Q 01/05

Which European country is the smallest in the world by both area and population?

A) Monaco

B) Vatican City

C) San Marino

D) Liechtenstein

Answer · why

B) Vatican City

Vatican City is the smallest country on Earth by both area and population, with fewer than a thousand residents.

Q 02/05

Which African mammal, the tallest land animal on Earth, has only seven neck bones, the same number as humans?

A) Okapi

B) Elephant

C) Giraffe

D) Eland

Answer · why

C) Giraffe

The giraffe has a long neck because each of its seven neck vertebrae is stretched to more than 28 centimetres, not because it has extra bones.

Q 03/05

Which island country off the southeast coast of Africa is the only place where lemurs are native?

A) Mauritius

B) Comoros

C) Seychelles

D) Madagascar

Answer · why

D) Madagascar

Madagascar is the lemurs' only natural home, and 17 lemur species have vanished there since humans arrived about 2,000 years ago.

Q 04/05

Which salt lake between Israel and Jordan has shores that are the lowest land elevation on Earth?

A) Dead Sea

B) Sea of Galilee

C) Aral Sea

D) Lake Van

Answer · why

A) Dead Sea

The Dead Sea is nearly ten times as salty as the ocean, which makes its water so dense that swimmers float without effort.

Q 05/05

Which Turkish city straddles the Bosphorus strait, leaving part of it in Europe and part in Asia?

A) Ankara

B) Izmir

C) Gaziantep

D) Istanbul

Answer · why

D) Istanbul

Istanbul sits on both banks of the Bosphorus, and under its earlier name Constantinople it served as the capital of four empires.