| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| The Tippecanoe River is a tributary of this river where William Henry Harrison defeated the Shawnee leader Tecumseh, and the White River is another tributary of this river. The Miami controlled a valuable trading corridor between this river and the Maumee River. Lafayette and Terre Haute [[TEH-reh HOHT]] are cities on this river, which empties just west of Evansville. For ten points, name this river which forms part of the Illinois-Indiana border before merging with the Ohio River. | Wabash River |
| This lake was the filming site for Dersu Uzala, a movie in which the fictional Captain Arsenyev befriends a Tungusic Nanai hunter. This lake is drained by the Song'acha River, a tributary of the Ussuri River, that ends at Khabarovsk. This largest lake of the Amur Basin is split between Primorsky Krai and Heilongjiang, 100 miles north of Vladivostok. For ten points, name this lake on the Russo-Chinese border. | Lake Khanka (or Lake Xingkai) |
| This city is the capital of the Vaucluse province, and this city, home to the Pont Saint- Bénézet that was destroyed in the Albigensian Crusade, contains the largest Gothic building of the Medieval period, the Palais des Papes [[pah-LAY deh pah-PEHS]]. Leonardo da Vinci spent the final years of his life in this city which forms an urban area with Nîmes and Arles on the Rhône River. The closest major city to the Pont du Gard, for ten points, what is this French city which housed the papacy for much of the 1300s? | Avignon (accept Avignon papacy) |
| This non-Burmese province, home to the mouths of the Messalo and Lurio Rivers, contains the city of Montepuez, speculated to house 40 percent of the world's rubies. This province's cities of Mocímboa da Praia and Palma have been captured by a terrorist organization called Ansar al-Sunna, the southernmost manifestation of the Islamic State. This province, governed from Pemba, is separated by the Rovuma River from Tanzania. For ten points, name this northernmost province in Mozambique, the site of recent Islamic insurgency. | Cabo Delgado Province |
| This mountain gives its name to a state governed from Boa Vista and is the highest of the Pakaraima Mountains, protected by Canaima National Park. This mountain, the most well- known Tepui, was first spotted by Europeans on Walter Raleigh's 1595 Journey to El Dorado and was the inspiration for the ending scene of the Pixar film Up. For ten points, name this tabletop mountain between Brazil, Venezuela, and Guyana. | Mount Roraima (or Monte Roraima; or Tepui Roraima) |
| A resort town with this name was first settled during the Operation Noah movement, which relocated fauna to Matusadona National Park. Binga village and Siavonga are major settlements for people displaced by rising levels of a lake with this name. The Zambezi River Authority owns a dam with this name that has generated electricity for parts of the Copperbelt. A lake with this name is the world's largest man-made lake and reservoir by volume. For ten points, give this name of a lake along the border between Zambia and Zimbabwe. | Kariba (accept Lake Kariba; accept Kariba Dam) |
| An attempt to incorporate this town with Sunrise Manor and Winchester into its state's largest city failed in 1975. Allegiant Stadium and T-Mobile Arena are both located in this town which also contains the National Atomic Testing Museum. This town's northern border, along Desert Inn Road, contains a Wynn resort. Home to Harry Reid International Airport and the MGM Grand is, for ten points, what unincorporated community that contains most of the Las Vegas Strip, with a Biblically-inspired name? | Paradise (prompt on "Las Vegas") |
| This mountain range is divided into two distinct zones by the Kazerun strike-slip fault. This mountain range is home to the Shanidar Cave, which contains the earliest evidence of Neanderthal burial rituals. The highest peaks in this range are Zard Kuh and Mount Dena. Carvings from this range’s Mount Behistun were used to decipher the ancient Cuneiform script. The cities of Khorramabad and Shiraz anchor the foothills of, for ten points, what mountain range which stretches across western Iran? | Zagros Mountains |
| On a cape near the entrance to this body of water lay the fingers of Punta del Este. This body of water was named Mar Dulce by Juan Diaz de Solis who explored it a few years before Ferdinand Magellan. This estuary is formed by the confluence of the Uruguay and Parana rivers. Buenos Aires and Montevideo lie on, for ten points, what estuary whose name translates to “river of silver?” | Río de la Plata |
| Ket is the only extant member of a language family named for this river, whose banks include grazing grounds for the Taymyr reindeer herd. Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan planned to split Asia along a boundary set by this river. This river is the longest to flow into the Arctic Ocean, which it does just east of the Ob River, and this river's longest tributary is the Angara. The fifth-longest river system in the world, for ten points, what is this eastern Russian river? | Yenisey River (or Yenisei; or Jenisej; accept "Great" or "Little" as part of any alternate answer) |
| This body of water carries the West Wind Drift, the world's longest ocean current, associated with a "convergence" zone that includes the Crozet Islands and Heard and McDonald Islands. This body of water's ports, such as Mawson and McMurdo, are mostly research stations, and this body of water, home to the South Shetland and South Sandwich Islands, was recognized by National Geographic in 2021. For ten points, name this ocean which surrounds Antarctica. | Southern Ocean (accept Antarctic Ocean before "Antarctic" is mentioned) |
| The largest subdivision of the Southern Ocean is recognized as this 1.1 million square mile sea, bounded by the shores of Coats Land and the Antarctic Peninsula south of South America, named for a Scottish sailor. | Weddell Sea (accept James Weddell) |
| A major highway passes through this region's Hex River Valley before the Touws River. This region's northeast fades into the grasslands of Griqualand West, where the Griqua people lived. This region's Tankwa National Park, located near the Cederberg-Skurweberg mountain ranges, receives just 75 millimeters of rainfall per year. The so-called capital of this region is the town of Beaufort West, and this region borders Bushmanland. For ten points, name this semi-desert region in Western South Africa. | The Karoo (accept Great Karoo; do not accept or prompt on "Little Karoo") |
| The driest region of the Karoo is located near this topological feature consisting of steep slopes from the Southern Africa plateau down toward the ocean. | Great Escarpment |
| This city's Al-Baleed Archeological Park overtook the nearby port of Khor Rori in exporting frankincense. This city, where the catastrophic Cyclone Mekunu made landfall in 2018, is the largest to experience the Khareef monsoon. This largest city of Dhofar Province was the birthplace of Sultan Qaboos bin Said, and this city on the eastern edge of the Hadhramaut region is the closest major city to Socotra. For ten points, name this largest Omani city outside the Muscat metro area, located in its far south. | Salalah |
| In the hills overlooking Salalah, pilgrims can visit a supposed tomb of Job. Another potential resting site of Job is along what lowest freshwater lake on earth? | Sea of Galilee (accept Lake Tiberias; accept Kinneret[h]) |
| The only skyscraper designed by this man is called Black Rock on Sixth Avenue, the furnishings of which were designed by Florence Knoll, with whom this man co-designed his famous Tulip furniture. This man designed the U.S. Embassy in London, and with his father, Eliel, this man designed the Christ Church Lutheran in Minneapolis, known for its International Style. The TWA Flight Center and Gateway Arch were both designed by, for ten points, what Finnish-American architect? | Eero Saarinen |
| The TWA Flight Center has been converted to a hotel at this airport, which was once commonly called Idlewild. | John F. Kennedy International Airport (accept JFK) |
| It’s not in Iran, but this city served as the capital of, at various times, the Persian Empire, Khwarezmian Empire, and the Timurid Dynasty. This city is located in the valley of the Zerafshan River, and this city’s name is derived from the Sogdian words for “stone fort” or “rock town.” This city has been nicknamed “The Crossroads of Cultures'' due to its location along the Silk Road. For ten points, name this city, the second-largest in Uzbekistan. | Samarkand |
| What specific good was produced in Samarkand before Chinese production methods were brought to Abbasid Baghdad following the Battle of Talas? | Paper (accept Papermaking) |
| Ruderick was the first to unify this region into a distinct polity, and Sancho the Strong was the first to rule it independently from Navarre. The Nueva Planta Decrees centralized control under the laws of this historic region which includes Albacete. Burgos, Ciudad Real, and Valladolid are cities in this region, which unified under a single monarchy with Aragon. For ten points, name this historic central region that lends its name to Spanish's standard dialect, and includes Madrid. | Castile (accept Castilian; accept Castile and León; accept Castile-La Mancha; accept Castilla in place of Castile in all cases; prompt on “Spain” or “España”) |
| This Castilian city on the Tagus River is known for its sword-making tradition and for being the home of El Greco. | Toledo |
| This lake's namesake city is the capital of the state of Zulia and is served by La Chinita International Airport. In 1964, an Esso tanker crashed into the Rafael Urdaneta Bridge over this lake, whose shores include the city of Cabimas. A duckweed infestation has threatened the ecological health of this lake, into which the Catatumbo River empties. Native huts on this lake were likened by Amerigo Vespucci to a "little Venice." For ten points, name this brackish tidal bay in Venezuela, the largest lake in South America. | Lake Maracaibo (or Lago de Maracaibo) |
| Navigation can be challenging at the point where the Catatumbo empties into Lake Maracaibo due to what abnormally common weather condition? | Catatumbo Lightning (accept House of Thunder; accept Thunderstorm; prompt on “storm”) |
| This national park's more strenuous hikes are humorously named Peekaboo Loop and Fairyland Loop. This national park contains rock structures shaped like Thor's Hammer and the Temple of Osiris. Many geological hoodoos are located in this park, which was believed to be where Coyote turned people to stone, according to the Paiute. Rainbow Point has the highest elevation in this park, which contains natural amphitheaters along the Paunsaugunt Plateau. For ten points, name this national park in Utah, named for a Mormon pioneer. | Bryce Canyon National Park (prompt on "Bryce" or "Ebeneezer Bryce") |
| Bryce Canyon sits at a higher elevation than this nearby national park in Utah near the town of Springdale. It contains a peak made of Navajo sandstone called the Three Patriarchs. | Zion National Park |
| Colorado city made popular by John Denver and Hunter S. Thompson, named for a tree common to the area. | Aspen |
| Upstate New York town at which the Miracle on Ice occurred at the 1980 Winter Olympics. | Lake Placid |
| Colorado town with the largest ski resort in the state, known for its namesake "Bravo!" music festival. | Vail |
| Northwest Colorado town, home to the Howelsen Hill Ski Area, one of the oldest in the U.S., and named for a natural feature. | Steamboat Springs |
| Wyoming town in a namesake "hole," the main tourist hub for Grand Teton National Park. | Jackson (accept Jackson Hole) |
| Town near Salt Lake City that hosts Sundance film festival and is home to the United States Ski Team. | Park City |
| California town near the Nevada border that is named for a river which flows into Lake Tahoe. | Truckee (accept Truckee River) |
| Idaho city near Ketchum where Ernest Hemingway lived for twenty years. | Sun Valley |
| Country which claims most of Siberia. | Russian Federation (or Rossiya; or Rossiyskoy Federatsii) |
| Lake in Southern Siberia, the world's deepest and largest by volume. | Lake Baikal (or Ozero Baykal) |
| "Paris of Siberia," located on the Angara River, the location of fighting in the Russian Civil War. | Irkutsk |
| Most-populous city of Siberia, the third-most in Russia, home to the Alexander Nevsky Cathedral. | Novosibirsk |
| Plateau, known as the Golden Mountains of Altai, a habitat for the endangered snow leopard and steppe eagle. | Ukok Plateau |
| Republic on the Mongolian border that is governed by the Great Khural. | Tuvan Republic (or Tyva Republic; accept Tannu Tuva) |
| City known for its Turkic culture which contains the "Center of Asia" obelisk. | Kyzyl |
| Historic manufacturing center on the Trans-Siberian Railway which experienced a well-documented 2013 meteor explosion above it. | Chelyabinsk |
| Official language, leftover from colonial rule and used as a lingua franca. | English |
| Predominantly Christian ethnic group concentrated in the southwest whose writers include Wole Soyinka. | Yorubas |
| Largest ethnic group, predominately Muslim and comprising roughly 30 percent of the population. | Hausa (accept Bahausa; or Bahaushiya; accept Hausawa) |
| Second-largest city, a historical center of the Trans-Saharan trade. | Kano |
| Capital of Rivers State, a major oil exporting center on the Niger [[nee-ZHEHR]] Delta. | Port Harcourt |
| Northwestern city, the former capital of a namesake caliphate which fought in the Fulani War. | Sokoto (accept Sokoto caliphate) |
| Capital of Edo State, the 4th most populous city which shares part of its name with a neighboring country. | Benin City (prompt on partial answers) |
| Capital of the northeastern Borno State and the heart of the Boko Haram insurgency. | Maiduguri |
| Along with a southern neighborhood, this park is crossed by Highway 93, also known as Icefields Parkway. A mountain in this park is named for Edith Cavell, a British nurse who was executed by Germans during World War One. The often-photographed Spirit Island (+) is located in a lake in this national park where the Skyline Trail begins. Maligne [[muh-LEEN]] Lake is in this park, which is located north of Banff National Park and includes the (*) Athabasca Glacier. For ten points, name this largest national park within Alberta's Rocky Mountains. | Jasper National Park |
| Chia Thye Poh [[CHEE-AH TAI POH]] was placed in internal exile on this island for his communist activities, and this island is connected to Mount Faber via cable car. A Gurkha Contingent was sent in 2018 to protect Capella Resort on this island, its country's second-largest island after Pulau (+) Ubin. This island houses a "Resorts World" complex, home to the only Universal Studios theme park in Southeast Asia, and it is the southernmost place accessible without ferries via the Eurasian road system. (*) For ten points, name this resort island that hosted the 2018 U.S.-North Korea Summit, located off Singapore's coast. | Sentosa Island (accept Pulau Belakang Mati) |
| Events called jökulhlaups lead to the formation of these structures, resulting in the rapid deposit of large quantities of sediment. Examples of these specific bodies of water on Long Island include examples named for Success and Ronkonkoma. One of these structures spanning 400 acres in Ontario is called Puslinch. (+) Near a pond of this type, Henry David Thoreau wrote about spending two years in a cabin in his book Walden. The drainage of an ice-dammed (*) lake often creates, for ten points, what depressions in an outwash plain formed by retreating glaciers? | Kettles (accept Kettle lakes; accept Kettle ponds; prompt on "lakes" or "ponds") |
| Open Vld [[V-L-D]] cited blacked-out pictures of this structure to support a freedom of panorama law which was preceded by a "cultural guerilla strike" centered in Mechelen. Mini-Europe Park is located at the base of this structure, which was reopened in a 2006 ceremony led by (+) Prince Phillippe. This structure was built for the 1958 World's Fair on the Heysel Plateau, and its nine spheres represent a magnified (*) ferrite crystal. For ten points, name this molecularly-inspired building in Brussels. | The Atomium |
| Instigators of the Huilliche [[hwee-LEE-cheh]] uprising of 1712 on this island targeted the capital, Castro, known for its colorful palafito houses on stilts, and later fled south to the Guaitecas Archipelago. This island, known for its timber churches, contains the Tantauco Park, (+) established by Sebastián Piñera, which protects Valdivian temperate rain forests. This island, bounded by the Chonos Archipelago and Chacao Channel in the Los Lagos region, is accessible from Puerto Montt. (*) For ten points, name this largest island completely administered by Chile, off its Pacific coast. | Chiloé Island [[chee-loh-EH]] (or Isla Grande de Chiloé; be lenient on pronunciation) |
| A tributary of this river flows through the gold mining city of Francistown and is called the Shashe. This river's flooding damaged the port city of Xai-xai [[SHY-SHY]] on this river's mouth. This river, whose main tributary is the Olifants, was described by Rudyard Kipling as "great, green, greasy." (+) The northernmost province of South Africa shares its name with this river, which was named Espiritu Santo by (*) Vasco da Gama. For ten points, name this African river that forms the Zimbabwe-South Africa border before emptying into the Indian Ocean. | Limpopo River |
| This state contains the Kawahiva, or "Rio Pardo Indians," who are uncontacted and were only first caught on video in 2011. This state's eastern border is formed by the Araguaia River, and this state is its country's largest producer of soybeans. This state, with its capital at Cuiaba, (+) split from its southern counterpart, which has a capital at Campo Grande, in 1977 and contains part of the Pantanal. (*) For ten points, give this state of Brazil, which has a name that translates to "thick bush." | Mato Grosso |
| The corrupt sale of lands named for this river was ruled unvoidable by Georgia in the case Fletcher v. Peck. This river is formed by the Tallahatchie and Yalobusha rivers in the city of Greenwood, and the first electrically detonated underwater mine was used to sink the USS (+) Cairo in this river's waters. A hydrologic term uses this river's name for any tributary system that parallels a river but cannot join it due to a natural levee. Vicksburg lies (*) at the end of, for ten points, what river which forms the border of the "Mississippi Delta" region? | Yazoo River |
| This city is the birthplace of William Howard Taft, the twenty-seventh president of the United States. This city’s Over-the-Rhine neighborhood features a collection of various 19th-century architectural styles, in buildings such as Memorial Hall and the Germania Building. (+) This city lies at the confluence of the Ohio and Licking Rivers and bears the name of a fraternal society which is itself named for a fifth-century (*) Roman farmer and consul. For ten points, name this city, the third-largest city in Ohio. | Cincinnati (accept Society of the Cincinnati; prompt on "Cicinnatus") |
| Gangnam is a district in this city that produced pop superstar Psy. | Seoul Special City |