many different interpretations, but it is believed that Bethlehem means "house of bread".

In Arabic, it means "house of meat/flesh". Control of Bethlehem has changed frequently, with the Ottoman Empire, Britain, Jordan, and Israel each controlling it between 1900-1950. Israel gained control in the Six Day War of 1948, and holds it to this day as part of the West Bank.

Some of Bethlehem's sister cities are Glasgow, Pretoria, and Abu Dhabi.

Answer: Rabat

The capital of Morocco was moved from Fez to Rabat in 1912, by General Hubert Lyautey, the French administrator of Morocco. The city was founded by the Almohad Dynasty in 1146. Rabat has a beautiful Mediterranean climate, with nearly 3,000 hours of sunlight per year, and where the average high temperature is between 17-27°C (63-80°F). Rabat's sister cities include Madrid, Tunis, and Honolulu.

Answer: Stockholm

The Stadhuset in Stockholm is home to the Nobel Prize Award, and for those who are uninvited, the basement restaurant serves up the menu from the previous year. The Riddarholmskyrkan (Riddarholm Church) is the oldest building in Stockholm, dating back to 1270.

The Stockholm archipelago, which makes up the islands of Stockholm, plus the ones in the Baltic Sea, each rise by three millimetres (0.12 inches) per year. Swedish international giant IKEA has its largest store in the country where it was created by Ingvar Kamprad in 1943. Sarajevo, Kiev, and Saint Petersburg are all sister cities of Stockholm, the capital of Sweden.

Answer: Addis Ababa

A fairly new city, Addis Ababa ("new flower") was founded in 1887. The city was once believed to be the source of the human race, considering the ancient fossils and remains found, but scientists have since traced their findings to northern sections of the country.

At nearly 2,400 metres (7,875 feet) above sea level, Addis Ababa is the third highest capital city. Signs of the Italian invasion of Abyssinia in 1937 are still evident today in the city, with Italian Fascist architecture and Marxist billboards across the capital. Also to be seen are eucalyptus trees planted along the streets of the city. Addis Ababa is also sister cities with San Francisco, Tel Aviv, and Johannesburg.

Answer: Havana

Havana is home to a wood-paved road, found beside the Palacio de los Capitanes Generales. The road was a worry to a captain's wife, with the horses walking along the stone cobbled road in front of her house. She was concerned the noise would keep her up at night. So the lane was paved. Also in Havana sits John Lennon Park, and a large bronze statue of the man himself.

The park was dedicated in 2000, when Fidel Castro called Lennon, "a true revolutionary". Ironically, Lennon's music was once banned in the communist nation. Havana's sister cities include Madrid, Sao Paulo, and Barcelona.

Answer: Tehran

Tehran's air quality is absolutely horrible, on average 27 die per day from it! That is around 10,000 per year. Tehran is also home to the second largest metro transit system in the Middle East (behind Tel Aviv) and the most bus stops in Asia. There are around fifty universities or colleges in the Tehran area, a city which has a history traced back to 6000 BC.

The Tochal Ski Resort, just north of Tehran, is found 3,730 meters above sea level, the fifth highest resort in the world. To the south is Iran's largest desert, Dasht-e Kavir.

Some of Tehran's sister cities include Seoul, Moscow, and Los Angeles.

Answer: Beijing

Beijing is a very "bike-friendly" city, as each road has separate lanes for two and four wheels. The number of cars in Beijing continues to rise as China develops, and as people start earning higher incomes. But, those cars are still responsible for 600 deaths on average each day on Beijing roads. Just like Tehran, Beijing's air quality is disgusting, about five times worse than what the World Trade Organization deemed as safe. Looking for Wang? Beijing's 2006 census found that 1 in 10 of Beijingers have the last name "Wang", (10.35%). Beijing's sister cities include Cairo, Buenos Aires, and Helsinki.

Answer: Wellington

Wellington's culture can be found when landing at the airport. On the nearby Miramar hills sits Hollywood doppelganger "Wellywood". The sign is in reference to blockbuster movies such as "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy, "King Kong", and more recently "Avatar" , part or all of which were made in New Zealand. Wellington is home to the Wellington Phoenix, the only pro soccer team in New Zealand which participates in the Australian A-League. Each year, the city hosts the IRB Sevens World Series.

The city of Wellington is sister cities with places such as Sydney, and Osaka.