World Trivia: past questions
2026-10-07
- This cave is covered with hundreds of ancient stencilled handprints, made by blowing pigment around hands pressed to the rock. Its oldest layers date back many thousands of years.
- Established in 1906, this national park protects ancient cliff dwellings built by early peoples. It lies in the southwest of its country.
- These small appetizers or snacks are shared with drinks in bars across the country. They range from olives to fried squid.
- This lake covers about 24 square kilometres and reaches 191 metres in depth. Steep forested mountains rise almost straight from its water.
- This small cave at the foot of a famous hill is linked in legend to the nursing of two abandoned infants by a she-wolf. Archaeologists have debated whether a decorated grotto found nearby is the very same site described by ancient writers.
2026-10-06
- Rising to 4,884 metres, this is the highest mountain of Oceania and the highest island peak in the world. It carries rare equatorial glaciers.
- This tiny landlocked city-state is an enclave completely surrounded by the capital of a larger country. It became an independent state in 1929.
- This desert area hosts a famous international motorsport circuit built amid its dunes. Camel racing tracks also cross its otherwise empty landscape.
- This national park is famous for alpine meadows that bloom with flowers after the monsoon. It lies high in the Himalayas.
- Sierra de las Quijadas National Park was established in 1991. Dinosaur fossils have been unearthed among the red canyon walls of this arid landscape.
2026-10-05
- This desert covers about 155,000 square kilometres of red sand dunes. It is one of the least populated deserts on Earth.
- This stratovolcano caused the largest eruption in recorded history, leaving a huge caldera. Its summit reaches 2,850 metres.
- This sacred mountain rises to 3,099 metres and is home to ancient temples. A giant stone statue is carved into a cliff nearby.
- This freshwater lake covers about 139 square kilometres but is only about 6 metres deep. Hippos and flamingos live in the Rift Valley here.
- This zoo and botanical garden holds one of the oldest palm houses in its region, built by a famous ironwork company. It survived being reduced to just a handful of animals during a devastating siege of its city.
2026-10-04
- This endorheic lake in the south-east of the world's largest landlocked country has no outlet to the sea. It covers about 18,740 square kilometres but is only around 25 metres deep.
- On the bank of the Yamuna River stands a white marble mausoleum ordered by the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan in memory of his wife Mumtaz Mahal, who died in 1631. Its symmetrical domes, minarets and gardens took around two decades to complete.
- Established in 1969, this national park protects jagged mountains and deep valleys. It is home to rare ibex and baboons.
- Covering about 24 hectares, this botanical garden and park was founded as a royal medicinal herb garden in the seventeenth century. It includes a natural history museum and a small zoo.
- This active volcano rises to 3,325 metres in the Cordillera Central. Ash from a recent eruption cycle disrupted flights at a nearby capital's airport.
2026-10-03
- This is the largest lake in its country and one of the largest in Europe, covering 5,650 square kilometres. Its deepest point is 106 metres.
- Carved from around 200 BC, these Buddhist cave monuments are filled with ancient paintings and sculptures. They are a World Heritage Site.
- This former Maya city state is famous for its temples in the jungle. It is a World Heritage Site.
- During this rite of passage, children aged three, five and seven are dressed in traditional clothing and taken to a shrine for blessing. Long stick-shaped sweets are given as a symbol of longevity.
- This national history museum opened in 1921. It is housed in the mansion of an oil baron.
2026-10-02
- This volcanic archipelago in the Pacific Ocean inspired a famous theory of evolution. It was one of the first places on the World Heritage list.
- At 2,864 metres, this is the highest mountain of its country and its national symbol. It appears on the national flag.
- This national park on the west coast of an island shows rocks from the Earth's mantle. It is a World Heritage Site.
- This desert city had a huge mud-brick citadel that was badly damaged by an earthquake. It is a World Heritage Site.
- This volcano rises to 6,046 metres in the Andes. Its symmetrical snow-capped cone overlooks a vast high salt flat.
2026-10-01
- This historic city, whose origins go back to around 550 BC, is famous for its ancient arena and a balcony linked to a tragic love story. Its old town is a World Heritage Site.
- A copper statue holding a torch aloft was dedicated in 1886 on a small island in a busy harbour, a gift celebrating the friendship between two nations. Its hidden iron skeleton was designed by Gustave Eiffel.
- This peninsula is a breeding ground for elephant seals and southern right whales. It is a World Heritage Site.
- This protected area is a natural and cultural heritage site with ancient rock art and vast wetlands. It is a Ramsar site.
- The Dent Blanche rises to 4,357 metres in the Pennine Alps. It has four long ridges.
2026-09-30
- This glacier stretches about 70 kilometres through one of the highest and coldest battlegrounds on Earth. Soldiers are stationed here at extreme altitude year round.
- At 5,959 metres, this is the highest mountain of its country. It rises in the Saint Elias Mountains.
- At 3,479 metres, this is the highest mountain of the Sierra Nevada and of its country's mainland. It is a three-thousander.
- This lake covers about 456 square kilometres and reaches 74 metres in depth. A legendary sea monster is said to live in its water.
- Nevado del Tolima is a volcano rising to 5,200 metres in the Cordillera Central. Its summit is covered by a glacier.
2026-09-29
- Opened in 537, this vast domed building was designed by Isidore of Miletus and Anthemius of Tralles. Over the centuries it has served as a church, a mosque and a museum.
- Founded in 1870, this is one of the largest art museums in the world. Its grand facade was designed by Richard Morris Hunt.
- This lake covers about 19 square kilometres and reaches 85 metres in depth. Its warm water attracts summer bathers.
- This lake covers about 860 square kilometres and reaches 350 metres in depth. A snow-capped volcano rises above its far shore.
- The National Museum of Anthropology opened in 1964. It holds a famous carved stone calendar.
2026-09-28
- A wrought-iron lattice tower was built as the entrance arch to the 1889 World's Fair, held to mark the centenary of a famous revolution. Many artists called it an eyesore at first, yet it remained the tallest structure in the world until 1930.
- Stretching thousands of kilometres across mountains, grasslands and deserts, this chain of fortifications was built and rebuilt over some two thousand years, with its best-known brick sections dating from the Ming dynasty. Despite a popular myth, it cannot be seen with the naked eye from the Moon.
- On a vast plain beside the Irrawaddy River, more than 2,000 Buddhist temples and pagodas survive from a kingdom that flourished between the 11th and 13th centuries. At sunrise, hot-air balloons drift above their spires.
- At the spring and autumn equinoxes, the afternoon sun casts a shadow down the steps of the great Maya pyramid of El Castillo that looks like a serpent slithering to the ground. The ancient city around it was named one of the New Seven Wonders of the World in 2007.
- Around the 12th and 13th centuries, eleven churches were carved downward out of solid rock in a highland town, the most famous one shaped like a giant cross. The site was among the very first placed on the UNESCO World Heritage list in 1978.