Places Starting with "E" and "F" Quiz

Answer: Ethiopia

Ethiopia is the largest of the "E" and "F" countries. With an area of 426,400 square miles it is a little smaller than South Africa. To put that in perspective for American readers, Ethiopia is larger than all of the states apart from Alaska (it is about two-thirds the size of Alaska, so a bit more than two and a half times the size of California). Its full official title is "The Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia". Some 2,500 years ago, the Greek historian Herodotus used the name 'Ethiopia' to refer to 'all lands south of Egypt'. A character referred to simply as 'Aithiops' (an Ethiopian) appears in both of Homer's great epic poems, the 'Iliad' and the 'Odyssey'.

Of the alternatives, Egypt is only about 10% smaller than Ethiopia: the world's 30th-largest country, it has an area of 387,050 square miles. The other two are significantly smaller: Equatorial Guinea, with an area of 10,831 sq miles, is marginally smaller than both Albania and the US state of Massachusetts. Eritrea (with an area of 45,400 sq miles) is slightly smaller than North Korea and Pennsylvania.

The picture shows the Ethiopian Coat of Arms adopted in 1996: a yellow interlaced pentagram radiating five rays of light on an azure shield. This emblem also appears in the center of the Ethiopian flag.

Answer: Funafuti

Apart from Edinburgh (the capital of Scotland), Episkopi Cantonment (capital of the British overseas of Akrotiri and Dhekelia in Cyprus) and El Aaiún (capital of the largely-unrecognized Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic claimed by Morocco in Western Sahara), these are the only four capitals in the world starting with "E" or "F".

The answer is Funafuti, capital of the Polynesian island nation of Tuvalu which was formerly the British overseas territory called the Ellice Islands prior to independence in 1978. Located in the Pacific Ocean midway between Hawaii and Australia, Tuvalu consists of three reef islands and six true atolls and covers a total of just 10 square miles -- only Vatican City, Monaco and Nauru are smaller. With a population of just under 11,000 (2012 census), Tuvalu is the world's third least-populated sovereign state (after Vatican City and Nauru).

Of the alternatives, Freetown is the capital of the African nation of Sierra Leone; Edinburgh of the Seven Seas is the capital of the British overseas territory of Tristan da Cunha (the world's most remote inhabited archipelago); and Flying Fish Cove is the capital of Christmas Island, an external territory of Australia.

Answer: Miami Heat

There are two National Basketball Association franchises in Florida, the Miami Heat and the Orlando Magic. The Miami Heat, who play at American Airlines Arena (pictured) joined the NBA in 1988 and won their first division title in 1997. They won their division for the eleventh time in 2014. The Heat won its first NBA title in 2006 and then won back-to-back titles in 2012 and 2013, thus becoming the first Florida franchise to win three championships. The Orlando Magic, who joined the NBA in 1989, reached the championship game in both 1995 and 2009 but lost on both occasions.

Of the alternatives, although without a third win by 2013, the Miami Dolphins remained the state's most successful NFL team, having won the Superbowl at the end of both the 1972 and the 1973 seasons. Indeed, the 1972 Dolphins were the NFL's first (and so far only) team to produce a perfect undefeated season. 'The Fish' had also reached the Superbowl on three other occasions (in the 1971, 1982 and 1984 seasons). Florida's other NFL teams, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Jacksonville Jaguars had only one Superbowl win between them, the Bucs winning in 2003.

In Major League Baseball, the Miami Marlins were also without a third victory by 2013, although they did win both the 1997 and the 2003 World Series when they were still called the Florida Marlins. That was two wins more than the state's other MLB franchise, the Tampa Bay Rays.

In the National Hockey League, the two Florida franchises, the Florida Panthers and the Tampa Bay Lightning, had recorded just one Stanley Cup victory between them by 2013 -- the Lightning won in 2004.

Answer: Iraq

The ancient Sumerian city of Eridu was located at what is now Tell Abu Shahrain, near Basra in southern Iraq. Founded sometime around 5,400 B.C. near the mouth of the Euphrates River, it was one of five cities in existence prior to 'The Deluge', a great flood on which the Biblical story is based. It is also suggested that Eridu (which means 'mighty place') is actually the original Babel, and site of the Tower of Babel, rather than Babylon.

The picture shows the coat of arms of modern-day Iraq.

Answer: Ede

The European Ede is located in central Netherlands, midway between Arnhem and Utrecht. Noted as a green city, Ede is located near to the Hoge Veluwe National Park, one of the country's largest continuous nature reserves.

The African Ede is 110 miles northeast of Lagos. Founded in the early 16th century, it one of the older towns of the Yoruba people and was once capital of the Oyo Empire.
Of the alternatives, Emmen is a town in northeastern Netherlands but without a Nigerian counterpart; Enugu is a Nigerian city of almost 750,000 people that is nicknamed "Coal City"; and Espoo is the second-largest city in Finland.

Answer: Floridablanca

Floridablanca is a city of 270,000 (2012 census) located in the Santander region in the northern part of Colombia. Known today for its parks, the first settlers in the Floridablanca region were the Guane people the best part of a millennium before the Hispanic era.

Of the alternatives, Fortaleza is the state capital of the state of Ceará in northeastern Brazil and home to more than 2.5 million; Florianópolis, home to 420,000, is the capital city and second largest city in the state of Santa Catarina in southern Brazil; and Foz do Iguaçu is a city of 250,000 (known as 'Iguaçuenses') in the southern Brazilian state of Paraná.
The photograph depicts the city flag of Floridablanca, Colombia.

Answer: Fly River

Although only the second-longest river on the island of New Guinea (the Sepik is 50 miles longer), the Fly River is Oceania's largest river by volume, and the world's 25th-largest. For most of its course from the Star Mountains to the Gulf of Papua it flows through the Western Province of Papua New Guinea, although it does also briefly form the border between PNG and Indonesia. The Fly River is 32 miles wide at its mouth, where it discharges more than 200,000 cubic feet of water/second.

Of the alternatives, the Vltava rises in the Czech Republic and flows through Prague before joining the Elbe and crossing Germany via Dresden, Wittenberg and Hamburg before emptying into the North Sea 780 miles later. The Essequibo flows 628 miles across Guyana into the Atlantic Ocean. The Fraser River rises in the Rocky Mountains in eastern British Columbia, Canada and flows 850 miles to empty into the Pacific Ocean near Vancouver.

Answer: Erta Ale Range

The Erta Ale mountain range in northern Ethiopia is the most important axial volcanic chain in the Horn of Africa. The highest volcano in the range is the 3,383-foot high Ale Bagu, but the most active in the region is Erta Ale, which rises 2,011 feet high. More than 30 miles wide, the elliptical summit (pictured) is one mile wide and has numerous steep pit craters noted for their churning lava lakes.

Of the alternatives, the Entoto Mountains are also in Ethiopia, just north of Addis Ababa. The Eastern Highlands form the border between Zimbabwe and Mozambique in southeastern Africa. The Eastern Arc Mountains run from the northeast corner of Lake Nyasa in southern Tanzania, northeast across the country and just over the border into southern Kenya.

Answer: Fort Worth TX

Nicknamed "Cowtown", "Funky Town", "Panther City", and "The Fort", Fort Worth TX had a population of close to 800,000 at the 2013 census. This made it the 17th-largest city in the USA but only the fifth-largest in Texas. Located on the Trinity River, Forth Worth was originally established as an army outpost in 1849. The city's motto is "Where the West Begins".

Fort Worth is home to Texas Christian University, Texas Wesleyan University and Texas A&M University School of Law. It is also the corporate headquarters of numerous major companies including Bell Helicopter, Lockheed Martin, American Airlines and Radio Shack.

Of the alternatives, El Paso TX was the second-largest of the "E" and "F" cities with a population of 675,000. Fresno CA was the only other one of the 23 that was home to more than half a million, with 509,000. Fort Wayne IN, with 256,000, was the fourth-largest of the 23.

Answer: Faroe Islands

An autonomous country within the Kingdom of Denmark, the Faroe Islands is an archipelago located midway between Norway and Iceland in the northern Atlantic Ocean. With an area of just 538 square miles, it is about half the size of Luxembourg and a little larger than Hong Kong. A self-governing country since 1948, the islands are home to around 50,000 people known as Faroese. Roughly 40% of the total population live in the capital, Tórshavn, which is situated on the east coast of the island of Streymoy.

Of the alternatives, French Polynesia has an area of 1,609 square miles (slightly larger than the U.S. state of Rhode Island); the Falkland Islands cover 4,700 square miles (slightly larger than Qatar or twice the size of Delaware); and Fiji is the largest of the "E" and "F" island countries with an area of 7,055 square miles, which is slightly larger than Kuwait.