by Evelyn J. Mocbeichel
I guess I can thank my elementary school teachers for my interest in maps and locations of countries around the world. Frequently, our class assignment was to cut out a newspaper article that pertained to another country, write a brief summary of what we had read and be able to locate that country on a map. Remember those large, rolled up maps mounted on the classroom ceiling in front of the black board that the teacher could pull down to review lessons? A child would be called to the front of the class and have to find that country, using the teacher’s long, wooden pointer stick. To this day when I am watching an Olympic broadcast during the opening ceremonies and a flag bearer goes by the screen with a country I am not familiar with, I go to the internet to find out its location. Can you believe there are over 195 countries in the world? I am sure most of us can’t name more than fifty of them. This might be a fun exercise to do alone or with a few friends to challenge each other who can write down the most countries. The next time my grandchildren come to visit, I think I will try this exercise on them as both are in junior high school classes now.
Recently a friend of ours told us that she is going on a long anticipated anniversary trip with her husband to the Seychelles. I’ve heard of those islands, but wasn’t exactly sure where they were on a map. How long would the flight be from her European homeland? Another friend visiting the Galapagos Islands emailed some photos of her trip and once again I pulled out the map to see where she was. By the way, we received a nice, folded paper map of the world after making a donation to a charity that helps children around the world needing urgent medical attention. While the map was sent to show the countries this organization covers with their medical care, the map is useful when I need an updated version of world countries. Sometimes very old maps in an atlas are outdated when countries changed names or were newly established since the book was printed decades earlier. Just to test your own knowledge about other geography and other countries, and something they are famous for, see how many answers you know below:
- Where is the highest waterfall in the world?
- What is the capital of Iceland?
- Where is the country of Sri Lanka located?
- What is the capital of Wales?
- In what country is the ancient site of Machu Picchu?
- The Tower of London stands overlooking what body of water?
- What country has the town of Edam where the famous cheese originated?
- What is the largest country in South America in land size?
- What is the largest desert in Africa?
- What is the longest river in Europe?
- The Canary Islands are located off the coast of what nation?
- What is the capital of Canada?
Answers: 1. Angel Falls/Venezuela, it’s 3,212 feet high; 2. Reykjavik; 3.Off the coast of India; 4.Cardiff; 5.Peru; 6.Thames River; 7.The Netherlands; 8.Brazil; 9.The Sahara; 10.The Volga; 11.Morocco; 12.Ottawa
