USA Trivia Quiz

[The Dude]

No cheating please!!

Which states (of all 50) is:

* the farthest east?
* the farthest west?
* the farthest north?
* the farthest south?

Answers to follow...........

[EnderX]

From what point?

My guesses, assuming a 'marker' location in the middle of the North American continent:

1. East -> Florida. I think the Keys give it enough distance to outmeasure Maine, and the two of them look, from the maps, to be the best bets for easternmost distance.

2. West -> Hawaii (sp?). Jabbed out in the middle of the Pacific ocean. (Although I suppose that the Alaskan islands might make that the correct answer instead.)

3. North -> Alaska. I'm assuming that the outer edges of the states are being used to mark the measurements here.

4. South -> I want to say Texas, although I'm not certain about that.

[MidiMagic]

Here are the answers, using the 180 meridian as the dividing line between east and west.

East: Alaska (some Aleutian islands are across the 180 meridian.

North: Alaska

West: Alaska (the Aleutians just short of the 180 meridian are farther west than Hawaii).

South: Hawaii is much farther south than Florida.

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If we use the International Date Line instead of the 180 meridian, only one of those changes. Maine becomes the easternmost state. Those Alaskan islands become the westernmost point in the US.

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Now, if we limit the search to the 48 contiguous states, we get some surprising answers:

East: Maine

North: Minnesota (Lake of the Woods sticks north into Canada)

West: Washington

South: Florida

[MidiMagic]

Here's another strange geography quiz:

1. What point on the earth's surface is farthest from the center of the earth?

2. What point on the earth's surface is highest above sea level?

3. What is the tallest mountain on earth, from base to peak?

4. What point on the solid surface of earth (ignore whether or not it is under water) is closest to the center of the Earth?

5. What point on the solid surface of earth (ignore whether or not it is under water) is farthest below sea level?

6. Which explorer got closer to the center of the earth when he made his most famous expedition?

- Admiral Richard Byrd (flew over north pole)
- Roald Amundsen (dogsled to the south pole)
- Jacques Cousteau (deepest bathyscaphe trip)

7. Which of those three explorers was farthest from the center of the earth when he made his most famous expedition?

8. What three men jointly traveled faster than any other men ever traveled in history?

9. What three men jointly hold the altitude record of going farthest from the surface of the earth?

10. Name a country with three separated parts of its main geographical area (not counting territories).

11. What country has the longest combined lengths of its coastlines?

12. What three countries have "panhandles" (long thin areas projecting from the main area, similar to Oklahoma's) that spiral around each other?

13. What country has the densest population?

14. What geographical feature do the following countries have in common?

Russia, Azerbaijan, Croatia, Turkey, Spain, Oman, East Timor, Palestine, Angola, Argentina, Denmark*, Turkey*, and United States

15. What geographical feature do the following countries have in common?

San Marino, The Vatican, and Lesotho

16. What geographical feature do the following countries have in common?

San Marino, Canada, The Vatican, Portugal, Ireland, The UK, Lesotho, Monaco, Singapore, East Timor, Brunei, South Korea, Bangladesh, Cyprus, North Cyprus, The Gambia, Papua New Guinea, Haiti, and The Dominican Republic

17. What country has dry land closest to the center of the earth?

18. What three countries have dry land that is the lowest below sea level?

19. What is the largest island in the world?

20. What geographical feature do the following countries have in common?

Spain, France, Germany, Russia, Croatia, The United States, Sweden, Canada, Mexico, Egypt, Israel, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Malaysia, Indonesia, North Korea, Thailand, China, East Timor, Kazakhstan, Turkey, Senegal, Angola, Argentina, Chile, Panama, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras, and Nicaragua

The following US states also have this property:

Virginia*, Alaska, Minnesota, Rhode Island*, Michigan*, Wisconsin, New York

* not counting bridges that remove the property

[The Dude]

CONGRATS MIDIMAGIC!!!!!!

You got the right answer! (I hope you didnt cheat :D)

I only got 2 right when i found this quiz..

[bumsfeld]

Yeah MidiMgic, great talent there! I am still working on your questions.

[MidiMagic]

Post your tries now. I will post the answers in a few days.

[MidiMagic]

I found an error in question 20. That second Nicaragua was supposed to say Guatemala.

[The Dude]

Ah man!!

[MidiMagic]

Here they are: THE ANSWERS:

1. What point on the earth's surface is farthest from the center of the earth?

The summit of Mount Chimborazo, Ecuador.

2. What point on the earth's surface is highest above sea level?

The summit of Mount Everest, on the border of China and Bhutan.

3. What is the tallest mountain on earth, from base to peak?

Mauna Kea, Hawaii, US. It is 33000 feet tall, base to peak. But almost 20000 of that is below sea level.

4. What point on the solid surface of earth (ignore whether or not it is under water) is closest to the center of the Earth?

The lowest point on in the Fram Basin the ocean floor, close to the north pole.

5. What point on the solid surface of earth (ignore whether or not it is under water) is farthest below sea level?

Challenger Deep, in the Marianas Trench, off the Marianas Islands in the Pacific Ocean.

6. Which explorer got closer to the center of the earth when he made his most famous expedition?

- Admiral Richard Byrd (flew over north pole)
- Roald Amundsen (dogsled to the south pole)
- Jacques Cousteau (deepest bathyscaphe trip)

Byrd. He flew low over the icecap, which is close to sea level at the north pole.

(Amundsen was on higher ground at the south pole. And Cousteau was six miles farther from the center of the earth, because of the oblateness of the earth.)

7. Which of those three explorers was farthest from the center of the earth when he made his most famous expedition?

Cousteau

8. What three men jointly traveled faster than any other men ever traveled in history?

Eugene Cernan, Thomas Stafford, and John Young, on Apollo 10.

9. What three men jointly hold the altitude record of going farthest from the surface of the earth?

James Lovell, John Swigert, and Fred Haise, on Apollo 13. A failed mission set a record!

10. Name a country with three separated parts of its main geographical area (not counting territories).

The United States. Alaska and Hawaii are separated from the other states.

11. What country has the longest combined lengths of its coastlines?

Canada.

12. What three countries have "panhandles" (long thin areas projecting from the main area, similar to Oklahoma's) that spiral around each other?

Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and Kyrgyzstan.

13. What country has the densest population?

Monaco. It's all city. Singapore is the second most dense.

14. What geographical feature do the following countries have in common?

Russia, Azerbaijan, Croatia, Turkey, Spain, Oman, East Timor, Palestine, Angola, Argentina, Denmark*, Turkey*, and United States

Each country has two separated geographical areas as part of its mainland area in such a way that it is possible to walk or drive from one portion to the other without using a ship.

15. What geographical feature do the following countries have in common?

San Marino, The Vatican, and Lesotho

Each country is entirely surrounded by one other country. Two of them are surrounded by the same country (Italy).

16. What geographical feature do the following countries have in common?

San Marino, Canada, The Vatican, Portugal, Ireland, The UK, Lesotho, Monaco, Singapore, East Timor, Brunei, South Korea, Bangladesh, Cyprus, North Cyprus, The Gambia, Papua New Guinea, Haiti, and The Dominican Republic

Each borders only one other country.

17. What country has dry land closest to the center of the earth?

Denmark, near the north pole in Greenland.

18. What three countries have dry land that is the lowest below sea level?

Israel, Palestine, and Jordan all border the dead sea. The dead sea shore is farther below sea level than any other point on earth that is not submerged.

19. What is the largest island in the world?

Greenland.

20. What geographical feature do the following countries have in common?

Spain, France, Germany, Russia, Croatia, The United States, Sweden, Canada, Mexico, Egypt, Israel, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Malaysia, Indonesia, North Korea, Thailand, China, East Timor, Kazakhstan, Turkey, Senegal, Angola, Argentina, Chile, Panama, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras, and Nicaragua

Each has more than one coastline, separated by borders with other countries.

The following US states also have this property:

Virginia*, Alaska, Minnesota, Rhode Island*, Michigan*, Wisconsin, New York

Each has more than one coastline, separated by borders with other states.

* not counting bridges that remove the property

[darkagn]

Here they are: THE ANSWERS:

19. What is the largest island in the world?

Greenland.

Australians are very proud of the fact that our mainland is roughly three times the size of Greenland and is in fact an island, being completely surrounded by water. Greenland is the second largest island in the world.

[EnderX]

2. What point on the earth's surface is highest above sea level?

The summit of Mount Everest, on the border of China and Bhutan.

Are you completely certain about this? I vaguely recall reading a few years back about satellite evidence that seemed to indicate that K2 was higher than Everest. Admittedly, it wasn't by much, but that would still change the answer if correct.

[MidiMagic]

Australia is a continent.

[darkagn]

Yes but the mainland is an island - the biggest in the world.

[uniquestar]

I thought that the Continent was Australasia, including New Zeland, New Guinea and Papua New Guinea as well

[Ancient Dragon]

According to this Austrilia is a continent. If the only geographical difference between a continent and and island is size, then why is Austrilia considered a continent and Greenland (2,175,600 sq km/840,000 sq mi) an island. Why isn't Greeland also a continent ? Or why isn't Austrilia an island? The answer I suspect is arbitrary.

[jasimp]

If you want to get technical than you could say, Asia and Africa connected together, is (it is a single landmass so I am using "is" not "are") the largest island in the world because it is technically surrounded by water on all sides.

[sk8ndestroy14]

No, asia, africa, and europe. lol. But I think Australia is a continent, but that continent includes the mainland and the surrounding islands. The mainland itself is an island I think. It makes sense that way anyway. But yeah I don't understand how combined continents can't just be considered large islands anyway.

[darkagn]

If you want to get technical than you could say, Asia and Africa connected together, is (it is a single landmass so I am using "is" not "are") the largest island in the world because it is technically surrounded by water on all sides.

But it is made up of many countries, none of which are an island. Australia is a single country made up of one main island, a smaller island and several tiny islands.

[Ancient Dragon]

>>But it is made up of many countries
There is nothing in the explaination I read that said an island has to be made up of just one country (or nation).

[EnderX]

>>But it is made up of many countries
There is nothing in the explaination I read that said an island has to be made up of just one country (or nation).

Point in case: Haiti/Dominican Republic. Would you define that as 'not an island' simply because there are two nations there?

[MidiMagic]

Hispaniola has two countries.