NewsTracker Answers for week of Dec. 05, 2016

Q: The Netherlands and Belgium last week signed a deal for a peaceful exchange of land between them for the mere fact that it makes sense to do so. Where are the Netherlands and Belgium?

Circle the area on this map

Q: Belgium gave up a tiny peninsula on the Meuse river that was linked only to the Netherlands and got in return a nearby piece from its neighbor. What are Belgium and the Netherlands often called?

A. Holland

B. Heart of Europe

C. Low Countries

D. Dutch Treat

C. The Low Countries include the Netherlands, Belgium, and its tiny neighbor Luxembourg. The area includes the coastal region and the low-lying delta of the Rhine, Meuse, Scheldt, and Ems rivers where much of the land is at or below sea level.

Q: The river peninsula became a problem a few years ago when Belgian police had difficulty investigating a body found on the spit of land. The Meuse forms much of the border between the two countries and drains into which sea on the nations’ coasts?

A. Baltic

B. Dutch

C. English

D. North

D. The North Sea is the part of the Atlantic Ocean located between Great Britain, Scandinavia, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, and France.

Q: The people of the Netherlands and most Belgians speak Dutch. What is the second most common language in Belgium?

A. English

B. French

C. German

D. Old Norse

B. French is the primary language about a third of Belgians, primarily in Wallonia in the southern half of the country. Languages like Dutch, German, English and the Scandinavian tongues are Germanic, while languages like French, Spanish and Italian are derived from Latin. Belgium straddles the divide between Latin and Germanic Europe.

Q: What is the Netherlands – which literally means “lower countries” - doing to deal with the threat of flooding from climate change?

A. Developing new crops

B. Raising its dikes

C. Moving people

D. All of the above

D. With half its land below or less than a meter above sea level, the Netherlands is raising its dikes to protect against sea levels which are expected to rise more than a meter. It is moving people away from rivers expected to swell from heavier rainfall. And, it is developing potatoes, carrots, strawberries and lettuce that can grow in saltier water.