Around the World with the NATO Alphabet Quiz

Answer: Arctic

The Alpha Ridge is an underwater volcanic ridge located in the Arctic Ocean near Canada, Alaska and Russia, next to the Canada Basin (near Ellesmere Island). Along with the Nansen-Gakkel Ridge and the Lomonosov Ridge, it is one of the three major mid-ocean ridges of the Arctic Ocean, and is formed by plate tectonics.

The system of mid-ocean ridges is longer than any mountain range on land. The Alpha Ridge is also part of the High Arctic Large Igneous Province, an area composed of accumulated igneous rocks such as basalt, which includes Svalbard and the Russian archipelago of Franz Josef Land.

Answer: Rio Grande

Immortalised in many a song and Western movie, the Rio Grande is one of the American Heritage Rivers, meaning that it is subject to environmental and cultural protection. It acts as a border between Texas and some of the northern Mexican states such as Chihuahua and Coahuila, while a smaller part forms a boundary between New Mexico and Texas; both states make great use of its water for irrigation purposes. 'Rio Bravo' is the Mexican name for the river; its American name means 'big river', as do its Pueblo name of 'mets'ichi chena' and 'posoge'.

It rises in the Rio Grande Forest in Colorado, and opens into the Gulf of Mexico at its other end.

Answer: Berlin

'There was a Checkpoint Charlie, he didn't crack a smile...' sang Elvis Costello on 'Oliver's Army'. Checkpoint Charlie was not a person, but one of the checkpoints located along the Berlin Wall during the Cold War, named for the phonetic alphabet on which this quiz is based.

It was used as a crossing point for the armed forces and the Allies, but citizens also used it as a site for escape attempts; in the early days of the wall, one East German citizen escaped by smashing through the gate with a car. Allied forces would also visit the nearby Cafe Adler to get a glimpse into East Berlin. Today, it is a tourist attraction with a museum dedicated to the Berlin Wall, while the former guardhouse has been moved to the Allied Museum.

Answer: Irrawaddy Delta

The Irrawaddy (or Ayeyarwady) River is Myanmar's largest river and the subject of Rudyard Kipling's poem 'The Road to Mandalay'; the Irrawaddy provided a route for British soldiers between Mandalay and the capital city of Yangon (or Rangoon, as it was then known).

The Irrawaddy Delta is Myanmar's main rice production area and is also home to several fishing communities; the local mangrove forests have been greatly reduced to make more room for rice paddies. It is also home to the Meinmahla Kyun Nature Reserve.

In May 2008, Cyclone Nargis hit Myanmar; it started in the Bay of Bengal and then moved into the Irrawaddy Division, killing approximately 146,000 people at least - the actual figure is thought to be even higher than the official one, as many missing people were unaccounted for by the junta - and leaving around 2.5 million people homeless, making it one of Myanmar's worst disasters of all time.

Answer: It is underwater.

Unlike Wyoming's Echo Peak, you wouldn't hear any echoes in Echo Bank because it's an underwater mountain! It can be found southwest of the Canary Islands, in the Atlantic Ocean, and is part of the Sahara Seamounts, an underwater mountain range. A wide variety of marine life live down there, including ram's horn squid, deep sea sharks, conger eels and rays.

At 300m below sea level, Echo Bank is one of the shallower mountains. It contains mineral deposits such as limestone and manganese, making it a potential deep sea mining site.

Answer: Blackpool

Opened in 1894 and based on France's Eiffel Tower, Blackpool Tower is the most iconic building in the Lancashire resort and is comprised of the tower itself and the complex at the bottom which contains the ballroom, circus, a dinosaur-themed mini golf course and an events area on the fifth floor. Fans of 'Strictly Come Dancing' might remember that some episodes were filmed at the Tower Ballroom, and it is also a popular location for dancing competitions.

The circus part of Blackpool Tower has a ring that can be lowered into a pool of water, complete with musical dancing fountains. Those who are not afraid of heights can take the lift up to the top of the Tower and try the SkyWalk, a walk across a transparent glass panel showing you the view to the ground below.

The Tower also had an aquarium and menagerie, but this was replaced by the Dungeons attraction in 2010.

Answer: Georgia

Augusta is Georgia's biggest city next to its capital Atlanta, and is the home of the US Masters tournament. It sits on one side of the Savannah River, with South Carolina on the other, and its warm climate has made it popular with tourists. As well as its golf course, it is also home to the Downtown Historic District, which contains several pre-Civil War buildings, the Wells Fargo skyscraper, and Phinizy Swamp Nature Park, a wetland park and birdwatcher's paradise.

Answer: Ice

The Icehotel Jukkasjärvi is one of a small number of hotels made from ice dotted around the world's colder countries, which also includes Japan's Alpha Resort Tomamu ice hotel in Hokkaido, and Canada's Hôtel de Glace in Quebec. The Jukkasjärvi Icehotel is the first of its kind in the world, and everything in it is made from ice blocks, including the furniture and the glasses at the bar.

It also has a chapel where weddings can take place. The hotel does not have bathrooms - you'd have to go to a warm building nearby for these - and guests are given special sleeping bags, as there is no heating.

The hotel is constructed from scratch every year by different architects, meaning that every room is different.

Answer: The Taj Mahal

The Taj Mahal, in the city of Agra, is one of India's most famous and recognisable landmarks and World Heritage Sites, and was also the inspiration for the Brighton Pavilion in England. Built on the orders of the Emperor Shah Jahan as a mausoleum for his late wife Mumtaz, it is made out of white marble which has gradually turned yellow over the centuries as a result of increasing pollution.

As well as the tombs of both the Shah and his wife, over which that famous dome stands, it also contains a mosque and a garden with a long reflecting pool.

The tombs of Shah Jahan's other wives and Mumtaz's favourite servant are located outside the main building. To combat the pollution which is discolouring the building, the Indian government set up the Taj Trapezium Zone around the complex, an area with strict emissions limits.

Answer: Veneto

Verona being used as a setting for both 'The Two Gentlemen of Verona' and 'Romeo & Juliet' have made it a popular tourist destination for Shakespeare fans, although it has the state capital of Venice and its famous canals to contend with. It is also popular with music fans, as its Roman amphitheatre, the Verona Arena, hosts both classical and pop/rock performances, along with ballet.

It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site due to the many Roman buildings it contains, such as the Porta Borsari (a gate) and the Ponte Pietra (an arched bridge).

Answer: Finland

Espoo is Finland's second largest city and part of its capital region, along with Helsinki, Kauniainen and Vantaa. It is home to a toy museum, a horology museum and EMMA (the Espoo Museum of Modern Art), Finnish metal band Children of Bodom - and Formula One fans might be interested to know that it's also the birthplace of driver Kimi Räikkönen. It also has a reputation as a sustainable city. Kilo, however, is a small district lacking in public services such as a post office or pharmacy (you'd have to go to a neighbouring town for those).

The Moomins are white troll-like creatures created by Finnish author and artist Tove Jansson.

Answer: No

Although the Andes do run through Peru, it's actually La Paz, the capital of Bolivia, which is the world's highest capital, standing at a massive 3640m above sea level (unless you consider Sucre to be the capital of Bolivia, in which case it's Quito in Ecuador). Lima is a coastal city and home to the Americas' oldest university, the National University of San Marcos.

It is a veritable melting pot of cultures, with a cuisine influenced by both Spanish and Asian culture, and African, Asian and indigenous communities.

Its Historic Centre, home to several churches, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Answer: Saint Matthew

There are eleven parishes in Barbados, with Saint Michael being one of the original six. The others not mentioned in the question are Christ Church, Saint George, Saint James, Saint John, Saint Joseph, Saint Philip and Saint Thomas. Cricketer Sir Garfield Sobers and singer Rihanna are among Saint Michael's most famous natives, and it is also the location of Bridgetown, the country's capital. Barbados is a major importer of sugar and Saint Michael's seaport, the Deep Water Harbour, features several towers for loading Barbadian sugar onto ships.

Answer: Lebanon

22nd November is the Lebanese Independence Day, commemorating the end of French rule in Lebanon. Although France declared Lebanon independent two years earlier, it still continued to rule over the country and had several Lebanese politicians, including the president and prime minister, arrested and exiled after the general elections in 1943. Both Lebanese religious leaders and external countries such as the US and other Arab countries put pressure on France to release them, which it did on 22nd November 1943.

The day before Independence Day, the President of Lebanon makes a speech. On the day itself, celebrations take place in Beirut, along with a military parade. (The tree on the Lebanese flag is the cedar, the country's national symbol.)

Answer: Fiji

Tropical Cyclone Oscar started near the Fijian capital of Suva before heading west, escalating as it went. Although Suva itself was spared the worst of the cyclone's impact, its home island of Viti Levu was still badly hit in general, with severe flooding. Nine people were killed and hundreds of people were forced to evacuate, while crops in the Sigatoka Valley, known as Fiji's 'Salad Bowl' because of its vegetable production, were destroyed.

The cyclone finally dissipated on 6th March 1983, leaving approximately $80 million ($130 million in American money) worth of damage in its wake.

Answer: Haiti

Francois Duvalier, named 'Papa Doc' because of his former medical career, came to power in Haiti in 1957. He had his opponents murdered by paramilitary death squads nicknamed the 'Tonton Macoute' after a Haitian bogeyman figure who kidnapped children.

He also replaced the Presidential Guard and Chief of Staff with loyalists, expelled most of Haiti's foreign-born bishops - an attack which got him excommunicated - and brutally suppressed dissent. He was heavily anti-communist and a strong supporter of Haitian folk traditions and Vodou, even modelling himself on Baron Samedi, a Vodou loa or spirit, and declaring himself a godlike figure.

After his death in 1971, the dictator was replaced by his son Jean-Claude, nicknamed 'Baby Doc'.

Answer: Ice hockey

The appropriately named Montreal Canadiens, also known as the 'Habs' (short for 'habitants'), were founded in 1909 and play in the National Hockey League. The Bell Centre is their home arena since 1996 and they play in red, white and blue. They are one of Canada's top Stanley Cup winners, their first being in the 1915-1916 season, and started out as Montreal's resident francophone team, with francophone players and owners, hence the French name.

Their rivals are the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Answer: 2

Sierra Leone is one of the West African countries, bordered by Liberia to the southeast and Guinea to the southwest. It has a tropical climate and a wide variety of land types, from the lowlands in the centre to the Guinean mangrove in the north. The eastern part of the country is a mixture of mountains and plateaus; Mount Bintumani, in the Loma mountain range, is Sierra Leone's highest mountain, with rainforests at its bottom. Sierra Leone is home to some colourful wildlife, such as the African wild dog, the pygmy hippopotamus and the dwarf crocodile, but animals' habitats are threatened by the combination of deforestation and overfishing.

Answer: Uruguay

The Rio de la Plata region lies on the border of Argentina and Uruguay, and it was from the port districts there that Argentina's famous tango emerged. The tango has Spanish, Cuban and African influences as well as Argentinian, and it became popular in working-class areas at the turn of the 20th century. Argentinian conservatives disapproved of the dance as they considered it to be too racy, and a ban on public gatherings by military dictatorships caused the tango to go into decline. Nevertheless, it was included in the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage Lists in 2009 and experienced a revival from the 1980s onwards, with groups such as the Gotan Project popularising a form of fusion music called 'nuevo tango'.

Answer: Japan

The seifuku is the traditional Japanese girls' middle and high school uniform with a sailor collar, sometimes worn by primary school-age girls as well. It consists of a dark (usually blue) skirt, a white blouse and a sailor-style collar, sometimes worn with a neckerchief or ribbon, and is inspired by the military dress of the Meiji era and the uniform of the British Royal Navy in the early 20th century. Naoko Takeuchi's magical girl manga 'Sailor Moon' had its heroine and her friends wearing colourful outfits based on seifuku, in a variety of colours (orange and dark blue for Sailor Venus, dark green and pink for Sailor Jupiter, and so on).

The boys' equivalent is the gakuran, a black jacket and trousers and a white shirt. In recent times, many Japanese high schools have opted for Western-style sweaters or blazers and skirts instead.

Answer: A lack of rain

The little town of Victor was established in the county of Emery in Utah in 1910, but only lasted for ten years. Its population had originally come from the nearby town of Desert Lake, named for a local reservoir, where they had built a dam, only for the dam to break. Irrigation of the soil caused alkali levels to rise, which in turn killed crops and ate away at adobe structures.

In Victor, farming proved to be an equally futile endeavour; the area was even drier, with sand from nearby sand dunes being blown onto the land.

The combination of local conditions and a lack of rain caused the residents to move elsewhere. A few of the original buildings still remain in both ghost towns.

Answer: Ireland

The oldest whiskey distillery in the world is Bushmills in County Antrim in Northern Ireland. The company that built the distillery was founded in 1784, but the label has 1608 on it as that was the date in which Sir Thomas Philips, an English knight and landowner, was granted a licence to distil whiskey in the area by King James I.

The original buildings were rebuilt after being destroyed by a fire in 1885, and it also survived Prohibition, which badly hit the Irish whiskey export industry. The distillery has changed hands many times over the years; today, it is owned by the Mexican company Casa Cuervo and is a major tourist attraction.

Its signature drink is Bushmills Original, matured in American oak casks, and it also does a range of single malts. ('Whiskey' is the Irish spelling; in Scotland, it's spelled 'whisky'.)

Answer: Stuttgart

Stuttgart, the hometown of poet Friedrich Schiller and Liverpool and Borussia Dortmund manager Jürgen Klopp, is in Baden-Württemberg. North Rhine-Westphalia is a west German state and the country's most populous, with some of Germany's biggest cities being the ones mentioned in the question.

It is part of a busy urban European area dubbed the 'Blue Banana' because of its shape. The state was established in 1946 by the British Occupation after the merger of Westphalia and the northern part of the Rhineland. Before the unification of Germany under Otto von Bismarck, Lennep was part of the Iron Chancellor's homeland of Prussia. (German speakers will know that 'Röntgen' is also the German word for 'x-ray', in honour of its discoverer.)

Answer: Massachusetts

The other US states on the Canadian border are Alaska, Wisconsin, Washington, Idaho, Montana, North Dakota, Ohio, Minnesota, Michigan and Pennsylvania, although these are grouped together as western or midwestern states. Massachusetts is further south and bordered solely by US states.

The origin of the word 'Yankee' is unclear - it may be of Dutch origin, from the generic term 'Jan Kees', or 'John Cheese', a nickname for northern Dutch settlers - but during the American Civil War, Confederates used it to refer to northerners ('damn Yankees'). Today, it depends on where you live.

The writer EB White joked that 'to foreigners, a Yankee is an American; to Americans, a Yankee is a Northerner; to Northerners, a Yankee is an Easterner; to Easterners, a Yankee is a New Englander; to New Englanders; a Yankee is a Vermonter; and in Vermont, a Yankee is somebody who eats pie for breakfast."

Answer: 11

Although Bolivia, India and the nearby country of Zimbabwe all have it beaten in terms of official languages, 11 is still quite a big number of official languages for a country to have. Zulu (or isiZulu) has the highest number of people who speak it as a first language at nearly a quarter of the population, followed by Xhosa (isiXhosa), Afrikaans, English, Northern Sotho/Sepedi, Tswana/Setswana, Sesotho, Tsonga (Xitsonga), Swati (siSwati), Venda/Tshivenda, and Southern Ndebele. Zulu is a member of the Niger-Congo family of languages and a Bantu language, meaning that it is spoken by members of various ethnic groups distributed over the Central and Southern Africa regions.

It was made an official language of South Africa in 1994.