World Geography Questions and Answers

Answer: D

Shale is a sedimentary rock, formed from compacted mud and clay.

The others are all metamorphic: slate is altered shale, quartzite altered sandstone, and schist a more strongly recrystallised rock formed under greater heat and pressure.

Answer: C

Aconcagua in Argentina, at 6,961 m, is the highest point in South America and the highest anywhere outside Asia.

McKinley is North America's highest, Elbrus Europe's, and Kosciuszko the highest on the Australian mainland.

Answer: C

Aluminium makes up about 8.2 per cent of the Earth's crust by mass, which makes it the most abundant metal and the third most abundant element of any kind.

Only oxygen, at about 46 per cent, and silicon, at about 28 per cent, are commoner.

Answer: A

Greenpeace is an international environmental organisation, founded in 1971, that campaigns for a balance between human activity and the natural environment.

It works on nuclear testing, whaling, deforestation and climate change, and is known for direct, non-violent protest at the site of the activity it opposes.

Answer: C

The Johor Strait separates the island of Singapore from the Malaysian state of Johor.

It is only about a kilometre wide at its narrowest, and is crossed by the Johor–Singapore Causeway, one of the busiest border crossings in the world.

Answer: D

Mediterranean regions serve all three purposes. The hot dry summers and mild wet winters suit citrus, olives and other fruit; the same climate makes them among the world's great wine producers; and the sunshine and coastline draw tourists in enormous numbers.

Since each use is real, the combined choice is correct.

Answer: C

The Earth's land area is about 148.94 million km².

The remaining 361.13 million km² of the planet's 510.94 million km² surface is ocean, so land accounts for only about 29 per cent of the whole.

Answer: B

Africa is the second largest continent, covering about 30.1 million km².

Only Asia, at about 44.6 million km², is larger. North America follows at 24.3 million and South America at 17.8 million.

Answer: B

The seasons change because the Earth revolves around the Sun while its axis stays tilted at 23½° in the same direction.

Each hemisphere therefore leans towards the Sun for half the year and away from it for the other half, changing both the angle of the Sun's rays and the length of the day. Rotation gives day and night, not the seasons.

Answer: A

The Maldives is the smallest Muslim-majority country by area, about 298 km² spread over 1,200 coral islands in the Indian Ocean.

Bahrain is next at 780 km²; Brunei covers 5,765 km². The Maldives is also the lowest-lying country in the world, averaging about 1.5 m above sea level.