Category: Brain Teasers

Trivia: Which two countries share South America’s deepest lake?

Ecuador and Peru
Bolivia and Chile
Argentina and Chile
Brazil and Venezuela

The correct answer is Argentina and Chile

So why is this answer correct? : The deepest lake in South America has two names: O’Higgins if you live in Chile or San Martin if you’re from Argentina. Located on the countries’ shared border, the lake has a maximum depth of 2,743 feet. The namesakes for the lake are both national independence heroes, who fought together and are known as the Liberators of America: Bernardo O’Higgins of Chile and José de San Martin of Argentina.

Trivia: Venezuela is home to the world’s highest what?

Mountain
Building
Waterfall
Tree

The correct answer is Waterfall

So why is this answer correct? : Angel Falls, the world’s highest uninterrupted waterfall, is 3,212 feet tall. The dramatic single drop is more than 20 times taller than Niagara Falls. The falls were named after American pilot James Angel, who was the first to fly over them and share his discovery with the outside world in 1933.

Trivia: What South American capital is a UNESCO Heritage Site?

Bogota, Colombia
Lima, Peru
Buenos Aires, Argentina
Quito, Ecuador

The correct answer is Quito, Ecuador

So why is this answer correct? : More than 1,000 individual UNESCO World Heritage Sites dot the globe, but a select few cities and towns are so full of cultural experiences and landmarks that their entire area has been named a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Quito, the capital city of Ecuador, is one such cultural treasure. The city was founded in the 16th century on Incan ruins, and it remains one of the best-preserved and least-altered historic cities in South America.

Trivia: South America’s Atacama Desert holds what distinction?

Hottest average temperature
Largest desert
Most biodiverse desert
Driest non-polar desert

The correct answer is Driest non-polar desert

So why is this answer correct? : Wedged between the Cordillera de la Costa mountain range and the Andes, Chile’s 600-mile-long Atacama Desert is the driest non-polar desert in the world. (Deserts in parts of Antarctica are even drier.) The Atacama Desert receives less than one millimeter of rainfall each year on average, and there are parts of the desert that have never recorded rainfall.

Trivia: What is the name of South America’s largest island?

Isabela Island
Isla del Sol
Easter Island
Isla Grande

The correct answer is Isla Grande

So why is this answer correct? : South America’s largest island is Isla Grande de Tierra del Fuego, the largest island in the “Land of Fire” archipelago located on the southern tip of the continent. The eastern half of Isla Grande, as well as some of the smaller islands, belong to Argentina, while the western half is part of Chile. The Tierra del Fuego islands are separated from South America by the Magellan Strait.

Trivia: What is the second-longest river in South America?

Orinoco River
Paraguay River
Paraná River
Rio Negro

The correct answer is Paraná River

So why is this answer correct? : The Amazon River is at least 4,000 miles long, but after the Amazon, the second-longest river in South America is the Paraná, whose 3,032-mile span begins in Brazil and runs south through Paraguay and into Argentina. There, it joins the Uruguay River to form the Río de la Plata estuary, which flows into the Atlantic Ocean.

Trivia: What South American country has two capitals?

Uruguay
Peru
Guyana
Bolivia

The correct answer is Bolivia

So why is this answer correct? : Bolivia is one of just a handful of countries around the world to have two capitals. Bolivia’s official seat of government is in La Paz, while Sucre is the legal (constitutional) capital and the seat of the judiciary. Sucre was the first capital after independence from Spain, but after a period of political upheaval, an agreement was made in 1899 to share power between the two cities.

Trivia: In which country will you find the closest point on Earth to the moon?

Colombia
Venezuela
Ecuador
Guyana

The correct answer is Ecuador

So why is this answer correct? : Though Mount Everest is Earth’s tallest peak, the planet isn’t perfectly round. A bulge at the Earth’s equator, where Ecuador is located, makes Mount Chimborazo the closest point on Earth to the moon. That’s despite the fact that Mount Everest is over 9,000 feet higher than Mount Chimborazo, which is 20,564 feet tall.

Trivia: India and Sri Lanka are home to the smallest species of what?

Dog
Monkey
Ferret
Cat

The correct answer is Cat

So why is this answer correct? : Growing to just under 16 inches (excluding the tail), the rusty-spotted cat is the world’s most microscopic feline and is native to the home of many of the world’s largest cats: India and Sri Lanka. They are categorized as “near-threatened” species but are legally protected in both countries. The rusty-spotted cat is shy but has been seen living around much larger members of the cat family, like Bengal tigers.

Trivia: The smallest fish in the world is missing part of its what?

Gills
Skull
Tailfin
Eyes

The correct answer is Skull

So why is this answer correct? : The Paedocypris fish is less than one-third of an inch long, making it the smallest known fish — it’s so tiny, in fact, that it does not have a complete skull. Found in Indonesian swamps, they are able to survive droughts by living in puddles. The largest Paedocypris fish ever measured was .41 inches, nose-to-tail.