Q 01/05

Which country, where the Grimaldi family first took power in 1297, is the second-smallest in the world?

A) San Marino

B) Monaco

C) Andorra

D) Vatican City

Answer · why

B) Monaco

Monaco squeezes into about two square kilometres of the French Riviera, which also makes it the most densely populated country on Earth.

Q 02/05

Which Scottish lake on the Great Glen holds more water than all the lakes of England and Wales combined?

A) Loch Lomond

B) Loch Morar

C) Loch Ness

D) Loch Awe

Answer · why

C) Loch Ness

Loch Ness is only the second-largest Scottish loch by surface area, behind Loch Lomond, but it plunges to about 230 metres, deep enough to hold far mo...

Q 03/05

Which country seats its government in The Hague and has about a quarter of its land below sea level?

A) Netherlands

B) Denmark

C) United Kingdom

D) Ireland

Answer · why

A) Netherlands

The Netherlands still names Amsterdam as its capital, and most of its low ground is polder land reclaimed from the water since the 14th century.

Q 04/05

Which peak on the border of France and Italy is Europe's highest mountain outside the Caucasus?

A) Monte Rosa

B) Gran Paradiso

C) Jungfrau

D) Mont Blanc

Answer · why

D) Mont Blanc

Mont Blanc was first climbed in 1786 by Jacques Balmat and the doctor Michel-Gabriel Paccard, and France and Italy still dispute who owns the summit.

Q 05/05

Which warm ocean current, flowing north past Florida, keeps the winters of northwest Europe unusually mild?

A) Kuroshio

B) Gulf Stream

C) Humboldt Current

D) Labrador Current

Answer · why

B) Gulf Stream

The Gulf Stream feeds the North Atlantic Current, which carries warm water northeast and leaves western Europe milder than other places at the same la...