Passing the Time with Geography
Families used to find different ways of passing time when forced to spend hours together on long car journeys or waiting in airports for delayed flights. Nowadays we mostly just stare at our phones, but we are poorer for the technology.
Last year I was working with my film-maker son, in a remote area of the Northern Territory. Internet was non existent, and we had hours to kill. We instinctively reverted to a childhood game where we took turns in making up questions based around maps and geography.
Here are five of the questions. They are meant to be hard, encouraging collaboration, discussion and even arguments!. Turn off your internet connection and see how you score!
Question One
If I flew from Saigon to Athens using a great circle route I would fly over eleven countries. Can you name them for a point each, and a bonus point for getting them in the right order?
Question Two
If I was standing on the beach in Alexandria, Egypt and I started walking clockwise along the coast of Africa until I arrived back at where I started, I would pass through 34 countries. A point for each country and 10 bonus points for getting them in the right order. (Note for the purposes of this exercise Western Sahara and Morocco are different countries… There’s two free points!)
Question Three
List the Countries that the following rivers flow through. The Mekong, The Mississippi, The Danube. One point per country for 17 points
Question Four
The antipode is the point on earth diametrically opposite another. Their latitudes are symmetrical ; that is, the distance to the equator is the same, but in the opposite hemisphere. The distance between them is the greatest distance that two points on the earth's surface can be, approximately 20,000 km . The straight line connecting them is an imaginary line that passes through the Earth's centre. For five points each…
In which country is the Antipode of Valencia?
In which country is the Antipode of Manila?
Which Pacific Island has its Antipode in Southern Niger?
Question Five - Flags. Four points each.
Which island's flag features undulating blue ocean waves?
Which country has the only non-quadrilateral flag in the world?
Which country has a trident, the symbol of the sea god Neptune, on its flag?
Highlight below to get the answers. 100 maximum points. How did you go?
Question One. Viet Nam, Cambodia, Thailand, Myanmar, Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iran, Turkiye, Greece
Question Two Egypt, Sudan, Eritrea, Djibouti, Somalia, Kenya, Tanzania, Mozambique, South Africa, Namibia, Angola, DRC, Rep of Congo, Gabon, Equatorial Guinea, Cameroon, Nigeria, Benin, Togo, Ghana, Cote D’Ivoire, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Senegal, The Gambia, Mauritania, Western Sahara, Morocco, Algeria, Libya. (NB If you stuck to the beach you would go through Senegal twice)
Question Three
Mekong- China Myanmar, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia, and Vietnam
Mississippi- USA
The Danube-- Germany, Austria, Slovakia, Hungary, Croatia, Serbia, Bulgaria, Romania, Moldova, and Ukraine
Question Four
In which country is the Antipode of Valencia? New Zealand
In which country is the Antipode of Manila? Brazil
Which Pacific Island has its Antipode in Southern Niger? Samoa
Question Five
Part One Kiribati
Part Two Nepal
Part Three Barbados