'Independence, Freedom, Islamic Republic' - Iran Quiz

Answer: Caspian Sea

In international law, a condominium is a political area over which two or more powers formally agree to share sovereignty and exercise their national rights jointly, without dividing it up into smaller national regions. While this clearly makes sense in the case of a large body of water such as the Caspian Sea, it had not in fact been agreed by the other parties as late as 2010.

Answer: Himalayas

Geologically, most of Iran is part of the Iranian Plateau, which extends from the Zagros Mountains in western Iran across Iran and through southern Afghanistan to Pakistan. The plateau is not, however, uniform - mountain ranges break it up into a series of basins and plateaux. Iran's highest point, Mount Damavand, which is also the highest mountain west of the Hindu Kush, is in the Alborz Mountains.

Answer: subtropical and temperate rainforests

The dense rain forests in the northern part of Iran are part of the Caspian and Hyrcanian Mixed Forests ecoregion of subtropical and temperate rainforests. These forests cover about 55,000 sq km (21,000 sq mi) along the southern shores of the Caspian Sea in Iran and Azerbaijan.

Answer: desert

The east of the country is mostly composed of desert basins. Dasht-e Kavir is Iran's largest desert. The deserts are formed because the mountain ranges to their west are too high for rain to reach these regions. They are called orographic, or 'rain shadow', deserts.

Answer: arctic

The northern part of Iran, near the Caspian Sea, is subtropical - temperatures rarely fall below freezing, nor do they often exceed 30 C (86 F), and there is plenty of rainfall throughout the year. However, the plateau regions are mostly arid or semi-arid, as described earlier.

Answer: Caspian tiger

The Caspian tiger, also known as the Persian tiger, Turanian tiger, or Hyrcanian tiger, was found in Iran, Caucasus (Armenia), Iraq, Afghanistan, Turkey, Mongolia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan until it apparently became extinct in the late 1950s.

The lesser bilby was an Australian animal, last sighted in 1931. The Caribbean monk seal was last sighted near Nicaragua in 1952, while the Irish elk was last seen in Great Britain around 6,000 BCE.

Answer: Mashhad

The capital city, Tehran, had a 2010 population around 18 million; Mashhad's was about 2.5 million, and the other options were significantly smaller.

Mashhad is the capital of the province of Razavi Khorasan, and is a major tourist centre, as between 15 and 20 million pilgrims go to the Imam Reza's shrine each year. The shrine is shown on the reverse of the Iranian 100 rial coin, issued since 2004.

Answer: It has been designated a World Heritage Site by UNESCO.

The Naghsh-e Jahan Square ('Image of the World Square') is officially known as the Imam Square, having formerly been known as the Shah Square. It is surrounded by buildings of the Safavid era (1501-1722), including the Shah Mosque on the south side, the Ali Qapu Palace on the west, and the Sheikh Lotf Allah Mosque on the east.

The northern side of the square leads to the Isfahan Grand Bazaar. The square is pictured on the reverse of the Iranian 20,000 rial note.

Answer: Shiraz

Shiraz is the birthplace of the co-founder of the Baha'i Faith, the Bab (Siyyid Ali-Muhammad, 1819-1850). It was here that he first declared his mission as the bearer of a new divine revelation, on 22 May 1844. Shiraz is considered to be the city of flowers due to its gardens. Shirazi wine originated in this region, but the city of Shiraz has no connection with the modern-day red grape variety "Shiraz", a synonym used in Australia and some other countries for the grape variety Syrah, which originates from northern Rhone valley in France.

Shiraz is located in a region known as Persis, the centre of the Persian Empire which dominated the Iranian plateau during the 6th century BCE under the reign of Cyrus the Great. The ruins of Persepolis and Pasagadae, two of the major cities of this Achaemenid dynasty are located near Shiraz. The citadel of Persepolis was declared a World Heritage Site in 1979.

Answer: It is non-reversible.

Following the 1979 Islamic Revolution, the flag was modified by the addition of writing on the borders above and below the central white band. It reads 'Allahu Akbar' ('God is great'). There are 22 (2×11) copies of this inscription, symbolic of the date of the revolution, which occurred on the 22nd day of the 11th month in the Iranian calendar. The addition of this writing means that the flag is not reversible, as the words cannot be read from the back of it.

The flag of Nepal is triangular. The flag of Libya was completely green between 1977 and 2011. The flags of Switzerland and the Vatican City are squares. The flags of Moldova, Paraguay and Saudi Arabia are not identical on their obverse and reverse sides.