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Climbing Mount Kilimanjaro
Marangu, Rongai, Lemosho, Shira, Umbwe and Machame are the six official trekking routes for what 'uplifting' activity?
Acropolis in Athens
The Propylaea, which has now come to mean any gateway, was originally an entrance to what magnificent ancient construction?
Johannesburg
What city that is home to Africa's tallest building (the Carlton Centre) is the largest city in the world not on a lake, navigable river or by the coast?
Sherpa
The name of what able-bodied ethnic group from the mountain regions of Nepal means 'people of the east' in Tibetan?
Macau
What region of China that has a border checkpoint called Posto Fronteiriço das Portas do Cerco ('Frontier Post of the Border Gate' in Portuguese) is both the first and last European colony in that country?
Schengen
The visa that makes travel easy within twenty-six countries of Europe takes its name from an agreement signed in 1985 in what city of Luxembourg?
Potosí
What Bolivian city lies beneath a mountain dubbed the Cerro Rico ('rich mountain') named so for its famed mines that were a major source of silver for the Spanish Empire of the New World?
Mecca (metro)
Mashair Railway that opened in 2010 connecting the sites of Mina, Muzdalifah and Mount Arafat serves the visitors of what city?
Serengeti
The Maasai Mara National Reserve in Kenya is contiguous with what famed national park of Tanzania?
Ethiopia
What second-most populous nation in Africa is also the most populous landlocked nation in the world?
India and Pakistan
The Wagah border often called the 'Berlin wall of Asia' is the only road border crossing between what two countries?
Seoul
Which city's site was said to have been chosen by monks following the principles of feng shui for King Taejo, founder of the Joseon/Choson dynasty in 1394?
Saudi Arabia
The script of Thuluth, a variety of Islamic calligraphy, is seen on the flag of what country?
Iceland
What NATO country with a unique geographic position is the only one with no standing army? No navy either!
Algeria
Because of changes in the political geography of Africa in 2011, what is now the largest country in that continent?
Lake Victoria
The Kagera river that became known for carrying bodies from the Rwandan Genocide in 1994 is the largest single inflow into what body of water?
Polar bears
Cape Churchill in Wapusk National Park, Canada is renowned as the best location in the world to view what?
South Africa
The economic grouping acronym BRIC that referred to Brazil, Russia, India and China was changed to BRICS in 2011 to include what country?
Maldives
With an average ground level of 1.5 meters above sea level, what Asian island nation is the lowest country in the world? (hint: it is also the smallest Asian country in both population and land area)
Appalachian Trail
What wild American feature begins at Springer Mountain in Georgia and ends at Katahdin in Maine for a total distance of 2,175 miles?
Canada
Francophonie is an international organization of 56 member states where there is a notable affiliation with the French language. What is the largest country in this group?
Panama Canal
The artificial Gatun Lake that was created between 1907 and 1913 forms a major component of what water body?
Tornado
A funnel cloud is nothing but condensed water droplets associated with a rotating column of wind which extends from the base of a cloud without touching the ground. If it touches the ground, what is it called?
Odessa
Primorsky Stairs, a stairway of 192 steps immortalized in film lore, is a formal entrance from the direction of the Black Sea into which European city?
South Sudan
Juba is the capital of what autonomous African region that became an independent country on 9th July, 2011?
Turkey
The plateau 'Cappadocia' with its spectacular landscapes, caves, and fairy chimneys is a popular tourist attraction of which country?
Ceylon
In Jan 2011, Sri Lanka decided to discard all references to what British colonial name of the country from its state institutions?
Delft
The novel as well as the movie Girl with a Pearl Earring based on painter Vermeer's work was set in which Dutch city also known for its pottery?
Mercalli intensity scale
Which scale that is used for measuring the intensity of an earthquake (not Richter!) quantifies its effects on humans, objects of nature, and man-made structures on a scale of I through XII with XII denoting total destruction?
Nunavut
Located just 508 miles from the North Pole, Alert is said to be the northernmost permanently inhabited place in the world. In which Canadian province/territory is it located?
Potala Palace
Which magnificent Tibetan landmark escaped damage during the Cultural Revolution of China in 1966 through the personal intervention of Zhou Enlai?
Singapore
The Merlion, an imaginary creature with the head of a lion and the body of a fish, is used as the mascot of which tiny Asian island nation?
Harar
According to UNESCO, which Ethiopian city is considered 'the fourth holy city' of Islam with 82 mosques, three of which date from the 10th century, and 102 shrines?
Bolivia
Which land-locked country has the most official languages in the world at 34 including Spanish, Aymara and Quechua?
Somalia
The US think tank Fund For Peace comes out with a Failed States Index every year. Which country topped the list for a fourth consecutive year in 2011?
San Marino
Which tiny European nation claims itself to be the oldest recorded sovereign state and constitutional republic in the world?
China
If water bodies were left out and only land area were considered, what is the second largest country in the world after Russia?
Nelson's Column in Trafalgar Square
Landseer's Lions, a set of four sculptures of lions surround which London monument?
Laos
'Pha That Lung', a large gold-covered Buddhist stupa is regarded as the most important monument and national symbol in which landlocked Asian country?
Nauru
Located in Micronesia and covering just 21 square kilometres, what is the world's smallest island nation?
National Park of American Samoa
Distributed across the three islands of Tutuila, Ofu-Olosega, and Ta‘ū, what is the only American national park located south of the equator?
Avignon
Which French city is home to the Palais des Papes (Palace of the Popes) where several popes and antipopes lived from the early 14th to early 15th centuries?
The Gambia
Bordered on three sides by Senegal and with a small coast on the Atlantic Ocean in the west, what is the smallest country on mainland Africa?
Tunguska event
The largest impact over land in Earth's recent history, how is the explosion that occurred in 1908 near the namesake river in Siberia commonly known?
Saint Martin
Located in northeast Caribbean, what is the smallest inhabited sea island that is divided between two nations?
Bantustan
During the apartheid era, what was the name for the territory set aside for black inhabitants of South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) of which ten were established?
Kilimanjaro
Which prominent mountain has three volcanic cones called Kibo, Mawenzi, and Shira?
Paris
The 19th century civic planner Baron Haussman is associated with the rebuilding of which city?
Australia
The Lake Mungo remains consisting of two fossils known as Mungo Lady and Mungo Man are located in the World Heritage listed Willandra Lakes Region of which country?
South Africa
With a total drop of 948 meters (3,110 feet) in five free-leaping falls, Tugela Falls is the world's second highest waterfall. They are located in the Drakensberg (Dragon's Mountains) range in which country?
Córdoba
Which Spanish city, now home to a great mosque was probably the most populated city in Europe and perhaps in the world in the later half of the 10th century?
Mackenzie
When combined with its headstreams the 'Peace' and the 'Finlay', what becomes the second longest river in North America at 4,241 kilometres (2,635 mi)?
Gulf of Mexico
The Sigsbee Deep, named for the captain of the USS Maine which exploded in the harbor of Havana in 1898 is the deepest part of which body of water?
Somalia
Which country has the longest coastline in Africa?
Punta Arenas
Which Chilean city whose name comes from the Spanish for 'sandy point' is sometimes considered the southernmost city in the world?
New Caledonia
Which South Pacific territory named for its shores' similarities to the Scottish coastline will hold a referendum on independence from France between 2014 and 2019?
Kiribati
Based on a 1995 realignment of the International Date Line, which Oceanic country with it's capital at South Tarawa is now the easternmost country in the world?
Lübeck
Which major German seaport on the Baltic sea was for several centuries the capital of the Hanseatic League and was also known as 'Queen of the Hanse'?
Antarctica
McMurdo Station can support only 1258 residents but is still considered as the largest community in what part of the world?
Réunion
Due to its location in a time zone to the east of Europe, which French island in the Indian Ocean was the first region in the world where the euro became legal tender?
Skeleton Coast
Which coast off the Atlantic Ocean of Namibia and Angola is named for the bleached whale and seal bones which covered the shore during the days of the whaling industry as well as for the shipwrecks caused by rocks?
Tierra del Fuego
Cape Horn, the southernmost tip of South America is on which archipelago that translates as 'land of fire' in Spanish?
Monaco
Completely bordered by France on three sides, what is the world's most densely populated sovereign country as well as the smallest French-speaking country?
Altai
The name of which Central Asian mountain range where Russia, China, Mongolia and Kazakhstan come together and where the mighty rivers Irtysh, Ob and Yenisei have their sources literally means 'mountains of gold' in Turkic?
Denmark
Scania, Zealand and Jutland have historically been the three lands of which country/kingdom?
Borneo
Which island, the third largest in the world, is divided between Indonesia, Malaysia and Brunei?
New Zealand
Since all time zones converge at the South Pole, there is no reason for placing it in any particular time zone. But as a practical convenience, the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station keeps the time of which country?
Katabatic wind
From the Greek for 'going downhill' and most commonly found in Antarctica and Greenland, what is the name of the wind that carries high density air from a higher elevation down a slope under the force of gravity?
Kaliningrad Oblast
What is the exclave of Russia that is surrounded by Lithuania and Poland on the Baltic Sea?
Yangtze
What is the longest river in the world that flows entirely in one country?
Sea of Galilee
Located in Israel, what is the second-lowest lake in the world (after the Dead Sea) on whose shores much of the ministry of Jesus occurred?
Maghreb
Meaning 'place of sunset' or 'western' in Arabic, which word is generally applied to the geographic area of Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia together?
Richard Feynman
Which renowned 20th century physicist was so fascinated by the current day Russian republic of Tuva (because of its obscurity) that he even wrote a book called Tuva or Bust! which chronicles his attempts to travel there?
Chimborazo
The summit of which mountain in Ecuador is generally regarded as the spot that is farthest from the center of the Earth?
El Dorado
Deluded by a legend, Francisco Orellana and Gonzalo Pizarro departed from Ecuador in 1541 in a disastrous expedition towards the Amazon Basin; they did not find any gold or lost cities but Orellana became the first person to navigate the entire Amazon River. What were they seeking?
Nullarbor Plain
The name of which vast and arid area north of the Great Australian Bight is derived from the Latin for 'no trees' and the crossing of which is a seminal experience of the Australian Outback?
Djibouti
With 34.8 percent salinity, Lake Assal is considered the most saline body of water outside Antarctica. In which tiny nation in the Horn of Africa is it located?
Chile
Easter Island in the South Pacific is well-known for its numerous moai, the stone statues located along its coastline. Which country does the island belong to?
New Zealand
As of April 2010, apart from Western Sahara, Tokelau is the only other non-self governing territory in the world that is not administered by the UK, US or France. Which country administers it?
Bangladesh
A trans-boundary river is a river that crosses at least one political border (either a border within a nation or an international boundary). Which country has the greatest number of such rivers, including 58 that enter from India or Burma?
Bronx
Which borough of New York City is the only one of the city's five boroughs to be situated primarily on the US mainland rather than on an island?
South America
As of 2010, the ten highest active volcanoes are located in which continent?
Botany Bay
Which famous bay in Sydney, Australia was the site of a landing by Captain James Cook and sparked Britian's interest in Australia?
Lebanon
A system of government called 'confessionalism' which distributes power proportionally among religious communities is currently prevelant in which tiny Middle-Eastern nation?
Decade Volcanoes
What is the collective name given to the 16 volcanoes identified by the International Association of Volcanology and Chemistry of the Earth's Interior (IAVCEI) as being worthy of particular study in light of their history of destructive eruptions and proximity to populated areas?
Yangtze river
Which feature that is 6380 kms long has traditionally been considered a dividing line between North and South China?
Bamyan valley
Two monumental statues of standing Buddhas carved into a cliff and infamously destroyed by the Taliban in 2001 were located in which part of central Afghanistan?
Ecuador and Chile
What are the only two South American countries that do not border Brazil?
Okavango
Located in Botswana, which is the world's largest inland delta?
Utah
Among US states with the highest number of national parks, California and Alaska come in first with 8 each. Which state comes next with 5 of them?
Saint Basil's Cathedral
What is the beautiful onion-domed church situated in Red Square, Moscow that is often confused with the Kremlin?
Guyana
What is the only nation state of the Commonwealth of Nations on the mainland of South America?
The Perfect Storm
Flemish Cap, an area of shallow waters in the north Atlantic east of Newfoundland and Labrador is featured in which 2000 film as the final fishing grounds for Billy Tyne (George Clooney) and his crew?
Barbed wire
The city of DeKalb, Illinois is credited as the first manufacturing site of what 'restraining' invention that revolutionized ranching in the US?
Liechtenstein
Which tiny landlocked European country, also the smallest German-speaking country in the world, has bordering countries that are also landlocked?
Kazakhstan
After Russia, what is the second largest country in area amongst the former Soviet republics?
Mount Kilimanjaro
The melting Furtwängler Glacier, sometimes used as an example of global warming is near which African geographic feature?
Antilles
Which group of islands in the Caribbean Sea are divided as? Greater ___: Cuba, Jamaica, Hispaniola and Puerto Rico Lesser ___: Leeward Islands, Windward Islands and Leeward ___
Cusco
Which Peruvian city was the historic capital of the sun-worshipping Inca empire?
Brasilia
Which national capital is the only city entirely built in the 20th century to be considered a World Heritage Site by UNESCO?