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.

 

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Geo Quiz


Surfer Garrett McNamara Catches Monster Portuguese Wave

Big-wave surfer Garrett McNamara drops in on a large wave at Praia do Norte in Nazare. (Photo: Reuters)

Can you name the town where Garrett McNamara may have broken a record for surfing a 100 foot monster wave just off the northern coast of Portugal? We speak with Ruy Enes, who runs The Surfing Camp in Oporto, Portugal.

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Exploring Cuba on a Motorcycle

Exploring Cuba on a Harley (Photo: Don Toothman)

For Tuesday’s Geo Quiz, were catching up with Cuba expert Christopher Baker, who is leading one of the first ever group motorcycle tours across Cuba. The trek is from Havana to Guantanamo.

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Expedition Across Frozen Siberian Frontier

Traveling By Reindeer In -50 Siberia (Photo: Mikael Strandberg)

Monday’s Geo Quiz takes us to the capital of the Russian republic of Sakha, the starting point for an expedition led by Swede Mikael Strandberg. He’s trekking across Siberia to document the traditional ways of life of the reindeer people of Siberia.

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Brazil’s Favelas Becoming ‘Cool’ Tourist Destinations

Rocinha favela (Photo: Wiki Commons)

It can be tricky navigating your way around Brazil’s poorest neighborhoods called favelas. But recent efforts to assign street names and addresses are putting favelas on the maps. Some favelas, despite their notorious reputation for being crowded and crime ridden, are becoming cool and trendy destinations says Brazilian favela tour guide Marcelo Armstrong.

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Brunost Cheese Burns, Makes Headlines in Scandinavia

Brunost is a soft brown cheese from Norway. (Photo: Andreas Solberg/Flickr)

Brunost is a brown, slightly sweet, caramel-tasting cheese made in several countries, but it made headlines when a truck carrying 20 tons of the stuff caught fire and burned out of control.

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The Sound of Birds, Whales, Elephants, Frogs, Published Online

Adelie Penguin -- Pygoscelis adeliae (Photo: Tim Laman, Cornell Macaulay Library)

Thousands of wildlife recordings at Cornell’s Macaulay Library in Itaca, NY, are now online. Audio curator Greg Budney samples the vast collection of field recordings collected worldwide of birds, whales, elephants, frogs, primates and more that’s just been digitized and put online.

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Sustainable Transport Award for Mexico’s Capital

Mexico City has won the Sustainable Transport Award for improving the city's "livability" through transportation programs. (Photo: iStock)

The Sustainable Transport Award was given to honor the city’s effort in vastly improving its “livability” through transportation programs that focus more on people than on cars.

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Garlic Smuggling Hits Sweden

Swedish authorities recently uncovered a mutimillion dollar garlic smuggling ring. (Photo: Jonathunder/Wikipedia)

Authorities in Sweden say they have cracked a multi-million dollar garlic smuggling scheme.

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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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