World Geography Questions and Answers

Answer: D

The Earth rotates west to east, that is anticlockwise seen from above the North Pole.

This is why the Sun appears to rise in the east and set in the west, and why the day begins earlier at places further east.

Answer: C

Australia accounts for about 5.2 per cent of the world's land area, some 7.7 million km² - the smallest share of any continent.

Much of that area is arid interior, so its population of about 26 million is smaller than that of many single cities elsewhere.

Answer: A

The Earth is about 4,600 million years old - 4.54 billion years, give or take about 1 per cent.

The figure comes from radiometric dating of the oldest meteorites, which formed with the solar system, and is confirmed by the oldest Earth and Moon rocks.

Answer: B

The world's land area, about 149 million km², is roughly 15 times the area of the United States, about 9.8 million km²:

\[ \frac{149}{9.8} \approx 15 \]

Counting the oceans as well, the Earth's whole surface of 510.9 million km² is about 52 times as large.

Answer: C

Asia accounts for about 30 per cent of the world's land area, roughly 44.6 million km² out of about 149 million - a larger share than any other continent.

It also holds about 60 per cent of the world's population.

Answer: B

South America is given here as about 8.9 per cent of the world's area, covering roughly 17.8 million km².

That places it fourth among the continents, behind Asia, Africa and North America.

Answer: C

The Equator is the largest circle of latitude, about 40,075 km round.

It is the only parallel that is a great circle - its plane passes through the centre of the Earth. Every other parallel is a smaller circle, shrinking to a point at each pole.

Answer: A

An equinox is a date on which day and night are of equal length everywhere on Earth. The word comes from the Latin for 'equal night'.

It happens twice a year, about 20 March and 23 September, when the Sun is directly overhead at the equator.

Answer: D

The oceans cover about 361.132 million km² - roughly 70.8 per cent of the Earth's total surface of 510.94 million km².

The remaining 148.94 million km² is land, which is why the Earth is often called the blue planet.

Answer: A

The Sea of Japan is noted for its fishing. The cold Oyashio and the warm Tsushima currents meet in it, and the mixing brings up nutrients that make plankton and therefore fish abundant.

Sardine, squid, salmon and crab support major Japanese, Korean and Russian fisheries there.