LHS Quiz Bowl - Geography Set #1

In his last month in office, President George W. Bush created a Marine National Monument at this location. The bathyscaphe Trieste was the first manned vessel to reach the bottom of the Challenger Deep in what deepest Pacific Ocean trench?

Mariana Trench

This river, whose name means "River of Oysters" in Lenape, houses Three Mile Island. Name this longest tributary of the Chesapeake Bay, which also flows through the cities of Binghamton and Harrisburg.

Susquehanna River

This country, home to Gorée Island, completely surrounds the country of Gambia. Name this westernmost country in Africa, whose capital is Dakar.

Sengal

In this state, the first commercially successful oil well was drilled near Titusville. Lancaster and York both briefly served as national capitals in what state, where the Constitutional Convention of 1787 was held in Philadelphia?

Pennsylvania [or PA ]

The Khan Tengri peak on the China-Kazakhstan border is part of this range, whose Torugart Pass was part of the Silk Road. Name this mountain range in Xinjiang that translates to Heavenly Mountain.

Tian Shan

A town in this state was known for sheriffs including Bat Masterson, while it hosted a cemetery called Boot Hill. Dodge City is a frontier town in what state home to Wichita?

Kansas

The "Venice of the Pacific," Nan Madol, is in this country, whose islands include Yap and Pohnpei. Palikir is the capital of what country, whose name means "small islands"?

Federated States of Micronesia

Since 1548, this country's stratovolcano Mount Merapi has regularly erupted. In 1883, as many as 100,000 people died when Krakatoa exploded in what Southeast Asian country?

Indonesia

Sputnik was launched from this country's Baikonur Cosmodrome. Name this country whose capital was temporarily renamed after Nursultan Nazarbayev but is now named Astana.

Republic of Kazkahstan

The Løgting parliament functions in this archipelago, whose largest settlement is Tórshavn. Name this archipelago north of Great Britain, which is administered by Denmark.

Faroe Islands [or Faroe s]

The historic cultural center of this county was called Eboracum by the Romans and Jórvík by the Vikings. What largest administrative county of England has lent its name to a pudding and a breed of terrier?

Yorkshire

This nickname has been applied to Grenada and the Zanzibar Archipelago, and it has been most frequently applied to the Moluccas. Give this nickname that alludes to the trade of nutmeg, pepper, and cloves.

Spice Islands

The Potala Palace is in what region led by the Dalai Lama?

Tibet

On this state's seal, Sussex is represented by a sheaf of wheat, Kent by an ear of corn, and New Castle by a ship. Name this state whose cities include Wilmington and Dover.

Delaware

This strait passes by the cities of Puerto Saro and Punta Arenas and is navigated in lieu of the Drake Passage. Name this strait separating the South American mainland from Tierra del Fuego, named for an explorer.

Strait of Magellan

This river's source is the confluence of two creeks between Turquoise Lake and Leadville, and it runs through Pueblo, Colorado, and Tulsa, Oklahoma. What is this tributary of the Mississippi that once formed part of the US-Mexico border?

Arkansas River

A dam on this river that spans Grant and Okanagan Counties is called the Grand Coulee. The Willamette and Snake are tributaries of what river separating Washington from Oregon?

Columbia River

Once part of Illyria, this region is mostly covered by the Dinaric Mountains and extends from the island of Rab to the Bay of Kotor on the Adriatic Sea. What is this historical region of Croatia, which names a spotted dog breed?

Dalmatia

In this state, a 1993 Treasury Department report concluded that field commanders of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms mishandled the raid on the Branch Davidian cult. Name this state, the site of the Waco siege.

Texas

Named for a body of water, what is the largest oil field in the United States?

Prudhoe Bay Oil Field

William and Mary is in what historic city, part of the Historic Triangle with Jamestown and Yorktown?

Williamsburg

The NASA ARADS Project tested a life detection drill in this desert because it resembled Mars in dryness. Darwin's leaf-eared mouse is one of the few native mammals in what driest nonpolar desert in the world, whose two-sided rain shadow is caused by the Chilean Coast Range and the Andes?

Atacama Desert

This city, home to The Langham Huntington, is the most populous in the San Gabriel Valley. In what city in Los Angeles County was the first Tournament of Roses parade held in 1890?

Pasadena

What current nation is bordered by the United Arab Emirates to the northwest, Saudi Arabia to the west, and Yemen to the southwest?

Oman

The world's largest single reservoir of natural gas is located in this country's North Dome, which it shares with Iran. Name this 2022 World Cup host country, the headquarters of broadcaster Al Jazeera, whose capital is Doha.

Qatar

The tallest building in this city contains a skybridge connecting its two halves, called the Petronas Twin Towers. Name this city, the capital of Malaysia.

Kuala Lumpur

The Federal government owns more land in this state than in any other. On October 18, which U.S. state celebrates the transfer ceremony in which the Russian flag was lowered and the American flag raised?

Alaska

After the Sultanate of Rum, beyliks settled in this region, which was where the capture of Bursa took place. Also known as Asia Minor, which region, making up Asian Turkey, gets its name from the Greek for east?

Anatolia

This mountain often titles the bossa nova song "Quiet Night of Quiet Stars." Christ the Redeemer statue, the symbol of Rio de Janeiro, stands atop what mountain?

Mount Corcovado

The Utes referred to this mountain as "Sun Mountain," and a popular saying among settlers of a gold rush referred to this peak "or bust." Name this summit near Colorado Springs, the highest point of any peak to its east.

Pike 's Peak

Rice terraces on this island were created at sites like Banaue in Ifugao province. Of the more than 7,000 islands in the Philippines, which is the largest in area and contains half its population?

Luzon

This city features the Cathedral of St. Louis on Byrsa Hill and the El Abidine Mosque on Odeon Hill. Located on the Gulf of Tunis, what is this city whose mayor signed a symbolic treaty in 1985 to end its 2,100-year-long conflict with Rome?

Carthage

This country belonged to Romania from the end of World War I in 1918 until 1940, when the Soviet Union took it. Transnistria is a breakaway region of what country, governed from Chisinau?

Moldova

Only one of these eight islands has a significant population, home to 3,700 citizens between Avalon and Two Harbors. Sharing their name with an archipelago in the UK, what are these islands off the coast of California, including Santa Catalina and San Clemente?

Channel Islands

This location's Light Festival began when a 50-foot-tall Christmas tree was placed in Water Tower Park. Real estate developer Arthur Rubloff coined the name of what section of Chicago's Michigan Avenue that extends from Chicago River to Oak Street, known for upscale shopping and nightlife?

Magnificent Mile [prompt on Michigan Ave nue or Chicago before read]

What landlocked country has its capital at Minsk?

Belarus

Funchal is the capital of what island group that names a type of Portuguese wine?

Madeira

This city of 10,000 residents is bordered by Topanga Canyon and is the home of Pepperdine University. Name this surfer's paradise in the Santa Monica Mountains, located 30 miles west of downtown Los Angeles.

Malibu

The first noted outbreak of the Ebola virus took place in this river's basin. What is the second-longest river in Africa, which gave its name to two nations in central Africa?

Congo River

This island's highest peak is Mount Odin, and Mount Thor has what is believed to be the longest vertical drop on earth. The location of Iqaluit, the capital of Nunavut, what is this fifth largest island in the world?

Baffin Island

A city of this name in Florida was named by an Englishman who spent many years in Australia. With a name meaning "mill stream," what is this name of a city of over 4 million located on Port Phillip Bay in Victoria, Australia?

Melbourne

The world's largest T. rex, Sue, is located in this city's Field Museum. The Griffin Museum of Science and Industry is in what Midwest city's Hyde Park neighborhood?

Chicago

A 1994 war over this hyphenated region is called the Artsakh Liberation War by Armenians. What is this doubly named region of the Caucasus, just east of Armenia and lying entirely within the borders of Azerbaijan?

Nagorno-Karabakh

This lake, which is drained by the San Juan River, is connected by the Tipitapa River to Lake Managua. What is this largest lake in Central America?

Lake Nicaragua

Over 27 thousand acres of land for this place were purchased by shell corporations before being designated as the Reedy Creek Improvement District. Bay Lake and Lake Buena Vista are part of an oversight district that includes what theme park?

Walt Disney World Resort [prompt on Disney ]

In 1909, Louis Blériot became the first to cross this body of water by plane. Matthew Webb became the first man to swim across what body of water between Calais and Dover?

English Channel [accept La Manche ]

Nuclear testing in this body of water was done on Rebirth Island, or Vozrozhdeniya. The Amu Darya and Syr Darya Rivers flow into what disappearing Asian body of water located between Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan?

Aral Sea

This region houses the cities of Cluj-Napoca and BraÅŸov, the latter of which is near Bran Castle. Dracula is from what region northwest of Wallachia, located in central Romania?

Transylvania

This range's Mt. Elbrus is the highest peak in Europe, and it contains the region of Nagorno-Kabarakh. What mountain range borders Russia, Georgia, Armenia, the Caspian Sea, and the Black Sea?

Caucasus Mountains

This body of water is considered to extend from the Australian coast to the irregular line of islands comprising the western Solomons, New Hebrides, and New Caledonia. Name this arm of the Pacific that owes its name to the growths of the Great Barrier Reef along its western edge.

Coral Sea

In 1530, Charles V gave this island to the knights of St. John of Jerusalem. Name this former British colony, about 60 miles south of Sicily, which gained its independence in 1964 after resistance in Valletta?

Malta

This country was where Louis and Mary Leakey excavated sites at Olduvai Gorge. Uhuru is the fourth president of what country, whose first president who born to Kikuyu farmers and was named Jomo Kenyatta?

Kenya

The Trinity test site in this state was chosen because it was remote, isolated, and unpopulated. What state houses White Sands National Monument and the nearby White Sands Missile Range, where the first atomic bomb was detonated?

New Mexico

Protesting a 1982 Border Patrol blockade, this US city briefly declared itself the independent Conch Republic. In what city will you find the Hemingway House and the southernmost point in the continental United States?

Key West

Rose Valley is just south of the mountain range this nation shares with Serbia. The Balkan Mountains are located mostly within which EU member state, which is bordered by the Danube River to the north and the Black Sea to the east?

Bulgaria

A type of these structures called ger are topped by bags of fermented horse milk. What are these portable round tents covered with skin, used by the nomads of Central Asia?

yurt s

So-called "ethnic" examples of areas known by this word include Jersey City's India Square. Lesotho, San Marino, and the Vatican City are described by what word, meaning a territory entirely surrounded by another territory?

enclave s

This island is inhabited by the Dayak people, and it contains Sarawak province. Name this Indonesian island north of Java, east of Sumatra, and west of Sulawesi.

Borneo

JAFZA, an economic free zone, surrounds the port of this once oil-rich city. What city's coast has a sail-shaped luxury hotel called the Burj Al Arab and the world's largest man-made island, the Palm Deira?

Dubai

This former Soviet republic shares a common border on the south with Iran and Afghanistan. The Karakum desert covers more than 4/5ths of the land area of what country, whose capital city is Ashgabat?

Turkmenistan

After 45 years of cleanup, this state's EPA in 2019 lifted its longstanding restriction not to eat fish that are caught in a river that once caught fire due to industrial pollutants. Name this state home to the Cuyahoga River, which bisects Cleveland.

Ohio

This lake is connected to a smaller lake by the Tipitapa River. North of Costa Rica, the active Masaya Volcano is located between Lake Managua and what other lake, the largest in Central America?

Lake Nicaragua

These two countries are separated by a region containing the Baudl Mountains and rainforests inhabited by FARC rebels. Name the two nations that include portions of the Darian Gap, a 60-mile break in the Pan American Highway.

Panama AND Colombia

Jebel Musa in Morocco has been suggested as the southerly of two promontories known as this figure's "Pillars." Eurystheus commanded what Greek hero to complete 12 labors?

Hercules [or Heracles ]

One of these two islands is visible from the other's city of Hakodate. The Seikan Tunnel under the Tsugaru Strait connects which two Japanese islands, the two northernmost main islands?

Hokkaido AND Honshu

This state is home to Wrangell-St. Elias National Park & Preserve, the largest U.S. national park. Name this state close to Canada's Mount Logan, which is home to Denali.

Alaska

Nicknamed the Gem State, its governor is Brad Little, and its most successful college football team plays on an unusual blue surface. Name the state home to the Craters of the Moon National Monument and the city of Boise.

Idaho

The highest peak in this mountain range is Mount Narodnaya, and the largest city in the federal district named for it is Yekaterinburg. Which mountain range gave its name to the language family that includes Finnish and Hungarian?

Ural Mountains [or Uralic ]

An ancient city in this country housed the Ahiram sarcophagus and has been linked to the Greek word used to describe papyrus. The Phoenician alphabet arose at the seaport of Byblos, now a major archaeological site in what nation governed from Beirut?

Lebanon

This university frequently collaborated with Ellen Gates Starr and Jane Addams, and it was home to a school that opposed Keynesian economics. What Midwest school was the site of the first controlled, self-sustaining nuclear chain reaction in 1942?

University of Chicago [or U Chicago ]

Cities in this region include Majdal Shams and Ein Qiniyye. After the 1973 Yom Kippur War, control of what disputed plateau region north of the Sea of Galilee remained in Israeli hands?

Golan Heights

This city, whose Kaurna name is Tarndanya, is located north of the Fleurieu Peninsula and sits along the River Torrens. Which Australian state capital was named for the wife of William IV and is in South Australia?

Adelaide

This city is home to ICON Park and the Harry P. Leu Gardens, and it is known for hosting Islands of Adventure. Because hurricanes often hit Miami and Tampa, what Florida city was chosen as the home for the Epcot Center?

Orlando

Lake Natron extends to the border of these two countries. Maasai live in the Serengeti plains of these two countries. Name these two countries along whose border Mt. Kilimanjaro is located.

Kenya and Tanzania

Eastman Kodak was founded in a city of this name in upstate New York. Give this shared name of a Minnesota city home to the Mayo Clinic.

Rochester

A town in this state has celebrated the supposed 1947 landing of an extraterrestrial spacecraft, called the Roswell Incident. Name this state home to an artist's colony at Taos and the International Balloon Fiesta in Albuquerque.

New Mexico

This city is the birthplace of the B-52s and REM. Home of the University of Georgia, it sits 70 miles northeast of Atlanta. What is this Georgia city named for an ancient city-state of Greece?

Athens

This nation plays a special role as custodian of the holy sites of Haram al Sharif, or the Temple Mount. Name this weak buffer state between Israel and Iraq with a capital at Amman.

Jordan

Mt. Aconcagua, the highest peak in the Western Hemisphere, is shared by these two countries. Name these two countries that share Tierra del Fuego and Patagonia?

Argentina AND Chile

This gulf names a battle that was the last battle in which the Japanese Navy fought before Operation Ten-Go. Which gulf in the central Philippines gives its name to a decisive battle between the American and Japanese fleets in October 1944?

Leyte Gulf

What city is home to Lackland and Kelly Air Force Bases, as well as Fort Sam Houston? The Alamo was operated in this city, the second-most populous city in Texas?

San Antonio

This country has been ruled by the Al Thani since the mid-19th century, and home to the United States Combined Air Operations Center. Name this small Middle Eastern country home to Doha.

Qatar

The artist Rashid al Khalifa is part of the royal family of this country, which is made up of 33 natural islands and 50 artificial islands. Situated on the Persian Gulf, what is this country governed from Manama?

Bahrain

The western border of this country is indicated by Lake Tanganyika. Just off the coast of Africa, Zanzibar is a semi-autonomous part of what nation?

Tanzania

A 1997 agreement named for this Asian city created the Clean Development Mechanism to help reduce global warming. Name this Japanese city home to the Temple of the Golden Pavilion.

Kyoto

This US city was designed to have neighborhoods formed around circles including Blair Circle, Grant Circle, and Logan Circle. Name this city designed by Pierre L'Enfant, home to the National Mall.

Washington, DC [accept either underlined portion]

The deepest recorded point in an arm of this sea is the Calypso Deep. During the Messinian Salinity Crisis some six million years ago, what major sea became disconnected from the world's oceans and now includes the islands of Majorca and Malta?

Mediterranean Sea

This structure was built near Lake Dangta­ng, which played a larger role in controlling the discharge of China's longest river. What Yangtze River landmark is the world's largest hydroelectric power station?

Three Gorges Dam

The North American Aerospace Defense Command, known as NORAD, is located at this state's Peterson Air Force Base. Buckley Space Force Base is located in what state's city of Aurora?

Colorado

This country is located between Afghanistan and the Arabian Sea. The heartland of the Indus Valley civilization lies in which neighbor of India?

Pakistan

The St. Mary's River separates these two administrative regions, which both have a city named Sault Ste. Marie. Lake Superior separates what Canadian province from what state's Upper Peninsula?

Michigan AND Ontario

Peat is cut from decayed plants in bogs in this country's Shannon basin. In 1916, the Easter Rising occurred in what country, whose national flag has vertical bars of green, white, and orange?

Ireland

The San Gabriel and San Bernardino Mountains border the western edge of this desert, whose towns include Barstow and Needles. Name this desert that covers much of the area between Los Angeles and Death Valley.

Mojave Desert

The oblast named for this island also administers the Kuriil Islands. The Tatar Strait divides Russia's mainland from which large island situated just north of Japan, which is led from Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk?

Sakhalin

What name is shared by a city in the region of Castilla-La Mancha featured in an El Greco masterpiece and a much larger city in Ohio at the western tip of Lake Erie?

Toledo

Crowds flock to the Consumer Electronics Show in this city, 90% of whose water comes from Lake Mead, created by the Hoover Dam. Name this Western city home to Fremont Street and the Bellagio.

Las Vegas

The Tyrrhenian Sea is bounded on the east by the western coastline of Italy and on the south and west by three relatively large islands. Name two of those three islands.

Corsica, Sardinia, OR Sicily

Name this state home to the oldest state capital in the US, Santa Fe.

New Mexico

Douglas MacArthur's tomb is in this city, which is often grouped with Newport News and Virginia Beach. One of the largest U.S. naval complexes is situated on the Elizabeth River in what city in southeastern Virginia?

Norfolk

The Marquesas and Society Islands are included in this overseas collective, which houses the touristy island of Bora Bora. Tahiti has more than two-thirds of the population of which overseas collective of a Western European nation?

French Polynesia