Use location and neighbours, rather than the number alone.
The exercise shows one map of Germany with four numbered pointers to highlighted federal states. Follow the line from number 3 to its arrow in the western state territory. The number is outside the required area; its position at the edge is not the state’s location.
Three German neighbours provide orientation: Niedersachsen to the north and north-east, Hesse to the east and Rhineland-Palatinate to the south. The Netherlands and Belgium lie along its western external border. North Rhine-Westphalia itself has no sea coast.
The other three answers
Each other pointer indicates a different state.
1
Number 1 points to Niedersachsen, north of North Rhine-Westphalia. The broad northern area reaches the North Sea and is not the required state.
2
Number 2 points to Rhineland-Palatinate, south of North Rhine-Westphalia. The Rhine also flows there, so the river’s name alone does not distinguish the two.
4
Number 4 points to Hesse, east of North Rhine-Westphalia. It lies further inland and is not the western area indicated by number 3.
Read arrows, areas and names together.
Nordrhein does not mean that the state lies on Germany’s northern sea coast. Its western position on the map is decisive. The Rhine’s name alone is also insufficient because the same river passes through several states.
Number 3 applies only to this map. Other maps may use different numbers or colours. The two editorial AI illustrations are not geographic evidence; the unchanged catalogue map appears separately in the quiz.
Geographic location and neighbours · ARL · North Rhine-Westphalia profile ↗NRW: western Germany, between Niedersachsen and Rhineland-Palatinate.
On this map, number 3 leads to the correct area.
Three words for this question
- die Landesgrenzestate boundary
- A boundary between federal states or with a neighbouring country.
- der Verweispointer / reference
- A marker connecting a number to a map area here.
- das Binnenlandinland territory
- An area without a direct sea coast.