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U.S. Geography True or False #1

Can you guess whether these geographical statements are true or false?
Quiz by Quizmaster
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Last updated: August 31, 2022
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First submittedApril 4, 2021
Times taken25,364
Average score73.3%
Rating4.45
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1. The Great Salt Lake is one of the Great Lakes
True
False
2. There are no active volcanoes in the U.S. east of the Mississippi River
True
False
3. There are no deserts in the U.S. east of the Mississippi River
True
False
4. Hollywood is the name of a city in California
True
False
Hollywood is a neighborhood of Los Angeles, not a city. There is, however, a city named Hollywood in Florida.
5. Most of the land in Nevada is owned by the federal government
True
False
79.6% of Nevada's land is held by thefederal government
6. Parts of Maine are further north than parts of Alaska
True
False
7. It is possible to see Russian territory from the suburbs of Anchorage
True
False
The nearest Russian territory is more than 600 miles away
8. Colorado borders Utah
True
False
9. If you sail due east from Boston, the first land you hit would be Great Britain
True
False
You would end up in Spain
10. More than 1/3rd of people in Louisiana speak French as a first language
True
False
Only about 3.5% of Louisiana residents speak French at home
11. The state of New York has a higher population than Florida
True
False
12. Detroit is connected via bridge to Canada
True
False
13. Indiana borders one of the Great Lakes
True
False
Indiana has 41 miles of shoreline on Lake Michigan
14. Oakland is a suburb of Los Angeles
True
False
Oakland is in the San Francisco Bay area
15. St. Louis is west of the Mississippi River
True
False
37 Comments
+12
Level 66
Apr 4, 2021
I feel like I should have realized that the Desert of Maine does not qualify as a real desert.
+3
Level 86
Apr 5, 2021
I was tripped up by the same thing!
+2
Level 79
Apr 5, 2021
Or the cultural desert of certain areas.
+2
Level 90
Apr 5, 2021
I thought I would be the only one who knew of its existence.
+2
Level 89
Apr 9, 2021
I had not heard of this before. Pretty neat.
+1
Level 76
Oct 2, 2023
Relatable. Only question I missed.
+2
Level 76
Apr 5, 2021
Although there is a part of western Spain that extends further west than some but not all of Portugal, if you sailed due east from Boston; based on latitude, would you not hit Portugal first?
+3
Level 86
Apr 5, 2021
I thought the same thing, but if you look at a globe, it looks like you would hit that part of Spain that sits above Portugal first.
+1
Level 68
May 8, 2021
Yes, you would hit Spain, specifically Ons Island.
+10
Level 55
Apr 5, 2021
Well Detroit doesnt share a land border, but a river border, maybe change that?
+5
Level 81
May 8, 2021
Agree, that is very ambiguous.
+4
Level 67
May 8, 2021
Hmm. I don't know. If you ever go to Detroit, you'll hear pretty quickly that Windsor, Ontario is just over the bridge. Yes, you have to cross the Detroit River to get there, but they are so close that it's hard to claim they don't border each other. It takes like three minutes by car to get from Windsor to Detroit. And of course, there is a border in the most technical sense about halfway across the Detroit River. I suppose if you've never been near Detroit or Windsor, it comes across very differently. But if you've been to either, you know that you can look right across the water and see the other city very clearly.
+5
Level 78
Nov 11, 2021
Sure, but we still say that Texas borders Mexico, or that Illinois borders Missouri, even though those are entirely river borders.
+3
Level 67
Apr 5, 2021
Nice, and good, intriguing questions. There is however a typo for the explanation on number 5.
+1
Level 61
Apr 26, 2021
Yeah. They need to fix that.
+1
Level 61
Apr 6, 2021
In case people are wondering about the Nevada question, CGP Grey did a video about federal land: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LruaD7XhQ50
+2
Level 56
Apr 12, 2021
94% of people got that utah borders colorado. Of course I don't know what are supposed to be the obvious questions.
+1
Level 83
May 8, 2021
Does anyone else find it surprising that the most wrong-answered question is the one about Maine and Alaska? Did a lot of people assume it was a trick question?
+3
Level 67
May 8, 2021
I got it right, but I stopped to think about, wondering whether there was some Alaskan island that drooped waaaaaay down the Canadian coast. If someone had asked me that question at random, I could answer it without flinching, but in the context of this site and the quiz, I wondered if I was being duped.
+4
Level 52
May 8, 2021
It does seem like one of those weird geographical facts, such as the fact that Reno is further west than Los Angeles
+3
Level 71
May 8, 2021
Sarah Palin clearly doesn't live in the suburbs of Anchorage!
+1
Level 69
May 9, 2021
She might also be a flat-earther, in which case, seeing 600 miles is just a matter of having powerful enough binoculars!
+2
Level 84
Aug 8, 2023
Maybe you know and maybe you don't, but for any comment-readers who don't know: Sarah Palin's famous "quote" regarding her ability to see Russia from her house was Tina Fey on SNL, not Palin.
+1
Level 72
Oct 4, 2023
The literal quote about her house, yes, was from SNL. What she said, in response to a question about her insights into foreign affairs, was that you could see Russia from land in Alaska.

While the actual quote might be misattributed, misleading or out-of-context, it's popular because it uses exaggeration to mock the deeply stupid idea that being able to see Russia from an island in Alaska gives Palin insight into foreign affairs, which is what she was claiming in her answer.

So, no, the quote isn't literally true, but it also wasn't made up out of thin air, and there's a somewhat nuanced truth underneath it. It's not something she literally said, but it's an exaggeration of something she said that was equally stupid.

+1
Level 58
May 8, 2021
In question 5, there is a typo in the sentence you see after you complete the quiz. Great quiz apart from that. :)
+3
Level 33
May 10, 2021
How did only 52% of people get the "Parts of Maine are north than parts of Alaska"?
+1
Level 62
May 12, 2021
I'm confused as to how 35% of people don't know where Anchorage is
+3
Level 82
Sep 10, 2022
Well maybe some of us just have better vision than you. How do you know how far I can see?
+1
Level 68
Dec 10, 2021
If Hollywood is not a city, then why are Beverly Hills and Venice Beach cities and not suburbs?
+2
Level 84
Oct 2, 2023
Beverly Hills is a city because it has its own municipal government with a mayor, city council, etc. Hollywood and Venice are neighborhoods governed by the city of Los Angeles. Venice Beach is just a beach.
+3
Level 64
Oct 3, 2023
There is a city in Los Angeles County called West Hollywood. The city of West Hollywood is considered part of the Hollywood area; the rest of which is made up of neighbourhoods of the city of Los Angeles - such as East Hollywood. I think.

So the question is technically correct, but not straightforward.

+1
Level 69
Oct 4, 2023
Yeah, this is what confused me. I've heard people who live in West Hollywood discuss it as though it were a city, so I assumed Hollywood, too, must be a city.

But most people have not made that mistake, so perhaps I just over thought it.

+1
Level 41
Aug 27, 2022
Well, my uncle who used to live in Alaska has said he's seen Russia from Anchorage himself. (I actually haven't heard it directly from him but from my mom who is sisters with him so I trust her)
+1
Level 73
May 13, 2023
Er, for those of us who like to discuss how Semisopochnoi, an island with active volcanoes, is the easternmost part of the U.S., can you add a "continental" to Q2 please?
+1
Level 75
Oct 2, 2023
Isn't St. Louis on the Mississippi river, i.e. on both sides?
+2
Level 90
Oct 2, 2023
No, St. Louis (Missouri) is completely on the west side of the river. You might be thinking about the separate city of East St. Louis (Illinois), which is on the east side of the river.
+1
Level 70
Oct 3, 2023
Yeah I knew that Louisiana one was some cap I was like no way it's that high