Question - 697

Identify the long orange line in the image. (question courtesy: Mekhala)

Question - 693

Identify the building (green arrow in left picture). Question courtesy: Mekhala

Question - 671

What is this a map of?

Answer: Hogwarts. I blanked out Hogsmeade, Hagrid's house and the Quidditch field. NJ, Iam, Karthik, Siddarth Pai, Jaggi, Jamie and Raghu got it. Well done.

Question - 625

This phrase can be used to describe a feature of the image on the right and many more images just like this one. However, the only known historical usage of this phrase (in its exact form) occurs in the first image. Identify the first object and the phrase.

Answer: The phrase is "Here be Dragons" used to denote uncharted areas on ancient maps. Though this phrase is now rather popular, it has only appeared in this exact form (in Latin) in one historical map namely the Hurt-Lenox globe. Siddarth Pai, Iam, Raghu, Krithi, anon, Giantamoeba, Divya and Saket got it. Well done.

Question - 619

The map on the left depicts an rating scale named after the person on the right. Identify.

Answer: The Sudanese telecom billionaire Mo Ibrahim (right)after whom the Ibrahim Index of African Governance (left) is named. Saket, Krithi, Divya Shankar, mekie, and Sribharath got it. Well done.

Question - 618

Connect. (Hint: The white arrows in the left image)

Answer: I was looking for Ghibli - the local name for the Sirocco wind in Libya (left picture), famously mentioned in the Oscar-winning English Patient (top right). It lends its name to the wonderful Studio Ghibli (Hayao Miyazaki et al.) which is famous for producing many animated features including Miyazaki's Totoro (featured on Studio Ghibli's logo). Only Anonymous got it.

Question - 612

What does this map depict? (Note: "It" is measured on a 10-point scale)

Answer: The Democracy index, which measures the state of democracy in 167 countries. Deepanshu, mekie, and Saket got it. Well done!

Question - 607

Identify and connect.

Answer: The connect is the Fountain of Youth. The map shows the 1513 voyage of the Ponce de Leon, who was famous for his quest for the fountain. The next installment of Pirates of the Caribbean (based on the book "On Stranger Tides" by Tim Powers) deals with a similar quest. Saket, Sribharath, matti tapaninen, Krithi, mekie, and Jamie got it. Good job.

Question - 599

Connect.

Answer: The US State of Ohio has special days named after the three people in the picture (clockwise): Swami Vivekananda, Rabindranath Tagore, and (oddly enough) the singer Shreya Ghoshal. Ameya, mekie (wrong singer), Dinesh, Kaushik, and Manasi got it. Nicely done - especially give the obscurity of this piece of trivia.

Question - 597

A map from the 1650's perpetuating what cartographic error (and its associated mythical nomenclature)?

Question - 595

What does this map depict?

Question - 591

What does this map depict?

Question - 586

What does this map depict? (courtesy: Manix)

Answer: The map depicts areas of high-levels of Chromium in tap water. Vetti alone got it right. Bravo!

Question - 583

"Map Tuesdays" are back by popular (read Iam) demand. What does this map depict? (courtesy: Manix)

Question - 580

What is the significance of these color mappings? (courtesy: Dinky)

Answer: The cardinal directions (NESW and Center -- the columns in the color matrix) in Far-East cultures were associated with certain colors that were used to name various geographical features, e.g. Red Sea, Black Sea etc. Krithi, Dinesh, Manix, Divya Shankar, and mekie got it. Well done.

Question - 579

What does this map depict? (courtesy: Manix)

Answer: United States of Autocomplete. Google's autocomplete feature applied to the names of each state (as of Dec 3, 2010). AJ, Krithi, Dinesh, mekie, and jamie got it. Nicely cracked.

Question - 578

What does this map depict? (courtesy: Manix)

Answer: The Missouri Compromise (and its extensions) between pro-slavery and anti-slavery factions that prohibiting slavery in western territories north of the 36°30' parallel (green line) except in the boundaries of the proposed state of Missouri (left blank). Krithi, mekie, Iam, jamie got it. Well done.

Question - 568

What curious incident?

Answer: A border dispute broke out between Costa Rica and Nicaragua where a territorial claim was made by citing Google Maps. Ameya, Krithi, Jaggi, and matti tapaninen got it.

Question - 560

Whose journey?

Answer: The journey of Aeneas, a Trojan who became the ancestor of the Romans, as recounted in Virgil's Aeneid. matti tapaninen, Divya Shankar, and Hirak got it. Nice crack.

Question - 554

What does this map represent? (Question courtesy: Manix)

Answer: This is a map showing the geographic locations of start-ups. More here: http://startup-map.datalysed.com/