Geography Quiz 4 Answers

America

1.- What is the NAFTA?
1994 North American Free Trade Agreement, reduces tariffs and economic controls between Canada, US, Mexico.

2.- Why is Greenland called Greenland, is it really green?
In 982 Eric the Red established a colony and gave a pleasant-sounding name to attract other colonists. Small areas are habitable. It is an autonomous territory of Denmark.

3.- Is there land at the North Pole?
It lies in the Arctic Ocean and there is no land near, animals such as plar bear live upon the icecap.

4.- How many provinces are in Canada?
10 quasi-autonomous and 3 territories.
Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, Ontario, Prince Edward Island, Quebec and Saskatchewan.
Yukon Territory, Northwest Territories, and Nunavut.

5.- What is Nunavut?
Canada 3rd Territory as of 1999, home to Canada Indigenous people, the Inuit.

6.- What are the largest Canadian urban areas?
Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver.

7.- Why do they speak French in Quebec?
French founded the city, one of the oldest in North América. British took control in 1763.

8.- Are there lots of mosquitoes on the Mosquito Coast?
Mosquito Coast is 250 miles long on Nicaragua’s eastern coast. It receives 250 inches of rain annually making it a perfect place for mosquitoes, but it is named after the Mosquito Indians.

9.- Who owns the Panama Canal?
1903 US backed revolutionaries in western Colombia revolted and created the independent country of Panama. The newly independent Panama gave the US use of a 10 mile wide strip of land across the Isthmus of Panama where the US built the Canal. US gave back controll of it to Panama until 2000.

10.- What is the world’s second-largest barrier reef?
Atlantic coast of Belize (dozen miles long. 1st largest is Australia northeast 1,200 miles)

11.-Was Cuba ever a part of the United States?
US went to war against Spain in 1898 to assist Cubans who were rebelling. US took control of Cuba until 1902 with an agreement that US would be allowed to lease Guantanamo Bay which is still a US naval base.

12.- Do things really disappear in the Bermuda Triangle?
There is a legend of supernatural or paranormal reason for a supposedly large number of missing aircraft and sea-going vessels ( the disappearance of five aircraft of flight 19 in December 1945, and the plane that was sent to find them).

13.- What was the first independent country in the Caribbean?
Haiti which once occupied the entire Island of Hispaniola, that now shares with Santo Domingo.

14.- Which Caribbean country leads the region in tourism?
Dominican Republic. Jamaica is the second.

15.- Which river carries more water than any other in the world?
The Amazon (second longest in the world)

16.- What are the Cordillas of Colombia?
The Andes which in Colombia split into three separate mountain ranges, Occidental, Central and Oriental Cordillas, Cali is between Occidental and Central. Bogota is between Central and Oriental.

17.- Where is the world’s tallest waterfall?
Angel Falls in Venezuela 3,212 feet discovered by Jimmy Angel US pilot.

18.- Who owns Easter Island?
Located in French Polynesia, is owned by Chile, there is Rapa Nui, 100 large rocks carved into shape of heads, from 3m to 13 m (10 to 40 feet) made of soft volcanic rock.

19.- Which South American country exports beef?
Argentina is the only one in S.A. has four percent of the world’s cattle and exports 2% of world’s beef.

20.- Where does cocaine come from?
Coca plant domesticated by Incas. Ilegal cartels in Colombia are major exporters.

21.- What is Machu Picchu?
An ancient Incan City. In the 15 and 16 th centuries, civilization of the Incas developed in the altiplanos of the Andes mountains. Inca civilization lasted from 11th century through 16th centuries.

22.- Which South American country was the first to gain independence from colonial rule? 1816 Argentina from Spain.

23.- What is the Devil’s Island?
Located off the coast of French Guyana, became the overseas prison of France in the middle of the 19th Century until 1938.

24.- Who was Simon Bolivar?
19th Century hero among S.A, for his role on the independence of Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru. Bolivia was named in honor of Bolivar.

25.- What proportion of South America’s Population lives in poverty?
One third, wealth is controlled by small group of people.

26.- What statue overlooks Rio de Janeiro?
33 m (100ft) statue of Christ the Redeemer on top of Corcovado Mountain at 709 mts. Commemoration of the 100th anniversary of Brazilian independence.

27.- What South American city has more Japanese residents than any city outside Japan?
Sao Paulo, 2 million originally arrived as farmers.

28.- What is a Cartel?
Organization of businesses that band together to eliminate competition. In South America refers to drug cartels. In Colombia two prominent are Cali and Medellin.

29.- Where is murder the second-leading cause of dead (following cancer) for all age groups?
Colombia.

30.- What is the Pan-American Highway?
Begun in the 1930 as a result of international effort to creat a highway from Alaska to Argentina. In 1962 the Bridge of the Americans was built over the Panama Canal but is still unfinished ( Panama).