The Wombat File Is Yours to Keep

Hark, the chronically late angels sing of Round Three of the unquenchable if slow-burning Q.U.I.Z. Bestir yourself from your eggnog hangover and get ready for an all-geography round.

Rules are as in previous rounds, covered here and here. The schedule for this one is as follows.

Pre-clue answers will be due by 12:01 A.M. Tuesday, January 2 -- that is, essentially the end of the day on New Year's Day. I'll post clues on Tuesday, and final answers for Round Three will be due 12:01 AM Friday, January 5.

Please avert your eyes from maps, gazetteers, guidebooks, and the endpapers of A Wizard of Earthsea, just in case, to say nothing of the Internetty version of the same.

On your marks...

1. It has eight townships, two rivers two incorporated towns, and six Indian reserves. It also contains Lake Manitou, the largest lake of its kind in the world. What record is set by this geological formation? Lake Manitou is the largest among lakes of what sort? 40 points/40 points.

2. The northernmost point of mainland Europe is in Norway. It's southernmost is in Spain and easternmost westernmost is in Norway Portugal (please excuse an exhausted Wombat's idiot typos). If the Urals demarcate mainland Europe's eastern border, in what country is its exact geographic center located? 80 points.

3. The number of new additions to the list of states in the United Nations since January 1, 2000, is five. Two are islands or part of islands, one of which has the lowest per capita GDP in the world. One of the others was in the League of Nations in 1926 but only recently joined the U.N. The other two slots can be accounted for by a nation that was admitted in 2000, changed its name in 2003, and then had part of it break away and join the U.N. this year -- prompting yet another name change for the remainder. As the roster currently stands, what are the names of the five states which have joined the U.N. since 2000? 20 points each (100 total)

4. The second-largest river on its continent, running for over 1600 miles, this waterway lends its name to a nation and is one of the world's largest generators of hydroelectric power -- making the country that takes its name from the river one of the globe's biggest exporters of hydroelectric power. What is the name of the country? 80 points.

5. This subsection of a U.S. state was the site of the nation's first copper boom in the 1850s. Covering an area as large as the nation of Denmark, it is the only area of its size in the U.S. where a plurality of residents claim Finnish ancestry. What state is it part of? 80 points

6. The bioweapons laboratory and testing site called Renaissance Island" (translated) is now no longer a bioweapons facilty, nor an island. What two countries now share jurisdiction? What phenomenon has caused it to lose its identity as an island? 40 points/ 40 points.