Can You Identify these Countries Using their Outlines?


Ladies and gentlemen welcome! Fancy yourself a jet setter like Carmen San Diego? Let's see if you can name these countries by their borders! It should be fairly easy if you're a world traveler, or if you've ever looked at a map.

For those of us that aren't cartographers we developed this quiz to challenge your mind. We know you're going to to great!


Quiz WriterEloise


Did you know?

Even as early as 200 AD, maps were drawn that were so accurate you could recognize and use them today?

Mapping land regions was exceptionally accurate even in ancient times. The first maps were simple cave paintings recognizing landmarks and features like hills or dwellings. But, for thousands of years, most people didn't even use maps to travel on land by foot or horseback, they just followed well-known paths and roads. This is pretty impressive seeing as now most people don't travel more than ten miles without using their phone for directions.

Early Cartography was actually more focused on making sea travel, which was harder to navigate, accurate. Essentially, map making is math. If you can measure distances and angles, you have what you need to map the world. The length of the sun's path moving across the sky was a big part of this equation. The stars in the night sky offered, even more, help in navigation. In fact, the earliest known detailed maps are of the stars, not the earth. The stars allowed early cartographers and navigators to easily determine north and south since the north star is always in the same place, so using math and their relation to that star, they were able to create maps with very accurate latitudes. Surveying was a valuable skill as well to build upon the accuracy of maps. Surveyors traveled with compasses, measuring chains, and optical equipment to measure altitudes and distances. Nations often employed a national surveyor to make maps, and because these maps were crucial for military purposes, they were considered valuable and top secret. Of course now, with google earth cam capturing all sorts of crazy sightings, nothing is secret.

How to Play?




About Heywise







Trending on Heywise