Thursday Theme Quiz #11: Islands
A free weekly 10-question quiz on a single theme
Welcome to the eleventh Thursday Theme Quiz!
We’re going global again with this week’s theme: islands. Enjoy!
Questions
Which island, the third-largest in the world, is the only one to be politically divided between three sovereign countries?
Sapporo is the largest city on which Japanese island, the northernmost of the country’s main four islands?
Sometimes referred to as the Spice Islands, which archipelago joined with the mainland Tanganyika to form the modern-day country of Tanzania?
Victor Hugo wrote Les Misérables (1863) during his 15-year stint living in Saint Peter Port, the capital city of which island, the second-largest in the English Channel?
Named after the more than 7,000 megalithic edifices dotting the landscape, the Bronze Age Nuragic culture occupied which Mediterranean island, whose capital is Cagliari?
Famous for being adjacent to the Princess Juliana Airport, Maho Beach is on the Dutch part of which Caribbean island, which is also shared with France?
This image shows the annual red crab migration on which Australian external territory in the Indian Ocean, which was discovered in late December in 1643?
Sometimes called the “Hawaii of South Korea”, which volcanic island is home to the country’s highest mountain, Hallasan, and is known for its traditional dol hareubang (“stone grandfather”) statues?
Which island of Yemen, known for the dragon’s blood tree seen below, has been dubbed “the most alien-looking place on Earth” and the Galapagos of the Indian Ocean for its ecological diversity and number of unique endemic species?
This is Kuressaare Castle, one of the best-preserved medieval fortifications in Estonia. It is located on which island, the country’s largest and most populous?
And that’s this week’s theme quiz! I hope you enjoyed it.
Answers
Borneo. The island is shared between Brunei, Indonesia, and Malaysia. Brunei is surrounded by the Malaysian state of Sarawak. And just under 75% of the island is the Indonesian region of Kalimantan, which comprises the five provinces of Central, East, North, South, and West Kalimantan. The planned future capital of Indonesia, Nusantara, is in East Kalimantan.
Hokkaido. Hokkaido is a popular skiing and snowboarding destination, and Sapporo held the 1972 Winter Olympics. There are more brown bears in Hokkaido than anywhere else in Asia outside of Russia.
Zanzibar. Freddie Mercury (Farrokh Bulsara) was born in Stone Town, the World Heritage-listed old part of Zanzibar City.
Guernsey. The island is located 43km off the coast of Normandy. Huge decided to live in exile after Napoleon III’s coup in France at the end of 1851, and he lived in Guernsey from 1855-1870. His family home on the island, Hauteville House, is now the location of Guernsey’s French consulate.
Sardinia. A prominent symbol of Sardinia, only a few of the 7,000 nuraghes have been scientifically excavated.
Saint Martin / Sint Maarten. Maho Beach is directly under the flight path, meaning planes fly over the beach at altitudes of less than 30m above ground level, and beachgoers often underestimate the power of the jet blast.
Christmas Island. The previously uninhabited island was discovered on Christmas Day in 1643. The annual mass migration of red crabs to lay their eggs in the ocean sees millions of crabs wandering along the island at the same time around late November.
Jeju Island. Jeju Island is South Korea’s largest island and an extremely popular holiday destination. The world’s busiest domestic flight route is between Seoul and Jeju.
Socotra. The UNESCO World Heritage Listed island lies around 380km south of the Arabian Peninsula and 232km east of the Horn of Africa. The dragon’s blood tree, also the national tree of Yemen, is named for its bright red sap, which has been used medicinally and cosmetically on the island since ancient times.
Saaremaa (formerly Ösel). The island was closed to non-residents during the Cold War. Also on the island is the Kaali crater field, a cluster of nine meteorite craters that struck the island around 3,500 years ago.