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You thought it was Geo Quiz time didn’t you. Not just yet. Before we give you today’s clues we wanted to respond to some emails and Twitter messages.
On Monday, we asked you to name 7 countries referred to as the “stans”.
Here’s the list:
Afghanistan
Kazakhstan
Kyrgyzstan
Pakistan
Tajikistan
Turkmenistan
Uzbekistan
Neil Reisner wrote to us from Miami to say there are actually eight. Reisner says we forgot Kurdistan.
And we received a tweet from a listener who wonders why we didn’t include Bantustan.
Well, here’s the catch — we were looking for countries referred to as Stans.
That excludes both the multi-national region of Kurdistan and the black homelands that Apartheid South Africa referred to as bantustans.
Now to be fair we also mentioned an imaginary “stan.”
A Lebanese businessman told us how he’d grown weary of the nationalism and militarism that has divided his country….so he wanted to be the leader of his own land of “Nowhereistan”.
That piqued the interest of a listener in New Orleans.
Louie Ludwig writes to say he was fascinated by the idea of new countries organized not around religion or ethnicity but around cultural and intellectual interests. He says: “While I’m sure I’d be an outsider in the more populated regions of SpongeBobistan or DancingWithTheStarsistan, perhaps there’s a place for me in Miazakistan or, ahem, Jane Austan.”
All right – now let’s get to today’s Geo Quiz. It’s said that Portuguese sailor Ferdinand Magellan was the first navigator to sail round the world.
He actually didn’t make it. Magellan sailed west from Spain in the 16th century all right. He was killed in a terrible fight with islanders in the Philippines. His crew completed the voyage. Nowadays there are annual round-the-world sailing competitions. But it’s no easy feat. Especially if you’re on your own. And you’re a teenager.
Zac Sunderland is just one day shy of completing a solo sailing journey around the world. He’s crossed 3 oceans, 5 seas, and gone ashore on 5 continents. His average speed was 6 knots.
Our the question for you is: how many miles did he travel to sail around the world?
Never mind trying to plot his course. Just calculate how far it is along the path of the equator. And think quick …Because Zac the Navigator is standing by with the answer.
Zac Sunderland set off a year ago to sail around the world. And he’s sailing solo on a 36-foot sloop named Intrepid. Tomorrow, he expects to complete the trip.
We asked people what the distance around the world is along the equator… And the answer is about 24,900 miles … call it 25,000 … but what course did you travel and how many miles do you estimate you’ve sailed?
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