Animals & Nature
What is the largest animal on Earth?
Blue Whale: can grow up to 100 feet long –the largest creature ever known to exist
What is the only country in the world that is also a continent?
Australia: is both a single nation and an entire continent - the only place where one country fills a whole landmass
What is the largest continent on Earth?
Asia: covers about 44.6 million square km- nearly 30% of Earth’s total land area
What is the longest river in the world?
Nile: at ~4,130 miles is traditionally the longest, but recent studies sometimes gives the title to the Amazon in South America
What two countries share the longest international border in the world?
US/Canada: border stretches 5,525 miles - the longest undefended international border on Earth
What island nation is the only place on Earth where lemurs live in the wild?
A) Madagascar B) Sri Lanka C) Borneo D) The Philippines
Madagascar: has been isolated for over 88 million years, allowing lemurs and thousands of other unique species to evolve there and nowhere else
How many countries are there in the world today?
A) 172. B) 180. C) 195. D) 210
195: are UN member states, plus Vatican City and Palestine which have observer status
What is the smallest country in the world?
A) Liechtenstein. B) Monaco. C) San Marino. D) Vatican City
Vatican City: is only about .17 square miles - smaller than most city parks!
What sea is bordered by three different continents all at once?
A) Caribbean Sea. B) Red Sea. C) Arabian Sea. D) Mediterranean Sea
The Mediterranean Sea: is the only sea that touches 3 continents. Over 480 million people across 22 countries live along its shores – and the Romans names it “Mediterranean” meaning “middle of the Earth” because they thought it sat at the center of the entire world
What country is home to more pyramids than Egypt?
A) Sudan. B) Mexico. C) Peru. D) Cambodia
Sudan: has around 200-255 pyramids vs Egypt’s 130. The ancient Nubian kingdom of Kush built smaller, steeper pyramids to honor royalty
What country has the most wild camels in the world?
A) Saudi Arabia B) Australia C) Egypt D) Mongolia
Australia: About 1 million wild camels roam Australia - brought over in the 1800s for transportation and released into the wild
What country has the most airports?
A) Brazil. B) China. C) Russia. D) United States
United States: has over 13,000 airports – far more than any other country. Brazil is a distant second
What is the most populated country on Earth right now?
India: surpassed China in 2023 to become the world’s most populous country, with over 1.4 billion people
The Sahara is the largest hot desert in the world. It is roughly the same size as which country?
A) Brazil. B) China. C) United States. D) Germany
US: The Sahara covers about 3.6 million square miles – almost exactly the same size as the entire US. It spans 11 African countries and is still slowly growing
What is the only country in the world whose flag is not a rectangle?
A) Papua New Guinea. B) Bhutan. C) Switzerland. D) Nepal
Nepal: Every other national flag in the world is rectangle, Nepal’s is two stacked triangles forming a unique permanent shape. Its been that way for centuries, originally combining the banners of two royal households
What country contains the most species of birds in the world?
A) Australia. B) Brazil. C) Colombia. D) India
Colombia: has over 1,900 bird species - its huge range of elevations and climates creates incredible biodiversity
What is the only country whose name in English ends with the letter Q?
Iraq
What country has the most time zones in the world?
A) France. B) Russia. C) United States. D) United Kingdom
France: has 12 time zones when you include all its overseas territories –more than Russia, the US or any other nation
What country has no permanent rivers at all –not a single one?
A) Saudi Arabia. B) Libya. C) Lesotho. D) Denmark
Saudi Arabia: has zero permanent rivers. Instead is has “wadis” –dry riverbeds that only fill with water during rare rainstorms, then dry up completely within days
What country has more sheep than people –by about 6 to 1?
A) Mongolia. B) New Zealand. C) Ireland. D) Uruguay
New Zealand: has roughly 6 sheep per person. At its peak, the ratio was as high as 20 to 1!
What country is home to the most volcanoes in the world?
Indonesia: has around 130 active volcanoes, sitting on the Ring of Fire - the most volcanically active zone on Earth
What is the capital of Australia?
A) Canberra. B) Brisbane. C) Melbourne. D) Sydney
Canberra: While most people guess Sydney or Melbourne, Canberra was built specifically as a compromise capital between the two rival cities
Russia spans 11 time zones. How many countries does it border?
14: no country shares a land border with more nations than Russia, which touches everything from Norway in the west to North Korea in the east.
Everyone knows the Grand Canyon is deep –but how wide is it at its widest point? Include units
18 miles: This is wide enough that you could fit the entire city of Chicago from one rim to the other. It’s also over a mile deep, and the rocks at the very bottom are nearly 2 billion years old
What country has a city of nearly 400,000 people named Batman?
A) United States. B) Japan. C) Turkey. D) Ecuador
Turkey: Batman is a real city in southeastern Turkey – and in 2008, the city’s mayor actually threatened to sue Warner Bros. for using the name without permission. The lawsuit never went anywhere, but Batman vs. Batman is a real thing that happened