Our Watery World Trivia Quiz

Answer: Coral Sea

The Coral Sea is off the coast of northestern Australia. A major battle during WWII was located there known as "The Battle of the Coral Sea". The surface area of the Coral Sea is 4,791,000 sq.km (1,850,000 sq.m).

The Arabian Sea is part of the northern region of the Indian Ocean. The total area is 3,862,000 sq.km (1,491,000 sq.m). The Caribbean Sea has a surface area of 2,754,000 sq.km(1,063,000 sq.m). The Mediterranean Sea is connected to the Atlantic Ocean via the Straits of Gibraltar and in area is 2,500,000 sq.km (970,000 sq.m). The Mediterranean Sea includes 14 marginal seas.

Answer: Lake Malawi (Africa)

Lake Malawi (Africa) is in the East African Rift system between Malawi, Mozambique and Tanzania. It is the fourth largest fresh water lake in the world and has more species of fish than any other lake in the world; it has over 700 species of cichlids.

Lake Baikal (Russia) is the deepest freshwater lake in the world. It has an area of 31,000 sq. km(12,200 sq.m). Lake Titicaca (South America) is the highest navigable lake in the world, bordering on Bolivia and Peru, with an area of 8,372 sq. km (3,232 sq. m). Lake Superior (North America) is the largest of the North American Great Lakes, having more water than the other four combined.

Answer: Zambezi River

The Zambezi River is the longest east-flowing river in Africa and is 2,574 km (1,599 m) in length. Its most notable feature is Victoria Falls located on the border between Zambia and Zimbabwe.

The Congo River, formerly known as the Zaire River, is the second largest river in Africa behind the Nile River. The Limpopo River rises in South Africa and flows eastward through Mozambique and discharges into the Indian Ocean. The Okavango River begins in Angola and travels southeast for 1,600 km (990 m) into Botswana draining into the Moremi Game Reserve.

Answer: Dublin (Republic of Ireland)

Dublin is the capital of the Republic of Ireland and is situated on a bay (which is part of the Irish Sea) at the mouth of the River Liffey.

Islamabad is the capital city and ninth largest city in Pakistan. It is a planned city and replaced Karachi as the capital city in the 1960s. It is inland and approximately 1400 km from the Arabian Sea. Caracas is the capital city of Venezuela; although near the coast it is in a valley and separated from the Caribbean Sea by a coastal mountain range. Abuja replaced Lagos as the inland capital city of Nigeria in 1991. Abuja is over 500 km from the sea.

Answer: Ferdinand Magellan

Ferdinand Magellan (1480-1521) the Portuguese navigator, in the employment of the Spanish, travelled across the Atlantic Ocean, beginning in 1519. After navigating through the waters at the tip of South America (now known as the Straits of Magellan) he entered an unfamiliar body of water in 1520. The waters were so calm that he named what turned out to be the largest ocean in the world, "pacific" which means "peaceful".

Captain James Cook (1728-1779) was a British explorer who made three voyages in the Pacific Ocean and was the first European to make contact with the eastern coastline of Australia. Vasco da Gama (1460-1524) was a Portuguese explorer and was the first European to reach India by sea in 1499. Bartholomeu Dias (1450-1500) was a Portuguese explorer and was the first European to sail around the southern tip of Africa in 1488.

Answer: Messina Strait

The Messina Strait joins the Mediterranean Sea between Italy and Sicily. In Italian it is known as "Stretto Di Messina".

The Otranto Strait joins the Adriatic Sea and the Ionian Sea between Italy and Albania. The Bonne-Fasio Strait joins the Mediterranean Sea between Corsica and Sardinia. The Bosporous Strait joins the Black Sea and the Marmara Sea in Turkey.

Answer: Bight

A bight is a gradual bend or curve in a coastline, river, or other geographical feature which usually forms a large open bay. The Southern California Bight is the curved coastline between Point Conception and San Diego. The New York Bight is the coastal area between Long Island and the New Jersey Coast. The Mid- Atlantic Bight extends from North Carolina, north to Cape Cod. The Great Australian Bight on the continent's southern coast is the largest bight in the world.

A bay is a recessed coastal body of water and a gulf is a large bay that is also an arm of an ocean or sea. A peninsula is a piece of land projecting out into a body of water.

Answer: Billabong

A "billabong" is the Australian term for an oxbow lake which is the term used in North America. The word is of Australian Aboriginal origin, possibly from Wiradjuri. The word billabong is used in the popular Australian song "Waltzing Matilda" and is also the commercial name for an Australian brand of sportswear for surfing, snowboarding and skateboarding.

Lake Burrendong is a man-made reservoir in the central west region of NSW, Australia. The Barcoo river is in western Queensland, Australia. Bungonia is a small town in NSW, Australia which is about 185kms(115 m) southwest of Sydney.

Answer: Gulf of Bothnia

The Gulf of Bothnia is part of the Baltic Sea.

The Gulf of Finland is between the southern coast of Finland and the northern coast of Estonia, also being part of the Baltic Sea. The Gulf of Hammamet is a large gulf in northeastern Tunisia off the Mediterranean Sea. The Gulf of Varna is a gulf on the Bulgarian Black Sea Coast. However, not all geographical features that could be classified as gulfs have the name "gulf" in their name, for example the Bay of Bengal or the Arabian Sea.

Answer: Alappuzha (India)

Alappuzha (India) together with Bangkok (Thailand) are both referred to as the "Venice of the East".

Hong Kong (China) is often referred to as "The Pearl of the Orient" as it is on the Pearl River estuary. Mumbai (India) is known as "The City of Dreams" mainly because of Bollywood, the economic hub of India, arts, architecture and culture. Jaipur (India) is known as "The Pink City" due to the colour scheme (terracotta pink) of the buildings. Bruges (Belgium), Stockholm (Sweden) and Amsterdam (Netherlands) are all at times referred to as the "Venice of the North" based on the canals and waterways that surround the cities.