The World’s GEO QUIZ

Today’s Geo Texting game winners (Yakutsk):

Temperance in Fruitridge CA

Scott in Cherokee, CA

Shawn in Tampa, FL

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


Kita Nago: Walking Across Haiti for Unity

Kita Nago (Photo: Harry Nicolas/YouTube)

The Geo Quiz takes us to Haiti this time, where an unusual event is taking place. It’s a combination flashmob, religious pilgrimage, and parade, called Kita Nago, but what exactly is this Kita Nago? And where is it going?

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Russian Couple on Trial for Allegedly Spying on NATO, EU

A middle-aged couple is on trial in Stuttgart, Germany, accused of spying for Russia for 25 years. (Photo: Andreas Praefcke/Wikipedia)

A married couple identified only by their code names “Andreas” and “Heidrun” are accused of spying on NATO and the EU for decades.

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One Scandinavian Nation Remembers Johnny Cash’s Prison Concert

Johnny Cash performing in Bremen, Northern Germany, in September 1972. (Photo: Heinrich Klaffs/Wikipedia)

Johnny Cash was famous for performing for inmates in US jails, but he also took his prison show on the road, recording a classic live album in front of a group of inmates in Sweden.

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Uzbekistan’s First Daughter Gulnara Karimova Tweets with Journalist

Gulnara Karimova (Photo: gulnarakarimova.com)

Uzbekistan’s “first daughter,” Gulnara Karimova, wears many hats. She’s a diplomat, a ruthless businesswoman, and a pop singer nicknamed Googoosha. Anchor Marco Werman speaks with journalist Natalia Antelava about her Twitter conversations with the daughter of Uzbekistan’s president.

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Swiss Town Hopes To Keep Lamp Burning

Näfels, Switzerland in the Alps (Photo: WIKI)

A recent Swiss court ruling has released a farmer from an obligation dating back 655 years to pay for an “eternal flame” in a town in the Swiss canton of Glarus. The debt stemmed from a 14th century murder case. The ruling surprised town residents who now have to figure out whether to keep the lamp burning and who will pay for the all the oil and candles in the years to come.

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Wildfires Scorch Australia

Houses destroyed by a bushfire are seen in ruins in Dunalley, in Australia's island state of Tasmania. (Photo: Chris Kidd/REUTERS)

Australia’s southeastern region is suffering from soaring high temperatures and hundreds of scattered bushfires that are burning thousands of acres of forests and farmland.

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A Greek Island of Longevity

Stamatis Moraitis was born in Evdilos, Ikaria, in 1915. (Photo: Dave O'Neill)

For today’s Geo Quiz we explore the secret to longevity on a Greek island in the Aegean Sea where residents live, on average, longer than in Europe or the US. The BBC’s Andrew Bomford travelled to island of old age to find out the secret.

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The Travelodge 2012 Lost and Found List

Llanelli town centre (Photo: Hywel Williams)

Our Geo Quiz takes us to a south west Welsh city where a collector left behind a valuable album of stamps worth a lot of money when he checked out of his hotel. James Pieslak with the UK’s budget hotel chain Travelodge helped compile a lost and found list that includes everything from a magic wand to a bucket of crabs, all left behind in its 527 UK hotels during 2012.

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Fiscal Cliff Bill’s Hidden Subsidy For Caribbean Rum

Rum fills up the shelves in an American liquor store (Photo: WIKI)

Which of the Caribbean region rum producing countries has the oldest continuously producing rum distillery ? This country has been making rum in wooden stills along the banks of the Demerara River ever since the 17th century. Rum expert Edward Hamilton has the answer.

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Brilliantly Colored Sea Slugs in Yellow, Green and Gold

In spite of it's stunning shimmering gold colors with royal blue flecks, this is a rather common species of sea slug. (Photo courtesy of Natalie Yonow)

We are looking for the name of the biblical body of water that stretches between northern Africa and the Arabian peninsula where you can brightly-colored sea slugs.

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A New York Quiz for New Year’s Day

Sculpture and monument to David Farragut in Madison Square, New York City. Completed by Augustus Saint-Gaudens in 1881. (Photo: Wiki Commons)

On this New Year’s Day Geo Quiz, follow our clues to find three things in New York City that play off the word “new.”

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Africa’s New Capital in the Jungle

An artist's impression of Oyala, the future capital of Equatorial Guinea. (Photo: (Photo: Association France-Guinee-Equatoriale)

Which African nation is building a new capital deep in the jungle in the middle of its territory? Clue: this is the only nation in sub-Saharan that includes Spanish as an official language.

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Viral Video Gets Norwegian Kicker NFL Tryout

Havard Rugland kicking a football. (Photo: YouTube screen grab)

Our Geo Quiz today takes us to two locations. The first is the home of the NFL’s New York Jets. The second location is a city in southwest Norway.

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Cuba’s British West Indian Enclave

Cricket is hugely popular with the British West Indians who call central Cuba home. (Photo: Sarah Rainsford)

There’s an enclave of British-ness in a large Caribbean nation where most people speak Spanish. The BBC’s Sarah Rainsford went to find out more.

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Norway Postcard: The Gateway to the Fjords

(Photo: Espen Bergersen)

For the Geo Quiz, we are looking for a sea that borders Britain, Holland and Denmark and has long been the site of important European shipping lanes as well as a major fishery.

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