Let's Go Somewhere - A Trivia Quiz

Answer: Aberdeen

The city of Aberdeen in the north of Scotland is one of the nation's northernmost cities (only Inverness, in terms of larger cities, sits further north). In fact, Inverness is technically further north than Copenhagen, Denmark. Aberdeen is a city known for its industry having been supported over the centuries by its uses and abundance of granite and oil.

These resources led it to become one of Scotland's largest cities despite the latitude.

Answer: Aral Sea

The Aral Sea was actually the fourth-largest lake in the world before a series of issues led to it being drained by more than 90% over the last half of the twentieth century. Once stretching across seven nations in western Asia, the Aral Sea once took up more than sixty-eight thousand square kilometres of land. Due to drainage in Soviet regions, the lake shrunk to closer to three thousand square kilometres.

Much of the region would later become the arid Aralkum Desert. The dissipation of the lake is, by and large, one of the greater environmental disasters in terms of scale and time.

Answer: Andorra

Depicted is the capital city of Andorra-- Andorra la Vella.
This interesting nation, sandwiched between Spain and France in the Pyrenees Mountains that make up the border, is known for containing the highest European capital (La Vella). Interestingly, Andorra la Vella is a fairly popular skiing destination in the winter; year-round it's better known as a world tax haven. The rest of the nation is composed of small parishes of Catalan locals.

Answer: Aconcagua

Though Asia takes the lead in terms of the world's highest peak, the Andean mountain Aconcagua is the highest in the Western Hemisphere and the Southern Hemisphere, being the most prominent mountain in both Americas at an elevation of nearly seven kilometres at its top.

It's unsurprising that the mountain is climbed quite often due to its classification as 'non-technical'. Unfortunately, this means that it catches a lot of inexperienced climbers off-guard. Aconcagua Provincial Park can be found in Argentina's Mendoza Province, a region bordering Chile.

Answer: Abu Dhabi

After Dubai, the city of Abu Dhabi is one of the largest cities of the United Arab Emirates. Sitting in the Persian Gulf, the islands upon which Abu Dhabi rests are part of a primary zone; the rest of the city can be found on the mainland. This said, most visitors are likely to find the main landmarks of the city-- the Louvre Abu Dhabi, Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque, Mangrove National Park-- out by the water.

The city is, with reason, known for its oil and natural gas-fuelled economy.

Answer: Amazonas

Named specifically after the Amazon River and Rainforest, these four administrative regions (two states and two departments) all cover parts of central South America where the rainforest spreads across them. The Brazilian state of Amazonas is one of the largest states anywhere in the world, taking up the northwest corner of the country and spanning more than one million square kilometres. Across all four regions, notable cities include Manaus (Brazil), Leticia (Colombia), Chachapoyas (Peru), and Puerto Ayacucho (Venezuela).

Answer: Ashgabat

The capital of Turkmenistan, Ashgabat is found next to the Karakum Desert and is just north of the border with Iran. Found on the Silk Road, Ashgabat is an interesting site to see as much of its skyline is dominated by buildings constructed of white marble. Once part of the Soviet empire, Turkmenistan took on its own independence in 1991. Aside from the general tourism taken in from arts (as Ashgabat is the nation's hub), the city is also a pilgrimage site for religious travellers as it's the home of the world's First Baha'i Temple.

Answer: Asia

This image depicts a view of the Window to the World park in Shenzen, China, an amusement park and garden containing replicas of dozens of the world's most famous monuments (including the Eiffel Tower, the pyramids, the White House, and Mount Rushmore).

Shenzen, part of the Pearl River Delta along with Guangdong, Hong Kong, and Macau, became one of China's fastest growing technological hubs in the world in the late twentieth century and early twenty-first. Because of its growth, Shenzen had one of the quickest ascents in population numbers of any Asian city.

Answer: Arizona

Located in the northeast of Arizona, Petrified Forest National Park leans into the badlands and desert that make up the four corner borders between Arizona, Utah, Colorado, and New Mexico. The region, despite its unique and almost foreboding landscape, is very well known for its indigenous history and its archaeological significance both for petroglyphs and fossils.

The name 'Petrified Forest' leans into the fact that the region is also known for its fossilized wood, much of which has been stolen over the years for private collection and profit.

Answer: Aitutaki

Interestingly, the three incorrect answers are all islands in the Bahamas, half a world away. Aitutaki is one of fifteen islands in the Cook Islands group in the South Pacific; it's a tiny island of no more than eighteen square kilometres. The largest island in this collection, Rarotonga, is only four times as large as Aitutaki and it's home to the capital, Avarua.

The population of these islands is small and virtually independent, but they are technically overseen by New Zealand, more than two thousand kilometres away.