Test your travel geography
“I couldn’t find London on a map if they didn’t have the names of the countries.”
– Miami Dolphins linebacker Channing Crowder, 2007
OK, travelers, you’ve been to a lot of places. But how well do you really know this good old world?
Get a sharp pencil and test yourself on a dozen geography questions.
For every right answer, give yourself 10 points. For every wrong answer, give yourself zero.
Here’s the scoring:
0-30: Um, do you actually have any idea where you are right now?
40-80: Considering that 43 percent of Americans ages 18-24 cannot locate the state of Ohio on a map, you’re not doing too badly.
90-120: You rock. A-plus.
The quiz
1. Europe’s Eurostar train service this year sped up the trip between London and Paris. How long does it now take?
A. 8 hours, 15 minutes
B. 2 hours, 15 minutes
C. 13 hours, 15 minutes
D. Trick question. The Eurostar doesn’t go between London and Paris
2. The Aeolian Islands are near:
A. Dubrovnik
B. Melbourne
C. Sicily
D. Crete
3. Christmas, Mich., is a tiny village just outside what town?
A. Midland
B. Marquette
C. Munising
D. Menominee
4. Dubai is a wealthy and increasingly popular travel destination. In which country is it?
A. Trick question. Dubai IS a country.
B. Oman
C. Kuwait
D. United Arab Emirates
5. Victoria Falls, on the border of Zimbabwe and Zambia, is:
A. Twice the size of Niagara Falls
B. Drying up
C. On the Nile River
D. Fun to go over in a kayak
6. The world’s busiest subway system has a perfect central circle and branches that look like 16 spider legs. More than 7 million people a day, including many tourists, ride this subway, which also has ornate vaulted- ceiling stations. It is the:
A. Paris Metro
B. Moscow Metro
C. Tokyo Metro
D. London Underground
7. Alaska’s Denali National Park, home of Mt. McKinley, is a tourists’ dream and the nation’s largest national park. It’s the size of:
A. Texas
B. Massachusetts
C. Michigan
D. Trick question. Denali Park isn’t the nation’s largest national park
8. Most Americans start tours of Antarctica in Ushuaia. Where is it?
A. Chile
B. Paraguay
C. The Falkland Islands
D. Argentina
9. The capital city of Canada is:
A. Toronto
B. Montreal
C. Ottawa
D. Halifax
10. Schiphol Airport is one of the world’s busiest. It is in:
A. South Africa
B. The Netherlands
C. Sweden
D. Germany
11. Where is the territory of Nunavut?
A. Thailand
B. Laos
C. Iceland
D. Canada
12. What is the population of the United States?
A. 113 million
B. 301 million
C. 1.3 billion
D. 6.6 billion
The answers
1. B: Europe’s Eurostar high-speed train now zips at 186 mph all the way from the Paris Gare du Nord to London’s St. Pancras station.
2. C: The beautiful rocky Aeolian Islands, sometimes called the Lipari Islands, are just north of Sicily, near Italy’s foot. You’ll probably be hearing more about them in 2008, because travel to Sicily is suddenly hot.
3. C: Christmas is near Munising, across the street from Lake Superior; its main feature is a post office and a gigantic statue of Santa.
4. D: However, Dubai is not the capital of the United Arab Emirates. Bonus question: What’s the capital? (Answer: Abu Dhabi, smarty-pants.)
5. A: The roaring Victoria Falls are 400 feet wide and 360 feet high – believe me, you wouldn’t want to go over them in a kayak. Located on the plenty wet Zambezi River, the falls draws fewer tourists these days from the violence-plagued Zimbabwe side and more from the peaceful Zambia side.
6. B: Joseph Stalin ordered the Moscow Metro built in the 1930s with elaborate art as homage to the Communist ideal. The system expanded but never lost its original perfect circle in the center.
7. D: While Denali is 9,492 square miles, it’s a pipsqueak compared to Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve in Alaska. At 20,625 square miles, the states of New Jersey and Maryland would both easily fit inside of Wrangell-St. Elias, which lies east of Anchorage and west of Whitehorse, B.C.
8. D: The port city of Ushuaia is on the archipelago of Tierra del Fuego, Argentina.
9. C: Ottawa is the capital of Canada. It only seems like Toronto.
10. B: Many Americans fly through Amsterdam’s Schiphol (which in Dutch means “ship hole”) because it’s a hub for Northwest Airlines in partnership with the Dutch airline KLM.
11. D: Nunavut used to be part of the Northwest Territories until 1999. Its capital is Iqaluit.
12. B: If you answered C, that’s the population of China. If you answered D, that’s the world population.
Sources: Paris Convention and Visitors Bureau; “Transit Maps of the World” by Mark Ovenden (Penguin, $25); Free Press research; National Geographic-Roper Public Affairs 2006 Geographic Literacy Study; U.S. Census Bureau; Government of Canada.