Trivia Why's: geography

Showing posts with label geography. Show all posts

Sunday, November 11, 2007

U.S. Orientation - Random Trivia Answers

A1) Seattle, Washington. Seattle, on the Duwamish River, is north of 47° North, while Boston, on the Charles River, is south of 43° North.
A2) Springfield, Illinois. The Illinois city (40° North) is almost an equal distance to the east of the Missouri city (37° North).
A3) Portland, Oregon. The western city is south of 46° North, and its eastern namesake is south of 44° North.
A4) Greenville, South Carolina. Over half of South Carolina (including Greenville at 35° North) is located north of the southernmost parts of North Carolina (including Wilmington at 34° North).
A5) Washington, D.C.. The U.S. capital lies at 39° North, while San Francisco, California is south of 38° North.
A6) Rome, Georgia. Rome is near the northwest corner (85° West) of the state, while Athens (83° West) lies over 100 miles to the east.
A7) Memphis, Tennessee. Memphis is in the southwest corner (90° West) of the state, while Knoxville is far to the east (84° West).
A8) Reno, Nevada. Reno (120° West) is also west of Los Angeles, California (118° West; San Diego is at 117° West).
A9) Kansas City, Missouri. Kansas City (95° West) is on the western edge of the state, along the Missouri and Kansas Rivers, while St. Louis (90° West) is on the eastern edge, along the Mississippi River.
A10) Miami, Florida. The entire state of Florida lies west of New York. Miami is at 80° West, and Buffalo is at 79° West.
A11) El Paso, Texas. El Paso is in the westernmost corner of the state at 106° West, while Waco is in eastern third of the state at 97° West.
A12) Nome, Alaska. Although parts of Alaska and Hawaii overlap, Nome is at 165° West, while Honolulu is 158° West.

Saturday, November 10, 2007

U.S. Orientation - Random Trivia Questions

Are you directionally challenged? This week's quiz is essentially a true/false test of U.S. city geography. Sounds easy, right?

U.S. Orientation Questions

Q1) Which city is farther north: Boston, Massachusetts or Seattle, Washington?
Q2) Which city is farther north: Springfield, Illinois or Springfield, Missouri?
Q3) Which city is farther north: Portland, Maine or Portland, Oregon?
Q4) Which city is farther north: Wilmington, North Carolina or Greenville, South Carolina?
Q5) Which city is farther north: San Francisco, California or Washington, D.C.?
Q6) Which city is farther west: Athens, Georgia or Rome, Georgia?
Q7) Which city is farther west: Memphis or Knoxville, Tennessee?
Q8) Which city is farther west: Reno, Nevada or San Diego, California?
Q9) Which city is farther west: Kansas City or St. Louis, Missouri?
Q10) Which city is farther west: Buffalo, New York or Miami, Florida?
Q11) Which city is farther west: El Paso or Waco, Texas?
Q12) Which city is farther west: Nome, Alaska or Honolulu, Hawaii?

Sunday, August 5, 2007

U.S. State Mates - Random Trivia Answers

Nevada: d) Wyoming. Utah and the Great Salt Lake separate the two states. In 1960, Nevada and Wyoming ranked next to each other in population (49th and 48th), but since then, Nevada has risen to 35th while Wyoming has dropped to last.
Vermont: a) Maine. Here's how you can remember whether Vermont or New Hampshire is the one on the left: VermoNt (since "New Hampshire" has no 'V' in it, the trick doesn't work the other way around).
Colorado: a) Arizona. Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah are the Four Corners States, but Arizona and Colorado only meet at a corner (ditto for New Mexico and Utah).
Michigan: a) Illinois. Lake Michigan separates the two states. Michigan also borders the province of Ontario.
Nebraska: b) Minnesota. Nebraska's other northern neighbor is South Dakota, which, along with Iowa, separates the the Cornhuskers from the Gophers.
Alabama: c) Louisiana. Mississippi and some water separate the two states, which have mirror-image postal abbreviations (AL and LA). *Bonus trivia question: what's the only other mirrored pair of states?
Montana: c) Washington. Idaho separates the two and is Montana's only other U.S. neighbor. The Big Sky State also borders British Columbia, Alberta, and Saskatchewan.
Maryland: b) New Jersey. As tiny as Delaware is, it keeps New Jersey and Maryland apart. Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia are also the four states whose borders are defined by the Mason-Dixon line.
Tennessee: d) West Virginia. Tennessee and its northern neighbor Kentucky each touch eight other states, with Missouri and Virginia being adjacent to both.
Minnesota: b) Michigan. Lake Superior and Wisconsin are between Michigan and Minnesota.
Texas: b) Kansas. Oklahoma separates the two states, but not by much. The Sooner state's panhandle is only 34 miles from north to south and could have been part of Texas if the state had not rejected it in 1845 because slavery was illegal there.
Ohio: c) New York. The northwest corner of Pennsylvania keeps the two states apart. Lake Erie washes up on the shores of all three states (as well as on Michigan).

* Bonus trivia answer: Minnesota (MN) and New Mexico (NM).

Saturday, August 4, 2007

U.S. State Mates - Random Trivia Questions

In each of the following questions you be given a state and will need to find the state that you can NOT walk across a land border to (corner and water boundaries don't count in this quiz). Which three are neighbors and which is not?