Maps and Map Reading quiz

More questions about Maps and Map Reading

These visible examples show the question style. LearnClash turns the full topic into ranked duels and spaced repetition.

1. 1 Easy

   Which river flows north for over 6,000 km?

   Answer: Nile

   Why: Rivers follow the slope, not the map: the Nile's East African sources sit far higher than its Mediterranean mouth.

2. 2 Medium

   What is the shortest route between two places on a globe called?

   Answer: Great circle

   Why: A straight line on a Mercator map is a rhumb line of fixed bearing, usually longer than the great circle.

3. 3 Hard

   What did Marshall Islands stick charts map?

   Answer: Ocean swells

   Why: The charts stayed ashore as teaching tools; at sea, navigators read the swells from memory and feel.

4. 4 Easy

   What keeps growing the shorter the ruler you measure it with?

   Answer: A coastline

   Why: Measure Britain's coast in 100 km steps and you get about 2,800 km; switch to 50 km steps and it grows to about 3,400 km.

5. 5 Medium

   What is the oldest known map of the world made of?

   Answer: Clay

   Why: The Babylonian tablet shows the world as a disc ringed by water labelled the Bitter River.

6. 6 Hard

   Which name do mapping programs give to 0° latitude, 0° longitude?

   Answer: Null Island

   Why: Software that can't find a location often logs it as 0,0, so stray data from around the world piles up there.