Consider the following countries: 1. Finland 2. Germany 3. Norway 4. Russia. How many of the above countries have a border with the North Sea?

Answer: (b) Only two

Germany and Norway border the North Sea. Finland and Russia are on the Baltic.

The idea

North Sea coasts: the UK, Norway, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium and France. Finland and Russia face the Baltic (Gulf of Finland, Gulf of Bothnia).

Why the others are wrong

(a) Picks only Norway, forgetting Germany’s short North Sea coast (Bremerhaven, the Elbe mouth).

(c) Adds Finland because it is Nordic. It faces the Baltic (Gulf of Finland), not the North Sea.

(d) Adds Russia and Finland — both are Baltic countries; the North Sea ends at Norway and Denmark.

The trap

Russia is huge and “northern”, and Finland is Nordic, so both feel like North Sea countries. The North Sea stops at Denmark and Norway.