Geography VII Quiz

Geography VII Quiz

1 There are two republics in Europe, each of which has a population of less than 20,000. What are they ?


2 The names of eight of the United States of America begin with M. Name them.


3 What bridges (for road traffic) cross the Thames between Tower Bridge and Westminster Bridge.


4 a) What country is often referred to as "our oldest ally" ? b) What American Republic was directly administered by this country until 1822 ?

5 What European states - in addition to Britain - were monarchies at the outbreak of the Second World War ?


6 A yacht sails from Leningrad to Le Havre. What (in the order in which it sails past them) are the countries on its port bow ?


7 Arrange these towns in the order of their proximity to the North Pole : Astrakhan, Bordeaux, Bucharest, Prague, Vienna ? (3 pts to first exact answer.)


8 The names of 3 traditional Scottish counties, and of 3 in the republic of Ireland, begin with the letter K. Can you name them ?


9 Of what European countries are the following cities the respective capitals ? a)Talinn; b) Belgrade; c) Riga; d) Sofia e) Tirana ?

1pt per question or part-question answered correctly.
Good Luck !

[WolfLord]

2.Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana
3.Waterloo, Blackfriars, Southwark, London
9.a)Estonia
b)Serbia
c)Latvia
d)Bulgaria
e)Albania

[SirKT]

Whoopee more geography :)

1. Not sure about this one. Is it Austria & Germany?
5. Not sure again but i`ll try Spain, Denmark & Norway
6. Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Germany, Denmark, Holland & Belgium
7. Prague, Vienna, Bordeaux, Bucharest & Astrakhan
8. Kincardineshire, Kinross-shire & Kirkcudbrightshire

[CraigC]

1. San Marino & Vatican City

4. Portugal

5. Sweden, Belgium, Holland, Liechstenstein

6. ....not forgetting Russia & France

7. Prague, Bordeaux, Vienna, Bucharest, Astrakhan

8. Kerry, Kildare, Oh my god, they just Kilkenny.

Got here a bit late!

Wolfman first -

2) all correct, 8pts
3) all correct, 4pts
9) all correct, 5pts

now to Sir KT -

1) the ones I'm looking for are tiny nations.
5) a point each for Denmark and Norway. Franco was Head of State in 1936 so Spain didn't have a king at start of WWII. There are in fact nine others available !
6) Immaculate apart from missing out the start and destination country. Also, Germany is re-visited twice ! 8 points nonetheless, well done !
7) 1pt at present, there is one out of order.
8) 3pts for the three Scottish ones.

....and finally CraigC:
1) San Marino only correct, 1pt
4) Portugal correct, 1pt
5) Belgium Holland Sweden correct, 3pts (think Liechtenstein only had a prince or duke or something)
6) Russia, France correct, 2pts whipped from under KT's nose. ;)
7) Sorry, nil points, Sir KT was closer.
8) 3pts for the three Irish ones, 1 bonus point for jocular reference to South Park. ;D

Leaderboard:
1. Wolfman 17pts
2. Sir KT 14pts
3. CraigC 11pts

Left to get : 1,4,5 & 7

[SirKT]

Try again for no.7

1.Prague
2.Vienna
3. Bucharest
4.Bordeaux
5. Astrakhan

No 1. Is it Andorra or Liechtenstein or Luxembourg

[beefy]

1. Luxembourg

Confession time. I set this quiz from an old book, printed 50 years ago. Since then one of the answers to Q1 - ANDORRA - has quadrupled in population. So 2pts to Sir KT for finding the 'correct' answer to the faulty question, minus 1pt to Tommo for being a dunderhead, and 1pt each to all those who had a shot at it with a plausible answer (CraigC and Beefy).

Q4 - come on lads this is ridiculously easy - we've got Portugal, but which large country on the American continent did it administer ?

Q5 - Six kingdoms at the start of WWII still to find.

Q7 - You're unlikely to get them just by guessing. Get that atlas out and find the latitudes, then that will give you the order. Extra bonus point in each case for the individual latitudes.

Current standings :
1. Wolfman 17pts
2. Sir KT 16pts
3. CraigC 12pts
4. Beefy 1pt
5. tommo -1pt

2. Maryland, Mississippi, Montana, Missouri, Maine, Massachusett, Michigan, Minnesota
4. Brazil was administered by Portugal.
5. Monaco?, Andorra?

[Sir Jock o The Strap]

Q 7
1.Prague Lat: 50.5N - Lon: 14.26E
2.Vienna Lat: 48.14N - Lon: 16.20E
3. Astrakhan Lat: 46.349N - Lon: 48.049E
4. Bucharest Lat: 44.25N - Lat: 26.7E
5. 4.Bordeaux Lat: 44.50N - Lon: 0.31W

I hope, not sure I understand lat and longs but hey I had a go.

Regg3y first............

2) All the M's already successfully provided by Wolfman who got the points.

4b) 1 pt for correctly naming Brazil.

5) Sorry, those two are principalities and the question asked for monarchies.

Revised leaderboard:
1. Wolfman 17pts
2. Sir KT 16pts
3. CraigC 12pts
4= Beefy 1pt
4= Regg3y 1pt
6. tommo -1pt

jock said:

Q 7
1.Prague Lat: 50.5N - Lon: 14.26E
2.Vienna Lat: 48.14N - Lon: 16.20E
3. Astrakhan Lat: 46.349N - Lon: 48.049E
4. Bucharest Lat: 44.25N - Lat: 26.7E
5. 4.Bordeaux Lat: 44.50N - Lon: 0.31W

I hope, not sure I understand lat and longs but hey I had a go.

A good effort Jock, worthy of a yield of 7pts.
Latitude is quite a simple concept: Start by calling the equator 0 degrees, then throw a tangent upwards, and a tangent outwards from the poles, and a right angle (90 degrees) is prescribed wherever they meet. Thus the North Pole is at 90 degrees north and the south pole 90 degrees south. Everywhere else on the globe is somewhere in between. For convenience, each degree is then divided into 60 "minutes" and each "minute" into 60 "seconds".
So let's look at your answers, and I've taken out the longitudes which for the purposes of this question we're not concerned with :

1. Prague Lat: 50.5N
2. Vienna Lat: 48.14N
3. Astrakhan Lat: 46.349N
4. Bucharest Lat: 44.25N
5. Bordeaux Lat: 44.50N

Well, your longitudes are all correct (I won't split hairs on Astrakhan which I have as 46 degrees and 21 minutes north). So 5pts for those.
But of course you have the last two round the wrong way, as obviously Bucharest at 44 degrees and 25 minutes north is further away from the North Pole than Bordeaux at 44 degrees and 50 minutes north.
So have to dock you a point but a yield of 7 from this question ain't bad.

Revised leaderboard:
1. Wolfman 17pts
2. Sir KT 16pts
3. CraigC 12pts
4. Sir Jock o'the Strap 7pts
5= Beefy 1pt
5= Regg3y 1pt
7. tommo -1pt

Will repeat the only question remaining to be answered :
5 What European states - in addition to Britain - were monarchies at the outbreak of the Second World War ?
Belgium, Holland, Denmark, Norway and Sweden have been found so far. 6 still to come, and as many points going begging. ;)

[mickthehammer]

Lets have a go..... :-/

Will repeat the only question remaining to be answered :
5 What European states - in addition to Britain - were monarchies at the outbreak of the Second World War ?
Belgium, Holland, Denmark, Norway and Sweden have been found so far. 6 still to come, and as many points going begging.

5. Austria, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Yugoslavia and Luxembourg

Thats about it I think.... :-/

Hi Mick,
You'll probably be surprised to know you've managed to land just
two with that answer - Romania and Yugoslavia being correct.

Austria was proclaimed a republic in 1918, but ever since has had a claimant or 'pretender' still alive today at the ripe old age of 94, Otto von Hapsburg, the self-styled Crown Prince of Austria. Otto's father Karl died prematurely in 1922, making Otto pretender to the throne at the age of ten. Meanwhile, the Austrian parliament had officially expelled the Habsburg dynasty and confiscated all the official property (Habsburgergesetz of 3 April 1919).
Otto spent most of the war years in Washington, D.C. (1940 – 1944), after escaping from Austria to Portugal with a visa issued by the Portuguese consul in Bordeaux, Aristides de Sousa Mendes. A fervent Austrian patriot, he opposed the Nazi Anschluss of Austria of 1938 and, sentenced to death by Hitler, spent the war years in America. After the war, he lived for some years in both France and Spain.
In 1961 Otto renounced all claims to the Austrian throne and was eventually allowed to return to his home country in 1966 (Austria had until the mid 1950s been officially neutral, staunchly republican and ill-disposed to welcome back the heir to a deposed dynasty).
An early advocate of a unified Europe, Otto served from 1979 till 1999 as a Member of the European Parliament. Otto is alleged to have struck fellow MEP Ian Paisley. When Pope John Paul II gave a speech to the European Parliament in 1988, Paisley shouted at the Pope, "I renounce you as the Antichrist!" and held up a poster reading "Pope John Paul II Antichrist", whereupon he was excluded from the session and expelled from the room by other MEPs.

Poland's last king, Stanislaw August Poniatowski, abdicated in 1795 and died three years later. A kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria ensued, ruled by the Hapsburgs.

Portugal's last king, Manuel II, lost his throne in 1910 when Portugal was declared a republic. Since then there have been Presidents of Portugal, but as with Austria there is a pretender to the throne in the form of Duarte III 'Pio'.

Luxembourg is a Grand Duchy (not a kingdom), and at the outbreak of WWII, Charlotte, Grand Duchess of Luxembourg, was forced into exile when Hitler invaded and annexed Lux. as part of the Third Reich.

Revised leaderboard:
1. Wolfman 17pts
2. Sir KT 16pts
3. CraigC 12pts
4. Sir Jock o'the Strap 7pts
5. MicktheHammer 2pts
6= Beefy 1pt
6= Regg3y 1pt
8. tommo -1pt

Four kingdoms still to find in the answer to number 5 !

[davemay]

Greece spring to mind as one of the missing monarchies.

Well done Dave, that's one of them. 3 more to get.

Revised leaderboard:
1. Wolfman 17pts
2. Sir KT 16pts
3. CraigC 12pts
4. Sir Jock o'the Strap 7pts
5. MicktheHammer 2pts
6= Beefy 1pt
6= Regg3y 1pt
6= DavidMay 1pt
9. tommo -1pt

[Sir Jock o The Strap]

q5 Germany and Russia

jock said:

q5 Germany and Russia

Not the right answer (for once ::) ).

The monarchy was abolished in Germany on 9th November 1918 with the abdication of Kaiser Bill the Second.
The Weimar Republic was declared, and he was succeeded as leader by Friedrich Ebert under the title of Reichsprasident.

As for Russia, Nicholas II of Russia (Nikolai Aleksandrovich Romanov) was the last Emperor. He ruled from 1894 until his forced abdication in 1917. Nicholas proved unable to manage a country in political turmoil and command its army in World War I. His rule ended with the Russian Revolution of 1917, after which he and his family were executed by Bolsheviks. He is sometimes referred to as Nicholas the Martyr due to his execution and as Bloody Nicholas because of the tragic events during his coronation and his government's subsequent suppression of dissent. As a result of his canonization, he has been regarded as Saint Nicholas The Passion Bearer by the Russian Orthodox Church.
The rise of Communism and formation of the U.S.S.R. was heralded by the October Revolution: more about it here:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/October_Revolution

[Sir Jock o The Strap]

Got to get some wrong now and then you know.

[WolfLord]

5.Norway (Haakon VII)
Belgium (Leopold III)
Sweden (Gustaf V)
Prussia (Louis Ferdinand)
Denmark (Christian X)
Yugoslavia (Petar II)
Netherlands (Wilhelmina)

Sorry Wolfman, can't give you any points for that........
Norway and Denmark were identified by Sir KT;
Belgium, Sweden and Netherlands similarly by CraigC;
And MicktheHammer got Yugoslavia.

That leaves your answer Prussia: the German Emperor shared as part of his title "King of Prussia" - and the last one was Kaiser Wilhelm II: as stated above, the German monarchy was abolished in 1918.

Time to bring this one to a halt, by naming the three missing kingdoms from question 5.

1. Victor Emmanuel III was King of Italy (29 July 1900 – 9 May 1946), was a supporter of Mussolini and briefly claimed the titles of Emperor of Ethiopia (1936–43) and King of Albania (1939–43). During his long reign, Victor Emmanuel III saw two world wars and the birth, rise and fall of Fascism.
His successor, Umberto II, served as the last King of Italy for slightly over a month, from May 9, 1946 to June 12, 1946 - whereupon Italy was declared a republic.

2. Boris III ruled as Tsar of Bulgaria, from 1918-1943. He was succeeded by Simeon of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha as head of state as the Tsar Simeon II, from 1943 until 15 September 1946 when the kingdom was abolished and a communist republic declared.
Simeon II also served as Prime Minister of Bulgaria from 2001 until August 2005 and is the only monarch in history who later became head of the government through democratic nation-wide elections, after 55 years of exile imposed on his family by the communists. It was a first for Bulgaria, for Europe, and for the world.

3. Hungary qualifies as the last, having a Vacant Throne. In November 1916, Otto von Hapsburg became Crown Prince of Austria and Hungary when his father, Archduke Karl, ascended to the throne. However, in 1918, at the end of the First World War, both monarchies were abolished, the Republics of Austria and Hungary founded instead, and the family were forced into exile. Hungary did become a kingdom again, but Karl was never to ascend the throne. Instead, Miklós Horthy ruled until 1944 as regent in the kingdom without a king.

Quiz ended:
1. Wolfman 17pts
2. Sir KT 16pts
3. CraigC 12pts
4. Sir Jock o'the Strap 7pts
5. MicktheHammer 2pts
6= Beefy 1pt
6= Regg3y 1pt
6= DavidMay 1pt
.......and tommo will wipe his -1pt by virtue of beating y'all on this last one. ;D