Here are the correct answers for the Countries quiz according to CNN.  (I wanted to post this earlier today, but an unexpected project took most of my time today.)  Take a look and see how you did or would have done.  This quiz was harder than I anticipated.  It tested knowledge of geography and current events.  The best thing about these quizzes is not knowing an answer provides an opportunity to expand our knowledge of the world.

1.What do Colombia, Sao Tome & Principe, Gabon, Uganda, Maldives, and Kiribati have in common?  Answer:  They are all on the equator.  

2. What three Asian countries topped the list in April 2020 for the most powerful passports for visa-free travel, according to the Henley Passport Index? Answer:  Japan, Singapore and South Korea.  I knew this one thanks to my post on Passport Power.

3. Which country has the most official languages?  Answer: Zimbabwe [It has 16, according to Guinness World Records. These include: Chewa, Chibarwe, English, Kalanga, Koisan, Nambya, Ndau, Ndebele, Shangani, Shona, sign language, Sotho, Tonga, Tswana, Venda and Xhosa]

4. Four red, white, and blue flags, four different countries.  Name them.http___cdn.cnn.com_cnnnext_dam_assets_200521155929-20200521-travel-quiz-flags--answers

5. What happened in Samoa and Tokelau on December 30, 2011?  Answer:  Nothing.  That day never happened there. Samoa and Tokelau skipped an entire day to change from one time zone to another.

6. Which country changed its name to eSwatini in 2018?  Answer:  Swaziland [Read more about the name change here] 

7. Identify these countries from their outlines. http___cdn.cnn.com_cnnnext_dam_assets_200515165516-20200515-travel-quiz-country-outlines--answers

8. Which country is the world’s newest?  Answer:  South Sudan

9.These frontiers divide areas claimed by which pairs of countries?  Answers: a. The Line of Control = India and Pakistan; b. The Demilitarized Zone = South and North Korea; c. The 49th Parallel = Canada and the United States

10. Which country is surrounded the the north, east and south by Senegal?  Answer:  Gambia

Overall Impression

This quiz was hard.  I got only questions 2 and 7 completely right.  Congratulations to Carl Batnag!  He is the whiz kid on this test.  Carl correctly answered questions 2, 4, 6, 7, 8 and 10.  No one got questions 1, 3 and 9 right.  We overthought the question about Colombia, Sao Tome & Principe, Gabon, Uganda, Maldives, and Kiribati.  Who knew that Samoa and Tokelau skipped an entire day on December 30, 2011, to switch time zones?  None of us did before but now we all know.  Question 9 about the 49th parallel was misleading.  I don’t think there is any dispute between Canada and the U.S. over their border.

I hope you enjoyed this challenge.  The final Travel Quiz appears next Friday.  It sounds interesting.  The topic is Famous Travelers.