Around the World in 10 Questions [6] Quiz

Answer: Montenegro

Montenegro first attained independence from the Byzantine Empire in 1042. It was annexed by Serbia in 1186 and again became an independent kingdom in 1356. In 1499 it became part of the Ottoman Empire, and there it stayed for almost four decades, regaining its independence again in 1878. At the end of WWI it became part of 'Serbia & Montenegro', and remained so until that union was dissolved in 2006. In became the 192nd member of the UN in 2006 and has applied for European Union candidate status.
With an area of just over 5,000 sq miles, Montenegro is slightly smaller than The Bahamas -- about twice the size of the US state of Delaware. It's population (around 650,000) it about the same as the city of Baltimore MD.
Of the alternatives, the capital of Macedonia is Skopje, the capital of Georgia is Tbilisi, and the capital of Moldova is Chisinau.

Answer: Ghana

The British Crown Colony of Gold Coast was established in 1874 in the region now occupied by Ghana. The name Ghana (which means 'Warrior King') was adopted in 1957, when it became the first sub-Saharan African nation to achieve independence from Britain.
With an area of just over 92,000 sq miles, Ghana is only very slightly smaller than the entire United Kingdom (England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland). Both are slightly smaller than the US state of Michigan, America's 11th largest state. Ghana's population of around 23 million is similar to North Korea -- slightly less than Texas, the 2nd most populated US state.
Of the alternatives, Benin is further east, between Togo and Nigeria; Liberia is further west, between Cote d'Ivoire and Sierra Leone; and Mali is inland to the north, between Burkina Faso, Niger and Algeria.

Answer: Canada

At 19,951 feet, Mount Logan is the highest point in Canada, and only Mount McKinley in (relatively) nearby Alaska is higher in the whole of North America. Logan is part of the Saint Elias Mountains, located in the Kluane National Park in the southeastern corner of the Yukon Territory.
With an average temperature of -27 Celsius (-17 F), little snow ever melts at the top of Mount Logan and the ice cap alone is almost 1,000 feet thick in places.
Of the alternatives, the highest point in the tropical rain-forest that covers most of Papua New Guinea is Mount Wilhelm, standing 14,793 feet. New Zealand's highest point is Aoraki (or Mount Cook), located in the Southern Alps on the country's South Island, which stands 12,320 feet. The teardrop-shaped island of Sri Lanka is covered primarily with rolling plains, with mountains only rising in the south-central part of the country. It's highest peak is Pidurutalagala, standing 8,281 feet, although Adam's Peak (7.359 feet) is probably the country's best known.

Answer: Buenos Aires, Argentina

The Buenos Aires Metro, known as 'Subte' (from 'subterraneo' - underground), opened on December 1 1913. It is not only the oldest subway system in the Southern Hemisphere, but also in the entire Spanish-speaking world. Today it has 74 stations on 32.5 miles of track split between six lines. An average or around 1.3 millions people use the system daily.

Of the alternatives, the Rio de Janeiro Metro opened in 1979, although the Sao Paolo Metro had preceded it by five years as Brazil's first. The Rio Metro now has 32 stations on 26 miles of track split between two lines. Rio's second rapid-transit system, the 'SuperVia', opened in 1998 and now has almost 140 miles of track serving 11 different cities in the Rio de Janeiro metropolitan area.
The Lima Metro is one of the world's most modern rapid-transit systems, having only opened in 2003. It currently has only 7 stations on a single 6-mile line, although six additional lines are planned.
It is perhaps surprising that there is still no significant subway system in any of the major English-speaking countries in the Southern Hemisphere (eg Australia, New Zealand and South Africa). Both Sydney and Melbourne have underground railways consisting of a handful of stations under their city centres, although they are not called 'subways', 'metros' or 'tubes'. The Sydney system, known simply as 'City Circle' loops around 6 stations. It was opened in 1932, the same time as the Harbour Bridge. The Melbourne system is called the 'City Loop' and was completed in the mid-1980s. (Thanks to ozzz2002 for the information on the Australian systems.)

Answer: The Euphrates

The 1,728-mile long Euphrates rises in the Kargapazari Mountains, not far from Mount Ararat, only about 60 miles south of the Black Sea in northern Turkey. It crosses Syria's northern border on the western side of its midway point and then flows southeasterly across the country. The river's only major tributaries, the Khabur and the Balikh, join it before it leaves Syria. The river continues on a south-southeast heading across Iraq. North of Basra, it merges with the Tigris to form the Shatt al-Arab shortly before discharging into the northern end of the Persian Gulf.
Of the alternatives, the Tigris also rises in northern Turkey, and flows across the Turkish-Iraqi border on a similar southern course to the east of the Euphrates. The Nahr al-Kabir al-Janoubi forms the northern end of the Syria-Lebanon border before emptying into the Mediterranean. The 150-mile long
Orontes rises in eastern Lebanon but, unlike all other major rivers in the region, it runs northward. It crosses into Syria and then into Turkey before emptying into the Mediterranean at Samandag.

Answer: Brent

The London Borough of Brent is bordered to the north by Harrow and Barnet, to the east by Camden, and to the south by Ealing, Hammersmith & Fulham, Westminster, and Kensington & Chelsea. The rebuilt Wembley Stadium opened in 2007 with a 90,000 capacity. The Nou Camp in Barcelona is the only European stadium that holds more, whilst Wembley is the world's largest stadium with every seat covered.
The alternatives all house sports stadiums, although none as grand as England's National Stadium... Underhill Stadium, the home of Barnet F.C., is located in High Barnet (or Chipping Barnet) on the extreme northern edge of the London Metropolitan area.
Haringey is a veritable hotbed of sporting venues: Alexandra Palace is the home rink of the Haringey Greyhounds ice hockey team as well as the venue for the World Dates Championships. New River Stadium is the home of the London Skolars rugby league team and the annual Middlesex 7s rugby union competition. Haringey is also the home of one of the capital's Premiership soccer teams -- Tottenham Hotspur play at White Hart Lane, which can be found in Tottenham High Road.
Richmond-Upon-Thames is where you can find the home of rugby union, Twickenham, as well as the famous Harlequins RFC, located just across the road from 'HQ', at Stoop Memorial Park. Richmond is also a significant venue for another of England's greatest sporting events -- the annual Oxford-Cambridge Boat Race finishes at Mortlake.

Answer: Norway

With a surface area of only 51 sq km (about 22km long and a maximum of 4km wide), Hornindalsvatnet is only Norway's 19th largest lake and appears to be a relatively unimpressive. Below the surface, though, it is a monster -- although it has an official maximum depth of 514 meters, although a telephone company measured depths of as much as 612 meters in 1990.

It is estimated to contain 12 cubic km of water. Located near the soutwest coast, it is home to the annual Hornindalsvatnet Marathon every July. Of the alternatives, Russia is home the Europe's three largest lakes -- Ladogo, at more than 17,500 sq km is the world's 14th-largest lake; Onega (18th-largest in the world at just under 10,000 sq km), and Kuybyshev, the world's 3rd-largest reservoir. Hungary is home to the largest lake in Central Europe, Lake Balaton, which has a surface area of almost 600 sq km; and Spain has the largest saline lake in Europe, Mar Menor (at 170 sq kn it is Spain's largest lake of any kind).

Answer: Cuba

With a population of just over 11.3 million, slightly less than Greece and a few more than Belgium, Cuba is the most populous of the Caribbean nations.
Of the alternatives, Haiti is the next largest, with a population of just over 10 million, which is only marginally more than its neighbor on the island of Hispaniola, Dominican Republic.
Although the population sizes of these three countries are relatively close, in terms of land area Cuba is over twice the size of Dominican Republic and more then four times as large as Haiti. Consequently, Haiti has a much higher population density than the other two -- around 750 people/sq mile in Haiti compared with 525 p/sq mile in Dom Rep and 265 p/sq mile in Cuba.
Jamaica's population is significantly less, at around 2.7m, while Barbados is tiny by comparison, with around 250,000.

Answer: Ethiopia

The birr was first used in Ethiopia (or Abyssinia as it was then widely known) in 1855. The lira briefly became the currency during the Italian occupation of 1936-1941, which in turn was superseded by the East African Shilling from 1941-1945. At the end of WWII, the birr was reinstated, although the official English translation of birr was 'dollar' until 1976. Since then, it has been internationally called the Ethiopian birr in all languages.

The birr is divided into 100 santim (a name derived from the French word, centime). Of the alternatives, the Nakfa is the Eritrean currency, the Lilangeni is used in Swaziland and Metical is the basic unit of currency in Mozambique.

Answer: Antarctica

Queen Maud Land is the region of Antarctica claimed by Norway as a dependent territory. It is located between the British and Australian Antarctic claims and covers a massive 2.5 millions sq km. Indeed, Norway itself would fit almost eight times into Queen Maud Land. Officially claimed in January 1939, the territory is named for Maud of Wales, the youngest daughter of King Edward VII of Great Britain. Queen Maud had been the consort to Norway's King Haakon VII until her death just two months prior to the Norwegian Antarctic claim, in November 1938.