Geography Bee Study Questions

What are the 8 directions on a compass rose?

N, S, E, W, NW, NE, SW, SE

What is the name of the large desert that runs along Africa's southwestern coast?

Namib

What is the difference between a natural and a political boundary?

Natural boundaries are based on coastlines, mountains, and rivers, while political boundaries are based on counties, cities, states, and countries.

Which state has a higher population density, New Jersey or Alaska?

New Jersey

Which part of a map tells the relationship of distance shown on the map to the real distance on the Earth?

Map scale

Which state is just south of New Hampshire and Vermont?

Massachusettes

What is another name for a line of longitude?

Meridian

What is precipitation? Name as many forms of precipitation as you can.

Moisture falling from the air: rain, sleet, snow, hail, dew, frost.

The largest coral reef in the world is off the northeast coast of Australia. What is its name?

The Great Barrier Reef

What is the largest gulf?

The Gulf of Mexico. It is 615,000 square miles.

What are the ending points of the prime meridian?

The North Pole and The South Pole

Which river flows just south of Cincinnati Ohio?

The Ohio River

What is the body of water between Sicily and Italy called?

The Strait of Messina

Which countries does Mexico border?

The United States, Belize and Guatemala.

Which is farther east, the capital of Cuba or the capital of Nicaragua? What are the names and approximate longitudes of the two cities

Havana, Cuba is farther east with a latitude of 82° W. The latitude of Mangua, Nicaragua is 86° W

Which Caribbean Island has the second largest land area?

Hispaniola

What ocean borders Australia's western coast?

Indian Ocean

What Middle Eastern country, that lies between Iraq and Afghanistan, used to be called Persia?

Iran

If a state is outside the contiguous United States, what does this mean? Give an example.

It is not part of the 48 connected States. For example, Alaska or Hawaii

Which Great Lake is the only one that the United States does not share with Canada?

Lake Michigan

Through which lake does the equator pass: Lake Malawi, Lake Victoria, or Lake Chad?

Lake Victoria

Which country would generally have the higher temperatures year round, Laos or Switzerland?

Laos

Looking south from Quito, Ecuador, which is the next capital city in South America?

Lima, Peru

Bolivia is one of the two landlocked countries in South America. What is the other country?

Paraguay

What is the difference between a physical and political map?

Political maps show governmental units and physical maps show landforms and bodies of water.

Places near an ocean usually have warmer winters than places farther inland at the same latitude. Which city probably has warmer winters, the Brazilian seaport of Porto Alegre or Cordoba in Central Argentina?

Porto Alegre

Which river forms part of the northern border of Mexico?

Rio Grande

Is Mexico City located north or south of the tropic of cancer?

South

What is the southernmost point in the world called?

South Pole

What is the capital of the island nation of the coast of east Asia through which the Tropic of Cancer passes?

Taipei, Taiwan

The island of Bermuda is a colony of which nation?

United Kingdom

Mountains and a river with the same name form most of the boundary between eastern Europe and western Asia. What is the name?

Ural

Does the Mississippi River form the Eastern or Western border of Illinios?

Western

Persian Gulf

Which gulf is located between Saudi Arabia and Iran?

What year was North Dakota admitted to the union?

1889

Which coastal city would probably have a warmer average yearly temperature, one at 30° North or one at 0° North? Why?

30° north because it is closer to the equator

What do you call an area of water bordered by land on three sides?

A bay

What do you call artificial channels for water?

A canal

What do you call a piece of land jutting into the sea or another large body of water?

A cape

What do you call a person who makes maps?

A cartographer

What do you call a huge slow moving mass of snow and ice?

A glacier

What do you call a portion of an ocean or sea partly enclosed by land?

A gulf

What do you call a part of a body of water along the shore, deep enough for anchoring a ship, that provides protection from winds, waves, and currents?

A harbor

What do you call a body of fresh or salt water of considerable size, that is surrounded by land?

A lake

Whats a gulf?

A large part of water

What do you call the seasonal wind of the Indian Ocean and southern Asia that blows from the southwest in summer and from the northeast in winter?

A monsoon

What do you call a land form that rises steeply at least 2000 feet above surrounding land?

A mountain

In which direction does a paralell, or line of latitude, run?

A paralell, or line of latitude, runs East to West.

What do you call a piece of land nearly surrounded by water or sticking out into the water?

A peninsula

What do you call a large area of flat or gently rolling land?

A plain

What do you call large raised of mostly level land?

A plateau

What is the term for a narrow body of water connecting two largaer bodies of water and is is usually bigger than a canal?

A strait

Which is the only continent with land in all four hemispheres?

Africa is the only continent that has land in all four hemispheres.

Which of the fifty states in the US is the furthest west?

Alaska

What do you call a large group of chain islands.?

An archipelago

What do you call an area of land completely surrounded by water?

An island

What do you call a narrow strip of land connecting two larger land areas?

An isthmus

The largest and longest mountain range in South America is?

Andes Mountains

What is the capital of the only country that borders both the Mediterranean and the Black Sea?

Ankara, Turkey

What is a great circle?

Any circle that divides the earth in half. (i.e. Equator)

What is the only ocean through which the equator does not pass?

Arctic Ocean

Which is the second largest country in South America?

Argentina

Which four continents touch the Indian Ocean?

Asia, Africa, Antarctica and Australia.

What is the name of the desert in northern Chile?

Atacama

Unlike lands near warm ocean currents, lands near cold currents may be cool and dry. The cold Peru Current passes near the earth's driest desert. What is its name?

Atacama Desert

Where is the mouth of the Amazon River?

Atlantic Ocean

What is the name of the mountain range in northwestern Africa?

Atlas Mountains

What is the name of the strait that separates northern Asia and Alaska?

Bering Strait

Whats the capital of North Dakota?

Bismarck

What color is found on the globe more than any other?

Blue. About 70% of earths surface is water.

Which countries (Not including French Guiana, which is a colony) does Brazil border?

Brazil borders Suriname, Venezuela, Columbia, Peru, Bolivia, Uruguay, Paraguay, and Argentina.

If 1 inch on a map represents 800 miles, and it is 3 1/4 inches on the map from Cape Town, South Africa, to Narobi, Kenya, how far apart are the two places?

Cape Town and Narobi are 2,600 miles apart.

A star represents what on a map?

Capital

What is the name of the large gulf on the northern coast of Australia

Carpentaria

What do you call a very large water fall?

Cataract

Which mountain range is located between the Black and Caspian Seas?

Caucasus

The city of Shanghai in China is near the mouth of what river?

Chang Jiang (Yangtze)

Which two countries border Mongolia?

China and Russia

Which term refers to the condition of the atmosphere over a long period of time?

Climate

Which city, located on the Congaree River, is the capital of South Carolina?

Columbia

Name the river that forms a major part of the border between the states of Washington and Oregon.

Columbia River

What country claims Greenland ?

Denmark

Which country claims Greenland?

Denmark

Which two central American countries have capital cities that are named after saints?

El Salvador, Son Salvador and Costa Rica, San Jose

After a hurricane much of the sand on the beach was washed away. Is this called erosion or corrosion?

Erosion

The prime meridian passes through which three continents?

Europe, Africa, and Antarctica

In which directon does the Nile River flow?

North

To which continent does central America belong?

North America

Which continents are almost totally within the Western Hemisphere?

North America & South America

Which state is farther north, North Dakota or Maine?

North Dakota

If you were driving from Denver, Colorado to Bismarck, North Dakota, in which direction would you be traveling?

Northeast

In which direction would you travel to go from Sri Lanka to Myanmar (Burma)?

Northeast.

Through which ocean does most of the international date line pass?

Pacific Ocean

What are the capitals of the countries whose shared border forms the dividing line between north and south America? Find the latitude and longitude of each capital?

Panama City, Panama 9°N, 79°W & Bogata, Columbia 5°N, 75°W

The line divides the Northern and Southern Hemispheres is called what?

The equator

What is the latitude and longitude of the middle of Cape Cod?

The latitude and longitude of Cape Cod is 41 degrees North and 70 degrees West.

What is the latitude and longitude of the middle of your state?

The longitude and latitude of the middle of Massachusetts is 42 degreees North and 72 degrees West.

A mountain range is a line of mountains, name three major ranges and the continents on which they are found.

The mountain ranges you need to know are the Alps located in Europe, the Andes located in South America, the Rockies located in North America, and the Himalayas located in Asia.

Some map keys show elevation using two measurements. What are these two measurements?

The two measurements maps use for elevation are feet and meters above sea level.

What do you call something in nature that people use to meet there needs?

a natural resource