Falkland Islands Frolic Online Quiz | Falkland Islands

Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. The Falklands consists of two principle islands and around 776 smaller (mostly uninhabited) islands. Which of the following is NOT one of those?

Answer: Heron Island

Weddell island is named for the explorer James Weddell, by Captain John McBride, on a surveying voyage. A couple of ships are wrecked off Ruggles Island. Kidney Island is so-called because of its shape. Most of the islands of the Falklands are noted for their abundant bird life, including herons (pictured), but none is named Heron.

Heron Island is in the Great Barrier Reef in Australia. The rest of those listed are named islands of the Falklands.

2. Indicating glacial conditions were prevalent in the Falklands during the Pleistocene age, there is evidence of 49 corries which (...or it is witch...) roughly form the shape of what sort of cooking pot?

Answer: Cauldron

There are a number of words for the phenomena that results from glacial erosion. One such is a Gaelic word meaning pot or cauldron, such as the one pictured. The formation is also known as a 'cirque', a French word derived from the Latin word 'circus'. Many of the corries on the Falklands have corresponding moraines, which are formed from debris deposited along the sides of a glacier.

3. Sharing its name with a rabbit in the novel 'Watership Down' and the flower pictured, what is the titular name of the Falkland Islands group that includes Elephant Cays, George Island, Barren Island and Annie Island?

Answer: Speedwell

Speedwell Island is long and thin, with an area of around 52km2. The island group supports colonies of juvenile sea lions, and southern giant petrels also inhabit the area. In addition, sheep are farmed for meat and wool, and plantations of Poa Flabellate, a kind of grass, are used in conservation and environmental endeavours.

The flower, speedwell, is one common name for the Veronica genus, which has about 500 species. Other common names for veronicas include Paul's Betony, gypsyweed and bird's eye. The plant is sometimes used in herbal teas as a cough remedy.

4. Originally located on the Gondwana land mass, of which continental shelf are the Falkland Islands now a projection?

Answer: Patagonian

The Falkland Islands are relatively remote, with the nearest mainland being the coast of Patagonia to the west, about 600 km away. While the Falklanders are self-sufficient in many crops and livestock, over 90% of the islands' essential requirements have to be brought in, mostly by boat.

The picture is of a Patagonian toothfish, often known now as Chilean Seabass to make it more attractive to general public.

5. Ahoy, matey! Surveyed in 1766, Carcass Island got its name from all the bones the original explorers found scattered around.

Answer: False

In fact, Carcass Island received its name from one of the vessels employed in the survey of the region, HMS Carcass. That ship, with its companion, HMS Jason, each gave their names to islands, as did one of the ships' captains, John McBride. Carcass Island is the largest of the Falklands West Point Island Group.

6. Along with the Union Flag in the corner, which animal appears on the flag of the Falkland Islands?

Answer: Sheep

The sheep (a ram) appears on the coat of arms, which is on the flag. Along with the sheep, the coat of arms includes a ship called 'The Desire', one of the vessels in the fleet that discovered the Falklands in 1592. The motto, located below the shield on which the sheep and ship appear, is 'Desire the Right'.

I hope you found this old-fashioned drawing of Mary taking her lamb to school amusing.

7. The corsairs of Saint-Malo from what country gave the Falkland Islands one of their alternative names, �les Malouines?

Answer: France

Saint-Malo is in Brittany and its inhabitants were proudly and defiantly privateers or pirates in the 1800s. They were among the first to settle in the Falklands.

The name, '�les Malouines', gave rise to the Spanish version, 'Islas Malvinas' - the name by which it is known to the Islands' other claimant, Argentina.

8. Held each year in March and officially the world's most southerly AIMS-certified road marathon, contestants battle harsh weather conditions in what city of the Falklands?

Answer: Stanley

I hope the picture of Arthur Stanley Jefferson (aka Stan Laurel) gave you the clue.

Stanley or Port Stanley, as it is also known, is the capital of the Falkland Islands and is located on the island of East Falkland. Though not the first site of a capital of the Falklands, work began to establish the town, named for Edward George Geoffrey Smith-Stanley, in 1845.

9. When Europeans first arrived on the Falkland Islands, what was the only native land mammal reported there?

Answer: Antarctic wolf

The Antarctic wolf (hence the Red Riding Hood picture!) is also known by a number of alternative names, the Falkland Islands warrah and Falkland Islands dog or fox among them. One of three species of Dusicyon, it sadly became extinct in 1876. From DNA examination, its closest living relative is the maned wolf, a South American canid.

The wolf existed on both main islands of the Falklands.

10. While its English name, Pebble Island, probably derives from the round stones to be found there, the Spanish name for the same island of the Falklands Archipelago comes from what dynastic house of France?

Answer: Bourbon

The 'Isla Borb�n', named to honour the Spanish House of that name, is one of the most northerly of the Falklands, and it is the fifth largest. It is an important area for bird-life, with its lakes and wetlands. It also provides Islanders with sheep from Corriedale farm, located on the central isthmus.

Hopefully the bottle of bourbon pictured was helpful in providing a hint!

Source: Author VegemiteKid

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor agony before going online.
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Falkland Islands Frolic Trivia Quiz

The Falklands Islands, probably best known in recent years for the 1980s tussle over ownership, is a series of island groups of spectacular land formations and bird- and marine-life. Come and explore a few of this country's notable features with me!

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