Geography General Knowledge #6

Can you answer these random geography questions?
Includes questions from both physical geography and human geography
Quiz by Quizmaster
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Last updated: August 23, 2020
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First submittedMarch 24, 2013
Times taken115,093
Average score65.0%
Rating4.46
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Question
Answer
What city hosts the most well-known Oktoberfest?
Munich
Not counting continental landmasses, what is the world's largest island?
Greenland
What is the holiest city of Islam?
Mecca
In what country would you find Annapurna?
Nepal
What mountain range separates France and Spain?
Pyrenees
What tiny country is located within that mountain range?
Andorra
What is the capital of Djibouti?
Djibouti
What river forms the border between Texas and Mexico?
Rio Grande
What does the £ symbol represent?
Pound Sterling
In what country did Zoroastrianism start?
Iran
What is the tallest active volcano in Italy?
Mt. Etna
What is the most populous province of Canada?
Ontario
New Zealand was named after the province of Zeeland. What country contains
the province of Zeeland?
Netherlands
What historical overland route connected China to the Mediterranean?
Silk Road
What is the name for Russian exclave that borders Lithuania and Poland?
Kaliningrad
What foreign city is connected to the Swedish city of Malmö via a bridge?
Copenhagen
Who is the patron saint of England?
St. George
What was the world's tallest building from 1931–1971?
Empire State Building
What river flows into the Mississippi river near St. Louis?
Missouri
What is the largest desert in East Asia?
Gobi Desert
+7
Level 59
Jul 15, 2013
Only one I missed was Netherlands/Zeeland. I always thought it was named for the island of Zealand in Denmark. couldn't undertsand why it wouldn't take it. lol

PS 'The terms Oceania or Australasia are sometimes substituted for Australia to denote a region encompassing the Australian continent" -Wikipedia.

+2
Level 47
Jul 16, 2013
holland should be accepted for netherlands
+33
Level 73
Jul 17, 2013
Holland is not a country.
+14
Level 70
Oct 13, 2018
Holland might historically be the term for what is now the provinces of North and South Holland, but I'd say it's pretty much accepted to use it as a synonym for the Netherlands. It is, anyway, in the Netherlands itself - hence a football song like 'Hup Holland Hup' and words like 'oerhollands', meaning something that is very Dutch. There are TV shows called 'Holland's got talent' and 'The Voice of Holland'. This use of 'Holland' for the Netherlands is not wrongful in my opinion, since the pars pro toto is a completely accepted figure of speech.
+7
Level 62
Nov 6, 2020
Thanks for saying this tourwoorden. A lot of foreigners think that we as Dutch people are offended when people say Holland when they mean the entire country. But in fact, we dont really care and as you say, we use it ourselves as well in songs for example. I know its a bit late, but I just wanted to say this.
+2
Level 82
Mar 13, 2021
Hmmm....I lived in the Netherlands for a few years and met more than a few people from places like Groningen who found the habit of referring to the whole country as 'Holland' quite irritating!
+6
Level 78
Mar 13, 2021
Perhaps the people from Holland are fine with using Holland for Netherlands, while those from other regions feel overlooked? Just a guess.
+1
Level 63
Dec 22, 2022
Your guess is correct
+1
Level 40
Dec 11, 2023
My grandparents are from the Netherlands, we all call it Holland.
+10
Level 86
Mar 2, 2014
Holland and Zealand are both provinces of the Netherlands :).
+4
Level 65
Jan 12, 2016
Holland is only the name for 2 provinces (Noord (North) Holland and Zuid (South) Holland, which include Amsterdam and Rotterdam). Zeeland is another province. The name of the country is 'the Netherlands'.
+2
Level 65
Jan 14, 2016
I mucked up and thought amsterdam.
+1
Level 75
Dec 11, 2020
The Dutch government uses Holland to refer to the entire country and that's good enough for me :)
+1
Level 75
Mar 13, 2021
(www.holland.com)
+1
Level 63
Dec 22, 2022
The dutch government has officially dropped the nickname
+1
Level 75
Jun 2, 2023
holland.com still goes to the Dutch government website for the Netherlands. I know it's not strictly accurate, but it's so ubiquitous that I can't see how it can be abandoned yet. In Peru in Spanish the country is usually called 'Holanda', for example.

It's certainly not like referring to the UK as just England.

+2
Level 73
Jul 17, 2013
Also the Rio Grande is called the Rio Bravo by everyone south of it.
+22
Level 88
Apr 19, 2019
Hawaii and Miami are south of it.
+19
Level ∞
Aug 23, 2020
Giving the nitpickers a taste of their own medicine, I like it.
+4
Level 44
Apr 17, 2014
Why is Holland not a country?? I have a Dutch friend, and she always says she comes from Holland, I've never heard her say "I'm from the Netherlands". I thought it was just a different way of saying it. I'm English, but I could also say I'm British or I'm from the Uk. I know these terms pertain to slightly different ares, but they're all acceptable ways of ways of saying basically the same thing. Only people who are massive sticklers for political correctness seem to get their knickers in a twist!
+6
Level 77
May 26, 2014
I'd say it's slightly condescending of the Dutch to say they are from "Holland" (unless they are from one of the two provinces; north or south holland). The Dutch tend to believe that if you say "The Netherlands" no American will have any idea what they are talking about.
+2
Level 88
Apr 19, 2019
Only people from Western Australia and South Australia should say they're from Australia.
+8
Level 62
Oct 19, 2020
@someone2018 that's the dumbest thing I've heard. Australia is the actual name of the country, Holland isn't. Calling the Netherlands Holland is almost like calling the US Carolina or Dakota.
+1
Level 40
Dec 11, 2023
That is not remotely an accurate analogy to make.
+5
Level 67
Oct 13, 2018
Not every distinction of meaning involves political correctness. This is just a misunderstanding over how two terms relate to the same country. If you're going to get yourself into a lather over terms being used correctly or incorrectly, you should probably check to be sure you're using your own terms correctly.
+8
Level 74
Oct 13, 2018
You'd be totally ok when someone refers to you as coming from England. Now imagine you were Scottish, living in Scotland and someone says you're from England... Same thing, many people in the Netherlands don't care, because it is well knowm "Holland" is more common to use in many places and most actually do live in either North or South Holland. Doesn't make it right, though
+4
Level 66
Dec 14, 2018
holland isnt a country but everybody has been using it so long that they think it is. So if you say you are from teh netherlands most people dont have a clue what you are talking about.( though it seems to get slightly better) So instead of sticking up for ourselves, we give in and use the term other were wrongly using.. dont want to stick our necks out..

(Im not sure I would call it condesscending but definately annoying, I guess it would be calling someone that is from scotland an englishman, it is just wrong so it doesnt feel nice)

+3
Level 79
Aug 31, 2020
The two provinces of Noord-Holland and Zuid-Holland together form the region called Holland. There are altogether 12 provinces in the Netherlands.
+5
Level 69
Sep 5, 2020
About 30 years ago, I was told by a Dutch person (she is in her 60s now) that people from the Netherlands often told Americans they are from “Holland” because too many had looked at them blankly when they said “The Netherlands” – but apparently could comprehend and mentally identify “Holland”. So yeah, it was basically dumbing things down for us Yanks.
+1
Level 59
Apr 1, 2021
I had issues with term Netherlands when I moved to UK from Poland since in Polish it's "Holandia". All countries in English and Polish are guessable if heard or read but Netherlands is just that annoying monstrosity lol.
+1
Level 58
Aug 5, 2023
If she's from Holland, she can say "I'm from Holland". But if someone asks "In which country were you born", she can't say Holland, as it's not a country.
+6
Level 41
Oct 9, 2014
A very good quiz! But Kaliningrad, strictly speaking, isn't the part of Russia in question, but only the biggest town there. The area should be identified as Kaliningrad Oblast, potentially as East Prussia (admittedly, this historical region is bigger than the current oblast).
+2
Level 69
Jan 19, 2016
Second that
+7
Level 47
Jan 12, 2016
I'm sorry, but accepting "Holland" for The Netherlands is like accepting "England" for the UK.

Just because ignorant foreigners (and many English people too) don't know the difference and persist in calling it as such, doesn't make it correct, and accepting such terms only encourages their ignorance.

+9
Level 71
May 7, 2017
Read the Dutch Gentleman's reply earlier in the Comments, and try not to be so up-tight about little problems.
+8
Level 67
Oct 13, 2018
You know what, I don't actually think you are sorry.
+5
Level 82
Aug 23, 2020
It's regularly used by the Dutch as well. https://www.visitholland.nl is the official tourism website ...
+3
Level 60
Jan 12, 2016
eaaasy
+4
Level 65
Jan 14, 2016
Note to self: Aetna is not a mountain.
+4
Level 45
May 7, 2017
This may help fix the problems with Greenland/Australia and Holland/Netherlands. Based on the National Geographic Bee in 2016/2017, Holland is not acceptable for the Netherlands. Also, Australia is considered the continent and Oceania is the region (with Oceania not being acceptable for the continent of Australia; the questions always follow the same pattern in the fact that they are always looking for the continent rather than the region).
+4
Level 69
Nov 15, 2017
It's quite simple really. Australia (the landmass, not the country) is the largest landmass in the continent of Oceania, and therefore qualifies as the continental landmass. All the other landmasses in the continent, being smaller, qualify as islands. Some of these islands happen to belong to the country of Australia. Greenland is not the largest landmass in the North American continent so qualifies as an island.
+2
Level 30
Mar 25, 2018
I am very curious as to how many people actually know of the Annapurna Massif. 20% seems pretty high for a vague fact like that.
+2
Level 74
Oct 13, 2018
It's a catchy name that sounds "himalayan", then I just go with the Himalayan countries and as I usually start with Nepal...
+3
Level 82
Aug 23, 2020
It's a famous 8k mountain, the first to be climbed.
+1
Level 71
Mar 15, 2021
Annapurna is actually a subrange of the Himalayas which includes a number of mountains, one of which is Annapurna I
+1
Level 65
Nov 20, 2022
It's a placename that sounds Indian, Nepali, or Thai to me. Others may have their own routes.
+2
Level 44
Oct 13, 2018
Greenland eh... I thought Australia or Madagascar for sure! Nice quiz :)
+2
Level 60
Oct 13, 2018
Can anyone tell me how the Patron Saint of England is related to Geography?
+5
Level 56
Oct 15, 2018
Because England, being a delineated area of land, is a valid bit of geography. The Saint is in the category as well, as he seems to follow the laws of border control.
+2
Level 67
May 16, 2019
14/20.
+3
Level 77
Aug 27, 2020
I find the St George thing problematic. It's the right answer but, given that there's no good evidence that he ever existed, it's high time that we Brits chose a new patron saint. I propose St Alban, the first British martyr, who definitely existed and, after whom the Roman capital of Britain was renamed. Does jetpunk have the power to change this?
+3
Level 75
Mar 14, 2021
Following that line of thinking do you want us to also replace the national animal of Scotland?
+3
Level 59
Mar 14, 2021
"We Brits"? What would the patron saint of England have to do with Welsh, Scottish or Irish people? I hope you're not conflating England with the rest of the UK.
+1
Level 74
Mar 13, 2021
It is a common misconception that the Oktoberfest is something which exists outside of Munich. There is only one Oktoberfest, all others are just knock-offs. The Oktoberfest is not a festivity which has specific relevance to the German-speaking world. It is historically anchored only in Munich. The reason why it has recently become a more widespread phenomenon can be attributed to its use in getting large numbers of drunkards to drink overpriced beer in unreasonable amounts, thus being an important economic factor for cities.
+1
Level 78
Mar 13, 2021
Quizmaster probably worded the question the way he did because otherwise someone would complain that he went to an "Oktoberfest" in Wakefield, Kansas. As you say there are knockoffs but if they carry the name Oktoberfest, well, they are an Oktoberfest. By the way we have one in my little city in western Germany, too, and the Lederhosen and Dirndls are just as exotic for us as they are for Americans.
+2
Level 30
Aug 6, 2023
'it's only oktoberfest if it comes from munich, otherwise it's just sparkling alcoholism'
+1
Level 27
Mar 19, 2021
Why is Copenhagen any more foreign than any other city?
+5
Level ∞
Apr 29, 2023
Because it is not in the same country as Malmö.
+1
Level 28
Aug 11, 2021
Far cry 4 had a town called Banapur and was set in the Himalayas. So that´s how my geography knowledge is going.
+1
Level 66
Dec 4, 2023
Far Cry 4 was actually inspired by the Nepalese Civil war, so that makes sense.
+1
Level 67
Aug 18, 2021
I thought that New Zealand is named after the island of Zealand in Denmark
+1
Level 35
Aug 15, 2022
I missed only Munich ;-;
+1
Level 56
Dec 8, 2022
Can you please add Oblast to the end of Kaliningrad?