08 December 2023

Quiz: How well do you know travel in lands of fire and ice?

From fire festivals to iceberg capitals, let's see how hot (or cold) your knowledge is on the world's most elemental places...

2 mins

All images: Shutterstock

1. Every winter Since 1989, a hotel constructed of ice has been built from scratch in the village of Jukkasjärvi. Which country will you find it?

Lithuania

Sweden

Estonia

Denmark

2. The hottest temperature on Earth was recorded in 1913 at Furnace Creek in which Californian national park?

Death Valley National Park

Yosemite National Park

Pinnacles National Park

Joshua Tree National Park

3. The Greenland Ice sheet is a mass body of ice that roughly covers what percentage of the surface of Greenland?

30%

45%

80%

95%

4. On the Arctic coast of which country would you expect to find the Smoking Hills, which have been continuously smouldering for centuries?

Mongolia

Canada

Denmark (Greenland)

Norway

5. Fedchenko Glacier is the longest glacier in the world outside the polar regions. Where is it?

Mongolia

Tajikistan

Switzerland

Argentina

6. Which country styles itself as the ‘Land of Fire’, thanks to its history of Zoroastrian fire worship and the natural gas fires of the Yanar Dag peninsula?

Armenia

Uzbekistan

Turkmenistan

Azerbaijan

7. Where will you find the UNESCO-listed ice cap of Vatnajökull?

Iceland

Sweden

Denmark

Norway

8. Where would you find the real ‘Land of Fire’ – an archipelago at the southern tip of a continent?

Tierra del Fuego

The Azores

Canary Islands

Svalbard

9. Which of these lakes does NOT turn into a natural ice skating rink when its water freezes over?

Lac de Joux

Lake Weissensee

Lake Tahoe

Lake Louise

10. The Eternal Flame is an ever-burning memorial to the victims of the Second World War in which Balkan capital?

Sarajevo, Bosnia & Herzegovina

Tirana, Albania

Podgorica, Montenegro

Belgrade, Serbia

11. Chile’s Torres del Paine National Park is home to a 6km-wide glacier with which colour in its name?

Green

Grey

Gold

Garnet

12. Japan is famed for its fire festivals, but which of the following is not in Japan?

Wakakusa Yamayaki

Oniyo Fire Festival

Up Helly Aa

Nachi Fire Festival

13. In which US state will you find Mendenhall Glacier?

Wisconsin

Colorado

Washington State

Alaska

14. Which of the following places in Asia does not have its own snow and/or ice festival?

Sapporo, Japan

Hwacheon-gun, South Korea

Pyongyang, North Korea

Taipei, Taiwan

15. Which town is known as the ‘Iceberg capital of the world’?

Fairbanks, Canada

Churchill, Canada

Stanley, Falkland Islands

Ilulissat, Greenland

16. The Darvaza gas crater fire is a popular attraction that has been burning since 1971 in which Central Asian country?

Turkmenistan

Kyrgyzstan

Kazakhstan

Mongolia

17. Which Canadian province is popular for iceberg viewing from spring to early summer?

Newfoundland and Labrador

Quebec

British Columbia

Manitoba

18. The Montañas del Fuego (Mountains of Fire) lie within Timanfaya National Park and are known for locals cooking their food using its geothermal energy. You can find them on which Spanish island?

Tenerife

Mallorca

Lanzarote

Menorca

19. In which country can you drive the Icefields Parkway?

USA

Canada

New Zealand

Japan

20. In parts of southern Greece and Bulgaria, a festival geared around the saints days of Constantine and Helen traditionally ends in a performance of the Anastenaria. What is this?

Jumping through a ring of fire

Dancing with fire

Fire-eating

A barefoot fire-walking ritual

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