Places Beginning with "I and J" Quiz

Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. The photo shows Fatima Jinnah Park, which is located in the centre of a national capital only officially founded in 1960, although relics have been found here from human habitation along the banks of the Swann River more than 7,000 years ago. Which city is this?

Answer: Islamabad, Pakistan

The region around the modern-day Pakistan capital of Islamabad was inhabited by Neolithic people around 5,000 B.C. Karachi became the first capital of Pakistan when it gained independence in 1947. The city of Islamabad was officially founded in 1960 and designated as the country's future capital. Capital status moved to the city of Rawalpindi in the early 1960s and then to Islamabad in 1966.

The city of Islamabad is set out in a grid and divided into 2km-square sectors. Each sector is allocated a letter and a number. The photograph is of Fatima Jinnah Park, which occupies the whole of sector F-9.

2. With a population of around 43,000 (2010 Census), this is only the 15th-largest city in the state. Called Lohman's Landing when it was founded, Lewis and Clark passed through the area where the state capitol now stands, and where a statue (pictured) honours them. Which city is this?

Answer: Jefferson City, MO

Little more than a village called Lohman's Landing, it was located in the wilderness on a bluff overlooking the Missouri River. When Missouri achieved statehood in 1821, it was decided to move the capital from Saint Charles to somewhere in the centre of the state. New names suggested for the settlement chosen included 'Missouriopolis'. In 1825, the designated settlement was incorporated and the name Jefferson City was chosen in honour of the country's third President (who did not die until the following year). The new state legislature met there for the first time later that same year.

Famous, if unwilling, visitors to Jefferson City include world boxing champion Sonny Liston, Martin Luther King's assassin James Earl Ray, and bank robber Charles "Pretty Boy" Floyd, who all spent some time at the Missouri State Penitentiary in the city.

3. There are thirteen "I or J" rivers longer than 1,000 km, the longest of which is the Indus, which rises in Tibet and flows through Pakistan and India on its route to the sea. The mouth of the Indus (pictured) is near the port city of Karachi. Into which body of water does it flow, though?

Answer: Arabian Sea

Also called the Sindhu River or the Abasin, the main source of the Indus is the Sengge River (or Shiquan He) on the Tibetan Plateau in southwest China. From there, it flows 1,790 miles across Pakistan into the Arabian Sea near Karachi. The Indus is a crucial water source for Pakistan and, in particular, the Pubjab region which supplies much of the nation's food. Punjab means "land of five rivers" -- in this case, the Jhelum, Chenab, Ravi, Beas and Sutlej, all tributaries of the Indus.

The Indus River Delta covers an area of around 2,400 square miles (roughly the size of Palestine) and is the world's largest arid mangrove swamp. Here can be found numerous endemic species of bird and fish as well as the Indus dolphin, the first side-swimming cetacean ever discovered.

4. In 1963, when its country became independent, Ibadan (meaning "(the city at) the edge of the savannah") was the third-largest city in Africa. It is now the largest metropolitan region by area and, with a population of 3.2 million (2011 estimate), the third-largest city in which country, whose official national bird is the pictured black crowned crane?

Answer: Nigeria

Founded as a war camp in 1829, Ibadan is the capital of Oyo state in southwestern Nigeria. Located 80 miles northeast of Lagos, the country's largest city, and 340 miles southwest of Abuja, now the national capital, Ibadan is an important link between the highly-populated coastal region and the north of the country.

When Nigeria gained independence from Great Britain in 1963, only Cairo and Johannesburg of all African cities were larger than Ibadan. Home to 3.2 million, Ibadan is now the third-largest city in Nigeria after Lagos and Kano.

5. Located 5,200 feet above sea-level in the Tian Shan mountains, surrounded by snow-capped peaks and fed only by glaciers, Issyk-Kul (meaning "hot sea") never freezes, hence its name. The only one of the world's forty largest lakes to start with either "I" or "J", it is the second-largest saline lake (after the Caspian Sea). During the Soviet era, the lake became a popular tourist destination. In which country is it located?

Answer: Kyrgyzstan

Issyk-Kul (also known locally as 'Ysyk Kol') is an endorheic lake, meaning that there are no out-flowing rivers or streams. It is located in the Tian Shan mountains in northeastern Kyrgyzstan, near the border with Kazakstan.

113 miles long with a maximum width of 37 miles, Issyk-Kul has a surface area of 2,408 square miles -- about two-and-a-half times the size of Luxembourg. Although only the 24th-largest lake in the world in terms of surface area, Issyk-Kul is also deep, with an average depth of 890 feet and a maximum of 2,192 feet -- about three times more than the deepest part of Loch Ness and nearly twice as deep as Lake Superior, the deepest of the Great Lakes. Consequently, Issyk-Kul is the world's 10th-largest lake by volume of water.

6. The photograph shows a spectacular view of another crater lake, Mount Rinjani, an active volcano located 12,200 feet up on the Indonesian island of Lombok. Indonesia is the world's largest archipelagic state, both by area and population. Which, though, is the largest (by area) of the other four island nations starting with either "I" or "J"?

Answer: Japan

With an area of 735,000 square miles, Indonesia is the world's 14th-largest country and by far the largest island nation (Australia being a continent rather than an island).

Of the other four "I/J" island countries, with an area of 145,920 square miles, Japan is comfortably the largest -- it is slightly larger than Germany and slightly smaller than the 4th-largest U.S. state, Montana.

Although it is the second-largest island in Europe (after Great Britain), Iceland would fit into Japan more than three-and-a-half times. With an area of 40,000 square miles, it is of comparable size to the 37th-largest U.S. state, Kentucky, and is slightly larger than South Korea. With an area of 27,133 square miles, Ireland is only a little larger than the 41st-largest state, West Virginia. Jamaica is by far the smallest of the four: with an area of just 4,200 square miles, it would fit nine times into Iceland and more than 30 times into Japan. Only two U.S. states, Rhode Island and Delaware, are smaller than Jamaica.

7. This prefecture-level industrial city in southwestern Shandong province in eastern China is home to more than eight million (2010 census). Located north of Lake Nanyang, it is the northernmost city reachable on the Grand Canal of China. Notable as the birthplace of Confucius and as the principal setting for the Chinese literary classic, "Water Margin", which city is this?

Answer: Jining

Shandong is not particularly big: with an area of 60,700 square miles it is a little smaller than Tunisia and slightly bigger than the U.S. state of Georgia. It has, though, 17 prefectures and 1941 townships and if it was a country it would be rank number 14 in the world in population: its 97 million people are the equivalent of almost one-third of the population of the entire USA.

Despite a population of over eight million, Jining is not even the largest city in Shandong province: that mantle goes to the southern city of Linya, home to more than ten million. It is, though, larger than the provincial capital, Jinan (pop. 6.8m).

Located north of Lake Nanyang, the city of Jining itself was founded in 1271 during the Song dynasty, but the region had been an important religious site since long before that. Thinker and philosopher Confucius was born here in 551 B.C. The city of Qufu, 30 miles southeast of Jining, is home to the Temple of Confucius and the Kong Family Mansion as well as the cemetery where the man himself is buried: these culturally-significant sites were designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1994.

8. India, Indonesia and Iran are amongst the world's 20 largest countries. Which of the remaining "I/J" countries is the largest?

Answer: Iraq

The picture clue shows the Citadel of Erbil, the historical centre of the city in the Kurdistan region of northern Iraq that claims to be the world's oldest continuously inhabited town. There is evidence that shows people have occupied this region for more than 7,000 years, and the site was added to the UNESCO World Heritage list in 2014.

Three of the four alternatives are relatively similar in size. Iraq, with an area of 169,000 square miles, is slightly larger than the 3rd-largest U.S state, California. Ivory Coast (124,500 sq miles) is slightly larger than the 5th-largest state, New Mexico. Italy (116,000 sq miles) is just larger than the 6th state, Arizona. The fourth option, Jordan, is significantly smaller than all of the other three. With an area of just 34,500 sq miles it is just smaller than the 39th state, Maine.

9. Established in the 6th-century B.C., this ancient city is today the gateway to two of the holiest cities in the Muslim world. Home to the world's tallest flagpole when it was erected in 2014, construction of the world's first building over 1 km high began here in 2013. The picture shows the spectacular city skyline at night of the largest city on the Red Sea coast. Which "I/J" city is this?

Answer: Jeddah

The city of Jeddah is the gateway to two of the most holy cities in the Islamic world, Mecca and Medina. With a population of 3.4 million (2007 estimate), it is the second-largest city in Saudi Arabia (after the capital, Riyadh) and the largest port on the Red Sea.

Construction of Kingdom Tower began in April 2013, with above-ground construction getting underway 18 months later. Although the exact height of the building still has not been disclosed, it is said to be guaranteed to exceed 1,000 metres, which would make it at least 173 metres (568 feet) taller than the Burj Khalifa in Dubai, which became the world's tallest building in 2010.

A new record of 558 feet was established when the Jeddah Flagpole was erected in King Abdullah Square in 2014, making it the world's tallest flagpole.

Of the alternatives, only Jazan, a city of 1.5 million (2010 Census) in the extreme southeast of Saudi Arabia, just north of the Yemen border, lies on the coast of the Red Sea. Jericho stands near the Jordan River in the West Bank, whilst Jerusalem is located on a plateau in the Judean Mountains between the Dead Sea and the Mediterranean.

10. One of the four "I/J" U.S. state capitals, Juneau AK, is also the largest U.S. city by area -- covering 3,255 square miles it is more than twice the size of the state of Rhode Island. Another "I/J" city is also the largest city by area in the contiguous 48 states. Home to the pictured "Life" statue honouring the state's WWI casualties, which city is this?

Answer: Jacksonville, FL

Memorial Park in Jacksonville, FL, was created in 1919 to honour the 1,200 Floridian victims of World War I. The "Life" statue is the creation of Illinois-born sculptor Charles Adrian Pillars, who worked from his studio in Saint Augustine FL for most of his life.

With a populations of around 850,000 (2014 estimate), it is very close between Jacksonville, FL and Indianapolis, IN as to which is largest U.S. "I/J" city in population terms. Jacksonville, with an area of 875 square miles (about six times the size of the Isle of Wight), is the largest city by area in the entire lower 48 states.

Since 2009, Jacksonville and Indianapolis have been the only two "I/J" cities to host an NFL franchise. The Jaguars play their home matches at EverBank Field (formerly named Jacksonville Municipal Stadium and Alltel Stadium) in Downtown Jacksonville. The Colts moved out of the RCA Dome in 2008 but their new facility, Lucas Oil Stadium, is again located in Downtown Indianapolis. The headquarters of the Dallas Cowboys still remain in Irving TX, but football here finished with the closure of Texas Stadium in 2008. The Cowboys moved their home games down the road to the A T & T Stadium in Arlington TX in 2009.

Source: Author EnglishJedi

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor Tizzabelle before going online.
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We have reached the letters "I and J" on this alphabetic world tour. There are twelve countries, four US states and five national capitals from which to choose.

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