OK, geography whizzes, it's time once again to strut your geographical stuff. Plus: "How do you show the unshowable?"

This cover was trickier than we civilians probably would have thought, since how, after all, do you illustrate black holes, which can't be seen? Tom O'Neill tells the story in "Behind the Cover: March 2014 -- How do you show the unshowable?"

by Ken

In January I passed along the monthly geography quiz that National Geographic cleverly prints on the sheet that -- stuck inside the sealed plastic that carries your subscription copy -- serves as your address label ("Who's up for a jography quiz? Plus Garrison Keillor's 'personal geography' of 'home'"). I guess I was feeling kind of cocky because somehow or other (well, it involved a certain amount of guessing) I had gotten all five questions right. That just about never happens. There are months when I'm lucky to get one of the five questions right.

That quiz accompanied the February issue of the magazine. I only just remembered that I've been carrying the March issue around for weeks now, stuck in my briefcase, with the plastic sheathing still intact. Today I finally cracked it open, and I only managed three out of five, though one of the ones I didn't get -- the country of which Tbilisi is the capital -- was one I should have gotten, if only my brain hadn't become so balky about coughing up names that I know are stored in there somewhere. On the other hand, one of the ones I got right -- the "small African country located on the Gulf of Aden" question -- I wasn't at all sure about. The name sprang out of that same brain with no particular connection to anything, and I wasn't even prepared to swear that it was the name of a country. On number 5, I just guessed, and I guessed wrong.

You win some, you lose some. Anyway, here's the March quiz.

Are You a Geo Genius?
Test your knowledge with questions from the National Geographic Bee.

1  Which small African country located on the Gulf of Aden averages less than six inches of rain each year?

2  The Blue Nile flows through Lake Tana, which is located in the northern part of what country?

3  The Indus River, one of the longest rivers in South Asia, empties into what sea?

4  Tbilisi, located on the banks of the Kur River, is the capital of what country?

5  Lake Volta is located in which West African country known for its production of palm oil?

QUIZ ANSWERS BELOW

BY THE WAY, IF YOU DIDN'T HAPPEN TO SEE
THE JANUARY PIECE WITH THE EARLIER QUIZ --

I would encourage you to look at it, not so much for the geography quiz as for the appreciation of (and link to) Garrison Keillor's "Personal Geography" of his home back in the day as well as now, the Twin Cities. The piece ranges widely, backward and forward, over time as well as space; it's one I think you're going to remember for a long time to come.


QUIZ ANSWERS

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