World Geography Questions and Answers

Answer: D

Thadingyut is celebrated in Myanmar.

Thadingyut, the Festival of Lights, marks the end of the Buddhist Lent in Myanmar, on the full moon of the month of Thadingyut (usually October). For three days homes and pagodas are lit with lamps and candles to welcome the Buddha's return from heaven, and people pay respects to elders.

It is a Burmese Buddhist festival and not celebrated as such in Chile, Nepal or Germany.

Answer: D

The correct statements are 2, 3 and 4.

The White House is the official residence and workplace of the President of the United States (2). John Adams was the first President to live there, moving in on 1 November 1800 while it was still unfinished (3). It is a national symbol of the American presidency and of American democracy (4).

Statement 1 is wrong: the address is 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, D.C., not 1800. So every option containing 1 is wrong.

Answer: D

The incorrect statements are 1 and 3.

Lake Victoria is the largest lake in Africa and the world's second largest freshwater lake by surface area, after Lake Superior, not the third (1). It is shared by three countries, Tanzania, Uganda and Kenya; Rwanda does not border it (3).

Statements 2 and 4 are correct: it is one of the African Great Lakes, and its only outflow is the White Nile (Victoria Nile), which leaves the lake near Jinja in Uganda.

Answer: A

The emirates are Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Sharjah, Ajman, Umm Al-Quwain, Fujairah, Ras Al-Khaimah.

The United Arab Emirates is a federation of these seven emirates; Abu Dhabi is the capital and the largest.

The other options mix in places that are not UAE emirates: Jeddah, Riyadh, Dammam and Taif are cities of Saudi Arabia, and Kuwait and Bahrain are separate countries.

Answer: D

The country with a presidential system is Argentina.

In Argentina the President is directly elected, is both head of state and head of government, and is not responsible to the legislature, the marks of a presidential system.

Belgium and Australia are parliamentary systems with a monarch as head of state, and Israel is a parliamentary republic in which the government depends on the Knesset.

Most of Latin America follows the presidential model of the United States, while most of Europe and the Commonwealth follow the parliamentary model.

Answer: B

The minor plate is the Nazca plate.

The Earth's lithosphere is divided into seven major plates, including the Antarctic, Pacific and North American plates, and a number of minor plates, such as the Nazca, Cocos, Arabian, Philippine and Caribbean plates. The Nazca plate lies in the eastern Pacific off South America.

The Antarctic and surrounding oceanic plate, the Pacific plate and the North American plate are all major plates.

Answer: A

The physical maps are relief maps.

Physical maps show natural features of the Earth: relief (mountains, plateaus, plains), drainage, soils, vegetation and climate.

Population, economic and political maps are cultural maps, showing human-made features such as boundaries, settlements and economic activity.

A single map can combine both kinds, but the classification depends on whether the main theme is natural or human-made.

Answer: C

The continent with the most countries is Africa.

Africa has 54 sovereign countries recognised by the United Nations, more than any other continent.

Asia has about 48 to 49, Europe about 44, and North America 23, so all three are behind Africa.

Counting countries depends on recognition, but on any standard list Africa leads, which is why the question uses it as the benchmark.

Answer: B

The continent is Australia.

Australia is the smallest continent and lies entirely in the Southern Hemisphere. It is surrounded on all sides by oceans and seas, so it is called an island continent.

Antarctica also lies entirely in the Southern Hemisphere, but it is larger than Australia (the fifth largest continent) and is not called an island continent. South America and Africa are much larger and extend into the Northern Hemisphere, so they fail feature A.

Answer: A

The Jordan rises near Mount Hermon, flows south through the Sea of Galilee and empties into the Dead Sea.

The Dead Sea has no outlet, so the water the Jordan delivers can leave only by evaporation - which is why the lake is so intensely saline and its level continues to fall as the river is drawn off for irrigation.