Around the Sunshine State Trivia Quiz

Answer: Mississippi

Surrounded by water on three sides, Florida has the Atlantic Ocean to the east, the Gulf of Mexico to the west and the Straits of Florida to the south. To the north it share land borders with both Georgia and Alabama. It does not, however, stretch far enough west to border Mississippi.

The photograph shows the Mississippi state flag.

Answer: Jacksonville

With a land area of 747 square miles (more than six times the size of Malta or almost half the size of the state of Rhode Island), Jacksonville, FL is the largest city in the contiguous states of the U.S.A. It has a further 138 square miles of water area that is part of the city, and it is also the largest city based on combined land and water areas.

No other Florida city makes it into the top 50. Indeed, the 'small' town of Bunnell, which is part of the Daytona metropolitan area, is the second-largest Florida municipality in terms area, and 66th in the country with an area of 137.5 square miles. Tampa covers 112 square miles and ranks 81st whilst Orlando is 85th with 102 square miles. The actual city of Miami is relatively small with a land area of just 35.68 square miles, although it does also have nearly 20 square miles of wet territory too.

Answer: Ronald Reagan

Only 18 of the 50 states have been the primary state of affiliation for a U.S. President (up to and including Barack Obama). Slightly more, 21, have been the birthplace of one of the first 44 Presidents. Florida is not in either list. To compensate, the state chose to name its major North-South toll road after a President who was born in Illinois and was a former Governor of California -- Ronald Reagan.

The photograph shows the view through the windscreen of a car traveling along the "Ronald Reagan Turnpike".

Answer: 345 feet

You often hear people talk about those "flat, boring states" in the American Midwest such as Kansas and Nebraska, but compared to Florida they are positively mountainous. Indeed, you have to almost leave Florida to reach its highest elevation -- Britton Hill (at least they didn't call it a mountain) is in Walton County on the extreme northern border of the state. Oops! Spoke too soon -- the highest point in the Florida Peninsular is indeed called Sugarloaf Mountain, rising an impressive 312 feet above sea level near the town of Clermont.

At 345 feet above sea level, Britton Hill is more than 100 feet lower than the next state highest point -- Ebright Azimuth, Delaware's highest point rises 448 feet above sea level. Even the highest point in Washington D.C. (Fort Reno Park) is 84-feet higher above sea level than any point in Florida.

Answer: Panther

All four of the options are alternative names for the cougar ('puma concolor'). The endangered sub-species that is native to the Florida swamps is known exclusively as the Florida Panther.

The only cougar species indigenous to the eastern seaboard, the number of Florida Panthers still living in the wild was estimated at only around 20 in the 1970s. The 1989 Endangered Species Act helped to establish the Florida Panther National Wildlife Refuge, a 26,400-acre area just to the east of the city of Naples. Those dismal numbers had risen to more than 100 in 2011 and in 2013 there were estimated to be 160 animals ranging across refuge and into Big Cypress National Preserve and Everglades National Park.

Answer: Gainesville

The photograph shows a spectacular aerial view of the University of Florida campus in Gainesville. Its origins date back to 1853 and the founding of the East Florida Seminary in Ocala, FL. In 1905, four institutions joined together to create the "University of the State of Florida" -- University of Florida at Lake City (formerly Florida Agricultural College), the East Florida Seminary, the St. Petersburg Normal and Industrial School and the South Florida Military College. The name was abbreviated to University of Florida in 1909 and two years after that they adopted the alligator as the state mascot and the college's sports teams still play as the Florida Gators today.

Of the alternatives, Florida State University is based in Tallahassee, Florida Gulf Coast University in Fort Myers, and the University of Miami in Coral Gables.

Answer: It never snows in the FL peninsula

The photograph shows snow-covered Jacksonville in December 1989. Indeed, every major city in Florida has seen snow at some time, although the only time that snow has been recorded in Miami was on January 19, 1977, when it snowed over just about the whole state. During the "Great Blizzard" of 1899 is the only time that the temperature is known to have dropped below zero Fahrenheit in the state.
Central Florida is known as the America's "lightning capital" -- there are more lightning strikes here than anywhere else in the country. Afternoon thunderstorms are common throughout the state in the summer months, with the result that Florida has higher average precipitation than any other state.
The high winds that come along with these thunderstorms often generate tornadoes, with the result that Florida gets more tornadoes per square mile than any other state. Having said that, many of these tornadoes are little more than waterspouts, seldom reaching the size or intensity of those seen across the Great Plains and in the Midwest.

Answer: Florida Scrub Jay

The Florida Scrub Jay is a member of the Aphelocoma genus, a distinct sub-family of New World jays that are not closely related to other jays, magpies and treepies. It is the only bird species endemic to Florida (and one of only 15 endemic to the US).

Measuring 9-11 inches in length with an average weight of 2.8 ounces, the Florida Scrub jay has a wingspan of 13-14 inches. Omnivorous, they eat a selection of acorns, seeds, peanuts, insects, tree frogs, turtles, snakes, lizards, young mice and, occasionally, other bird's eggs. They are also known to steal silverware or other shiny objects. Unusually tame birds, they will often willingly take food directly from human hands.

Answer: Very rarely

Florida is in the happy position of not being located near to the boundaries of any tectonic plates. Indeed, it has the lowest expectation of an earthquake of any U.S. state. That is not to say that earthquakes never occur here, though... A shock in 1879 that hit Saint Augustine was felt as far away as Tampa to the south and Savannah GA to the north.

A severe 1880 quake centered in Cuba was felt in the Florida Keys. An 1886 quake centered in Charleston SC rang church bells in Saint Augustine FL and was felt throughout the northern part of the state.

The most recent earthquake felt in Florida was in 2006 -- centered in the Gulf of Mexico 250 miles southwest of Tampa, it sent shockwaves through much of southern and central Florida.

Answer: 9 feet

Lake Okeechobee, also known as "The Big O" or simply "The Lake", is the second-largest freshwater lake in the lower-48 states (after Lake Michigan), and the largest wholly within a single state. (Alaska has five larger freshwater lakes.) Lake Okeechobee is, though, exceptionally shallow, with an average depth of only nine feet.

The lake is popular with anglers, with largemouth bass, crappie and bluegill all found in abundance. A 100-foot wide dike surrounds the lake -- part of the 1,400-mile long National Scenic Trail, it is a favorite of hikers and cyclists.