What are the seven continents of the world?
- Asia
- Africa
- North America
- South America
- Antarctica
- Europe
- Australia (sometimes referred to as Oceania)
(largest to smallest)
There’s actually an eighth continent called “Zealandia” which geologists discovered in 2017.
It is now a submerged continent which broke free from Australia millions of years ago.
Located in Nepal, ______ ______ is the tallest landform in the world.
Mount Everest
The mountain is part of the Himalayas and reaches 29,029 feet (8848 m) above sea level.
Named after Sir George Everest, Welsh surveyor and geographer (though he did not survey the mountain). The first ascent of the mountain took place in 1953 by Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay.
What are the five major oceans of the world?
- Pacific Ocean
- Atlantic Ocean
- Indian Ocean
- Southern (Antarctic) Ocean
- Arctic Ocean
(largest to smallest)
A book of maps is called an _______.
atlas
Before GPS, smartphones, and the internet were a thing, students of geography and vacation goers would spend hours skimming through these books.
What is the largest country by land mass in the world?
Russia
It takes up 6.6 million square miles, about 3.4% of the world’s area.
What is this landmark?
Stonehenge
This ancient monument was constructed sometime between 3000 B.C. and 2000 B.C., and is located in Wiltshire, England.
What city in western Saudi Arabia is known as the birthplace of Muhammad and is of great importance to the Islamic faith?
Mecca
Mecca’s historical significance dates back to the first century B.C. The Kaaba is the most sacred site in Islam, known as the sacred bayt Allah (House of God). It is located in the center of the Great Mosque in Mecca.
What profession specializes in designing and creating maps?
cartography
The _____ Ocean is bordered by Antarctica to the south, Australia to the east, Asia to the north, and Africa to the west.
Indian Ocean
Numerous African and Asian civilizations have existed along the shores of the Indian Ocean, and trade between these regions has taken place since ancient times.
Which ocean is sandwiched between Europe and Africa to the east, and North America and South America to the west?
Atlantic Ocean
What ancient Roman city was destroyed by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79AD?
Pompeii
When Mount Vesuvius erupted in 79 A.D., Pompeii was overcome with debris and ash and approximately 2,000 citizens were killed.
The townspeople were quickly covered in soot and preserved for 2,000 years in exactly the positions they were left in – leading Pompeii to become one of the most fruitful and famous archeological research sites (not to mention tourism).
Which sea is bordered by Europe, Africa, and Asia?
The Mediterranean
Surrounded by three continents, the Mediterranean has been a great highway for trade since ancient times.
Which continent is bordered by the Ural Mountains to the east and the Atlantic Ocean to the west?
Europe
Europe’s southern border is the Mediterranean Sea. To the north, the countries of Scandinavia stretch to the Arctic Circle.
Which continent stretches from the Arctic Circle in the north to the Panamanian Isthmus to the south?
North America
It stretches from the Arctic Circle to the Panamanian Isthmus. Most of North America is controlled by three nations: Mexico, the United States, and Canada.
An interesting fact is that Central America and the Caribbean are actually regions within North America.
Which Scottish lake is said to be inhabited by a ficticious creature whose lore dates back to the 1930s?
Loch Ness
The fictitious creature is commonly referred to as the ‘Loch Ness Monster’ or ‘Nessie’. The first written account of the monster can be found in the biography of St. Columba written in 565 AD.
What continent is divided by the Sahara Desert?
Africa
It is divided by the Sahara Desert, a barren wasteland that stretches from the Atlantic Ocean to the Indian Ocean.
What is this landmark?
Machu Picchu
Located in Peru, this Incan citadel was built in the 15th century, then abandoned roughly 100 years later, likely due to the Spanish Conquest.
The Amazon rainforest and the Andes mountains are two prominent features of which continent?
South America
The Amazon River Basin and the surrounding rainforest comprise some 40% of South America’s land mass, and are almost twice the size of the United States.
The Andes Mountains run down South America’s western side.
Located only 60 miles from Tokyo, what’s the name of Japan’s most famous mountain?
Mount Fuji
This cultural landmark is the highest mountain in Japan and is also classified as an active volcano.
What is the biggest ocean in the world?
The Pacific Ocean
It stretches some 63.78 million square miles from North and South America to Australia and Asia.
What is this landmark found in the capital city of Greece?
The Acropolis of Athens
The Acropolis is a collection of ancient buildings that include the Parthenon.
It is dated as early as 5th-century B.C. and is located in Athens, Greece.
What is the largest continent on Earth?
Asia
Asia stretches from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east, and from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Indian Ocean in the south.
Asia is so large that geographers and historians typically divide it into sub-regions, such as the Middle East, Central Asia, South Asia, Southeast Asia, and East Asia.
What’s the tallest mountain in Africa?
Mount Kilimanjaro
The tallest mountain in Africa, Mount Kilimanjaro is home to three dormant volcanic cones.
What is the longest river in North America?
Missouri River
It flows into the Mississippi River near St. Louis and is North America’s longest river at more than 2,300 miles long.
The Mississippi River runs 2,202 miles from Minnesota to the Gulf of Mexico.
What famous Indian landmark is this?
Taj Mahal
This iconic landmark of India is actually a mausoleum, and was built between 1632–1653 A.D.
What profession finds and studies relics of past societies to learn more about human history and the lives of our ancestors?
Archaeologist
Archeologists provide a deeper understanding of how life has been lived and can be lived.
It’s the study of human history through physical objects and other evidence left behind. This means that their work does not include dinosaurs, which is usually researched by paleontologists.
Moreover, archeology is not only focused on relics underground but also above-ground relics such as buildings.
What landmark became the tallest man-made structure in 2010?
Burj Khalifa
The Burj Khalifa is 2,722 feet tall (829 m) and is located in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
What is the smallest country in the world?
Vatican City
This country within a country is located in Rome, Italy and is ruled by the Pope.
What is this Russian landmark?
St. Basil’s Cathedral
Constructed in Moscow, Russia between 1555–61 A.D., this cathedral is known for its unique architecture.
What is this American landmark?
Mount Rushmore
Completed in 1941, this American landmark is located in South Dakota and includes sculptures of the faces of four presidents: George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt, and Abraham Lincoln.
What are the two most prominent rivers on the Indian subcontinent?
Indus and the Ganges
The Indus River flows through modern-day Pakistan and the Ganges through modern-day India.
What is this Spanish landmark?
Sagrada Família
This Catholic church, located in Barcelona, Spain, is known for its gothic architecture and unique design.
Construction began in 1882 and is expected to conclude between 2026 and 2028.
What is this Italian landmark?
The Colosseum
Located in Rome, Italy, the Colosseum is the largest amphitheater in the world, and was known for its gladiator battles, theatrical works, and political speeches.
This iconic piece of Roman architecture was constructed between 70 and 80 A.D.
What is this Italian landmark?
Tower of Pisa
This Italian belltower is known for the increasing tilt that earned it its nickname “The Leaning Tower of Pisa.”
Which two rivers flowed through ancient Mesopotamia (modern-day Iraq)?
The Tigris and Euphrates Rivers
The availability of water for agriculture earned the region the nickname “The Fertile Crescent.”
The rivers have historical significance as some of the first major civilizations formed there.
What is this Italian landmark?
St. Peter’s Basilica
Located in Vatican City and built between 1506-1626, this church is the largest in the world.
What is this German landmark?
The Berlin Wall
Germany was divided after World War 2, and the Berlin Wall came to be built as a barrier between the East and West.
East Germany began construction of the wall in 1961 to restrict immigration to West Germany. The wall was destroyed in 1989 and 1990, leading to the reunification of Germany.
What is this landmark located in the U.S.?
The Statue of Liberty
This monument stands in New York Harbor, New York City, and was gifted to the United States by France in 1886.
What is the name of the Pacific Ocean region that includes Australia, New Zealand, and the islands of the South Pacific?
Oceania
What is this landmark?
Moai of Easter Island
This island off the coast of Chile is famous for giant rocks with carvings of human faces, made by the Rapa Nui people sometime between 300 - 1200 A.D.
The thing that is most noteworthy about these statues is that (i) they were almost impossibly too heavy to have been erected and relocated by such a primitive civilization, and that (ii) the civilization that made the statues suddenly disappeared soon after erecting them.
What is this landmark?
The Great Wall of China
The wall is actually a collection of smaller walls that were built to protect the Chinese border and have been joined over time, the oldest of which was built around the 7th century B.C.
Today, the wall spans a distance of 5,500 miles (21,196 km).
What is this Australian landmark?
Sydney Opera House
This iconic landmark is located in Sydney, Australia, and is home to Australian opera, ballet, theatre, and orchestra groups.
What is this landmark?
The Eiffel Tower
This iconic French structure was built for the 1889 World’s Fair.
What is this American landmark?
Grand Canyon
This iconic American landmark is located in Arizona and spans 277 miles (446 km) long, up to 18 miles (29 km) wide and attains a depth of over a mile.
What is this landmark?
Great Pyramid of Giza
The most iconic of the Egyptian pyramids, it was constructed between 2560 and 2540 B.C.
The pyramids contain(ed) the mummified remains of pharaohs and are the source of many mysteries such as the hieroglyphics.
The pyramids are also the source of many alien conspiracy theories. One of the most prominent theories is that the Egyptians had “extraterrestrial” help because the pyramids were built according to a precise measurement matching the position of the stars at the time.
What Brazilian city is famous for its statue of Christ the Redeemer?
Rio de Janeiro
What is this landmark?
Great Sphinx of Giza
Located in Egypt and constructed around 2500 B.C., the Great Sphinx is the world’s oldest monumental sculpture.
