Q 01/05

On a Mercator map Greenland looks as big as Africa; in reality Africa is about how many times larger?

A) 3

B) 7

C) 14

D) 30

Answer · why

C) 14

Africa is about 14 times as large as Greenland, yet Mercator's 1569 projection stretches the far north until the two look equal on the page.

Q 02/05

What lies directly beneath the geographic North Pole, which unlike the South Pole sits on no continent?

A) Sea ice over deep water

B) A frozen island chain

C) Greenland's northern ice cap

D) Bedrock under thin ice

Answer · why

A) Sea ice over deep water

Sea ice over deep water is all there is: the Russian Mir submersible measured 4,261 m of ocean at the pole in 2007, which is why no permanent station ...

Q 03/05

Which Pacific nation skipped 30 December 2011 entirely, hopping west across the date line toward its trading partners?

A) Tonga

B) Samoa

C) Fiji

D) Tuvalu

Answer · why

B) Samoa

Samoa went straight from Thursday 29 December to Saturday 31 December 2011, a change meant to improve business with trading partners to its west; Toke...

Q 04/05

Which country stretches across five geographical time zones yet officially keeps just one, set to its capital?

A) India

B) Russia

C) Brazil

D) China

Answer · why

D) China

China runs entirely on UTC+8 despite spanning five geographical time zones, so in far-western Xinjiang the sun can rise after 9 a.m. by the official c...

Q 05/05

Which island pair in the Bering Strait, one Russian and one American, sits 3.8 km apart across the date line?

A) Aleutian Islands

B) Kuril Islands

C) Diomede Islands

D) Pribilof Islands

Answer · why

C) Diomede Islands

The Diomede Islands are nicknamed Tomorrow Island and Yesterday Island, because Big Diomede runs 21 hours ahead of Little Diomede across the line.