Historical Geography Trivia Questions
Total Questions: 100
What was the country that used the ostmark as its basic monetary unit?
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east germany
On which island did Carlo and Letizia Bonaparte raise their son Napoleon during his early years?
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corsica
What is the name of the peninsula where the Pilgrims first landed in the New World in 1620, often associated with a type of fish?
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cape cod
What future U.S. commonwealth did Columbus name San Juan Bautista when he reached it in 1493?
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puerto rico
Which city was surrounded by the narrow strip of land ruled by the king of France during the 10th and 11th centuries?
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paris
What was the former name of the city that was renamed to Istanbul on March 28, 1930?
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constantinople
Roger II was the 12th-century king of which large island off the coast of Italy?
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sicily
From which plain did Pheidippides run to Athens to deliver news of a Greek victory, covering about 23 miles?
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marathon
Which was the larger of the two Germanys during the Cold War?
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west germany
Which country were Uzbekistan and Tajikistan predominantly Muslim republics of?
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soviet union
In 1898, Britain leased the New Territories from China, expanding which dependency?
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hong kong
In which current country was New France founded before the establishment of New England?
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canada
The Sumerians, who invented cuneiform writing, date back to 5500 B.C. in Mesopotamia, which is now part of which modern country?
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iraq
Which Chilean city was founded by the Spanish conquistador Pedro de Valdivia in 1541?
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santiago
What name, also found on Captain Smith's 1614 map of New England, did the Pilgrims give to their colony?
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plymouth
On which continent did Spain create a colony called the Viceroyalty of the Rio De La Plata in 1776?
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south america
Which nation, alongside Japan, claimed portions of Sakhalin island from 1905 until the end of WWII?
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soviet union
In which country was the city of Adelaide founded in 1836 and named after the wife of King William IV?
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australia
What is the famous city, derived from the Hebrew word Babel, where the famous tower was built?
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babylon
On which cape did the Pilgrims drop anchor in Provincetown Harbor in 1620?
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cape cod
Which river's source area was guessed by Ptolemy nearly 2,000 years before it was actually discovered?
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nile
Which river became the boundary between Mexico and Texas according to the 1848 treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo?
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rio grande
Which city, renowned for its wines, did the French government temporarily move to during both World War I and World War II?
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bordeaux
Which European power established a home for emancipated slaves at Libreville, Gabon in 1849?
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france
In which present-day country was the capital of the Hindu-Buddhist Khmer kingdom located between the 800s and 1400s?
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cambodia
Which European country annexed the Bismarck Archipelago in 1884, leading to its naming?
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germany
In 1889, Trinidad combined with which island to form a single British colony?
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tobago
Which city serves as the headquarters for administering the Warsaw Pact?
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moscow
Which lake, connected to Lake Ontario by the Welland Canal in 1829 to bypass Niagara Falls, is an important part of Canadian history?
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lake erie
Which North American country legally included five Central American countries in 1822-23?
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mexico
Which Egyptian port city was founded by a Macedonian king in 332 B.C.?
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alexandria
On which continent did Arthur Phillip establish the first permanent European colony in 1788?
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australia
What French-Canadian city was founded by Samuel de Champlain as a trading post in 1608?
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quebec city
New Netherland extended up which river to the Mohawk?
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hudson river
In 1864, John M. Bozeman helped establish a town in the Gallatin Valley located in which current U.S. state?
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montana
Which city near the Nile delta, founded by Muslims in 969 A.D., was never inhabited by ancient Egyptians?
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cairo
What is the name of the island where Napoleon was first exiled, located between Corsica and the Italian mainland?
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elba
What city in Flanders, known for being a chief textile production center in the 15th century, was the site of a treaty signing in 1814?
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ghent
To what did Emperor Jean-Jacques Dessalines change the name of his part of Hispaniola?
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haiti
What island did the Soviet North Pole station, established in 1937, get rescued off of after drifting away for 9 months?
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greenland
Which larger island was colonized by Eric the Red about a century after the colonization of Iceland?
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greenland
Which British colony in the Atlantic was used as a base for blockade running during the Civil War?
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bermuda
Which region in France was colonized by the Vikings in the 900s and is named after them?
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normandy
Which island, with its Port of Cagliari, was integrated into the Kingdom of Italy in 1861?
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sardinia
What river, referred to by the Romans as Albis, marked the farthest advance of the Roman Empire into Germany?
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elbe
Which Flemish geographer developed a map of the world in 1569 where Greenland appears larger than Africa?
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gerardus mercator
What is the name of the Dominican capital that was originally founded as Nueva Isabela by Christopher Columbus, making it the first European colony in the New World?
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santo domingo
Which country gained control of Thessaly after it was ceded by Turkey during the Garfield era?
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greece
What country did China take over in 1950-51 that is referred to as the 'roof of the world'?
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tibet
Which Northern European country, once a grand duchy under Russian rule, gained its independence in 1917?
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finland
In the 15th century, Prince Henry established one of the first navigation schools near Sagres in which country?
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portugal
In 1697, Spain ceded one-third of which Caribbean island to France?
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hispaniola
Which republic did Russia transfer the province of Crimea to in 1954?
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ukraine
Which ancient region lies between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers and is analogous to the area between the Uruguay and Parana Rivers in South America?
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mesopotamia
What city, first called Al-Fustat, was established in 640 at the south end of the Nile delta?
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cairo
What was Bangladesh known as prior to its independence following the 1971 civil war?
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east pakistan
What is the name of Mainland Europe's only active volcano that buried several Italian cities in 79 A.D.?
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mount vesuvius
In which Scandinavian nation did Harold Fairhair become the first king by 900 A.D.?
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norway
What country was historically referred to as Cathay?
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china
What is the Syrian capital that was conquered by Alexander the Great in 333 B.C. and is one of the oldest cities in the world?
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damascus
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