NewsTracker Answers for week of May 05, 2008

Q: Some inhabitants of the Greek island of Lesbos have filed a lawsuit to stop the use of the word 'lesbian' in the name of a local gay rights organization. The group says that if their suit is successful, they will attempt to raise their challenge to an international level to reclaim the designation as the way the islanders refer to themselves. Where in the world is Greece?

Circle the area on this map

Q: Lesbos is the third largest of the Greek islands. Eubola is the second. Which is the largest of the Greek Islands?

A. Sparta

B. Crete

C. Sardinia

D. Cyprus

B. Crete is the largest of the 1,400 islands of Greece. It was the center of the Minoan civilization, the most ancient in Europe.

Q: The term lesbian originated from the Lesbos native Sappho, a poet who wrote about love of other women during the 7th Century BC. In that same century, Greeks founded the nearby city of Byzantium. What is the modern name of the city?

A. Athens

B. Mytilene

C. Constantinople

D. Istanbul

D. Byzantium became known as Constantinople after Roman emperor Constantine I made it his capital in 330. But, it was renamed Istanbul in 1930. The city extends on both the European and Asian sides of the Bosphorus, making it the only city situated on two continents.

Q: The island of Lesbos is in which sea?

A. Aegean Sea

B. Black Sea

C. Ionian Sea

D. Adriatic Sea

A. The Aegean is an arm of the Mediterranean Sea between the mainlands of Greece and Turkey.

Q: What is the predominant religion on Lesbos?

A. Catholic

B. Orthodox

C. Protestant

D. Wiccan

B. Greece is 98 percent Greek Orthodox, 1.3 percent Muslim and 0.7 percent other religions.