Q 01/05

In 1804 the Royal Navy officially commissioned Diamond Rock, a steep islet off Martinique, as what?

A) A lighthouse

B) A warship

C) A prison

D) A hospital

Answer · why

B) A warship

The rock became a warship, the sloop HMS Diamond Rock, after sailors hoisted cannon to its summit. Its guns harassed French shipping for 17 months.

Q 02/05

Which island lost its capital, Plymouth, to eruptions of the Soufrière Hills volcano that began in 1995?

A) Tortola

B) Saint Vincent

C) Martinique

D) Montserrat

Answer · why

D) Montserrat

Montserrat is nicknamed the Emerald Isle of the Caribbean for the Irish ancestry of many islanders, and it keeps St Patrick's Day as a public holiday.

Q 03/05

Which Founding Father of the United States was born in Charlestown on the island of Nevis?

A) Robert R. Livingston

B) Alexander Hamilton

C) Thomas Paine

D) Benjamin Franklin

Answer · why

B) Alexander Hamilton

Alexander Hamilton was born out of wedlock, orphaned as a child and taken in by a prosperous merchant.

Q 04/05

The 'mountain chicken', hunted as a delicacy on two Lesser Antilles islands, is actually what kind of animal?

A) An iguana

B) A land crab

C) A frog

D) A fruit bat

Answer · why

C) A frog

The mountain chicken is a frog, one of the largest in the world. Hunting and a fungal disease have left it critically endangered.

Q 05/05

Which island of only 87 square kilometres has been divided between France and the Netherlands since 1648?

A) Saint Martin

B) Marie-Galante

C) Saint Croix

D) Bonaire

Answer · why

A) Saint Martin

Saint Martin was split by the Treaty of Concordia. The smaller Dutch side, Sint Maarten, has more people than the French side.