Q 01/05

Which South Asian country flies the only non-rectangular national flag, built from two stacked pennants?

A) India

B) Sri Lanka

C) Nepal

D) Pakistan

Answer · why

C) Nepal

Nepal's flag joins two pennants that once flew separately. Until 1962 its sun and crescent moon were drawn with human faces, which were removed to mod...

Q 02/05

Which Indian Ocean nation is the lowest-lying country on Earth, with a natural high point of only 2.4 metres?

A) Maldives

B) Seychelles

C) Sri Lanka

D) Mauritius

Answer · why

A) Maldives

The Maldives averages just 1.5 metres above sea level across a double chain of 26 atolls. English borrowed the word atoll itself from Dhivehi, the isl...

Q 03/05

Which river rises in Tibet but reaches the Arabian Sea through Pakistan near the port of Karachi?

A) Sutlej

B) Indus

C) Jhelum

D) Narmada

Answer · why

B) Indus

The Indus gave India its name by way of Old Persian and Greek, and its Sanskrit name, Sindhu, simply means river. Its source is a Tibetan spring calle...

Q 04/05

Which city was purpose-built in the 1960s to replace Karachi as the capital of Pakistan?

A) Rawalpindi

B) Peshawar

C) Quetta

D) Islamabad

Answer · why

D) Islamabad

Islamabad was planned by Greek architect Constantinos Doxiadis on a grid below the Margalla Hills. The government sat in nearby Rawalpindi until the n...

Q 05/05

Which Asian kingdom wrote Gross National Happiness into its 2008 constitution as the goal of government?

A) Bhutan

B) Brunei

C) Thailand

D) Cambodia

Answer · why

A) Bhutan

Bhutan's fourth king coined the phrase in 1972, calling it more important than gross domestic product. The kingdom lifted its ban on television only i...