The World’s GEO QUIZ

Today’s Geo Texting game winners (Dundela, Ontario – Best wrong answer: Silicon Valley )

Terri in Glendale, AZ

Charles in Montebello, CA

Suzanne in San Jacinto, CA

Tom in Aiken, SC

Texting Game Sign up to get the Geo Quiz delivered to your mobile phone via text message.

How do I play? Text the keyword GEOQUIZ to 69866 from your mobile phone. Instructions will follow via text. You will need to reply with your name and zip code to enter. Once you have signed up, you will receive a quiz every Wednesday. We expect to add other days fairly shortly. Simply tune-in to the show to see if you got the correct answer. Answers will also be sent via text later and posted on The World’s website at theworld.org/geoquiz.We will select three people who answered the quiz correctly and mention your first name and city during the broadcast and post here on theworld.org

What are the terms and conditions? By signing up for the Geo Quiz texting game, you are subscribing to receive text alerts from Public Radio International (PRI) and The World. The Geo Quiz is free, but message and data rates from your mobile carrier may apply. You may opt-out any time by replying STOP to a text message from PRI or The World, or by sending a request to theworld@pri.org. You must include the mobile phone number you want opted out.

Who can I contact to get more information? For more information about the Geo Quiz texting game and its guidelines email theworld@pri.org. The World’s Geo Quiz tests your knowledge of world geography, and introduces you to fascinating people and places around the globe. Produced by The World’s David Leveille. Geo Quiz Podcast on iTunes Geo Quiz Podcast via RSS

Geo Quiz theme music:

SONG TITLE: Diaraby

ARTISTS:Ali Farka Toure with Ry Cooder

CD TITLE: Talking Timbuktu

CD LABEL: World Circuit Purchase the CD here

Geo Quiz


The Tribes of Rio’s Ipanema Beach

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Being gay in Brazil has long been something of a paradox. Gay culture is openly celebrated at events like Rio’s Carnival. But being gay can bring taunting and ostracism. There’s one place though where it’s okay to be openly gay: the beach.

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Whatever Happened to all of the Moon Rocks?

Map of Apollo Moon landing sites (Photo: NASA)

Many of the moon rocks brought back to Earth by Apollo space missions and given to foreign countries as gifts are missing. University of Phoenix law professor Joe Gutheinz has been investigating missing moon rock cases for years and tells The World us about his latest investigation involving an eastern Mediterranean island nation.

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Canadian Apple Farmer Uses Helicopter to Save Crops from Frost

A helicopter hovers over Mountain Orchards to create thermal drafts (Photo: Mountain Orchards)

Back around 1800 a Scottish-Canadian farmer is said to have discovered the variety of apple now named after him: McIntosh. Anchor Marco Werman speaks with Ontario apple farmer Phil Lyall, who explains why he had to hire a helicopter to try and save his McIntosh apple crop from a late frost this year.

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Ancient Mayan Pyramid Bulldozed, Mostly Reduced to Rubble

In this image released by Jaime Awe, head of the Belize Institute of Archaeology, a backhoe claws away at the sloping sides of the Nohmul complex, one of Belize's largest Mayan pyramids (Photo: Jaime Awe NICH Belize)

Archaeologists are up in arms after learning that an ancient Mayan pyramid has been destroyed in the Central America.

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Man Half Swallowed by Hippo Lives to Tell Tale

Hippopotamus mostly submerged (Photo: Wiki Commons)

Our Geo Quiz Monday takes us to a river in southern Africa where Paul Templer was leading a canoe safari back in 1996. He can’t easily forget what happened: He was half swallowed by a hippo and lived to tell the tale.

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Searching for a Female Mangarahara Cichlid

A female Mangarahara cichlid (Photo: The London Zoo)

The London Zoo has two of the last three males left of the Mangarahara cichlid tropical fish species. Now they’re looking for a female in order to avoid the species going into extinction. The species takes its name from the Mangarahara River. For our Geo Quiz: Name the African country where the river is located.

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The Amazon Water Lily, Queen Victoria and the British Empire

Victoria amazonica in full bloom (Photo: Kit Knotts - Victoria Adventure)

During the Victorian era, one flower captured the British imagination like no other – the Amazon Water Lily. Author Tatiana Holway explores the water lily’s rich history and how it became a symbol of the British Empire during Queen Victoria’s reign in the book “The Flower of Empire.”

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Euro Protection for a Centuries Old Traditional Scottish Pudding

A traditional delicacy on the isle of Lewis (Photo: Charles Macleod Butchers)

The Scottish Isle of Lewis has been granted official EU food protection for one of its traditional delicacies. The recipe for the local sausage made of cooked pigs blood, oatmeal, and spices has been handed down for hundreds of years. Can you name it?

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Belgian Town Awash with Stolen Cash: What Would You Do?

The Mayor of Zedelgem Patrick Arnou explains what happened (Photo: YouTube)

A gang of robbers was chased through the narrow streets of Zedelgem recently by a motorcycle policeman. The thieves tossed a stolen safe out the car window and it burst open spilling a million euros into the street. What would you do?

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A Final Resting Place for the Homeless in Denmark

A bronze monument called "An Angel Among Us" will mark the homeless cemetery (Photo: Giv din Hand/Torben Christensen)

In many cultures, homeless or indigent people are buried in a potter’s field or a common grave. In Denmark advocates for the homeless have come up with a new idea. They’re calling it a cemetery for the homeless, a final resting place for some of the estimated 5,000 homeless people in Denmark.

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Iron Man 3: Blockbuster in China, Not Coming Soon to a Theater Near You

(photo: Marvel)

Iron Man 3 is set to open this weekend in the US. It already hit blockbuster status when it opened in China this past Wednesday. However, American moviegoers will not be seeing the Chinese blockbuster. Hollywood filmmakers altered the film for Chinese audiences.

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The New Latin American Dutch Queen Máxima

Queen Maxima of the Netherlands (Photo: Reuters)

The newly crowned King Willem and Queen Máxima of the Netherlands walked out of the Royal Palace in Amsterdam and were cheered on by crowds that gathered. BBC Mundo’s Ignacio de los Reyes has been gauging reaction in Latin America.

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Ancient Chinese Art in the New World

Celestial Music from Mogao Cave (Photo: Dunhuang Academy)

Our Geo Quiz can be boiled down to one simple question: Where would you find caves carved out of limestone cliffs, and filled with silk banners and colorful 8th century frescoes to attract Buddhist worshipers?

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Making Lots of Noise at Brazil’s World Cup

Brazil's President Dilma Rousseff holds the Caxirola, musical instrument to be used at the 2014 Brazil World Cup. (Photo: REUTERS/Ueslei Marcelino)

Geo Quiz: Organizers of the next World Cup in Brazil this week introduced the official musical instrument for the soccer tournament. Can you name it?

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The Return of Nightingales to Berlin

Berlin's Großer Tiergarten (Photo: WIKI Eisenacher)

Sometimes amid the swirl of events it can be restorative just to slow down and exalt in a little bit of nature. Producer Alexa Dvorson had such a chance one recent night in Berlin, where she happened upon an early spring arrival to one of the city’s parks.

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