January 2025 Geography Bee Quiz

Learn more about the Earth with the help of a GeoFact of the Day Geography Bee Quiz (↗) like this one! Think of this resource as free food for your mind. Whether you are preparing for a geography bee — or maybe a geography-themed trivia contest — or just want to cherish the positive aspects of planet Earth, I hope you enjoy these morsels of knowledge. The answers to this quiz are listed below — enjoy and good luck!

Here's to a New Year's Resolution of learning about our amazing planet!

1)      Which of the following is not a city in ROMANIA?
A — Bucharest (București)
B — Timișoara
C — Belgrade (Beograd)

2)      Which state in the UNITED STATES has exactly 100 counties? Some of these counties include Durham, Mecklenburg, Orange, Pitt, Wake, and Watauga.
A — Vermont
B — North Carolina
C — New Mexico

3)      BANGLADESH is mostly bordered by INDIA but also shares a border in the southeast with _____________.
A — MYANMAR
B — NEPAL
C — PHILIPPINES






















ANSWERS

Question 1:
C . . . . . Belgrade (Beograd) which is the capital of Serbia (↗)

Question 2:
B . . . . . North Carolina (↗)

Question 3:
A . . . . . Myanmar (↗)

Population of Myanmar

According to Encyclopædia Britannica, MYANMAR’s population in the year 2020 was about 54,775,000 and was ranked __________ among populations of the whole world’s countries, dependencies, and territories. The correct answer is listed further below!
A — 3rd
B — 26th
C — 70th

























ANSWER
B — 26th

February 2023 Language Quiz

Questions for this quick geography quiz are inspired by the Language of the Day series from Ethnologue (ethnologue.com). You can further test your geographic knowledge (↗) with more quizzes from GeoFact of the Day. The answers to this quiz are listed below; enjoy and good luck!

1)       Which option is the Southeast Asian country where Pwo Western Karen is a threatened language with about 210,000 (and possibly decreasing) speakers?
A — MYANMAR
B — MADAGASCAR
C — UGANDA
D — TURKEY

2)      With only about 280 speakers, the Hiw language is used for communication in which country in Oceania?
A — SAMOA
B — VANUATU
C — TONGA

3)      Which of the following languages is not used for communication in PAPUA NEW GUINEA?
A — Opao
B — Vincentian English Creole
C — Saruga
D — Siroi

4)      Which option below is the East African country in which over 3.4 million people communicate with the Nyankore (Nkore) language?
A — UGANDA
B — TOGO
C — AZERBAIJAN
D — KAZAKHSTAN





















ANSWERS

Question 1:
A . . . . . Myanmar

Question 2:
B . . . . . Vanuatu

Question 3:
B . . . . . Vincentian English Creole

Question 4:
A . . . . . Uganda

What in the World? Riverside Temples

There is a city in Southeast Asia featuring multiple Buddhist temples along or not straying very far from the Chao Phraya river. These temples include Wat Arun (the Temple of Dawn, which contains over one million colorful ceramic tiles), Wat Khrua Wan Worawihan, Wat Molilokkayaram Ratchaworawihan, Wat Nak Klang, Wat Phitchaya Yatikaram Worawihan, Wat Phra Chetuphon, Wat Phraya Tham, and Wat Prayurawongsawat Worawihan. What in the World is the city containing these magnificent sites? Choose an option and find out below!

A — Yangon, MYANMAR
B — Bangkok, THAILAND
C — Kolkata, INDIA





















Answer:
B . . . . . Bangkok, Thailand

Myanmar Exports

According to MIT's Observatory of Economic Complexity (atlas.media.mit.edu), the following items are major exports of MYANMAR (Burma): animal meal and pellets, bananas, cameras, clothing and textiles, copper, corn (maize), dried fruit, electricity to neighboring countries, ferroalloys, footwear, furniture, gemstones (amethysts, iolite, moonstone, rubies, spinel, etc.), groundnuts, headphones, honey, human hair ($2.26 million worth in 2015), hydrometers, inorganic salt, jewelry, lead, legumes, lenses, livestock (especially cows), luggage, machinery, manganese, marble, microphones, mirrors, oilseeds, onions, pearls, petroleum, quartz, rare earth elements, recording equipment, rice, rubber, seafood, spices, sugar, tin, tobacco, x-ray equipment, and zinc. According to the International Monetary Fund (data.imf.org), countries and territories buying and importing most of those exports (February 2017 statistics) include Hong Kong (top importer), China, Thailand, Japan, India, South Korea, Germany, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Bangladesh, Kuwait, the Netherlands, Vietnam, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, Italy, Taiwan, Canada, and Côte d'Ivoire.

Mergui Islands

View Larger Map (↗)

Some islands in the Mergui Archipelago — a pearl-fishing area off the southern coast of MYANMAR (Burma) in the Andaman Sea (section of the Indian Ocean) — include Daung, Domel (Letsôk-aw), Elphinstone (Thayawthadangyi), Kadan, Kanmaw (Kisseraing), Kau-ye, Lanbi, Mali, and Zadetkyi (Saint Matthew's).

Myanmar Endangered Species

The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species™ for MYANMAR (also commonly known as BURMA) in Southeast Asia lists 39 critically endangered species and 93 endangered species. These numbers are higher compared to my first Burma endangered species post, published in December 2014. Some critically endangered species include the Baer's Pochard duck, Black Ibis bird, Burmese Snub-nosed Monkey, Flat Back Tortoise, Helmeted Hornbill bird, Imperial Heron, Javan Rhinoceros, Malayan Pangolin, Oriental White-backed Vulture, Pondicherry Vulture, Spoonbill Sandpiper bird, and White Seraya tree. The Gharial Crocodile (Gavialis gangeticus, a.k.a. Long-nosed Crocodile) is regionally extinct in Myanmar and possibly in Bangladesh, Bhutan, and Pakistan. They are still living in India and Nepal. Endangered species include the Asian Buffalo, Asian Finfoot bird, Big-headed Turtle, Charlesworth Paphiopedilum orchid, Fishing Cat, Greater Adjutant bird, Golden Dragon Fish (Kelesa), Gurney's Pitta bird (shown above), Indian Elephant, Phayre's Leaf Monkey, Red Panda (Red Cat-Bear), Tembadau (Banteng) wild cattle, Tiger, and Yellow-headed Tortoise.

Burma (Myanmar) Endangered Species

As of December 8th, 2014, the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species™ for BURMA lists 36 critically endangered species and 77 endangered species. Ten of the critically endangered species include the Arakan Forest Turtle, Chinese Pangolin, Gharial crocodile, Irrawaddy River Shark, Pink-Headed Duck, Sumatran Rhinoceros, Sunda Pangolin, Sunda Pangolin, White-Bellied Heron, and Gabbia alticola snail.

To demonstrate the limited range of some of these species, Gabbia alticola snails are believed to only live in Inlé Lake in central Burma, and its range is only 50 square kilometers. The area of the lake decreased by about 22 square kilometers since 75 years ago, and this could present problems for the snail populations.

Discover more about Burma! (link to my blog post)

Mekong River

Rivers around the world are important modes of transportation in both developed and developing countries, and the Mekong River in Southeast Asia is no exception! Providing a vital route for shipping goods like rice, cotton, vegetables, peanuts, timber, and minerals to the South China Sea and beyond, the Mekong originates in southern Qinghai Province in southern CHINA (where it is called the Lancang River), and then flows south and serves as part of the border for LAOS, MYANMAR (Burma), and THAILAND. Next, it flows through southern Laos and CAMBODIA before turning southeast through southern VIETNAM, then reaches the Mouths of the Mekong, Mekong Delta, and the South China Sea.

Cities Along the Mekong River
The largest city along the Mekong in southern China is Jinghong, which is in Yunnan Province. Laos' four largest cities - Louangphrabang, Vientiane (Laos' capital), Savannakhet, and Paxhé - are also located beside the Mekong. Further south, the Mekong flows past Cambodia's capital, Phnom Penh. Finally, Vietnamese cities such as Cao Lanh, Sa Dec, Vinh Long, My Tho, Ben Tre, and Tra Vinh are located beside the river and the distributaries in the Mekong Delta.

Capital of Myanmar

Quick GeoFact: The capital of MYANMAR (Burma), a country located west of Thailand in Southeast Asia, used to be Yangon (Rangoon). Since late 2005, the capital is Naypyidaw — also known as Nay Pyi Taw.

Changes in Capital Cities Over the Years

Over the years, a few nations have changed their capitals. For example, PALAU changed its capital from Koror to Melekeok in 2006, while MYANMAR (Burma) changed its capital from Rangoon (Yangon) to Naypyidaw (Nay Pyi Taw). Other countries that changed their capitals include NIGERIA (Lagos » Abuja), TANZANIA (Dar es Salaam » Dodoma), YEMEN {Aden (capital of South Yemen) + Sana'a (capital of North Yemen) » Sanaa (capital of united Yemen)}, among many others. New countries obviously have formed, also; KOSOVO formed in 2008, while there is expected to be a new country on July 9, 2011. This new country, SOUTH SUDAN (the capital being Juba), is expected to formally become independent from SUDAN (Update: it did become independent in July 2011).

Myanmar

MYANMAR, formerly and still sometimes known as Burma, is located in Southeastern Asia. Bangladesh, China, India, Laos, and Thailand are surrounding countries. The former capital of Myanmar was Yangon (Rangoon), but the capital was relocated to Nay Pyi Taw (Naypyidaw) in 2006. According to Encyclopædia Britannica, Myanmar’s population in the year 2020 was about 54,775,000 and was ranked 26th among populations of the whole world’s countries, dependencies, and territories. The currency is the Myanmar Kyat, and the ISO 4217 currency code is MMK.