Places Beginning with "K" Trivia Quiz

Answer: Kabul, Afghanistan

With a metropolitan area that was home to more than 3.5 million (2015 estimate), Kabul, the capital of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan was judged the fifth-fastest growing city in the world. Located 5,800 feet above sea level in a valley wedged between the Kabul River and the Hindu Kush mountains, Kabul lies on the major trade routes of central and southern Asia. A human settlement has existed on the site of the present-day city for more than 3,500 years.

Over the centuries, the Kabul region has been ruled by numerous empires including the Persians (550-350 B.C.), the Greeks (312-63 B.C.), the Yuezhi, an ancient Indo-European people, (30-375 A.D.) and the Shahi dynasties (500s-1010). Later came the Turks and then the Mughal Empire, descendants of Genghis Khan.

The first European visitor to the city was an English traveller and civil servant, George Foster, in the late 18th century. Within decades, Afghanistan became part of the "Great Game", the power struggle between the British and the Russians for power and influence throughout Asia.

Answer: Kolyma River

The Kolyma River is formed at the confluence of the Ayan Yuryakh and the Kulu rivers. From there it flows generally northwards, although flows is a slightly misleading term since it is only ice-free between June and October, and for the rest of the year is frozen several metres deep. (Although the photograph is not the Kolyma itself, it gives a good impression of what it would look like much of the year.)

The Kolyma's basin covers an area of some 250,000 square miles -- about the size of France, including its overseas regions.

The Kolyma passes through no settlements with a population of more than 3,000, in a region known primarily for its gold mines and its gulags. Russian journalist, poet and Gulag survivor Varlam Shalamov wrote a famous anthology about life in the notorious gulag camps entitled "The Kolyma Tales". Written between 1954 and 1973, it was only published in 1982, after the author's death.

Of the alternatives, the Kasai runs 1,338 miles through Angola and Democratic Republic of Congo before flowing into the mighty Congo River; the Kama flows through Russia before becoming joining the Volga -- it is the longest left tributary of the Volga and is larger than the Volga itself when the two meet; and the Kura flows 941 miles through Turkey, Georgia and Azerbaijan before emptying into the Caspian Sea.

Answer: Sweden

The Norrbotten archipelago, named for the northernmost of Sweden's counties, comprises four main island groups, Piteå (550 islands), Luleå (1,312 islands), Kalix (792 islands) and Haparanda (652 islands). The islands of the Kalix archipelago are just 50-60 miles south of the Arctic Circle.

The largest of the islands within the Kalix archipelago is Rånön, where the fishing village dates back to the mid-17th century. The school was established here in 1867 and at its height the island had a permanent population of around 80, although most had relocated to the mainland by the 1950s. Today the old farm buildings have been converted to summer homes.

Answer: Kiribati

Ranked 172nd out of the world's 195 recognized nation states in terms of area, Republic of Kiribati has a land area of just 310 square miles, or about twice the size of the Isle of Wight. Those 310 square miles of land, though, are dispersed over 1,351,000 square miles, or a region a little larger than India!

Located in the central Pacific Ocean, this island nation consists of 33 atolls and reef islands and one raised coral island, Banaba. Banaba Island may only cover a mere four square miles, but (with Nauru and Makatea, part of French Polynesia) it is one of the most important elevated phosphate-rich islands of the entire Pacific. The national capital is the atoll of Tarawa, consisting of two islands (North Tarawa and South Tarawa), home to around half of the entire 103,000 (2010 Census) population of Kiribati.

The other two Asian "K" countries are The Republic of Korea (South Korea) and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea).

Answer: Knox

The photograph is of the famous Fort Knox in Kentucky, and Knox is also the most popular of all the "K" county names with a Knox County in nine different states. Curiously, whilst there is a Knox County in Kentucky, Fort Knox itself is located within the territory of three counties, Bullitt, Hardin and Meade.

By far the most populous of the nine Knox counties is in Tennessee, where more than 440,000 live in the county whose seat is Knoxville. The second-largest, in Ohio, has a population of only 60,000. The other Knox counties are in Illinois, Indiana, Maine, Missouri, Nebraska and Texas.

Of the alternatives, five states have a Kent County, Delaware, Maryland, Michigan, Texas and Rhode Island, and three states have a Kiowa County, Colorado, Kansas and Oklahoma. Two states have a Kings County and there are also two states with a King County, and amongst those four are the two most populous of all the "K" counties in the country. Both Kings County NY, which is essentially Brooklyn (the 7th-largest county in the country) and King County WA (Seattle) are home to more than two million.

Curiously, of the 3,143 counties (or equivalents) in the country, three of the four least-populous (2010 Census) begin with "K": Kalawao County HI has a population of just 90, King County TX is home to 286 and Kenedy County TX just 416. Only Loving County TX (population 82) is smaller than those three.

Answer: Tanzania

Kilimanjaro International Airport advertises itself as the "Gateway to Africa's Wildlife Heritage". A popular destination for tourists, it serves not only Kilimanjaro National Park but also Serengeti National Park, the Ngorongoro Conservation Area, Tarangire National Park and Lake Manyara National Park.

Visitors travel to Serengeti National Park in northern Tanzania to see the annual migration of one and a half million bearded wildebeest and a quarter of a million zebra as they try to avoid the park's famous Nile crocodile. Lake Manyara National Park is the scene of the world's largest annual gathering of flamingos, which arrive at the acidic soda-lake that expands to cover more than 70 square miles during the wet season. The Ngorongoro Conservation Area is a UNESCO World Heritage Site surrounding the volcanic Ngorongoro Crater.

Mount Kilimanjaro itself rises 19,341 feet above sea level and comprises three volcanic cones, "Kibo", "Mawenzi" and "Shira". Located on the northeastern edge of Tanzania, near the border with Kenya, it is a major climbing destination. It was first climbed in 1889 by German geologist Hans Meyer and Austrian mountaineer Ludwig Purtscheller.

Answer: Kara Sea

Located of the northwesten coast of Siberia, the Kara Sea provides ocean access for the Russian settlement of Novy Port and the Siberian port of Dikson.

The River Ob has various sources in the Altai Republic in south-central Russia, near the Chinese border. The westernmost of the three great Siberian rivers (along with the Yenisei and the Lena, the Ob flows 2,268 miles northwest before forming the world's longest estuary, the Gulf of Ob, the northern end of which enters the Arctic Ocean through the Kara Sea.

Of the alternatives, the Koro Sea lies east of Fiji in the Pacific Ocean; the King Haakon VII Sea is part of the Southern Ocean, bordering the eastern Antarctic, and the Keeler Sea does not exist although there is a Keeler Crater on Mars, named for the American astronomer James Edward Keeler.

Answer: Kaskaskia

The end of the French and Indian War, marked by the Treaty of Paris in 1763, handed what became known as Illinois Territory to the British and, on February 3, 1809, the town of Kaskaskia was named as its capital. Illinois Territory included the current states of Illinois and Wisconsin, eastern Minnesota and the western portion of the upper peninsula of Michigan.

When Illinois became the 21st U.S. state on December 3, 1818, Kaskaskia was its first capital, although that status was transferred to Vandalia the following year, and remained there until moving to Springfield in 1837. The town of Kaskaskia was virtually wiped out when the Mississippi River flooded in 1881. At the time of the 2010 Census, Kaskaskia was the second-smallest incorporated community, with a population of just 14. (Valley City IL had only 13!)

Of the alternatives, Fort Kristina became the capital of the Swedish colony of Nya Sverige in 1638 in what would later become the state of Delaware. Kingston was the first capital of the State of New York in 1777. The city was burned by the British in October, after the Battles of Saratoga, and the capital was moved first to Hurley and then to Poughkeepsie. South Kingstown was one of five county seats that rotated as the capital of the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations between 1776 and 1853. The other four were Providence, Newport, East Greenwich and Bristol.

Answer: Khartoum, Sudan

The ancient city of Soba was the capital of Alodia, the southernmost of the three Christian Nubia kingdoms that ruled the Nile Valley region from the seventh century until early in the 16th century. The present-day capital of Sudan, Khartoum, was built just a few miles north of the site of Soba, at the confluence of the White Nile and the Blue Nile.

Founded in 1821, the actual city of Khartoum has an official population of just under two million (2014 estimate) although an estimated five million live in the combination of three cities (Khartoum, Khartoum North and Omdurman) that form the metropolitan area spanning both sides of the mighty rivers. The city is perhaps best-known for the 10-month siege in 1884-85 that eventually ended with the massacre of the Anglo-Egyptian defenders led by Britain's General Gordon.

Of the alternatives, Kinshasa, capital of the D.R. of Congo, was founded in 1881. Kampala, capital of modern-day Uganda, began as the capital of the Buganda kingdom and is famous for the Kasubi Tombs, which were built in 1881. The Rwandan capital of Kigali is the most modern of the four capitals, which was founded in 1907 under German colonial rule.

Answer: India

Kangchenjunga, the third-highest of the world's mountains and the easternmost of the three peaks that exceed 28,000 feet, straddles the border between India and Nepal. Located on the northern border of the landlocked state of Sikkim in eastern India, Kangchenjunga is officially that country's highest point.

Kangchenjunga was not successfully climbed until 25 May 1955, two years after the first conquest of Everest. Two English mountaineers, Joe Brown and George Band, almost reached the top, but since the mountain is worshipped by the people of Darjeeling and Sikkim, they respected requests to allow the actual summit to remain inviolate. Every party who have successfully climbed the mountain since have also adhered to that request.