Cities of the World Quiz: A River Runs Through It | 10 Questions

Answer: Vltava

The Vltava is the Czech Republic's longest river, flowing for 267 miles (430 km) from its source to its confluence with the Elbe River. It is the subject of the second (and best-known) movement of Czech composer Bedrich Smetana's six-movement suite "Má vlast" ("My homeland"). Prague itself has a distinguished history dating back over 1,000 years, and still retains much of its historic architecture, making it a popular European tourist destination.

Answer: Cairo

The river in question is of course the River Nile. It actually consists of two main tributaries, the White Nile and the Blue Nile, which meet at the city of Khartoum, capital of Sudan. It is famous for being the longest river in the world, measuring over 4,200 miles (6800 km) from the White Nile's source in central Africa. Cairo is the Egyptian capital, as well as its largest city, and is located close to the Nile delta, where the river flows into the Mediterranean Sea.

The photograph was taken from the Cairo Tower, a modern concrete structure with a revolving restaurant near the top.

Answer: True

It would be almost too easy to ask which river flows through Paris (or indeed which capital city the Seine flows through). However, it is less obviously known that it is not France's longest river. This distinction is held by the Loire, which is around 630 miles (1,013 km) from source to sea. Second comes the Rhone, at 504 miles (812 km) in length.

The Seine is only the third longest, flowing for 482 miles (776 km) from its source on the Langres plateau to the English Channel at the port of Le Havre.

Answer: Mississippi

The Mississippi River effectively forms the division between Minneapolis and St. Paul. Strictly speaking, the section of the river which flows between the "Twin Cities" is known as the Upper Mississippi, the name given to the section upriver of its confluence with the River Missouri. In its totality, it stretches for around 2,300 miles (3,700 km) from Lake Itasca to the Gulf of Mexico.

Answer: Perth

The spectacular tower contains a grand total of 50 bells, consisting of 18 bells hung for full-circle ringing (diatonic 16 plus two semi-tone bells); a 26-bell carillon; five clock bells; and a display bell. Twelve of the ringing bells hung originally in St Martin-in-the-Fields, London, and were rescued from being melted down in 1988, before eventually being rung in this purpose-built tower in 2000 as a millennium project.

It is now a popular tourist attraction in Perth, as well as a must-visit tower for bell-ringers from all over the world.

Answer: Saint Petersburg

The River Neva is relatively short when compared to other major European rivers, being only around 46 miles (74 kilometres) from source to sea. As indicated by this picture (taken from Saint Petersburg's Trinity Bridge), it is a wide and navigable river for its entire length. Historically, it formed part of a major trade route, although in the present day it is insufficiently deep to take very large cargo vessels.

Saint Petersburg is Russia's second largest city, and was the Imperial capital for most of the period from 1713-1918. It is home to the famous Hermitage Museum, and many other historic buildings.

Answer: Yangtze

Its coastal location meant that Shanghai was for many centuries a major port and trading centre. Massive redevelopment in the 1990s and 2000s enabled it to consolidate its position as China's most important financial centre, and its population of over 24 million in 2013 made it one of the largest cities in the world.

The river on whose mouth it sits, the Yangtze, is the third longest in the world, winding for over 3,900 miles (6,300 km) through China.

Answer: Rio de la Plata

The Rio de la Plata, which flows into the Atlantic Ocean, is sometimes considered to be an estuary rather than a river. At its inland end, two rivers, the Uruguay and the Paraná, join together. Buenos Aires, capital of Argentina, is located on its south bank (to the right of this picture), and Montevideo, capital of Uruguay, is on the north bank, close to the Atlantic Ocean.

Of the incorrect options, the Amazon flows through Colombia, Peru and Brazil, while the Orinoco flows through Colombia and Venezuela. The Niger is in Africa, not South America.

Answer: Budapest

Budapest is the capital of Hungary, and consisted originally of Buda (on the right-hand side of the picture) and Pest (on the left), divided by the Danube. The island in the middle is Margaret Island.

The three incorrect answers are the other national capitals through which the Danube flows: Vienna (Austria), Bratislava (Slovakia) and Belgrade (Serbia). It is the second-longest river in Europe, and measures 1,777 miles (2,860 km) from its source in Germany to its mouth in the Black Sea.

Answer: London

The image is a NASA photo of London, taken from the International Space Station in 2010. The River Thames is around 215 miles (346 km) in length, from its source in Gloucestershire to its mouth on the North Sea between Kent and Essex. It is tidal for the lower 55 miles (26 km), up as far as Teddington Lock on the west side of London's suburbs.