useless trivia: What Word Means: The Son Of Joktan - A Region Containing Gold?

Questions

The ------------ is actually a desert environment, averaging about the same amount of monthly rainfall as the Sahara Desert.?

Taiwan was known formerly as -----------------?

The standard single oar used by gondoliers in ------------ is 14 feet long.?

--------------- has 254 counties. Alaska, which is more than twice as large, hasn't any.?

------------ means "land of the free."?