Paris 2024 Olympic Firsts Quiz

The Summer 2024 Olympics in Paris ended a little while ago on Sunday, August 11th. Congratulations to all athletes who came to these Olympics and competed fairly and to the best of their ability! This GeoFact of the Day quiz highlights medal winners representing countries — and an athlete valiantly competing for the Refugee Team — that have not won a medal previously or have not won a gold medal until Paris 2024. Three Caribbean island countries, three African countries, one European country, one Central American country, and the Refugee Olympic Team are all represented in this post. Quiz answers are listed below — enjoy and good luck!

1)      GRENADA earned bronze medals in men’s javelin throw and men’s decathlon. 2024 is the first Olympic year in which Grenada won more than one medal. Which name is not one of the athletes who won these medals?
A — Lindon Victor
B — Anderson Peters
C — Timothy Conch

2)      BOTSWANA celebrates its first ever gold medal, which was won by Letsile Tebogo. Letsile also earned a silver medal as a teammate on the men’s ___________ team.
A — badminton
B — 4 x 400 meter relay
C — football

3)      ____________ is the home country of Cindy Ngamba, the women’s 75 kg boxer who earned the first ever medal (bronze) on the Refugee Olympic Team.
A — CAMEROON
B — SOMALIA
C — YEMEN

4)      True or false: EL SALVADOR is the Central American country winning its first ever gold medal.

5)      Track athlete Julien Alfred won a gold medal in the women’s 100 meter dash and a silver medal in the women’s 200 meter dash at the Paris 2024 Olympics. She won these first ever medals on behalf of which Caribbean island country?
A — SAINT KITTS AND NEVIS
B — SAINT LUCIA
C — TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO
D — BARBADOS

6)      Two freestyle wrestlers — Chermen Valiev and Islam Dudaev — won the first ever medals (both bronze) for their country in Southeastern Europe. Which country?
A — ALBANIA
B — GREECE
C — NORTH MACEDONIA
D — MONTENEGRO

7)      David de Pina (Daniel Varela de Pina) won a bronze medal in men’s 51 kg boxing and therefore earned the first ever medal for which island country in Africa? Hint: this country is an archipelago located west of mainland West Africa, and the country’s name translates to green cape in Portuguese.
A — MAURITIUS
B — SEYCHELLES
C — SÃO TOMÉ AND PRÍNCIPE
D — COMOROS
E — CABO VERDE
F — MADAGASCAR

8)      True or false: Thea LaFond competed in women’s triple jump and earned the first ever medal — and a gold one at that — for DOMINICA.























ANSWERS

Question 1:
C . . . . . Timothy Conch

Question 2:
B . . . . . 4 x 400 meter relay

Question 3:
A . . . . . Cameroon

Question 4:
False . . . . . Guatemala

Question 5:
B . . . . . Saint Lucia

Question 6:
A . . . . . Albania

Question 7:
E . . . . . Cabo Verde

Question 8:
True

Albania Independence Day

People all across ALBANIA recently celebrated their country's Independence Day on Saturday, November 28th. Albania achieved independence from the Ottoman Empire in 1912. Happy belated Independence Day!

Flag of the Day: Durrës, Albania

Location of Durrës, ALBANIA: Located immediately east of the Mediterranean Sea coastline in west-central Albania. Surrounding towns and cities include Maliq Muço, Rrashbull, Shënavlash, Shijak, and Spitallë.

Population: 210,500 (GeoFact of the Day estimate, 2018)

Albania Exports

The following produce and materials are major exports of ALBANIA: asphalt, crude oil, footwear, fruits (especially grapes and olives), metal and metallic ore, textiles, tobacco, vegetables (corn, potatoes, sugar beets, etc.), and wheat. According to the International Monetary Fund (data.imf.org), countries buying and importing most of those exports in 2016 include Bulgaria, China, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Kosovo, Macedonia, Malta, Romania, Serbia, Spain, Switzerland, Turkey, and the United States.

Albania Endangered Species

The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species™ lists over 50 species that are either endangered or critically endangered in ALBANIA, a Southeastern European country located east of the Adriatic Sea. Mollusks, fish, birds, insects, and more are found on the endangered and critically endangered list. The critically endangered list, which is one category below extinction, includes the Adriatic Sturgeon, Angel Shark, Balearic Shearwater bird, Corfu Toothcarp (valencia letourneuxi), European Eel, and the Mediterranean Monk Seal.

Albania Flag

Throughout its storied history, ALBANIA in Southeastern Europe flew a variety of flag designs. Most of the previous flags had a red background. Two red horizontal stripes formed the flag when Albania was part of the Ottoman Empire in the 19th century. Also, the flag of Ottoman Empire was the only one that did not feature a black double-headed eagle in the center. That eagle is also found on Albania's coat of arms. For more information about Albania, visit my Albania post!

Administrative Divisions of Albania

Located in Southeastern Europe alongside the Adriatic Sea and northwest of Greece, ALBANIA is administratively divided up into 12 counties (qarku) and 384* municipalities. GeoFact of the Day's map shows the counties with thick blue borders and text labels. In alphabetical order, the twelve counties are Berat, Dibër, Durrës, Elbasan, Fier, Gjirokastër, Korçë, Kukës, Lezhë, Shköder, Tiranë, and Vlöre. Albania's municipalities before 2015* are shown with thin, light blue borders. The capital, Tiranë, is located in central Albania in the county with the same name. Before 2001, Albania included 36 districts as second-level administrative divisions.

* Update: In 2015, the government reduced the number of municipalities from 384 to 61.

The shapefiles used to make this map in ArcGIS 10.1 came from the website Global Administrative Areas, located at www.gadm.org. Click here to enlarge the map in a new tab or window.

Albania's (Former) Official Atheism

Communist ALBANIA, which existed from 1944 to 1991, was one of the officially atheistic countries that have existed. Since the break-up of the Soviet Union (1991), Albania has been an independent, non-atheist country.

SE Europe Week — #3

Largest Lakes in Southeast Europe
Lacul Razim (Lake Razim), located in ROMANIA in the Danube Delta, is the largest lake in all of the countries that I've previously listed (the true definition of SE Europe varies from source to source and atlas to atlas); Lacul Sinoie, which is south of Lake Razim, also belongs on the list. Lake Scutari, also known as Lake Skadar, is located on the border with ALBANIA and MONTENEGRO. Lake Ohrid, in eastern ALBANIA and southwestern MACEDONIA, and Lake Prespa (also known as the Great Prespa), situated on top of the ALBANIA, GREECE, and MACEDONIA border, are close to each other (Lake Ohrid is northwest of Lake Prespa). Lastly, there are a few remarkable lakes in stretching across northern GREECE, like Límni Vólvi and Límni Kerkinitis. Now you know the largest lakes in Southeast Europe!

Maja Jezercë Mountain

Maja Jezercë, a 8839-foot (2694 meters) mountain peak, is located in northern ALBANIA. It is located in the Prokletije mountain range, which is also known as the Albanian Alps.

Albania

Officially known as Republika e Shqipërisë in the Albanian language, the Republic of ALBANIA (Shqipëria) is a mountainous southeastern European country located east of the Adriatic Sea. Albania borders Montenegro, Kosovo, Macedonia, and Greece. The capital of Albania is Tiranë (also spelled Tirane or Tirana). Three predominant lakes are situated on Albania's borders: Lake Scutari, Lake Ohrid, and Lake Prespa. Lake Scutari is located in northwestern Albania and extends into Montenegro. Lake Ohrid and Lake Prespa are both located in eastern Albania and shared with Macedonia. The currency is the Albanian Lek, and its ISO 4217 currency code is ALL. Find out more about Albania's administrative divisions.

People and Places
According to Encyclopædia Britannica, Albania's population in the year 2020 is about 2,851,000 and is ranked 140th among populations of the whole world’s countries, dependencies, and territories. Albania is one of several European countries or territories — including Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, and the European section of Turkey (Eastern Thrace region or peninsula) — with a predominantly Muslim population due to the Ottoman Empire's initiatives converting past residents to the religion of Islam. About 60% of Albanians are Sunni Muslims, followed by Catholic Christians (10%), atheists or agnostics (about 10%), Orthodox Christians (7%), Bektashi Sufi followers (2%), and other Christians (0.15%).

Land Features information coming soon!

The map was added to this post on December 8th, 2013. Additional information was added on FUTURE DATE.