Geo Answers

Okay, so I admit I tried to pick out some of the really hard sample geography questions in my last post. I just asked McKay the questions and he ended up getting 5 of them right, although he guessed on several of them -- but I think making educated guesses is a great skill!

And in case you were curious, here are the answers:

United States
Which of the following states was included as part of the Louisiana Purchase -- Iowa or Illinois?
Iowa

World
Zero degrees longitude passes through which African country -- Mali or Burundi?
Mali

Physical Geography
Sand ridges that connect an offshore island to the mainland are called what?
Tombolos

Historical Geography
Which Mesoamerican civilization followed the Olmec?
The Mayan

Cultural Geography
The combination of trade, colonial conquest, and indigenous people developed what East African language?
Swahili

Economic Geography
Half the world's emeralds come from a mine in Muzo in what South American country?
Colombia

Political Geography
Which type of government can be found in Saudi Arabia?
Monarchy

The Environment
Around which sea has a region of more than 150,000 square miles been offically recognized as an Ecological Disaster Zone due to an 80 percent decrease in water volume caused by diversion of water?
The Aral Sea

Current Events (these sample questions are from several years ago)
In June 2001, dozens were killed and hundreds were injured when a passenger train plunged into the Kadalundi River, which flows from the Kerala state to the Arabian Sea, in which country?
India

Today he and I went over country capitals of the 50 most populous countries (also touching on the official languages and predominant religions in the countries) -- I'm definitely learning a lot as we go!