Wednesday, June 16, 2010

Book Learnin' is Overrated

I love to learn, but I really do not enjoy college. I am currently taking a class on corporate finance. Major yawn. I much prefer organic learning, or learning due to interest or accident. Being forced to learn something causes me to go into extreme procrastination mode--as if I really needed help there.

So, here are some things I've learned about cities and countries around the world that make me only want to know more. How many of the following questions can you answer without the help of Google? Post your answers in the comments!


1. The most-populated capital city in the world is ____________.

2. __________ is considered the coldest capital city in the world; the average high temperature in January is a frosty 2 degrees Fahrenheit!

3. At 13,488 feet, ___________ is the highest capital city in the world.

4. __________ ranks in the top 5 countries in the world in terms of population, but it is the only one that does not have an official language.

5. Antananarivo is the capital of this 10-letter country.

6. There are 10 landlocked countries that have navies. Can you name them? (Hint: 2 in South America; 3 in Africa; 4 in Asia; 1 in Europe)

7. __________ has three capital cities -- one judicial, one executive, one legislative -- none of which is its most populous city.

8. There are 13 sheep for every one person in __________.

9. This tiny country in the Pacific has a population of only 48 people, mostly descendants of the Bounty, no natural harbors, no airport, and communicates with the outside world through satellite phones and internet service. Name it.

10. The number of states/countries which the United States recognizes as independent is __________.

5 comments:

orazie denise said...

I do not know any of the answers however I am looking forward to finding out what they are!

njtworld said...

Fun game. Too bad all my answers are guesses, with the exception of the two landlocked countries in South America.

1. Mexico City
2. Ulaanbaatar
3. Katmandu
4. India
5. Micronesia
6. Bolivia, Paraguay, Ethiopia, Botswana, Chad, Mongolia, Georgia, Armenia, Kazakstan, Switzerland
7. Nigeria
8. Australia
9. Mutinia
10. 185

I've got one for you:
Which two countries are double landlocked? (They are surrounded only by other landlocked countries.)

Brandee said...

Hmm...that's a really tough one. I think I know one for sure, and the other is a shot in the dark. My best guesses are Uzbekistan and Lichtenstein.

njtworld said...

Very impressive.

I can only really learn geography by going to the place. I could never remember how Belgium, Holland, Luxemburg, and Denmark intertwined until I went there. Plus, Holland also being called The Netherlands didn't help.

Guess that's what you meant by preferring experiential learning to book learning.

Brandee said...

Wow! Liechtenstein was the shot-in-the-dark guess for me; I recently learned about Uzbekistan being doubly landlocked after some Wikipedia reading about the conflict over there. Gotta love Wiki.

You've hit the nail on the head -- experiential and hands on learning will always outrank textbook learning.