Mastermind Club
Quiz 2022
Number 8
Geography
Set by Mel kisey
Answers
1/ Arising in the glaciers of the Bernese Alps, which river flows through Thun, Bern and Aarau before becoming a tributary of the High Rhine? It is the longest river that both rises and ends entirely within Switzerland, and drains an area accounting for close to half the area of the country.
River Aare
2/ Established in 1873, which national capital city was first visited by a British naval officer in-charge of the steam cruiser HMS Basilisk after sailing through the Coral Sea? He named its harbour Fairfax, which was the first name of his father.
Port Moresby
(Captain John Moresby)
3/ Named after the youngest son of Cadmus and Harmonia in Greek myth, what name is given to part of the western Balkans and the south-eastern coasts of the Italian peninsula (Messapia)? It is also the setting for Shakespeare’s ‘Twelfth Night’.
Illyria
4/ Straddling the usually dry Todd River on the northern side of the MacDonnell Ranges and northwest of the Simpson Desert, which town was known to its native inhabitants as Mparntwe? It derives its present name from the wife of the telegraph pioneer Sir Charles Todd
Alice Springs
5/ Named after a female village leader who ran the city of N’Gokro in the early 20th century, which African capital city lies adjacent to the 800km Bandama River, which flows southward through Lake Kossou and empties into the Tagba Lagoon and Gulf of Guinea?
Yamoussoukro
6/ The ruins of the Roman city Leptis Magna, noted for monuments such as the Arch of Septimus Severus, are located 130 km east of which African capital city?
Tripoli
7/ Situated on the eastern bank of the Rhine between Cologne and Dusseldorf, which city was named after a chemist who built a dye factory there for the manufacture of ultramarine blue? The factory was taken over by the Bayer company in 1891.
Leverkusen
(after Carl Leverkus)
8/ Located on its border with China, the 2744m Mt. Paektu is an active volcano that is the supposed birthplace of a former leader of which country? Records however show that he was born in the Soviet Union in February 1941
North Korea
(Kim Jong-Il)
9/ Which body of water in the Eastern Visayan region of the Philippines, bounded by Samar in the north and Mindanao in the south, was the scene of arguably the largest naval battle in history (fought between 23-26th October 1944)?
Leyte Gulf
10/ Frequently associated with the Netherlands but also seen elsewhere, which six letterword denotes a low-lying tract of land enclosed by dikes that has no connection with outside water other than through manually operated devices? It is usually land that has been reclaimed from a body of water (e.g. the sea) or from marshland.
Polder
11/ The Avon River, also known as the Otakaro, flows through the centre of which major city in the southern hemisphere, before emptying into Pegasus Bay? The city itself is also known as Otautahi, or ‘Place of the Tautahi’.
Christchurch
12/ Located within the Akmola Region in the north of its country, which capital city on the banks of the Ishim River was renamed Tselinograd in 1961? A planned city similar to Brasilia and Canberra, its modern design was created by the Japanese architect Kisho Kurokawa.
Astana
(now Nur-Sultan)
Kazakhstan
13/ Once one of the four largest lakes in the world but now reduced to less than 10% of its original size, the Aral Sea lies between which two Central Asian countries?
Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan
14/ Located in the Sudirman Range in Papua Province of Indonesia, the 4884m-tall Puncak Jaya is the country’s highest mountain as well as the highest point between the Himalayas and the Andes. It has another name, after which 17th-century Dutch explorer who first sighted the glaciers on its peak in 1623, but was ridiculed in Europe for claiming to see snow so close to the Equator?
Jan Carstenszoon/ Carstensz
(Carstensz’s Pyramid)
15/ Located north of the Matobo Hills, Bulawayo is the second largest city of which African nation?
Zimbabwe
16/ Meaning ‘running water’ probably due to its location within a valley that is prone to flooding, Birkirkara is the most populous town in which European country?
Malta
17/ The second most populous after Punjab, which southern province of Pakistan is bounded by the Thar Desert to the east and the Arabian Sea in the south? Its capital city is Karachi.
Sindh
18/ With a population estimated at around 2 million, which port on the Atlantic Ocean is its country’s capital and largest city? Originally situated on Tombos Island (one of the Iles de Los – ‘Islands of the Idols’) and since spread up the neighbouring Kaloum Peninsula, it saw a September 2009 protest against the junta government of Moussa Camara that led to over 100 protestors killed.
Conakry (Guinea)
18/ Opened in 1975, in which national capital on the banks of the Ci Liwung river will you find the Monumen Nasional? Located in the center of Merdeka Square, it commemorates the country’s struggle for independence from the Dutch.
Jakarta, Indonesia
19/ Probably deriving its name from the Thracian for ‘black water’, the River Vardar is the longest in which Balkan country? Arising north of Gostivar, it flows generally southeastwards before crossing into Greece and emptying into the Aegean Sea west of Thessaloniki.
North Macedonia
20/ Located near its border with Zambia, Lubumbashi is the second largest city in which African country (after its capital city)? Formerly named Elizabethville (after Queen Elisabeth of Bavaria), it is currently its country’s mining capital.
Democratic Republic of the Congo
21/ First climbed in 1894 by Tom Fyfe, the mountain Aoraki (‘Cloud Piercer’ in its native language) is better known by what name?
Mt. Cook
22/ Historically developed on seven syenite hills and situated on the banks of the Maritsa River, which city was called Pulpudeva in Thracian times and renamed Philippopolis in 341 BC after its conquest by Philip II of Macedonia? It is currently the second most populous in its country, after the capital city.
Plovdiv (Bulgaria)
23/ One of Africa’s longest rivers, the Zambezi rises in a marsh in northwest Zambia and flows approximately 2500 km before entering the ocean in which country?
Mozambique
24/ The largest transboundary lake in Europe, Lake Peipus lies on the border between Russia and which other country? The site of the 1242 Battle on the Ice between Teutonic Knights and Novgorodians under Alexander Nevsky, it is drained by the Narva River.
Estonia
25/ Located at the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, which city (the third most populous in its state) takes its name ultimately from an ancient Roman statesman regarded as a figure of virtue who was said to have voluntarily relinquished his dictatorial powers and returned to plowing his land? The city is also host to the second biggest summer tennis event in the United States, after the US Open.
Cincinnati