# geography trick questions **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 8, 2004, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geography-trick-questions/223496 "2004-01-08T20:18:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Lord\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ecccb3/32.png) [@Lord\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Jim)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2004, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geography-trick-questions/223496/41 "2004-01-10T01:22:05Z")
But, but, doesn’t Mexico have states, too? Wouldn’t you have to count traveling through them. ---
**Author:** ![jackelope](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a6a055/32.png) [@jackelope](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackelope)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2004, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geography-trick-questions/223496/42 "2004-01-10T03:38:47Z")
OK, this one will be obvious for Kentuckians, but I like it: How do native Kentuckians pronounce the capital city of their state? Is it “loo-iss-ville,” “loo-vuhl,” “loo-ah-ville,” or what? “Frankfort.” ---
**Author:** ![Cabbage](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f07891/32.png) [@Cabbage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cabbage)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2004, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geography-trick-questions/223496/43 "2004-01-10T03:50:37Z")
> [@](#): > > Starting from the coast of the Gulf of Mexico, and traveling only by land, what is the fewest number of states you can travel through to reach Canada? I was thinking about the (Mexico)-California-Oregon-Washington three state solution as well. If the Mexico way isn’t valid, the best I can see is four: Texas, New Mexico, Utah (after squeezing your way between Arizona and Colorado without hitting either), Idaho, and into Canada. ---
**Author:** ![Gest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9d8465/32.png) [@Gest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gest)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2004, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geography-trick-questions/223496/44 "2004-01-10T04:01:09Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Lord Jim \* > \*\*But, but, doesn’t Mexico have states, too? Wouldn’t you have to count traveling through them. \*\* Damn. Although strictly speaking, they’d have _estados_ I’m guessing. Sort of like how Mexicans probably don’t refer to el President Americano as _Jorge_, similarly it would be incorrect to call their regions _states_. Stretching it a bit thin aren’t I? Jackelope’s question is an example of a good, intermediate trick question for non-American trivia nights. _How long have LA or New York been the capitals of their respective states?_ Bzzt! ---
**Author:** ![Zoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a4c791/32.png) [@Zoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zoe)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2004, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geography-trick-questions/223496/45 "2004-01-10T04:17:16Z")
> [@](#): > > **Tripler** : Pardon me. Slight typo. The original island was NY, but expansion went into NJ. Of course, I always thought that she was in New York, but the island is across the NJ state line. However, someone else told me that the island itself belongs to New York State. So I’m still wondering myself. She is lovely, isn’t she? I hope to see for myself this fall. ---
**Author:** ![Coldfire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a587f6/32.png) [@Coldfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coldfire)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2004, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geography-trick-questions/223496/46 "2004-01-10T04:27:56Z")
I think Mexico has provinces, administratively speaking. Not that it matters too much in this debate. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Ex\_Machina](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/278dde/32.png) [@Ex\_Machina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ex_Machina)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2004, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geography-trick-questions/223496/47 "2004-01-10T19:41:05Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Cabbage \* > \*\*If the Mexico way isn’t valid, the best I can see is four: Texas, New Mexico, Utah (after squeezing your way between Arizona and Colorado without hitting either), Idaho, and into Canada. \*\* Cabbage found the solution I intended. This is an Ex Machina original so I imagined there might be an argument. You have to allow for becoming a theoretical entity the width of the point of contact between Utah and New Mexico. Any corrections in the phrasing of this puzzle are welcome. ---
**Author:** ![Dragon\_Phoenix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bcef8e/32.png) [@Dragon\_Phoenix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dragon_Phoenix)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2004, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geography-trick-questions/223496/48 "2004-01-10T20:29:39Z")
Thanks a lot **Coldfire**. I could not believe what you posted, but according to several sites, you’re right. Fascinating! ---
**Author:** ![Sternvogel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bc79bd/32.png) [@Sternvogel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sternvogel)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2004, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geography-trick-questions/223496/49 "2004-01-11T02:54:09Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Coldfire \* > **I think Mexico has provinces, administratively speaking.** No, the official name of the country is Los Estados Unidos de México. As an article I once read observed: “Mexicans may properly consider themselves Americans, North Americans, and citizens of the United States.” ---
**Author:** ![snac](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/90db22/32.png) [@snac](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snac)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2004, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geography-trick-questions/223496/50 "2004-01-11T03:43:06Z")
Polycarp–a bird flying south from extreme western Florida would briefly enter Alabama before jetting out over the Gulf of Mexico. (I know this because about four years back I had occasion to drive US 31 from Atmore to Mobile, both in Alabama. My atlas suggested that the road went very briefly into Florida, but I never saw a sign to that effect. Being somewhat compulsive, I emailed the Alabama DOT and got the straight dope on the subject–the road does NOT go through Florida, even a little. But the borderline in those parts is permanently fixed in my brain.) CalMeacham–It took a while for me to process your question, but you must mean Kentucky/Missouri/Tennessee, in part where there’s that little tiny skin-tag enclave of Kentucky opposite New Madrid. Once at the western edge, once at the eastern edge, and once further east still at the western edge of “mainland” Kentucky. Is there an “East Side” of Chicago? Explain. ---
**Author:** ![David\_Simmons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9de053/32.png) [@David\_Simmons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/David_Simmons)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2004, 6:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geography-trick-questions/223496/51 "2004-01-11T06:56:43Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by jackelope \* > \*\*OK, this one will be obvious for Kentuckians, but I like it: > > How do native Kentuckians pronounce the capital city of their state? Is it “loo-iss-ville,” “loo-vuhl,” “loo-ah-ville,” or what? > > “Frankfort.” \*\* Most of them call it Frankfort. Where is the southernmost glacier in the northern hemisphere? ---
**Author:** ![Noone\_Special](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/noone_special/32/2863_2.png) [@Noone\_Special](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Noone_Special)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2004, 7:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geography-trick-questions/223496/52 "2004-01-11T07:32:32Z")
Anyone who has been to Israel - which is further East, Haifa, on the Mediterranean, or Eilat, on the Jordanian border? Haifa, of course, or I wouldn’t be asking… Dani ---
**Author:** ![jackelope](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a6a055/32.png) [@jackelope](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackelope)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2004, 10:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geography-trick-questions/223496/53 "2004-01-11T10:41:46Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by David Simmons \* > **Most of them call it Frankfort.** You didn’t actually read my spoiler box, did you? ---
**Author:** ![Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2004, 12:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geography-trick-questions/223496/54 "2004-01-11T12:02:07Z")
How many capital cities have four As in them? ---
**Author:** ![David\_Simmons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9de053/32.png) [@David\_Simmons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/David_Simmons)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2004, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geography-trick-questions/223496/55 "2004-01-11T14:43:55Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by jackelope \* > \*\*You didn’t actually read my spoiler box, did you? \*\* Not before I answered but I might as well have. My nephew worked in Louisville and married a woman from Kentucky so I’d heard the question before. Also, we learned all of the capitials in school and I can still do them. There are a lot of mixups about state capitals. Many people will name Baltimore when asked the capital of Maryland, or Reno for Nevada, St. Louis for Missouri and think Kansas City is in Kansas. (There is one in Kansas but that response is a mere quibble.) ---
**Author:** ![Ponder\_Stibbons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponder_stibbons/32/343_2.png) [@Ponder\_Stibbons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponder_Stibbons)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2004, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geography-trick-questions/223496/56 "2004-01-11T15:27:40Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Ex Machina \* > \*\*Starting from the coast of the Gulf of Mexico, and traveling only by land, what is the fewest number of states you can travel through to reach Canada? \*\* Actually, there is a way to do this without performing the amazing feat of vanishing into a single dimension required for the previously posted answer (Texas, New Mexico, Utah (after squeezing your way between Arizona and Colorado without hitting either), Idaho, and into Canada). State 1: Mississippi (or Alabama) State 2: Tennessee State 3: Kentucky State 4: Ohio and across Lake Ontario into Canada. The northernmost boundary of Ohio actually lies in the lake and is also (of course) the Canadian border. ---
**Author:** ![Ponder\_Stibbons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponder_stibbons/32/343_2.png) [@Ponder\_Stibbons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponder_Stibbons)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2004, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geography-trick-questions/223496/57 "2004-01-11T15:31:31Z")
… except, of course, I meant Lake Erie. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2004, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geography-trick-questions/223496/58 "2004-01-11T16:21:06Z")
And which country is Europe’s largest grower of bananas? ---
**Author:** ![Wolfian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/7ea924/32.png) [@Wolfian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wolfian)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2004, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geography-trick-questions/223496/59 "2004-01-11T16:44:59Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by xayoz306 \* > \*\*Can anyone name the northernmost permanently inhabited location in the world??? \*\* Thule, Greenland. My father was stationed at the US military base there for a few months while I was a kid. And I compare about the weather in Central New York. At least the clouds light up in the day time. ---
**Author:** ![Ex\_Machina](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/278dde/32.png) [@Ex\_Machina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ex_Machina)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2004, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geography-trick-questions/223496/60 "2004-01-11T16:50:25Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Ponder Stibbons \* > \*\*Actually, there is a way to do this without performing the amazing feat of vanishing into a single dimension required for the previously posted answer… > State 1: Mississippi (or Alabama) > State 2: Tennessee > State 3: Kentucky > State 4: Ohio and across Lake Ontario into Canada. The northernmost boundary of Ohio actually lies in the lake and is also (of course) the Canadian border. \*\* The “traveling only by land” condition was supposed to obviate this route. I was trying to convey the idea that from coast to border would be land contiguous. Maybe the puzzle should have said “by foot” because you can hop from New Mexico to Utah but you probably can’t sprint across Erie. Oh, and no inflatable water shoes either. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geography-trick-questions/223496.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geography-trick-questions/223496.md?page=4)