Around the World in 10 Questions [5] Quiz

Answer: Tasmania

Bass Strait was named after British naval surgeon and explorer George Bass. In 1797, he became the first European known to have entered the waters between the mainland state of Victoria and Van Diemen's Land, as Tasmania was then known.
Of the alternatives, Australia and Papua New Guinea are separated by the 100-mile wide Torres Strait. The Tasman Sea separates Australia and New Zealand. Cape Jervis at the southwestern tip of South Australia's Fleurieu Peninsula is separated from Kangaroo Island by the Backstairs Passage.

Answer: Ethiopia

The Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia is a landlocked country in the Horn of Africa. It is bordered by Sudan, Kenya, Djibouti, Eritrea and Somalia. With a land area of 426,000 sq miles, more than two and a half times the size of California, Ethiopia is one of only 30 countries that cover more than 1 million sq km, although it is only the 10th largest African country. With a population of almost 80 million, twice that of California and only slightly less than Germany, it is Africa's second most populous country (after Nigeria).

Ethiopia's capital, Addis Ababa has a population of around 2.8 million, making it a very close second behind Afghanistan's Kabul as the world's largest city in a landlocked country. Africa's highest capital, it ranges from 7,500 to 10,000 feet above sea level. It is served by Bole International Airport.

Answer: Turkey

The geographic region of Anatolia, also known as Asia Minor, comprises the majority of Turkey. It is bounded to the north, west and southwest by the Black, Aegean and Mediterranean Seas respectively. To the northeast are the Caucuses with Syria and the Iranian Plateau to the south and southeast. The name comes from the Greek, meaning '(land) of the sunrise'.

Answer: Hamburg, Germany

With more than 1.4 million burials in 256,000 grave sites, Ohlsdorf Cemetery in Hamburg has more graves than any other cemetery in the world. Covering some 966 acres, only Calverton National Cemetery in Suffolk County, Long Island NY is physically larger, at 1,045 acres (but just under 200,000 interments). Ohlsdorf is so large that two bus lines serve it and there are 25 bus stops within the grounds.

Paris has many cemeteries. The most famous and largest (at 118 acres) is Père Lachaise, final resting place for such luminaries as Jim Morrison, Oscar Wilde, Frederic Chopin, Edith Piaf and Moliere. Los Angeles also has many famous cemeteries, with the two Forest Lawn Memorial Parks, one in Hollywood Hills and the other in nearby Glendale, the best known. In Hollywood Hills you can visit the graves of Bette Davis, Buster Keaton, Stan Laurel and Liberace, while the likes of Humphrey Bogart, Walt Disney, Errol Flynn and Clark Gable lie in Glendale. London does not have a single major cemetery but, rather, a number of sites known collectively as 'The Magnificent Seven'. Amongst them are Highgate Cemetery, final resting place of Karl Marx, Douglas Adams, Sir Ralph Richardson, George Eliot and Max Wall.

Answer: 10

The five permanent members of the Security Council, USA, Great Britain, France, Russia and China, were established when the United Nations was founded at the end of WWII. Each year, five member states are elected for a two-year term, meaning that there are always 10 elected members of the Council.

The elected states are chosen by regional groups: three each from 'Africa', 'Latin America, the Caribbean and Asia' and 'Western Europe and Others' plus one from 'Eastern Europe'. There is also a stipulation that there must be one Arab member, which is chosen alternately from the Asian and African block.

The five elected members whose term expires on December 31, 2008 are Belgium, Italy, South Africa, Indonesia and Panama. They will be replaced for 2009-2010 by Austria, Turkey, Japan, Uganda and Mexico. The five who were elected for 2008-2009 are Libya, Vietnam, Burkina Faso, Costa Rica and Croatia.

Answer: Perth

Although nicknamed 'The Fair City' and a former capital of Scotland, Perth was one of two Scottish towns (Elgin being the other) that lost their 'city' status when the term was re-defined in 1975. However, in 2012 it regained its city status.
With a population of around 150,000, Dundee is the fourth-largest metropolitan area in Scotland. One of Scotland's historic cities, it is nicknamed 'The City of Discovery'. Capital of the Highlands region, Inverness lies at the confluence of the River Ness and the Moray Firth. Although only home to around 50,000, it was named in February 2008 as Europe's fastest-growing city. One of Scotland's two new cities, it was granted 'city' status in 2001 as part of the Millennium celebrations.
Stirling was designated as a 'Royal Burgh' in 1130 by King David I and was an important royal stronghold throughout the pre-Union period. Granted 'city' status in 2002 as part of Queen Elizabeth II's Golden Jubilee celebrations, Stirling is Scotland's smallest city with a population of only 40,000.

Answer: Yangtze

At 3,917 miles (6,380 km) the Yangtze is the third longest river in the world, trailing only the Nile and the Amazon, both of which pass through multiple countries. Also known as the Chang Jiang, it rises in China's Qinghai province and flows in a generally eastward direction before emptying into the East China Sea at Shanghai. On the way, it passes through the Three Gorges Dam, site of the world's largest hydro-electric power station.

The Mississippi-Missouri is only a few miles shorter than the Yangtze, but some of its northernmost sources also cross the border into Canada, eliminating it as a competitor for the single-country title. When the Mississippi is joined by its tributary, the Missouri, at St Louis, it almost doubles in size. However, the Missouri is still not the Mississippi's largest tributary in terms of volume -- that status goes to the Ohio river when it joins the Mississippi at Cairo, Illinois.

The Volga is very nearly a single-country river, with a mere 0.2% of its 2,266 miles in Kazakhstan. For the vast majority of its length, Europe's longest river flows south through Russia before eventually discharging into the Caspian Sea.

At 2,094 miles, the Murray-Darling is Australia's longest river and certainly passes the single-country test. It must settle for fifth place in that category, though, with the Yellow River (China), the Lena (Russia) and the Mackenzie (Canada) as well as the Yangtze all longer and flowing through a single country.

Answer: Central African Republic

CAR is a landlocked country in central Africa, bordered by Chad, Cameroon, Sudan and the two Congoes. A former French colony, it achieved independence in 1960. Its capital is Bangui, its official languages French and Sango, and its currency the Central African Franc. With an area of 240,000 sq miles, it is only very slightly smaller than its former colonial master (and larger than it if you count only European France rather than including French Guiana too). It's relatively tiny population of 4.3 million, though, is about the same as New Zealand.

The alternatives are three more former French colonies in Africa. Mali was part of French Sudan, Benin was known as the Kingdom of Dahomey, and Burkina Faso was the former Republic of Upper Volta.

Answer: Bucharest

Bucharest, capital of Romania, has a population of around 1,930,000 with more than 2.6 million living in its metropolitan area. In terms of the population living within the city limits, it is the sixth largest city in the European Union (after London, Berlin, Madrid, Rome and Paris).

Of the alternatives, the Vladaiska and the Perlovska rivers flow through the Bulgarian capital, Sofia, the Belarusan capital, Minsk, stands on the Svislach and Niamiha rivers, and Lithuanian capital, Vilnius, stands at the confluence of the Vilnia and Neris rivers.

Answer: Nottinghamshire

Nottinghamshire is a landlocked county in the East Midlands. Although probably best known as the home of Robin Hood, the county has produced plenty of talented people. In addition to those listed in the question, novelist Richard Harris, Deep Purple drummer Ian Paice, actors Donald Pleasance and Su Pollard, and footballer Andy Cole were all born in the county.

I hope you enjoyed the quiz, and perhaps even picked up some new facts to store away. If so, look for my other quizzes online here at funtrivia.com