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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 (↗)
1) The Congo Pedicle is a foot-like panhandle region in the southeastern corner of the DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO and situated near ZAMBIA. The pedicle area features a national park known as Demalisques de Leshwe, possibly named after the genus (damaliscus) of which animal?
A — sloth
B — aardvark
C — antelope
D — penguin
2) True or false: There is an island named Komodo in INDONESIA.
3) The third highest mountain the world is Kangchenjunga, a Himalayan peak standing over 8,500 meters and 28,000 feet tall. Kangchenjunga is situated on the border between INDIA and what mountainous country flying a double pennant shaped flag?
A — ARGENTINA
B — BANGLADESH
C — SWITZERLAND
D — NEPAL
ANSWERS
Question 1:
C . . . . . antelope
Question 2:
True . . . . . it is home to the world-renown Komodo dragon!
Question 3:
D . . . . . Nepal
The author of GeoFact of the Day would like to thank government leaders and personnel around the world for at least trying to learn more about the world around them. However, one such head of state allegedly mispronounced the names of BHUTAN and NEPAL in an intelligence briefing — but also said something that leaves geography nerds (like me) and international-relations wonks pulling their hair out! According to Politico (↗) based on two sources "with knowledge of the meeting," the U.S. President mispronounced Bhutan as something like "button," while Nepal was pronounced something like "nipple." Unfortunately, no recording of the incident is publicly available as far as I know. This leader also mispronounced NAMIBIA as "Nambia." I get it, sometimes countries have interesting names. When speaking, there is probably at least one countries' name that I am mispronouncing. However, the mispronunciation of Bhutan and Nepal as mentioned above is a far stretch in my opinion, and especially for a leader!
...But there's more (dun dun dun...)! According to John Wolcott's Time report (↗), the U.S. President thought that Bhutan and Nepal were entities within INDIA, rather than the separate and sovereign countries that they really are. OH THE HORROR!!! I have much respect for India, but as a proud geography whiz, hearing that a "world leader" thought Bhutan and Nepal were a part of another country rather than as their own is absolutely heart-wrenching! Nowadays, geographic information is thankfully at the fingertips for everyone with Internet and library access.
We make mistakes, so hopefully he can learn from these geographic mistakes and try better at learning more about other countries. Maybe GeoFact of the Day would be a great place for him to start (hint hint, wink wink), so at least he can sound smarter at his intelligence briefings! It feels strange knowing something that a world leader did not at the time, so maybe I will run for President one day!
Bhutan post (↗) ● Nepal post (↗) ● India post (↗) ● Namibia post (↗)
According to MIT's Observatory of Economic Complexity (atlas.media.mit.edu), the following items are major exports of NEPAL: aircraft parts, aluminum bars, animal food, animal hides, antiques, bells and other ornaments, bovine livestock, butter, buttons, ceramic pipes, colored dyes, copper plating, decorative glassware, dental and medical supplies, dried legumes, electric transformers, fabric, figurines and sculptures, flavored water, fruit juice, glass beads, iron products, jewelry, knitted hats, knotted carpets, light fixtures, meat, musical percussion, "non-retail synthetic staple fiber yarn," nutmeg, nuts, orthopedic devices, party decorations, perfume plants, plastic products, processed tobacco, recycled paper, rosin and turpentine, spices, sweaters, tea, textile footwear, tobacco-processing machines, and vegetable residues. According to the International Monetary Fund (data.imf.org), countries and territories buying and importing most of those exports (February 2017 statistics) include India (top importer), the United States, Turkey, Germany, the United Kingdom, France, Afghanistan, China, Italy, Bangladesh, Australia, Japan, Canada, Sri Lanka, Chile, Hong Kong, Vietnam, Denmark, the Netherlands, and the United Arab Emirates.
Species named after Nepal include the Little Nepalese Horseshoe Bat, Nepal Black Cedar tree, Nepal Camellia flower, Nepal Cricket Frog, Nepal Fulvetta bird, Nepal House Martin bird, Nepal Myotis bat, Nepal Wren Babbler bird, and Nepalese Snowtrout.
* Also known as Jatamansi, Muskroot, and Spikenard, these light pink flowers are found across parts of northern Myanmar (Burma) and the Himalayas — Bhutan, southwestern China, northern India. Unfortunately, these floral wonders are overharvested for their medicinal qualities.
Various countries have suns on their flags. They are ANTIGUA and BARBUDA, ARGENTINA, KAZAKHSTAN, KIRIBATI, KYRGYZSTAN, MALAWI, NAMIBIA, NEPAL, NORTH MACEDONIA (known as Macedonia or FYROM in 2015), The PHILIPPINES, RWANDA, and URUGUAY. Comprised of a main island and smaller islands, TAIWAN (Republic of China) is not exactly a country but it also has a sun on its flag. The sun on Taiwan's flag is featured in the top-left corner on top of a blue rectangle. The flags of BANGLADESH and JAPAN both feature a central red circle representing the sun. PALAU's yellow circle actually represents the moon!
The flag belonging to NEPAL is truly unique. Nepal (↗), a mountainous country with Mount Everest (the world's highest mountain) on its northeastern border, has a flag not shaped like a square or rectangle. The shape is comprised of two attached right triangles, and the top triangle is shorter than the bottom one. The body of the flag is red and there is a dark blue border. There are two white symbols. A symbol representing a crescent moon is on the top, smaller triangle, while a sun with twelve points is the symbol on the bottom triangle.
The serene country of NEPAL, also known as the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is in the central part of the Himalayas, the tallest mountain range on Earth. Nepal's northern border with China is the main location for the crests (tallest points) of Himalayas' mountains. Standing proudly at 29,035 feet (8,850 meters), Mount Everest is the tallest mountain on Earth from sea level to its crest. It is located on the northern border in Eastern Nepal. Nepal's capital, Kathmandu, is found at the southern slopes of the Himalayas and west of Mt. Everest. Bhutan is a smaller country in the high reaches of the mountain range. It is located east of Nepal and the sliver of India that separates both of them.
NEPAL (नेपाल) is a mountainous country located in the Himalayan Mountains in Southern Asia, between China to the north and India to the south. Nepal straddles the Himalayas mountain range and is known for boasting the world's largest mountain. There are multiple large glaciers in northern Nepal among the country's countless mountains. South of the Himalayan range lies the west-east parallel Mahabharat Range. Located in northeastern Nepal, Mt. Everest (Sagaramāthā, सगरमाथा) towers into the sky on the border with China. Featured below, Nepal's flag is the only country flag in the world not shaped like a rectangle or square. The capital of Nepal, in the eastern part of the country and west of Mt. Everest, is Kathmandu. Other Nepalese cities include Bhaktapur, Biratnagar, Nepalganj, Patna, and Udaypur. With ₨ and रू as its symbols, the Nepalese Rupee is the national currency. The Nepalese Rupee's ISO 4217 currency code is NPR.
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