Q 01/05

North America is the third-largest continent by area. Which two are bigger?

A) Asia and Africa

B) Asia and Europe

C) Africa and South America

D) Asia and Antarctica

Answer · why

A) Asia and Africa

It covers about 24.7 million square kilometres, roughly 16.5 percent of Earth's land.

Q 02/05

The Americas were named after which explorer?

A) Christopher Columbus

B) Amerigo Vespucci

C) John Cabot

D) Ferdinand Magellan

Answer · why

B) Amerigo Vespucci

German cartographer Martin Waldseemüller put 'America' on a 1507 map, initially only on what is now South America.

Q 03/05

On a 1553 map, North America was labelled 'Baccalearum', meaning realm of which fish?

A) Herring

B) Salmon

C) Cod

D) Tuna

Answer · why

C) Cod

The name nodded to the huge cod stocks off the East Coast that drew European fishing fleets to Newfoundland.

Q 04/05

What is the highest peak in North America?

A) Mount Logan

B) Pico de Orizaba

C) Mount Whitney

D) Denali

Answer · why

D) Denali

Its 20,310-foot summit rises about 18,000 feet above the surrounding plateau, one of the greatest vertical reliefs on Earth.

Q 05/05

In 1896 a gold prospector renamed North America's highest peak after which presidential candidate?

A) William McKinley

B) Grover Cleveland

C) William Jennings Bryan

D) Benjamin Harrison

Answer · why

A) William McKinley

The Koyukon people had used the mountain's traditional name for centuries; the federal government used the McKinley name from 1917 until 2015, when th...