Maps are ubiquitous — not just the old-fashioned road maps that, once unfolded, take on mysterious new folds of their own, and not just the heavy atlases to which we refer at home.
New technologies such as sophisticated satellite imagery and geographic information systems (GIS) have taken maps out of dusty atlases and put them in the palms of our hands, whether on GPS devices or on our cell phones.
“Mapping the World” is the theme of this year’s Geography Awareness Week, Nov. 15-22, a program launched in 1987 by the National Geographic Society to heighten geographic literacy. The program remains essential because Americans are lousy in geography.
In this age of globalization, it’s more necessary than ever to understand our world as it changes before our eyes. From global warming to global trade and banking, our world is a web of interconnections.
Globalization is nothing new. You could say it started with the Roman Empire (27 B.C. to A.D. 476), which stretched from Britain in the west to Iraq in the east, from the Netherlands in the north to Egypt in the south. Rome exported its culture and technology to every corner of the empire. In the Islamic Golden Age (approximately 750 to 1500), traders and explorers spread the cultivation of sugar and cotton and the use of Arabic across the Muslim world. In the 16th and 17th centuries, Europeans planted the seeds of their empires around the globe.
Now, globalization is accelerating. Technology has shrunk our world, giving Americans all the more reason to be savvy about where places are and what other cultures believe and think.
Thus, the Tribune’s 20th Annual Geography Challenge.
Begin by linking the photos on this page to the places where they exist.
1. This pagoda could be in Japan, but it’s not. Where will you find it?
2. The Roman Empire reached far and wide. Where will you find this amphitheater?
3. The architecture has an Arabic feel to it. In what city outside the Middle East will you find this?
4. This Italian neighborhood is a long way from Genoa. In what city is it?
5. The ambience is French, but the street is not in France. Where is it?
6. Mosques are familiar sights in the Middle East. In what Muslim nation would you find this one?
ANSWERS
1. E, San Francisco 2. C, Dougga, Tunisia (this answer as published has been corrected in this text) 3. B, Paris 4. D, Buenos Aires 5. A, Quebec City 6. F, Sumatra, Indonesia
– – –
If you’re new to this challenge, please know that we didn’t go out of our way to make it difficult. Many questions were adapted from this year’s National Geographic Bee, sponsored by the National Geographic Society, and directed at fourth- through eighth-graders.
If you get stumped, look for answers in an almanac, an atlas or on the Internet. We don’t offer prizes.
Every participant is a winner.
— Alfred Borcover, Special to Tribune Newspapers
Matching national parks
Match the national park with the state in which it is located.
1. Isle Royale
2. Mammoth Cave
3. Voyageurs
4. Hot Springs
5. Big Bend
6. Crater Lake
7. Wind Cave
8. Capitol Reef
9. Katmai
10. Great Basin
A. Texas
B. Oregon
C. Alaska
D. Michigan
E. South Dakota
F. Kentucky
G. Arkansas
H. Nevada
I. Utah
J. Minnesota
Answers: 1.D 2.F 3.J 4.G 5.A 6.B 7.E 8.I 9.C 10.H
True or false
Circle your answer.
1. Pennsylvania borders Lake Erie. T F
2. Canberra is the capital of Australia. T F
3. Fort Moultrie, a part of Fort Sumter National Monument, is in North Carolina. T F
4. Europe has mountains that rise higher than 20,000 feet. T F
5. The Danube River fl ows through Poland. T F
6. Branson, known for its many music venues, is in Missouri. T F
7. Camp David, a presidential mountain retreat, lies in western Virginia. T F
8. Cuyahoga Valley National Park is in Ohio. T F
9. Senegal is bordered by Guinea-Bissau and Ghana. T F
10. Verdun, site of the longest battle in World War I, is in Germany. T F
Answers: 1.T 2.T 3.F 4.F 5.F 6.T 7.F 8.T 9.F 10.F
Trip around the world
Write your answers in the spaces provided.
1. What is the capital of American Samoa, recently struck by an earthquake?
2. In the 1690s, gold was discovered in what present-day country that was once Portugal’s largest colony?
3. The Canary Islands, an autonomous region of Spain, are found off the coast of what North African country?
4. The Lofoten Islands, north of the Arctic Circle, are part of what country?
5. What Belgian city often is referred to as the capital of Europe because it houses the main institutions of the European Union?
6. What is the name of Israel’s third-largest city, on the slopes of Mount Carmel?
7. What arm of the Mediterranean Sea separates Greece from Italy?
8. The Marquesas Islands are one of five regions in what Pacific Ocean territory?
9. What country, commonly referred to as “The Land of the Morning Calm,” is also one of the wealthiest in Asia?
10. The Weddell Sea and the Ross Sea border what continent?
Answers
1. Pago Pago 2. Brazil 3. Morocco 4. Norway 5. Brussels 6. Haifa 7. Ionian Sea 8. French Polynesia 9. South Korea 10. Antarctica
Strange shapes
Name these states/ provinces/countries/etc. to which we’ve given a twist.
ANSWERS
1. New Zealand
2. Ohio
3. New Jersey
4. Nevada
5. Guinea
Multiple choice
Circle your answer.
1. The Mississippi River flows into which body of water?
A. Caribbean Sea
B. Gulf of Mexico
C. Gulf of California
D. Pacific Ocean
2. One of the longest cave systems in the world is a major feature of Jewel Cave National Monument in which state?
A. Kentucky
B. New Mexico
C. South Dakota
D. Missouri
3. Which country’s currency is not called the dollar?
A. Australia
B. Ecuador
C. Malaysia
D. Canada
4. The Cordillera Central, a mountainous region found north of Ponce, is on which Caribbean island?
A. Haiti
B. Puerto Rico
C. Dominican Republic
D. Cuba
5. Ventspils, an ice-free port, is a major site for the export of oil from which Baltic country?
A. Latvia
B. Lithuania
C. Estonia
D. Poland
6. Monte Alban, once a center of Zapotec culture, is near which Mexican city?
A. Guadalajara
B. Mexico City
C. Cancun
D. Oaxaca
7. Bruges, which became the center of the Flemish school of painting in the 1500s, is in which country?
A. Belgium
B. Netherlands
C. France
D. Italy
8. Kanchenjunga, one of the world’s tallest mountains, is on the border between Nepal and which other country?
A. Bhutan
B. India
C. Tibet
D. China
9. Devil’s Island, off the northeastern coast of South America, was a penal colony of which country until 1952?
A. England
B. Spain
C. France
D. Portugal
10. The Volcanoes of Kamchatka, a World Heritage Site, are found in which country?
A. North Korea
B. Russia
C. South Korea
D. China
ANSWERS: 1. B 2. C 3.C 4.B 5.A 6.D 7.A 8.B 9.C 10.B
In the news
Locate the following cities in Afghanistan and Pakistan
1. Islamabad
2. Kandahar
3. Kabul
4. Rawalpindi
ANSWERS
1 .C 2 .B 3. A 4 .D
Illinois historical sites
Locate these historical sites in Illinois.
1. Lincoln’s Tomb
2. Cahokia Mounds
3. Cave-In-Rock State Park, a former pirate den
4. Fort de Chartres
5. Ulysses S. Grant’s home
6. Carl Sandburg’s birthplace
7. Site of the first self-sustaining nuclear reaction
8. Nauvoo Mormon settlement
9. John Deere House
10. Adlai E. Stevenson Historic Home
1. C 2. A 3. J 4. B 5. D 6. E 7. H 8. F 9. G 10. I
Weather lingo
These questions were prepared by Tom Skilling, chief meteorologist for WGN-TV, WGN Radio and the Chicago Tribune.
Please circle your answer.
1. What is a winter storm watch?
A. An alert issued 12 to 36 hours in advance of a winter storm.
B. An alert issued when signs of the onset of heavy snow, sleet, widespread freezing rain or a combination of these elements warrant concern.
C. An alert that indicates warnings for winter weather may become necessary.
D. All of the above.
2. What does a “northeast” wind mean?
A. The wind blows from the northeast.
B. The wind blows toward the northeast.
C. The wind originates over the Northeast.
D. The wind occurs only in the Northeast.
3. What is the difference between freezing rain and sleet?
A. Freezing rain turns to ice when it hits the ground, and sleet is frozen raindrops.
B. Freezing rain falls only in thunderstorms.
C. Freezing rain turns into sleet.
D. All of the above.
4. Which of these choices apply to relative humidity?
A. It’s not always 100 percent when it rains.
B. Expressed as a percentage, it’s the ratio of the amount of water vapor actually in the air compared to the amount the air can hold at its temperature and pressure.
C. It’s measured by a hygrometer.
D. All of the above.
5. What does wind -chill temperature refer to?
A. The combination it takes to freeze a car’s radiator.
B. The effect of wind and temperature on human skin.
C. A mathematical formula.
D. All of the above.
Answers
1. D 2. A 3. A 4. D 5. B
