;;The conservation of this region was partially achieved through the Trafford Plan, which was first proposed by a governor of Burma, Dr. Brandis. Primarily accessed through the city of Gosaba, this region sustained heavy damage during Cyclone Sidr, and in Salman Rushdie's Midnight's Children, Saleem imagines being carried by a giant tidal wave to this region and achieving purification. Containing many polders and located south of the Rajmahal Range, most of this region is contained in the 24 Parganas district, and this region is bounded on the east by the Baleswar River and on the west by Calcutta. Famous largely for its population of Bengal tigers, for 20 points, name this region located in West Bengal, the world's largest tidal mangrove swamp, located in the Ganges delta.;;(The) Sundarbans
Geography;;This body of water is surrounded by the Orocopia, Chocolate, and Santa Rosa mountain ranges, and the Coachella Valley is an important outlet for this body of water. The planned cities of North Shore and Bombay Beach were created on the shores of this body in the 1950s. In 1997, researchers found a dinoflagellate in its waters which caused the death of many fish species and led to an extensive algal bloom depleting oxygen in the waters. The piping of water to the wetland Laguna Salada is a proposal to preserve this body of water, and another such proposal was for a canal linking it to theSea of Cortez. Fed by the New and Alamo Rivers, and created in 1905 by overflow from the Colorado River, for 10 points, name this body of water of the Imperial Valley in California known for its high salinity content.;;Salton Sea
Geography;;The Zidaidas forest is located in this city's suburb of Ben Slimane, and adjoining areas to this city include the Corniche district as well as the towns of Boulaouane and Oualidia. This city was rebuilt following a devastating 1755 earthquake by Mohammed ben Abdallah, who was the first monarch to recognize the independence of the United States, and it had earlier been rebuilt following its destruction by the Portuguese in 1468, when it was known as Anfa. This city's best known landmark is also the world's third largest mosque, the Hassan II Mosque, which contains the world's tallest minaret, and it was the site of a meeting codenamed SYMBOL. The largest city in a country containing Agadir and Marrakech and the site of a major 1943 World War II conference, for 10 points, identify this Atlantic port city of Morocco which shares its name with a 1942 film starring Ingrid Bergman and Humphrey Bogart.;;Casablanca
Geography;;As a part of Britain's Operation Totem, the city of Maralinga in the northeastern part of this region was the subject of a nuclear test which drove away the Spinifex tribe and led to the creation of the Woomera Prohibited Area. Much of this region is a part of the Eucla Basin, which runs from Israelite Bay in the West to Fowler's Bay in the East, and its city of Mundrabilla contains numerous meteorites. The world's largest single piece of limestone, a train crossing this region running from Kalgoorlie to Port Augusta contains the world's longest stretch of straight railroad, and a famous hoax saw a half-naked woman living among a family of kangeroos, this region's namesake "nymph." Sandwiched between the Great Victoria Desert and the Great Australian Bight, for 15 points, name this arid region located in South Australia and Western Australia which, true to its name, contains no trees.;;Nullarbor (Plain)
Geography;;This mountain range contains Beech Mountain National Park, and the Valcan and Stare Hory ranges are extensions of this. The Sandomierz Basin is located in this range, and Mount Tarnica is the highest point in its subset known as the Eastern Beskids. This range is often considered to end near where it is separated from the Stara Planina range, at the city of Orsova. Major cities in this range include Ordea, Kosice, and Cluj-Napoca, close to its southwestern border at the Pannonian Plain. Mount Rysy and Gerlachov Peak are located in this mountain range's largest subset, theTatras, which continues through parts of Slovakia and Poland. For 10 points, identify this mountain range which extends through much of Eastern and Central Europe.;;Carpathian (Mountains)
Geography;;Tributaries of this river include the Tokro, Chanjin and Heochun rivers, and high silt content leads to shallow depth and a maximal width of five kilometers. The Sup'ung Rodonjagu Hydroelectric dam gives power to the region around this river, and this river flows through the Ranggang province and Hyesan. Bordered by the Provinces of Jilin and Liaoning, this river rises in the Changbai Mountains, and flows into a body of water between Dandong and Sinuju, which are connected by a friendship bridge over this river. The namesake of the largestnaval battle of the first Sino-Japanese War and a land battle fought during the Russo-Japanese War in the town of Uiju, it was the UN's crossing of this body of water during the Korean War which prompted Chinese intervention. For 10 points, identify this river which flows into the Yellow Sea after forming much of the border between China and North Korea.;;Yalu (River)|Amnok (River)
Geography;;This city contains the colonial Hospicio Cabanas hospital complex, and this city's elite frequent the Andares Plaza shopping area, located within the upscale Puerta de Hierro. In 1992, the sewer system in the Analco District witnessed several devastating gasoline explosions, which damaged the area around Gante Street. This city's Jardines del Bosque Barrio was designed by resident architect Luis Barragan, and this city is located directly northwest of Lake Chapala. Containing the suburbs Zapopan, Tonala, and San Pedro Tlaquepaque, this city is served by Don Miguel Hidalgo airport and it is located directly northwest of the state ofMichoacan. For 10 points, identify this capital of the state of Jalisco, the second largest city in Mexico.;;Guadalajara
Geography;;Vinci, a French construction company, was commissioned in 1971 to build the Gariep Dam in this river's eastern sector. At Oviston, the Teebus Spruit and Great Brak rivers take water from the dam, helping to comprise the southern hemisphere's largest continuously enclosed aquaduct, named for this river and the Fish River. This river forms the southern boundary of a neighboring nation's Karas Region, and contains the Vanderkloof Dam. The Augrabies Falls are the largest located on this river, which flows through Noordoewer before emptying into the Atlantic Ocean. Joining just south of Kimberly with its main tributary, the Vaal River, for 10 points, name this river rising in Lesotho's Drakensberg Mountains and named after a South African "Free" State.;;Orange (River)|(Groote) (River(;))|(Senqu) (River)
Geography;;The confluence of the Ik and Belaya Rivers creates the Kulyagash Swamp of this entity, which also contains the Nizhnekamsk Resevoir and Atyr Lake. During Soviet rule, Kamaz was built in this region near Naberezhnye Chelny, making that city the second largest in this region. Following the Russian revolution, people from this entity created the Idel-Ural State, an attempt to recreate an earlier Khanate in this region. A 1992 referendum by President Mintimer Shaymiev ended in a majority vote desiring independence for this region, and the confluence of the Kama and Volga rivers is located near its border with Bashkortostan. For 20 points, name this predominantly Islamic republic of Russia, with its capital at Kazan.;;(Republic) (of) Tatarstan
Geography;;Bylot Island is located off of the coast of this larger island, that contains a region which was featured in the Bond film The Spy Who Loved Me, Auyuittuq National Park. This island's Cockburn Land is separated by the Fury-and-Hecla Straight from the Melville Peninsula, and it contains both Nettiling and Amadjuak lakes. The Meta Incognita Peninsula is located in the southeast of this island, whose highest peaks are Mt. Odin and Mt. Asgard on the Cumberland Peninsula, and the northern portion of this island is bordered by the Prince Regent Inlet, the Gulf of Boothia, and the Lancaster Sound. This island is located east of the Fox Channel and west of the Davis Strait, and The Central Eskimo was written as a study of the people of this island byFranz Boas. The largest city on this island is located on Frobisher Bay and has the lowest population of all of the territorial capitals in its country, having only gained that status in a 1995 vote. Lying mostly in the Arctic Circle, for 10 points, identify this fifth-largest island in the world, home to Iqualuit, the capital of Nunavut, and the largest island in Canada.;;Baffin (Island)
Geography;;The basin of this body of water is home to the Great Barsuki Desert to the northwest and the islands Barsa Kilmess and Nicholas I, while the city of Muynoq is located on its southern shore. One of the world's largest areas for anthrax deposits, Kantubek, is located on this body of water, and is a town on its Vozrozhdeniya Island. The subject of the Kokaral Dike public works project, it is bordered by the provinces of Aktobe, Kyzylorda, and Karakalpakstan. Located northwest of the Kyzyl Kum desert, it is fed by the Amu Darya and Syr Darya Rivers, and the Karakum Canal is thought to be a possible cause for this body of water's severe problems. For 10 points, name this body of water located between Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan, a central Asian lake which has undergone massive shrinkage.;;Aral Sea
Geography;;This mountain range contains the prehistoric settlements of Hajji Firuz Tepe and Godin Tepe which were known for wine production. The highest peak of this range was once traversed by the Bakhtiari tribe walking barefoot and herding thousands of animals, and the Qashqai and Lurs peoples now call it home. The Kuhrud range runs parallel to this, and the Hazaran plateau can be viewed as an extension of this mountain range. The cities of Arak and Hamadan are located in this mountain range, which gives rise to the Karun and the Karkheh rivers. Jarmo, the oldest known agricultural community in the world, is found at the foothills of this range, whose highest peaks are Zard Kuh and Mount Dena. For 10 points, name this mountain range known for salt domes and oil deposits, a large range located in the western part of Iran.;;Zagros (Mountains)
Geography;;The Manaka Jungle, home to the Gurao Indians, is located at the confluence of this river and the Ventuari River, and one of its distributaries flows into Serpent's Mouth Strait. This river is connected to a neighboring watershed via the Casiquiare Canal, and one river located in the basin of this larger river holds an annual swim race and is the site of the Guri Dam. This river's basin contains Canaima National Park, which is home to Mount Auyanteqpui, and tributaries of this river include the Guaviare and Meta. Much of this river flows into the Gulf of Paria, and it joins with the Caroni nearCiudad Guyana. Featuring a species of crocodiles which is the largest in South America as well as many Boto, dolphins which are native to the nearby Amazon, for 10 points, identify this chief waterway of Venezuela.;;Orinoco (River)|(Rio) Orinoco
Geography;;The town of Port Bell lies on this body of water, and the Bassese tribe inhabits an archipelago in this body of water which is separated by the Kkome Channel. Bugala Island is the largest of the aforementioned Ssese archipelago, and other islands in it include Rusinga and Ukerewe. The Owen Falls or Nalubaale Dam was constructed in the city of Jinja on this body of water, which is fed in the south by the Kagera River and contains Winam Gulf and Emin Pasha Gulf. Located south of Lake Kioga, cities on its shores include Mwanza, Kisumu, and the site of a night raid on a hijacked flight,Entebbe. First sighted by Richard Burton and John Speke, this body of water contains Ripon Falls, long believed to be the source of the Nile, and the national capital of Kampala lies near it. For 10 points, name this body of water bordered by Uganda, Kenya, and Tanzania, the largest lake in Africa.;;(Lake) Victoria
Geography;;This city lies on the river that meets with the Het Scheur River near Dan Briel, forming the northern boundary of Rozenberg Island. Part of this city's port is known as the Slufter, an area ridden by toxic waste and pollution, and the formation of nearby Lake Oostvoorne was made possible from the Maasvlakte, an industrial part of this city. The Cube Houses of this city were designed by Piet Blom, and it is home to the Ossip Zadkine statue The Destroyed City, which refers to its bombing by the Nazis in 1940. Much of the traffic coming into this city is handled at Europoort, and this city is located on the banks of the New Meuse River and easily accessible from the North Sea. For 10 points, name this Northern European city containing the Erasmus Bridge, the second largest city in the Netherlands and formerly the world's busiest port.;;Rotterdam
Geography;;One of this city's museums acquired a set of Romanesque frescoes for its central section later found to be forgeries, and later purchased Don Pedro de Berberana y Aparregui for a record price for a Velazquez painting. Its sights include Philip Johnson's water gardens, some log cabins inhabited by Tarrant villagers, and the Sid Richardson collection located near Sundance square. In addition to the aforementioned Louis Kahn-designed Kimbell art museum, it is home to one of the biggest collections of works by Charles Russell and Frederic Remington in the US at the Amon Carter museum. Lying southwest of Haltom City, it sits at the clear fork of theTrinity River, and contains the National Cowgirl museum and the Will Rogers coliseum. Home to the stockyards district on the Chisholm Trail, for 10 points, name this city closest to TCU that forms a metroplex with Arlington and Dallas.;;Fort Worth
Geography;;Warren Dean's With Broadax and Firebrand is a history of this habitat, whose southern section is dominated by Araucaria angustifolia and whose coastal fringes are known as the restinga. The Poco das Antas biological reserve maintains part of it as a refuge for the maned sloth and the golden lion tamarin. The campo rupestre, a montane savannah, replaces it near the peaks of the Serra do Mar, while it's western reaches slowly decline into the cerrado.  For 20 points, the Tupi people once lived in what threatened ecosystem, which covered the eastern coast of South America?.;;(Brazilian) Atlantic forest
Geography;;One inhabitant of this city was painted standing next to a blue chair holding her gloves while outside the colonnades, a sculpture in a garden imitates her pose. A landmark in this city houses a pirate galleon used in a Roman Polansky film, and features a set of six tall cranes radiating about a center in the Porto Antico. That inhabitant was Geronima Spinola, subject of an Anthony Van Dyck portrait, while that landmark was designed by Renzo Piano, and is the biggest aquarium in Europe.  Its people can go southeast past Santa Margherita to stroll the Lovers' Lane at the Cinque Terre national park, and this city lies west of La Spezia and the Levante, and south of Piedmont and Lombardy. Its Palazzo Doria-Tursi displays the violins of Niccolo Paganini, while a monument calls "la patria" its native sonChristopher Columbus. For 10 points, name this Ligurian seaport that used to compete with Venice.;;Genoa|Genova
Geography;;Schrenk's Spruce is native to this mountain chain and one of its peaks contains the Muzart glacier. The Flaming Mountains are an extension of this, and rivers which originate from it include the Naryn in the west and the Kaidu in the east. This mountain range separates the Junggar plateau to the north from the Tarim basin to the south, and sits next to the Turpan depression. Supplying water to the Alakol via the Chu, Lake Balkhash via the Ili, and the Aral Sea via the Syr Darya, this mountain chain contains the high-elevation Lake Issyk Kul. This range contains Hantengri and Pobedy peaks, the latter also calledVictory Peak by Red Army explorers, and lies east of the Altai Mountains. For 10 points, name this mountain range in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and the Xinjiang region of China, whose name means "sky mountain.".;;Tian (Shan)|(Tengri) (Tagh)
Geography;;Philanthropist Joseph Sturge encouraged the production of lime juice by buying most of this island, which was a place of refuge for Catholics persecuted by Thomas Warner. The Silver Hills contain most of the forest remaining on this island, which was named for a Benedictine abbey north of Barcelona. This island controls Statue Rock, and a 1798 uprising here was led by Irish slaves. Brades is now the largest city of this island, and Chances Peak used to be its highest point before the beginning ofvolcanic activity in the Soufriere Hills.  For 10 points, the burial of Plymouth in ash and resulting emigration to Antigua has devastated what British possession in the Lesser Antilles?.;;Montserrat
Geography;;This thinker cited the southwestern Jordaan districts of Amsterdam, with their narrow canals and population of Huguenot refugees, as one example of an "unbalanced world" created by early capitalism.  He described "the half-wild mountains, where man has taken root like a hardy plant" and identified the Crau and the Bardenas Reales as regions of transhumance in his best-known work, which uses geography "to discover thealmost imperceptible movement of history." For 10 points, name this Annales School historian, whose masterpiece described the age of Philip II around the Mediterranean.;;(Fernand) Braudel
Geography;;Most blue pike once lived in this lake, the site of Big Chicken, Little Chicken, and Johnson's Islands, the last a prison camp that housed James J. Archer. This lake's Point Pelee National Park is a hotspot for watching Blackpoll Warblers during their migration, and a geological precursor to it was the Great Black Swamp. The Westo are believed to be a group of its namesake people who were forced to leave their homeland during the Beaver Wars. Gravelly Bay, later renamed to Port Colborne, serves as the southern terminus of the Welland Canal on this lake, and it receives the Sandusky, Maumee andCuyahoga rivers. Its South Bass Island contains Put-in Bay, which was the base for Oliver Hazard Perry's squadron during an 1813 battle. The cities of Toledo, Buffalo and Cleveland lie on, for 10 points, which fourth largest of the Great Lakes that discharges through the Niagara River into nearby Lake Ontario?.;;(Lake) Erie
Geography;;The Almindigen forest on this island is notable for its glacial erratics.  It also contains the waterfall Dondalen in a northern rift valley, and an outcrop of the Jydegaard formation that yielded a namesake species of dromaeosaur. Gerhard von Kamptz's refusal to surrender this island resulted in its bombing by Soviets in 1945, and a 1658 uprising here led to Villum Clausen shooting the island's governor, Johan Printzenskold, to protest its cession under the Treaty of Roskilde.  It was once dominated by Hammershus Castle, built by the bishops of Lund, but is presently governed from Ronne.  For 20 points, name this island in the Baltic Sea, the easternmost major island of Denmark.;;Bornholm
Geography;;One town this river flows through is the site of a dangerous descent to Sadeng. Originating near Nagqu, it flows east then south past Gaoligong Shan, emptying near a city in Tenasserim that has a characteristic Shampoo island. Another town which this river flows through gained prominence after the defeat of Bandula at Ava, leading to the signing of the Treaty of Yandabo. Passing by Bir as well as the city that served as the setting forGeorge Orwell's Shooting an Elephant, it saw the Hatgyi Dam project on it abandoned after an insurrection of the Karen people. Emptying into the Gulf of Martaban at Moulmein, for 10 points, name this river which forms part of the border between Myanmar and Thailand, and with the Mekong and Yangtze rivers is one of China's Three Parallel Rivers.;;Salween|Nu Jiang(;)|Thanlivin
Geography;;One town in this state produces a polished black pottery burnished with quartz invented by Rosa Real Mateo called barro negro. One city in this state is home to "El Diablo Enchilado," a brazier made in the form of a red face with a grimace, and is found northwest of Atzompa as well as the settlement that supplanted it historically. In addition to a strip surrounding San Agustinillo, San Bartolo Coyotepec, and San Jose El Migote, this state has a capital that houses the Iglesia de Santo Domingo, as well as a town displaying the angelic figures of painter Rodolfo Morales, Ocotlan. One of its sites in the Valles Centrales contains the Danzantes carvings and statues of the rain god Cosijo. Found west of theIsthmus of Tehuantepec below Veracruz, for 10 points, name this state containing the ruins of Yagul, Mitla, and Monte Alban, the home of Benito Juarez and the Zapotecs.;;(Free) (and) (Sovereign) (State) (of) Oaxaca
Geography;;Blue Robin Canyon is located on this island, which was also the site of the only North American records of Spoon-billed Sandpiper and Great Spotted Woodpecker. Its native inhabitants were exiled to an internment camp at Otaru during the military occupation of such sites as Clevesy Pass and Black Mountain. The 7th Infantry Division landed at Massacre Valley and survived an ambush at Jarmin Pass, clearing this island of Japanese forces, who also evacuated nearby Kiska. For 15 points, name this island settled by 18th-century Russian fur traders, the westernmost of the Aleutians.;;Attu
Geography;;Spurn Point is the southeastern tip of this county's Holderness peninsula, which once contained the medieval borough of Ravenser, now lost to coastal erosion.  The site of John Vanbrugh's Castle Howard, it was also the object of a parliamentary struggle between John Savile and Thomas Wentworth. The Viking Kingdom of Jorvik roughly corresponded to this entity, and before that, it was home to the Brigantes. Until the 1974 reorganization of local government, it was divided into threeridings, North, East, and West, the last of which contained most of its textile industry around Bradford. The Pennines formed the western boundary of, for 10 points, what historic county of northern England, whose largest city is Leeds, and is symbolized by a white rose?.;;Yorkshire
Geography;;Sites in this park include a monolith called the Great White Throne and the Temple of Sinawava, a name ascribed to a local coyote god.  Frederick Dellenbaugh paintings of this were exhibited at the St. Louis World's Fair, and resulted in President Taft making it a national monument under the name Mukuntuweap five years later. A 1956 addition to it incorporated the finger canyons of the adjacent Kolob region, part of the lower exposure of the Grand Staircase. Peaks here like the Three Patriarchs are composed of Navajo Sandstone, not the hematite-pink Claron Formation that dominates nearbyBryce Canyon.  For 10 points, the Virgin River carved a canyon through what Utah national park given a Biblical name by early Mormon settlers?.;;Zion (National) (Park)|Zion (Canyon)
Geography;;The first Frenchman to visit this island group called the island of Aoba the "Great Cyclades," while a subsequent English voyage here named a landing place "Traitor's Head."  This nation claims that the disputed Matthew and Hunter Islands are part of its Tafea Province, and in the 19th century, Peter Dillon created a sandalwood rush which depopulated this nation's island of Erromango. This nation's island of Tanna is the center of the John Frum movement, and an unsuccessful colony was founded by Pedro Fernandez de Queiros, the first European to visit this nation, on its largest island, Espiritu Santo. This nation's anthem, "Yumi, Yumi, Yumi" is in the popular Creole language of Bislama, and under colonial rule, it was administered as an Anglo-French condominium and was known as theNew Hebrides. For 10 points, name this South Pacific island nation whose capital is Port Vila.;;Vanuatu
Geography;;One of this nation's ethnic groups annually celebrates Gani, a horsemanship festival, and is centered on the city of Nikki. In addition to the Bariba people, this nation is home to the Tammari and Somba. Until its partition in the 19th century, the kingdom of Borgu was centered in the northeast of this modern day country, and its Pendjari National Park adjoins the Arli National Park of a bordering nation. The Atakora Mountains lie in the north of this nation, which is split by the Oueme River, and its city of Malanville lies on the Niger River. The Celestial Church of Christ was founded in this nation, and its city of Ouidah is the center of Voodoo. The Yoruba and Fon peoples are the largest ethnic groups of this nation, and until 1975 it was known asDahomey. Located between Nigeria and Togo, for 10 points, name this African nation with largest city Cotonou and capital at Porto Novo.;;(Republic) (of) Benin
Geography;;Homer's Alcinous ruled the Phaiakians on the island of Scheria, which many modern scholars identify as this island, and its Achilleion Palace was built by Sissi after the death of her son in the Mayerling Affair. This island's namesake strait is connected to Lake Butrint by the Vivari Channel, and it lies only two nautical miles off the coast of Sarande. Although it was transferred to France in the Treaty of Campo Formio, under Venetian control this island was never captured by the Ottomans, due in large part to the tactics of Johann Mathias von der Schulenburg, and the defenses of the Angelokastro. This island is the namesake of twointernational incidents, one of which involved the murder of an Italian general in 1923, while the other involved the Royal Navy engaging Albanians on three separate occasions in 1946, an early part of the Cold War. The namesake of a prefecture which includes the islands of Mathraki, Othonoi and Paxos, for 10 points, name this second largest of the Greek Ionian Islands.;;Corfu|(Kerkyra(;))|(Corcyra)
Geography;;This country's city of Albreda was once a French enclave, and an attempt to colonize it was made by Jacob Kettler, the Duke of Courland, in the 17th century. In 2008, the president of this nation gave a final ultimatum to homosexuals in his country in a speech at Tallinding, saying that if they stayed, he would cut off their heads. That dictator, Yahya Jammeh, has ruled this nation since 1994, and its capital was once named after the man who succeeded George Canning in his first term as Foreign Secretary, Henry Bathurst. This country's namesake river flows through Niokolo-Koba National Park before entering it at Fatoto, and the river begins in the Fouta Djallon. With largest city atSerrekunda, for 10 points, name this phallic-shaped country of Western Africa surrounded by Senegal, whose capital is Banjul.;;(Republic) (of) (The) Gambia
Geography;;Friar Inigo Abbad wrote the first history of the people of this island, whose first inhabitants were the Ortoiroid peoples. This island's Anasco River was the site of the drowning of Diego Salcedo by Urayoan and Agueybana, two local caciques who wanted to prove that the Spaniards were not gods. Milwaukee Deep is the deepest part of its namesake trench, and the El Toro Wilderness is contained within its El Yunque National Forest. His organization of the Grito de Lares and years spent fighting for its independence resulted in Ramon Betances gaining the title "Father" of this place, and it was industrialized by Operation Bootstrap following World War Two. The subject of the Jones andForaker acts, this territory's island of Vieques was once used as a bombing range. With cities like Mayaguez and Arecibo, for 10 points, name this Caribbean island territory of the United States east of Hispaniola whose capital is San Juan.;;(Commonwealth) (of) Puerto Rico|Boriken
Geography;;Operation Cherry Blossom took place in this island's Empress Augusta Bay, and this island was one of the main objectives of Operation Cartwheel. A secessionist movement here protested the copper mines at Panguna, which were operated by a subsidiary company of Rio Tonto, and in putting it down, the government enlisted the help of a mercenary company called Sandline International. The leader of that rebellion, Francis Ona, proclaimed himself the King of Meekamui shortly before his death in 2005. Mount Balbi is the highest point of its Emperor Range, and its namesake province includes the Carteret Islands and Buka. With capital at Arawa, for 10 points, name this island owned by Papua New Guinea, the largest of the Solomons, which is named after a French explorer of the Pacific.;;Bougainville (Island)
Geography;;Endangered species such as the Great Indian Bustard and Siberian Crane can be found in this state's Keoladeo National Park while its Ranthambore and Sariska parks serve as tiger reserves. The Luni River begins in the Aravalli Range of this state, which also contains its highest peak, Mount Abu, whose Dilwara Temples are a sight of pilgrimage for Jains. This state contains the western half of the Kathiarbar-Gir dry deciduous forest, and its city of its city of Kalibangan along the Ghaggar River was the site of the world's first ploughed field. Its ruler Rana Sanga was defeated by Babur at the Battle of Khanwa, and that outcome was repeated at the Battle of Haldighati in which one of Akbar's general's defeated Pratap Singh, a ruler of this state's Mewar region. One of the cities in this state contains a palace on Lake Pichola which was prominently featured in Octopussy, and this state's Amber Fort overlooks a city in which lies a structure representing the crown of Krishna, the Hawa Mahal or "Palace of Winds". With cities including Udaipur, Jodhpur and the capitalJaipur, for 10 points, identify this largest state of India, whose Thar Desert extends into Gujarat and Pakistan.;;Rajasthan
Geography;;Jean Clottes claims that the valley of this river's tributary, the Coa, contains Europe's largest open air site of Paleolithic art, and its Maria Pia Bridge was built by Gustave Eiffel. A tributary of this river gives its name to the aristocratic family which was accused of attempting to assassinate King Joseph I in the 1750s, and its Pisuerga River tributary flows through Valladolid. The main industry of lands around this river was devastated by the influx of Phylloxera and Powdery mildew in the 19th century, although that industry was helped by the earlier Methuen Treaty. Among the historically important names associated with this river are the aforementioned tributary, the Tavora, and the cities of Braganza and Tordesillas which lie on it. Beginning in the Soria Province, this river flows through the meseta plateau region before flowing through Vila Nova de Gaia andanother city at its mouth. For 10 points, name this Iberian river which begins in Spain and reaches the Atlantic at Porto.;;Douro (River)|(Durius)
Geography;;Dendrosenecio adnivalis as well as erici-rosenii can be found in this range's Bigo Bog, and its namesake national park lies in the Bundibugyo, Kabarole and Kasese districts. Luigi Amedeo, the Duke of Abruzzi, led a 1906 expedition to this mountain range which scaled 16 of its peaks, one of which now bears his name, and the Mitumba and Virunga Mountains are adjacent to this range. The Bujuku Valley is created by this mountain range's three highest peaks, which include Baker, Speke and Stanley. A section of the Great Rift Valley, for 20 points, name this African mountain range on the border of Uganda and DRC.;;Ruwenzori (Mountains)
Geography;;The Chalcalburnus tarichi or Pearl Mullet are the only fish known to inhabit this body of water, and its namesake breed of cat is often odd eyed. The Ktuts monastery once stood on its Carpanak Island, and the Cathedral of the Holy Cross was built by King Gagik I Artsruni on its Akdamar Island. The city of Tushpa, which served as the capital of Urartu, lies on the banks of this body of water, and the Ahlatshahs had their namesake capital on its shores. This lake has no outlet to the sea because of the eruption of Mount Nemrut, and its northern edge is dominated by Mount Suphan. With Urmia and Sevan, this lake once formed one of the "three seas of Armenia". For 20 points, name this endorheic saline body of water, the largest lake in Turkey.;;(Lake) Van|(Behra) (Wane)
Geography;;John Gabriel Stedman wrote an account of his five year experience in this place, and a massacre occurred in this nation at the village of Moiwana in 1986 between the Junglecommandos of Ronnie Brunswick and the forces of Desi Bouterse. The Aluku and Kwinti peoples of this nation speak dialects of the creole language Ndyuka, and the Tumuk Humak Mountains stretch across its southeast. Francis Willoughby was the first European to establish a colony here, although its capture by Abraham Crijnssen resulted in it being transferred to another nation through the Treaty of Breda. The river which forms most of this nation's western border begins in the Acarai Mountains and creates King George VI Falls, while the Litani is a tributary of the river which forms its eastern border. Nestled between the Courantyne River on the west and the Maroni on the east, this nation's center is defined by its largest lake, the Brokopondo Reservoir or Professorvan Blommestein Meer. Inhabited mainly by the descendants of South Asians and Maroons, for 10 points, identify this South American nation, a former colony of the Netherlands located between Guyana and French Guiana, with capital at Paramaraibo.;;(Republic) (of) Suriname
Geography;;The original site of this town, Djoboro, has been subject to excavations by Susan and Roderick McIntosh. Al-Sadi's History of the Sudan claims that this city withstood ninety-nine sieges without falling to the attackers, although it did fall to Umar Tal centuries later. A replica of one of this site's buildings has been erected in the birthplace of Abbe Sieyes, Frejus, and in the late 19th century, the Toucouleur Empire which controlled this city was toppled by French forces under Louis Archinard. The first mosque at this site was supposedly built by Sultan Kunburu who tore town his own palace to build it, but that structure was replaced by Seku Amadu, a leader of the Fulani. Today a part of the Mopti Region, this city becomes an island when the nearby Bani River floods, and its Great Mosque is the largest mud structure in the world. Located in the Inland Delta of the Niger River, for 15 points, name this ancient city of Mali, which is not to be confused with supernatural beings which dwell in lamps and grant three wishes.;;Djenne|(Dienne(;))|(Jenne)
Geography;;This province's Shehy Mountains contain a monastery built by Saint Finbarr near Gougane Barra, and its Galtee Mountains border pastureland known as the Golden Vale. This region's island of Haulbowline is now the headquarters of its navy, and at one time, this consisted of the kingdoms of Ormond and Desmond. The English Pale included most of this region, with the exception of lands owned by the Mac Carthy Mor and O'Brien clans, the latter of which had its capital at Ennis and was known as the Kingdom of Thomond. This region's Dingle Peninsula is the westernmost point in its nation, and the cities of Tralee and Killarney lie in its County Kerry. The River Lee flows through this region's capital, which has the largest natural harbor in Europe, and the River Shannon flows through its city ofLimerick. With capital at Cork, for 10 points, name this southernmost province of Ireland, which is one of the island's four historical regions along with Leinster, Connacht and Ulster.;;Munster|(An) (Mhumhain(;))|(Cuige) (Mumhan)
Geography;;A natural southern boundary of this formation is formed by Lake Minto and the Melezes or Larch River, and its largest village is Kuujjuaq. Smith Island forms the northern boundary of Mosquito Bay on the west of this formation, and Digges Islands lie off its Cape Wolstenholme, the northernmost point of this peninsula. Akpatok Island lies in its namesake bay, and the islands of Nottingham, Salsibury and Mansel lie just offshore of it. The Hudson Strait separates this from Baffin Island, while to its west lies Hudson Bay, for 20 points, name this peninsula of northern Quebec.;;Ungava (Peninsula)
Geography;;The Duncan Passage separates this archipelago's main islands, while the Ten Degree Channel separates it from another archipelago. Until his death in 1729, Kanhoji Angre was undefeated in his fight against British and Portuguese merchants from a base on one of these islands, and explorer Niccolo de Conti called these the Islands of Gold. Ross Island served as the administrative center of this archipelago until a 1941 earthquake when it was moved to Port Blair. During World War Two, this archipelago was the raising of the first flag of independence for one nation, as the Japanese allowed Subash Chandra Bose to govern it. For 15 points, name this archipelago between its namesake sea and the Bay of Bengal which forms a Union Territory of India with the Nicobar Islands.;;Andaman (Islands)
Geography;;The Mizmar, a dance which involves whirling bamboo poles to drums, is native to this region, and Juris Zarins believes this region may have been the site of the dried up Pishon River, as well as Havilah. The Mahd adh Dhahab, or Cradle of Gold, was the main source of income in this region for centuries, and the city of Yanbu is one of its chief ports. The Chaldeans maintained a summer capital at its city of Tayma, and because of its location in the Sarawat Mountains, its city of Ta'if serves as the summer capital of its nation's government. The Ottomans built a railroad to this region from Damascus, although it was destroyed by Hussein bin Ali, who was himself replaced by a man who united this province with Al-Hasa, Qatif and Nejd. Although its largest city is Jeddah, it is more notable for a city which is home to theWell of Zamzam and the Kaaba. For 10 points, name this region of Saudi Arabia lying on the Red Sea which includes Mecca and Medina.;;al(-)Hejaz|(Hedjaz)
Geography;;Cape Cosiguina borders the entrance to this body of water, on whose shore the volcano Conchagua rises. Puerto Morazan lies on this body of water at the mouth of the Estero Real River, and other tributaries of this include the Negro, Goascoran and Choluteca rivers. Meanguera Island, part of the La Union department, lies in this body of water, and the city of Amapala lies on its Tiger Island. Although it is not Lake Nicaragua, E. G. Squier negotiated an 1849 treaty for the US to build a canal through this body of water which never came to fruition. For 20 points, name this inlet of the Pacific Ocean bordered by Nicaragua, Honduras and El Salvador.;;(Gulf) (of) Fonseca|(Golfo) (de) (Fonseca)
Geography;;Residents of this place include one who journeyed here in the nineteenth century, and Martin, who disappears with a bunch of signed bank notes. One resident of this place refuses to eat anything but grass and must be buried by a retired military officer that resides here near the end of one story set here. This place experiences a rain of flowers after the death of one of its inhabitants, and Don Crespi arrives to teach the inhabitants of this place how to view a cinema. More well-known residents of this town include one that was born with the tail of a pig, one that creates smallgolden fish, and a Gypsy visitor who dies of loneliness, but returns. For ten points, identify this fictional town populated by people like the Buendia family, which is the setting for Leaf Storm and One Hundred Years of Solitude.;;Macondo
Geography;;A quarry near this city has recently been turned into the Ngomongo Villages and Haller Park, and its suburbs include Bamburi and Likoni. Supposedly founded by Shehe Mvita, the Portuguese founded Fort Jesus at the site of this city, and it is separated by the Port Reitz and Tudor creeks from the mainland. In the harbor of this city, Venus and some nymphs save sailors from the treachery of Bacchus in The Lusiads, shortly after da Gama's ships have been poorly received at nearby Kilwa. Connected to the mainland by Nyali Bridge and the Makupa Causeway, this city featuresKilindini Harbor and is served by Moi International Airport. Located on its namesake island in the Indian Ocean, for 10 points, name this major port city of Kenya.;;Mombasa|Manbasa(;)|Kisiwa Cha Mvita
Geography;;The chief deity of these people's mythology, also known as the Lady of Anboto, is served by the Sorginaks, and her consort is Sugaar. These people worshipped the aforementioned Mari until their conversion to Christianity, and their native land includes the Urkiola and Aralar mountain ranges. Gassia Semen was a leader of these people who began a revolt in the 9th century, and their lands had earlier been incorporated into the Banu Qasi, which had its capital at Tudela. Their largest city is centered on the Nervion River, and until recently, Jurdan Martitegi led a terrorist organization of these peoples known as the ETA. The Alava, Guipuzcoa and Biscay provinces make up their home region, whose cities include Vitoria,Guernica and Bilbao. The victors of the Battle of Roncevaux Pass over the forces of Roland, for 10 points, name these people of southern France and northern Spain who speak a non-Indo-European language and created Jai alai.;;Basques|Vascos(;)|Gascons(;)|Euskaldunak
Geography;;Drained by the Jupiter River, Lake Wickenden is the largest of this island, and its most populous town is Port-Menier. Along with the nearby Mingan Archipelago, this island was owned solely by Louis Jollet for a time, and troops of William Phips occupied it during King William's War. The Honguedo Strait separates this from the Gaspe Peninsula, while the Jacques Cartier Strait separates it from Labrador. For 20 points, name this sparsely populated island in the middle of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence, controlled by Quebec.;;Anticosti (Island)
Geography;;Before colonial rule, this island was controlled by the kingdom of Wewiku-Wehali, and in the 17th century, the Topasses ruled it from the city of Lifau, which is now in its Oecussi-Ambeno region. Kemak, Bunak and Atoni are among the native languages spoken here, although Tetum is the only one with official status, and this island was the final destination of William Bligh and crew after the mutiny and a failed attempt to land at Tofua. This island lies south of the Ombar and Wetar straits, and east of the Savu Sea, while its larger cities include Baucau, Pantemakassar and Kupang. The murder of cameramen known as the Balibo Five occurred on this island, and was a result of conflicts between the FRETELIN and FALINTIL, while the 1991 Santa Cruz Massacre here brought international attention to an independence movement led by Xanana Gusmao and Jose Ramos-Horta, which succeeded in1999. For 10 points, name this island of the Lesser Sundas which is shared by Indonesia and a former Portuguese colony with capital at Dili.;;Timor
Geography;;The Berger-Parker and Shannon-Wiener indices are used to measure this, although the Simpson method is more common, and Rapoport's Rule states that this is smaller at low latitudes than high ones. Edward O. Wilson uses the acronym HIPPO to simplify the threats to this, and Facilitation is an effect of high rates of it. The SvalbardSeed Vault's purpose is to preserve this in case of global catastrophe, and lack of this is what caused Phytophthora infestans to be so devastating during the Irish Potato Blight, sometimes called monoculture. For 10 points, name this term of ecology which refers to the variation of flora and fauna within a given ecosystem.;;Biodiversity
Geography;;Thor Heyerdahl's The Search for Odin recounts his archeological work along this river, and Strabo refers to its delta as the Maeotian marshes. The banks of this body of water were the site of Dmitri I's 1380 victory over Mamai, known as the Battle of Kulikovo, and this river rises near the city of Novomoskovsk in the Tula Oblast. This body of water was instrumental in the planning of Operation Uranus, and the construction of the Tsimlyansk Dam along this river submerged the ancient fortress of Sarkel, which had served as the capital of the Khazars. Flowing through Rostov and emptying into theSea of Azov, for 10 points, name this river of Russia and the Ukraine which features prominently in the works of Mikhail Sholokhov.;;Don (River)
Geography;;In pre-Columbian times, this entity's city of Zaculeu served as the capital of the Kingdom of Mam, although their descendants now live in Huehuetenango. The Usumacinta and Motagua rivers form part of its borders, and this entity contains lakes Izabal and Atitlan. Its ancient sites of El Mirador and Nakbe in the Peten Basin are much overshadowed by another city there, which features the Lost World Pyramid and the Temple of the Giant Jaguar, Tikal. Its city of Iximche was the center of the Kaqchikel Maya population, and this nation was conquered by the man responsible for La Noche Trieste, Pedro de Alvarado. The site of the training of the motley crew who took part in theBay of Pigs invasion, for 10 points, name this Central American nation which borders El Salvador, Honduras, Belize and Mexico.;;(Republic) (of) Guatemala
Geography;;The Steinheimer and Ries craters in the west of this region are believed to have been created by the impact of a binary asteroid, and its city of Ergolding was destroyed during the Landshut War of Succession. The Allgau mountain range is located in the south of this state, and the control of one of its ruling houses was ended via the Anif Declaration. The Agilolfings ruled this region until their last ruler, Tassilo III, was deposed by Charlemagne, and the founder of its capital, Henry the Lion, was a member of the House of Guelph who was deposed by Frederick Barbarossa. This state contains its nation's highest peak, Zugspitze, and its cities include Regensburg, Augsburg and Nuremburg. ItsNeuschwanstein Castle was built by Mad King Ludwig, and this state's capital was the site of the Beer Hall Putsch. Bordered by Hesse, Saxony and Baden-Wurttemberg, for 10 points, name this largest state of Germany, with capital at Munich.;;(Free) (State) (of) Bavaria|(Freistaat) Bayern
Geography;;Kunza was the language spoken by this region's namesake people, and a mythical bird of this region is said to provide good luck to miners who follow it without getting caught, the Alicanto. One extreme portion of this region is located between the Domeyko and Vicuna Mackenna mountain ranges, and south of the Loa River. Containing copper mines at Chuquicamata and Escondida, this region also includes the Paranal Observatory, which is notable for its Very Large Telescope. This region is created by the Humboldt Current, and although it is sparsely populated, the urban centers of Iquique and Antofagasta lie in it. The Tacna and Arica provinces of this region were ceded in the Treaty of Ancon following theWar of the Pacific, which was fought over this desert's saltpeter resources. For 10 points, name this desert of South America in southern Peru and northern Chile, the driest desert in the world.;;Atacama (Desert)
Geography;;The Emigrant and Hoover Wildernesses are adjacent to this region, and the Clark and Cathedral ranges run through it. Lafayette Bunnell was one of the first to explore and write about this place, and the O'Shaghnessy Dam has created a reservoir in this park's Hetch Hetchy Valley. The Ahwahneechee tribe believed that the spirit Pohono lived in this park's Bridalveil Fall, and it contains the valleys of the Tuolumne and Merced rivers. This park features Half Dome, and The Nose is a famous climbing route to the top of its El Capitan. Conserved largely from the efforts ofJohn Muir, for 10 points, name this national park of the Sierra Nevadas located largely in Mariposa County, California.;;Yosemite (National) (Park)
Geography;;One writer associated with this place wrote Desultory Thoughts in London and Titus and Gisippus after having a major nervous breakdown which caused him to show up at another writer's place claiming to be the devil. Another writer associated with this place wrote Recolleections of a Tour made in Scotland, kept an extremely important journal, and was written of in a poem as having "shooting lights" in her "wild eyes." Another writer associated with this place was an essayist who wrote a highly laudatory "Discourse on the English Mail Carriage." Yet another writer associated with this place wrote about a simoom in his"Thalaba the Destroyer" and another poem in which little Peterkin enquires about the efficacy of a certain battle in "After Blenheim." For ten points, identify this place associated with poets like Robert Southey and the authors of Lyrical Ballads, Samuel Taylor Coleridge and William Wordsworth.;;(The) Lake (District)
Geography;;This country's Plateau of the Rivers is it's only natural UNESCO World Heritage Site, and the five qsur of its M'zab region form an urban conglomerate known as Pentapolis. This nation contains Roman ruins at Timgad and Djemila, while the Tademait Plateau lies north of its city of In Salah. Tamanrasset is the chief city in the south of this nation, and Mount Tahat is the highest peak of its Ahaggar Mountains. This nation contains the Aures and Tell ranges of theAtlas Mountains, and its main cities include Annaba, Constantine and Oran. The center of the Maghreb, for 10 points, name this nation of North Africa between Tunisia and Morocco.;;(People's) (Democratic) (Republic) (of) Algeria|(al(-)Jaza'ir)
Geography;;This region's namesake medieval kingdom had its capital at Anacopia, now called New Athos, and this region was also part of the ancient Kingdom of Egrisi, also known as Lazistan. The Psou River runs along part of this region's northern border, while the Inguri River creates its border with the Samegrelo-Zemo Svaneti region to the east. As recently as 2008, this region's Kodori Valley has been the site of fighting, although the war for which it is best remembered began after its declaration of independence in 1991, and ended with a favorable peace treaty in nearby Sochi. With capital at Sukhumi, for 15 points, name this autonomous republic on the Black Sea which is, like South Ossetia, located in Georgia.;;(Republic) of Abkhazia
Geography;;This city features the Oscar Niemeyer-designed Volcan Cultural Center, and its post-war reconstruction by Auguste Perret, the teacher of Le Corbusier, made this city one of the few contemporary UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Lying in the Pays de Caux region, this city was the objective of Operation Astonia, and its citizens renamed it after Jean-Paul Marat for two years during the Revolution. This city was first named after Francis I, who founded it to replace the nearby ports of Honfleur and Harfleur. The setting for Monet'sImpression, Sunrise, for 10 points, name this port city of Normandy at the mouth of the Seine.;;Le Havre
Geography;;The kingdoms of Dali and Nanzhao were centered in this region, and its Lake Dian was used as the model for an artificial lake in Beijing's Summer Palace. This region is home to the "Fortunate Victory Prayer Wheel", a structure in bas-relief that represents its nation's 56 ethnic groups, and pilgrims travel to this region to take the two week-long kora around its Mount Kawagebo, which features the Ganden Suntseling Monastery. The aforementioned features are located near this region's town of Zhongdian, whose name has recently been changed to Shangri-La in an attempt to attract tourists to nearby Pudacuo National Park as well as theThree Parallel Rivers region. With capital at Kunming, for 10 points, name this Chinese province, the source of the Mekong and Yangtze rivers, which borders Sichuan and Tibet as well as Burma, Laos and Vietnam.;;Yunnan (Province)
Geography;;In the 17th century, a stretch of this river's bank, Biffeche, was ruled by a chief known as the Little King, who had his capital at Maka. In 1972, the OMVS was set up by four nations to regulate this, and its flow is stopped by the Maka-Diama and Manantali dams. This waterway passes through the Talari Gorges before creating the Gouina Falls, both in the Kayes Region, and its tributaries include the Faleme, Karakoro and Gorgol rivers. Before reaching the ocean, this river skirts the Langue de Barbarie, an almost 400 mile long peninsula of sand, and finally reaches its mouth at Saint-Louis. Formed by the confluence of the Bafing and Semefe, or Bakoy, rivers in Bafoulabe, like the Gambia and Niger rivers, this waterway begins inGuinea. For 10 points, identify this African river which separates Mauritania from its namesake nation with capital at Dakar.;;Senegal (River)
Geography;;Mark Twain describes this geographical feature in Chapters 38 through 39 of "Roughing It" where he claimed it could launder clothes within minutes. This lake avoided the fate of nearby Owens Lake after an extensive lawsuit, and this lake's Navy Beach is the site of an old naval installation, while Panum Crater looms over this lake's south shore. Fed by Rush creek, the waters of this lake harbor huge populations of brine shrimp and brine flies, making it an important nesting spot for the California Gull. Large towers of tufa dot the shoreline as well as the Negit isles and Pahoa Island, and this lake is located on a volcano chain just north of the Long Valley Caldera. For 15 points, identify this lake located between the Inyo and Sierra Nevada mountains, the largest lake found entirely within California.;;Mono (Lake)
Geography;;These people have a naming ceremony called the juogi and their music prominently features the nyatiti, an eight-stringed lyre. These people speak a Nilotic language similar to the Acholi and their chiefs are known as Ruodhi. These people, who live largely off of fishing, originated near Winam Gulf. One of their most famous leaders refused the presidency of a country because he did not want to lose his status as a ker, or spiritual leader, while another, Tom Mboya, was assassinated. Heavily concentrated in the Nyanza province, they make up a majority of the population in Kisumu as well as in the slum of Kibera. The current prime minister ofKenya, Raila Odinga, is a member of, for 10 points, what ethnic group whose most famous member may have been Barack Obama Sr.?.;;Luo|(Jaluo(;))|(Joluo)
Geography;;An early name of this nation was Awal, which it got from the deity its people once worshipped, and its Tubli Bay has shrunk to less than half its size in the last fifty years due to land reclamation. A museum where one may view the first jar of oil produced in this country is located at its highest point, Jebel ad Dukhan. The ancient burial mounds of Dilmun in this country are being destroyed by Islamist politicians and the nearby island of Al-Muharraq is home to this country's major airport. Umm ad Nassan is the private hunting refugee of the Al Khalifa ruling family on this island and its Formula 1 racetrack contains viewing pavilions inspired by wind towers. A dispute over the Hawar Islands with a neighboring country has been put aside to build an addition to theKing Fahd Causeway, and Saudi Riyals are also accepted as currency here, making it a hotspot of prostitution. For 10 points, identify this nation currently planning on building a bridge linking it to nearby Qatar.;;(Kingdom) (of) Bahrain|(Mamlakat) (al(-)Bahrayn(;))|(Kingdom) (of) (the) (Two) (Seas)
Geography;;Robert Frost intended to commit suicide here after being rejected by some girl, but was rescued by a group of hunters instead. A lake in this area has very high amounts of tannin and most of this area is contained within Gates, Perquimans, and Camden counties. Erik Prince built a compound in this area that later grew into a multinational mercenary company, and Lake Drummond lies in its center. George Washington suggested draining this area by constructing a canal, although the existing canals, such as the Jericho and Railroad ditches functioned as conduits for lumber. Harriet Beecher Stowe's second novel,Dred, is subtitled after this swamp, and describes how runaway slaves hid in it. For 10 points, identify this massive marshy region that covers much of southeastern Virginia and northeastern North Carolina.;;(The) Great Dismal Swamp
Geography;;Kalambaka and Kastraki are the closest villages to this location, and one structure at this location was built by Athanasios Koinovitis on the Broad Rock. Another structure at this site contains several frescoes by Theophanes the Cretan, and Varlaam is the only nunnery on this site. The head of St. Charalambos can be found at this site, and a new bridge has made access to Roussanou much easier. The Agia Triada at this site was used in a James Bond movie, and although there were originally 24 monasteries at this site, only six survive. For 20 points, identify this site at the edge of the Pindus Mountains where Orthodox Greek monasteries appear to float in the air.;;Meteora
Geography;;One county by this name was named the "Safest Area" in the country by Forbes Magazine and contains towns like Wantagh and Levittown. A duchy by this name was merged into the Confederation of the Rhine by Napoleon and was located on the Lahn River. A bay by this name is located next to the LBJ Space Center, while a city by this name is home to the Adastra Gardens and a famously steep staircase that leads to Fort Fincastle. That city is also the location of the Junkanoo cultural festival and is located onNew Providence Island, just to the south of Paradise Island. For 10 points, identify this name common to a county on Long Island and the capital of the Bahamas.;;Nassau
Geography;;The Adal, Aussa, and Harar sultanates existed in this region prior to European colonization, and cities here include Assab and Kismaayo. Ras Xaafun is the easternmost point of this region, and its lowest point is Lake Abbe, located on the border of two of its nations. The Dahlak Archipelago and the island of Socotra lie off this, and it is bordered by the Massawa Channel and Gulf of Tadjoura. The Bale and Semien Mountains make up the backbone of this region, and its sub-regions include Afar, Ogaden and Puntland. Lying between theGulf of Aden, the larger Red Sea, and the Indian Ocean, for 10 points, name this eastern region of a certain continent, on which lies the nations of Eritrea, Djibouti, Ethiopia and Somalia.;;Horn of Africa
Geography;;Carstensz Pyramid is the highest point on this island and it was named for Dutch explorer ridiculed for claiming to have seen snow on this island. The Fly River system on this island was majorly affected by the Ok Tedi mine's tailings and the Sepik River originates in the Victor Emmanuel Range before flowing into the Bismarck Sea. The Owen Stanley Mountains block off access to the only national capital on this island and Jayapura is the largest city within another province on this island. Daru is located on the northern side of theTorres Strait which separates this island from the Cape York Peninsula to the south. For 10 points, identify this island nation where over 800 different languages are spoken.;;New Guinea
Geography;;The Livanjsko field is a major agricultural part of this country, and a small pocket of coastline around Neum is its only access to the sea. This nation's capital is encircled by Jahorina and Trebevic mountains, while the Miljacka flows through the capital proper and continues through the Dinaric Alps. The city of Mostar is the capital of one of its regions, while another is governed from Banja Luka, this entity's second largest city. The jade-colored Neretva River flows past a bridge of this country famously destroyed by Tito, and Ivo Andric wrote about the bridge on itsDrina River. Parts of this country are currently occupied by EUFOR, particularly on the boundary between its namesake Federation and the Republika Srpska, and its region of Srebrenica was the site of a massacre during a conflict which ended with the Dayton Accords. For 10 points, identify this Balkan country that borders Montenegro, Croatia, and Serbia.;;Bosnia (and) (Herzegovina)
Geography;;The Maah Daah Hey single track bike trail, the longest in the US, is located in this state and this state's endoheric Devil's Lake has been controversially rerouted into the Sheyenne River. The Canonnball and Knife rivers are located in this state and The International Peace Garden is located in this state's Turtle Mountain region. The Souris River basin is located in this state's Drift Prairie area, and its highest point, White Butte, is located near the Kildeer Mountains. Garrison Dam created Lake Sakakewa in this state and the Elkhorn Ranch is located inTheodore Roosevelt National Park, which also contains part of the Badlands.  For 10 points, identify this state bisected by the Missouri River whose eastern border is formed by the Red River.;;(State) (of) North Dakota
Geography;;South of this city is the Ukok Plateau and Salair Ridge, as well as a man-made lake polluted by nuclear waste. One part of this city, Akademgorodok, is an area called the "Silicon Forest" and is home to the "House of the Scientists," a major center for scientific research which was allegedly the site where perestroika was conceived. The Kommunalniy Bridge replaced the original span that prompted this city's founding in 1893 and this city celebrated the introduction of its first Metro in 1985. For 15 points, identify this third-largest city in Russia, located on the Ob River and the Trans-Siberian Railway.;;Novosibirsk
Geography;;The Garibaldi and Anaheim Volcanic Belts are located in this region, and volcanoes formed such landmarks as Mount Meager and the Level Mountain Range here. The Okanagon region is this province's primary wine-producing region, and the towns of Hudson's Hope and Kamloops are located in it. The Haida Heritage site is located in this province where the Kootenay River rises before it flows across a national border and back again, and the Stikine Plateau is located at the center of this province which also includesYoho National Park, the site of the famous Burgress Shale formation. For 10 points, the Frazer valley cuts through much of what Canadian province whose capital sits on Vancouver Island?.;;British Columbia
Geography;;A valley called Joey's Garden on this island leads to Ridge-Where-the-Goat-Jumps-Off while East and West Jew's Point commemorate the recovery of a Jew rescued from a ship. One of this island's dependencies is Inaccessible Island, which has a noted flightless bird, and Gough Island serves as a source of Guano for inhabitants of this island. A massive fire in early 2008 destroyed this island's power generators and fishing factory and an unexpected cinder cone eruption in 1961 destroyed parts of the major settlement, Edinburgh of the Seven Seas. For 20 points, identify this small island in the South Atlantic Ocean, a dependency of St. Helena.;;Tristan da Cunha
Geography;;This province contains Accona Desert as well as the Crete senesi which is home to the Monte Oliveto Maggiore monastery. Metals and borax are mined in this province's Maremma district and Alpi Apuane is a major quarry for Carrara marble. The Pratomagno is a large mountain range in this area and this region's Chianti district is known for its wine, while the town of San Gimignano is famous for its towers, and the town ofSiena is known for its horse race. Val di Chiana drains into Umbria from this province which also contains the more famous Val d'Orsina. For 10 points, identify this region through which the Arno River flows.;;Tuscany
Geography;;The Door Peninsula helped create this region by blocking the Superior lobe and some remnant species in this area include the Pleistocene Disk and the Northern Blue Monkshood. This region is the only known area of the world to feature the Algific talus slope ecosystem which uses sinkholes and talus-covered slopes to produce a windy, extra-cool environment. Military Ridge forms the southern end of this area, and the Baraboo range forms the eastern border of it. For 20 points, identify this area of the Midwest, primarily in southwestern Wisconsin, that was never covered by glaciers during the last ice age.;;(The) Driftless Area|(Paleozoic) (Plateau)
Geography;;One river that runs through this state is the Chaloosa, whose valley was explored by Father Emilie Fauthoux in the mid 1700's, while another geographical landmark is the Tonawanda Hills. This state's notable feats in education include sporting the first university in the world to ever conduct extension courses by radio. Lesser known cities in this state include Catawba, Galop de Vache, and Mohalis, while important architectural landmarks include the thirty-five story tall Second National Tower. While this state's most important city was founded in 1792, it did not enjoy mass settlement until the 1860's. Politicians who hailed from this state include Lucas Prout, while the powerful Revelation MotorCompany was founded in this state as well. Taking its name from a Potawatomi word for "catfish," better known residents of this state include Seneca Doane and the former Fran Voelker. For 10 points, identify this Midwestern state, which contains the sprawling city Zenith, the setting of such novels as Dodsworth, Arrowsmith, and Babbitt, and, of course, was created by Sinclair Lewis.;;Winnemac
Geography;;One of this archipelago's islands includes Ses Paisses, a Bronze Age village which contains many megaliths called Talaiots, and another island contains a tomb called Naveta des Tudons. A cave at Es Culleram in this archipelago was the site of a shrine to Tanit, and important ancient cities here included Ciutadella and Mao or Mago. This archipelago's capital contains a sports arena that once hosted a Roger Federer match that was conducted on a half clay, half grass court, the so-called "Battle of the Surfaces", and its "Privilege" is recognized by Guinness as the world's largest nightclub. The author of a 1283 novel about a young man who becomes pope titled Blanquerna was born here. Besides Ramon Llull, this polity was also the birthplace to Federer's opponent in the aforementioned match,Rafael Nadal. The Pine and Gymnesian island chains are its two main groups, and this archipelago has deep cultural connections with Catalonia, which is located to its north. With capital at Palma, for 10 points, identify this autonomous community consisting of Ibiza, Menorca and Mallorca, islands off the east coast of the Spanish mainland.;;Balearic (Islands)|(Illes) (Balears(;))|(Islas) (Baleares)
Geography;;This mountain has been painted by such artists as Mabel Moores Frisbee and Harry Cassie Best. Glaciers on this mountain include the Hotlum and Wintun, while local mythology claims that the spirit chief Skell lives on this peak. The first reliable sighting of this peak is credited to fur trapper Peter Skene Ogden, who gave it its name, although French explorer La Perouse claimed to have seen its last eruption. Frederick Spencer Oliver's A Dweller on Two Planets claims that Lemurians lived inside this mountain, and this forms a National Forest named after itself and the nearby Trinity Alps. Located in Siskiyou County, this peak's namesake river is a tributary of the Klamath, and the 1975 Summit Lighthouse Conference run by Elizabeth Clare Prophet met at its base. Guy Ballard once claimed to have met the alchemist Comte de Saint-Germain while hiking here, an event that prompted the formation of the "I AM" Activity movement, and poet Joaquin Miller frequently wrote about this peak and spent years living with the Native Americans near it. The second highest peak of theCascades is, for 10 points, which stratovolcano of northern California?.;;(Mount) Shasta|(Sasty(;))|(Sastisse(;))|(the) (White) (Mountain)
Geography;;A children's library in this city is named after the author of Tambores en la Noche, the black poet Jorge Artel. Centenary Park, built to commemorate a century of independence, can be found in this city's Getsemani Neighborhood. At the end of the Dique Canal in this city, ethnologist Gerardo Reichel-Dolmatoff discovered settlements belonging to the Monsu culture, which created artificial mounds that apparently were communal huts. This city features a monument to a woman named "India Catalina," who worked as the interpreter for Pedro de Heredia. In this city's Santo Domingo Square there can be found the sculpture Mujer Reclinada by Fernando Botero, and it is served by an airport named after a leader of the La Regeneracion movement, Rafael Nunez. This city was assaulted by the French and their buccaneer allies in a bloody 1697 incident during the War of the Grand Alliance, and later, a huge British force underAdmiral Vernon failed to take this city during the War of Jenkin's Ear. Named after a port in Murcia, for 10 points, identify this port city of Colombia which gives its name to an 1812 manifesto written by Simon Bolivar.;;Cartagena (de) (Indias)
Geography;;A barrio and a hospital in Caracas are named after this city, while a city in Panama near Capira also took its name from it. This city's primary industry was coal-mining and it benefited from its location near the mines of Kladno. Currently, this city is home to a "Rosarium" with over 20,000 rose bushes, as well as a sculpture created by Marie Uchytilova <http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Marie_Uchytilov%C3%A1&action=edit&redlink=1> that depicts eighty-two children. This city is best known for events during World War II, which occurred after the success of "Operation Anthropoid." For 20 points, identify this Czech village which, after the assassination of Reinhard Heydrich, had its population massacred and its buildings completely destroyed by Nazis.;;Lidice|Liditz
Geography;;A cave called Devil's Kitchen and a rock called Sugar Loaf can be found at this location, while the "father of gastric physiology," William Beaumont performed his initial experiments on Alexis St. Martin here in 1822. This island was the site of the second national park in the United States, which later became its namesake state park, and it once served as the center of John Jacob Astur's American Fur Company. A 1947 film starring Esther Williams and Jimmy Durante, This Time for Keeps, was filmed at this location, as was a romance starring Christopher Reeve and Jane Seymour, Somewhere in Time. According to native legend,Michabou created this location and it served as the home of the Great Spirit known as the Gitche Manitou. Featuring Fort Holmes, which was named for a casualty during an 1814 battle fought at this site, this location is noted for its delicious fudge and its draconian anti-automobile laws. For 10 points, identify this noted tourist destination, an island located in its namesake strait between the upper and lower peninsulas of Michigan.;;Mackinac (Island)
Geography;;Tourist destinations in this state include the Belum Caves and Horsley Hills, and the Kuchipudi is a dance which originates from it. This state surrounds the enclave of Yanam, which belongs to Pondicherry, and it was the target of Operation Polo because Asaf Jah VII, its last Nizam, chose not to become part of India. Kakinada and Visakhapatnam are the chief ports of this state, and its two main rivers are the Krishna and the Godavari. The Vijavanagar once ruled from this state, and the ancient ruins of Golconda lie in it. Bordered by the states of Karnataka and Orissa and lying on theBay of Bengal, for 10 points, name this Telugu-speaking Indian state with capital at Hyderabad, which is not to be confused with the similarly named states of Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh.;;Andhra Pradesh
Geography;;This body of water has one branch that begins at Okamanpeedan Lake, while the more northerly branch begins at Lake Shetek, and the two meet in Frank Gotch State Park. This river was named after the Otoe tribe when it first appeared on maps, and it is dammed to create the Red Rock and Saylorville reservoirs. Although the vast majority of this river's length lies in one state, some cities in the other state that this river flows by are Currie and Windom, while in its main state, it flows past Algona, Chillicothe, Fort Dodge and Ottumwa. The Raccoon River empties into this river at the downtown of this river's namesake city, and it forms a small part of the border between two Midwestern states that fought a bloodless 1839 conflict called the Honey War. Emptying into the Mississippi at Keokuk, for 10 points, name this river which forms part of Missouri's western border and shares its name with the capital of Iowa.;;Des Moines (River)|(La) Riviere(;)|(Le) Moine (River(;))|Monk (River(;))|Nadouessioux (River(,)) Outontantes (River(;))|(River) Demoin(;)|(River) (of) (the) Maskoutens(;)|(River) (of) (the) Peouareas
Geography;;Bo Jonsson was the first owner of one castle in this archipelago, which is thought to have been the farthest extent to which the Comb Ceramic culture spread in the west. This archipelago was transferred to one nation via the Treaty of Hamina, and its only land border is on the skerry of Market. Ytternas, Langnas and Berghamn are among the main ports of this archipelago, whose main island is Fasta. The Bomarsund Fortress on these islands was destroyed during the Crimean War, and they were demilitarized in the ensuing Treaty of Paris. With capital at Mariehamn and lying at the entrance of the Gulf of Bothnia, for 15 points, identify this autonomous Swedish-speaking archipelago of Finland.;;Aland (Islands)|Ahvenanmaa (Islands)
Geography;;Rising on the slopes of Mount Kisirindagi, the city of Neftcala lies near its mouth, and it passes Jandari and Kaspi. This body of water is navigable to Yevlax, and the cities of Saatli and Sabirabad lie near where it meets its main tributary, the Aras River. The cities of Gori, Rustavi and Ardahan lie on this river, and it creates the Mingachevir Reservoir. Beginning in Turkey and splitting the Lesser Caucasus before reaching the Caspian Sea in Azerbaijan, for 20 points, name this largest river of Transcaucasia which flows through Tbilisi.;;Kura (River)|Mt'k'vari
Geography;;The first settlements near this body of water were set up by people who worshipped Mareiwa and Pulowi and who were known as the Wayuu. Islands found on this lake include Zapara, San Carlos, and Toas, and Lagunetas is a notable example of the palafitos on this body of water. On July 24, 1823, a major naval battle was fought on this lake, with Admiral Padilla defeating royalist forces, a date celebrated as a regional holiday by the Zulia state, where this lake is found. The Catatumbo River flows into this, and a bridge spanning the outlet of this lake was designed by Riccardo Morandi and is named after a military figure in the country's history, General Rafael Urdaneta. For 10 points, name this large South American lake, which is actually a bay, and which shares its name with the second-largest city in Venezuela.;;(Lake) Maracaibo
Geography;;In May of 2006, a piano was uncovered on this peak, and it was later revealed to be a church organ brought up the mountain by a local woodcutter. During the 1880's, a man nicknamed "Inclement Rag" frequently ascended this peak to make meteorological observations. The hardest climbing route for this mountain is named "Rubicon Wall," while the recently developed "Echo Wall" climb is currently ungraded. At the foot of this peak is a malt whiskey distillery founded by a man known as "Long John." This mountain's name is most likely translated as "mountain with its head in the clouds" or "venomous mountain," and the easiest walking route on this mountain is the so-called "Pony Track." Once sporting a permanent weather observatory on its summit, where the inventor of the cloud chamber worked, it was not until 1847 that it was confirmed as the highest mountain on its island, edging out the home of the "The Big Grey Man," Macdui. Part of the Grampian Mountains, along withSnowdon and Scafell Pike, it is part of the National Three Peaks Challenge held for mountain climbers on its island. For 10 points, name this peak found in the Lochaber region of Scotland, the highest peak of Great Britain.;;Ben Nevis|The Ben
Geography;;He succeeded Jean Jacques Berger in one position, and was in charge of a department named for a prominent river. This man was influenced by the work of Ildefons Cerda, and Walter Benjamin's Arcades Project came about because of his work. This man was dismissed by Emile Ollivier and attacked in a pamphlet by Jules Ferry. The designs of this man are prominently featured in a painting that also features someumbrellas and rain, a work by Gustave Caillebotte. This man worked on the Boulogne Woods, but is better known for his barricades and wide boulevards in a prominent European capital. For 10 points, name this 19th century urban planner who helped Napoleon III redesign Paris during the years of the Second Empire.;;(Baron) (Georges(-)Eugene) Haussmann
Geography;;Forests in this region include the reed beech forest in its Hainich National Park as well as another, which contains the Rennsteig Path and cities like Friedrichroda and Oberhof, home to a large bobsled track. A landgrave of this region, Henry Raspe, was elected the German anti-king by Innocent IV in 1246, while earlier it was controlled by Louis the Bearded and the Ludowing family. A popular domestic tourist site in this state contains museums devoted to Frtiz Reuter and J. S. Bach, as well asWartburg Castle, where Martin Luther famously translated his Bible. Besides Eisenach, other cities in this state include Meiningen, Gera and Jena. One of its cities was site to a constitution drafted by Hugo Preuss and signed by Friedrich Ebert in 1919. With capital at Erfurt and surrounded by the states Bavaria, Lower Saxony and Hessen, for 10 points, name this state of central Germany home to the city of Weimar.;;(Free) (State) (of) Thuringia
Geography;;Drunken Point is a promontory found at the southern end of this body of water, on whose shores one can find the cities of Camp Morton and Victoria Beach. Also bordering a town nicknamed "The Capital of New Iceland," Gimli, this body of water's extensions include the Kinwow, Washaw, and Sturgeon Bays, the latter of which is connected to Lake St. Martin by the Dauphin River. Other tributaries include the Bloodvein and Poplar rivers, as well as a namesake river that flows north into this body of water from the Norman Dam located at Kenora. Found in the northeast part of what was formerly the prehistoricLake Agassiz, it is drained by the Nelson River and fed by the Red River of the North, which flows through a namesake capital city found less than 40 miles south of this lake. For 10 points, identify this Canadian lake sharing its name with the capital of Manitoba.;;(Lake) Winnipeg
Geography;;This region's namesake national park includes the Naukluft Mountains and it is the only place in the world home to Welwitschia mirabilis. The northern extent of this desert is a town formerly known as Mocamedes, and it includes parts of the Hardap, Khomas and Erongo regions. In this desert, with the exception of the Cunene and one other, every waterway south of its Kuiseb River terminates in a vlei or salt pan before reaching the ocean. This desert is actually fairly cool due to the Benguela Current, and the shore to its west is sometimes referred to as the Skeleton Coast. Its Sperrgebiet is a prohibited region due to the possibility of the existence of diamonds there, and this desert is home to the world's tallest sand dunes. The northern third of this desert is known as the Kaokoveld, and cities in it include Oranjemund, Swakopmund andWalvis Bay. Including parts of southern Angola, for 10 points, name this desert of southern Africa, which takes its name from a nation with capital at Windhoek.;;Namib (Desert)
Geography;;A 150 mile race created by Paul Every and nicknamed C2K sees its finish line at this location, which can be found in a namesake national park also containing the Talbingo and Tantangara Reservoirs. The journey to this place will take one by Seaman's Hut and Rawson's Pass, the latter of which is accessible from both Thredbo and Charlotte's Pass. This peak's name was transposed onto that of another when it was found out that nearby Mount Townsend was actually higher, and in 1997, a letter was officially added to its name so that it would coincide with the spelling of its namesake, whose name adorns this summit because Paul EdmundStrzelecki thought it resembled a namesake mound found in Krakow, Poland. Found in the Snowy Mountains of the Great Dividing Range, this is, for 10 points, what highest peak of Australia?.;;(Mount) Kosciuszko
Geography;;Reservoirs found within this state include the Alcova, Pathfinder, and Fontenelle, and it also contains the headwaters of the Belle Fourche River, which exits the northeast part of this state through its Crook County. Home to Curt Gowdy State Park and Medicine Bow National Forest, this state's capital is located next to the F.E. Warren Air Force Base at the junction of Interstates 25 and 80, the latter of which takes travelers by the cities of Green River and Rock Springs. The Bridger Wilderness Area is home to its highest point,Gannett Peak, and this state also features the first declared U.S. National Monument. The source of the Snake River and location of Jackson Hole, this is, for 10 points, what western U.S. state, home to Devils Tower, the Grand Tetons, and Old Faithful?.;;(State) (of) Wyoming
Geography;;A 2001 paper by Ilmar and Jonne Kotta discusses the "vertical migrations of mysids" in this body of water, whose name was lent to a mid-90s project that involved a phase studying the "structure of phytobenthic and associated animal communities" in this body of water. The German minesweeping torpedo-boats T-52, T-58, and T-46 were destroyed in a World War I operation with the intent to enter this body of water, which is fed by the Salaca, Gauja and Lielupe rivers. Bordering the Sorve Peninsula, this body of water contains the islands of Kihnu and Ruhnu, and is connected to its larger neighbor via the Muhu Sound and Irbe Strait. Found southeast of the island ofSaaremaa, on its shores one can find the cities of Kuressaare, Parnu, and Jurmala, while its namesake city lies on the Western Dvina or Daugava River. For 10 points, identify this arm of the Baltic Sea which takes its name from the capital of Latvia.;;(Gulf) (of) Riga|Rigaischer Meerbusen(;)|Rigas juras licis(;)|Liivi laht
Geography;;This area is home to the Zin River, which is found a short distance from the Ein Avdat, as well as Makhtesh Ramon, one of many large erosion craters unique to this region. Its eastern border contains the Arava Valley and it is home to the cities of Dimona and Arad, both of which were founded following the forced relocation of its native inhabitants to the Siyag. This region's cities of Nitzana, Shivta and Mamshit were founded by the Nabataeans, who ruled from nearby Petra, and its city of Rahat is home to a large Bedouin population. Described as a "desolation that not even imagination can grace with the pomp of life and action" by Mark Twain in The Innocents Abroad, this region contains the town of Eilat, which gives this region access to the Gulf of Aqaba. For 15 points, identify this region home to the town of Beersheba, a desert region of southern Israel.;;Negev (Desert)
Geography;;In November 2006, Basil Watson unleashed his sculpture Balanced at the Doctor's Cave Beach resort in this country, the center of which can be found in the Bullhead Mountains. The Troy-Windsor and Quickstep Trails, as well as the Barbecue Bottom Road, take travelers through its largely uninhabited Cockpit Country, most of which is found in Cornwall County. This island was the site of Tacky's War in the 18th century, and later, Samuel Sharpe led a slave rebellion here known as the Baptist War. The eastern part of this country is dominated by the Jim Crow Mountains, as well as another range containing its highest point, theBlue Mountain Peak. Containing the cities of May Pen, Ochos Rios, and Spanish Town, this nation is bordered to the east by a namesake channel separating it from Hispaniola. For 10 points, identify this Caribbean island nation, the site of Montego Bay and Kingston.;;Jamaica
Geography;;A 1988 fire destroyed much of this city's Chiado district, whose neighboring district contains the world's first open air museum dedicated solely to street art, the Museu Efemero. Home to the Monsanto Forest, this city is the site of the Hieronymites Monastery, a prime example of the Manueline style, and its districts include Alfama, Bairro Alto and Belem. Afonso the Conqueror recaptured this city from the Moors in 1147, as part of the Second Crusade, and many of its buildings are in a style named after the Marquis de Pombal, who led the government response to the1755 earthquake which devastated the city. For 10 points, name this city at the mouth of the Tagus River, the capital of Portugal.;;Libson|Lisboa
Geography;;Remains of a Therapod discovered on one island named for this man were given the nickname "Naze" because of their discovery on the peninsula of that name. One land feature named for him expands from the Edward VII Peninsula to an anchor on one of his namesake islands, which itself is located in Graham Land and is separated from the mainland by the Prince Gustav Channel. A dependency named for this individual contains Williams Field and the Italian facility of Zucchelli Station, although it is owned by New Zealand. Asea named for this individual is bounded by Cape Colbeck, Cape Adare and Victoria Land, and is an extension of the southern Pacific Ocean. Discovering many of his namesake features leading an expedition on the HMS Erebus and HMS Terror, he also names an island in McMurdo Sound.  For 10 points, name this British explorer who gives his name to the largest ice shelf in Antarctica.;;(Sir) (James) (Clark) Ross
Geography;;This country's oldest National Park, Henri Pittier, is found within its state of Aragua, which forms the eastern shoreline of this country's third largest lake, Valencia. This nation's Dunes of Coro is its only desert, and the Cariaco Basin is located off its coast. Part of the border with its western neighbor is formed by the Arauca River, which meets with this country's chief river in the state of Apure. This nation was the home of revolutionary Francisco de Miranda, and the Battle of Carabobo led to its independence. Home to the Cordillera de la Costa and Cordillera de Merida ranges, the latter of which contains this country's highest point,Pico Bolivar, this nation borders the Gulf of Paria and contains a majority of the Guyana Highlands. For 10 points, identify this South American nation home to Angel Falls and Caracas.;;(Bolivarian) (Republic) (of) Venezuela|(Republica) (Bolivariana) (de) Venezuela
Geography;;The Mangyshlak one of these is located in Kazakhstan, while another one of these is home to the Tres Virgenes volcanoes and the reptile-filled San Lucan Xeric Scrub. In Turkey, the ancient region of Triopian Promontory makes up part of one of these now known as either the Resadiye or Datca. In the United States, the Rain Forests Quinault and Hoh can be found on one of these land forms in Washington State, while a notable one of these in Great Britain is located in Cornwall and known as The Lizard. The cities of Avalon and Wildwood are found on theCape May one, while north of Hong Kong lies the Kowloon one of these. For 10 points, name this landform exemplified by Florida, the Yucatan and Iberia.;;Peninsula
Geography;;Medieval kingdoms here included Gallura, Torres and Arborea, the latter of which was defeated at the 1409 Battle of Sanluri by Martin I. Among the mountainous terrain of this island, dominant architectural structures include the distinctive nuraghe, round prehistoric towers that provided fortification, including an extensive nuraghic village located near Dorgali. This island's highest peak is Mount La Marmora, located in the Gennargentu Massif, and the principal rivers on this island include the Tirso and Flumendosa. Scrub grasslands called maquis or macchia cover much of this island's countryside, which is dotted with cities including Nuoro, Orisanto and Sassari. The Campidano plain is the main agricultural region, and is where the capital ofCagliari is located. For 10 points, name this large Mediterranean island separated by the Strait of Bonifacio from Corsica and by the Tyrrhenian Sea from mainland Italy.;;Sardinia|(Sardegna)
Geography;;A dispute over the ownership of a tract of land in this city was the basis for the 1899 Supreme Court Case Malony v. Adsit, which was presided over by this city's first mayor, Arthur Delaney. Cope Park, Wickersham State Historical Site, and Perseverance Theater are sites found within this city, whose namesake and co-founder is buried within its Evergreen Cemetery. The historic site of Fort Durham is located near the mouth of the Taku River, which empties into Stephens Passage at the southern end of this city. Formerly known as Rockwell and Harrisburg, it is located at the mouth of the Mendenhall River and its downtown area can be viewed from the top of Mount Roberts. Separated from Douglas Island by theGastineau Channel, this city became a capital in 1906 after being moved here from Sitka. For 10 points, identify this northernmost state capital of the United States.;;(City) (and) (Borough) (of) Juneau
Geography;;The Zig Zag and the Jenolan Caves are popular attractions in a mountain range of this name, and this color is sometimes used to describe a city home to Umaid Bhawan Palace, India's Jodhpur. Another city named for this color is being built off the coast of Muscat in Oman.  A parkway with this color in its name passes through a namesake mountain chain, begins in Waynesboro and connects the Shenandoah and Great Smoky National Parks. A river with this color in its name flows past the Choke Mountains, gets water from the Rahad and Dinder rivers, and flows from Lake Tana in Ethiopia beforejoining with another colored river in Khartoum. For 10 points, name this color which also is present in a section of the Appalachians stretching from Pennsylvania to Georgia, and a river which joins with the White Nile.;;Blue
Geography;;Among the several ecological preserves in this entity are the volcanic region of El Pinacate y Gran Desierto de Altar Biosphere Reserve, as well as the Bay and Islands of San Jorge, an important bird and marine habitat. Located in the Yaqui River valley, one in the southern portion of this polity bears the name of its nation's first post-revolutionary president, Ciudad Obregon. Other notable population centers in this state include Heroica Nogales, located on a major international border, and Guaymas, a port and fishing resort on theGulf of California. With its capital at Hermosillo, this state shares borders with Sinaloa, Baja California and Chihuahua. Also bordering New Mexico and Arizona, for 10 points, name this large state in northwestern Mexico, the namesake of a desert.;;(State) (of) Sonora
Geography;;The rail lines in this city divide into roughly three sections known as "Inner Way", "Outer Way" and "South Mound" and its name comes from a word meaning "place for drying fishing nets". One district in this city contains Hongbo Square as well as the Ji Le Temple and this city's is noted for its namesake Institute of Technology, opened in 1920, that was once known as the "Cradle for Engineers". This city's Daoli District contains its central Zhong Yang Street and this city is famous for its International Ice and Snow Scultpure Festival that resumed in 1985 following the Cultural Revolution. Lying on the Songhua River, for 15 points, identify this capital of the Heilongjiang Province, known as the "Oriental Moscow", a city in Northeastern China.;;Harbin