Take a well-deserved reprieve from the chaos that has engulfed us and play, TQC Trivia! World Capitals. Answers are provided below along with interesting and fun supplemental information.

1) Brazil:

A) Rio de Janeiro
B) Sao Paulo
C) Brasilia
D) Manaus

2) Norway:

A) Oslo
B) Bergen
C) Trondheim
D) Kristiansand

3) India:

A) Mumbai
B) Kolkata
C) Pune
D) New Delhi

4) New Zealand:

A) Auckland
B) Christchurch
C) Wellington
D) Dunedin

5) Canada:

A) Toronto
B) Ottawa
C) Montreal
D) Vancouver

6) Vietnam:

A) Hanoi
B) Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon)
C) Da Nang
D) Dong Ha

7) Morocco:

A) Rabat
B) Casablanca
C) Marrakesh
D) Tangier

8) Kazakhstan:

A) Astana
B) Almaty
C) Nur-Sultan
D) Karagandy

9) Australia:

A) Sydney
B) Canberra
C) Melbourne
D) Perth

10) Namibia:

A) Windhoek
B) Walvis Bay
C) Uis
D) Ondangwa

ANSWERS:

1) (C) Brasilia. Note: Rio de Janeiro was the capital of Brazil until 1960. Sao Paulo is Brazil’s most populous city (~12,200,000). Brasilia, the current capital, is the nation’s 3rd most populated (~3,000,000) metropolis. The city was constructed in the 1950s to spur migration to the sparsely populated interior of the country.

2) (B) Oslo. Note: Oslo has served as Norway’s capital since 1814. Located in the south east of the country close to Switzerland, it is home to ~11% of Norway’s population. The Nobel Peace Prize is awarded in Oslo. Bergen is the largest city on Norway’s east coast. It was once a central trading hub in Europe. Its fish market has been in operation since 1276! Trondeim is a tech savvy city with a vivacious startup scene.

3) (D) New Delhi. Note: Kolkata was India’s capital until 1911. Mumbai is the most populated (~12,500,000) city in India; it is home to “Bollywood” as well as India’s financial services industry. Located ~75 miles southeast of Mumbai, Pune is India 8th largest city. Badminton was invented there in the 1800s.

4) (C) Wellington. Note: Wellington, situated on the southern tip of the “North Island”, is the 2nd largest city in New Zealand. It is known for its fantastic restaurants, hip bar scene and great coffee. Auckland, also on the North Island, is the most populated (~1,700,000) city. Christchurch is the largest city on the “South Island.” It began as a whaling station in the 1840s.

5) (B) Ottawa. Note: ~50 miles from New York state and ~equidistant between Toronto to her west, and Montreal to her east, Ottawa has been Canada’s capital since 1866. Toronto was Canada’s capital from 1849-1851 and again from 1855-1859. Montreal hosted the Summer Olympics in 1976. It is the headquarters of Cirque de Soleil. Vancouver is the largest city in the western province of British Columbia. Locals rave about its fresh flavorful seafood, especially halibut and salmon. Outdoor enthusiasts flock to Vancouver for its diverse array of offerings.

6) (A) Hanoi. Note: Hanoi is located between the Red River and Nhue River in the nation's north. With a population of ~8,000,000 it is the 2nd largest city in Vietnam. According to a report by PricewaterhouseCoopers, “Hanoi will be the fastest growing city in the world in terms of GDP growth from 2008 to 2025.” Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) is in the nation’s south. It is Vietnam’s the largest city (~9,000,000) and served as the capital of “South Vietnam” during Vietnam War. After the city fell in 1975, it was renamed Ho Chi Minh City in honor of the communist leader Ho Chi Minh. (The name Saigon is still commonly used).

7) (A) Rabat. Note: Casablanca is by far the largest city in Morocco, with over 3,000,000 inhabitants. It is also home to the nation’s robust business and industrial centers, and most important port. Marrakesh is in the heart of the country. The city is known for its “souks” or markets, traditional horse drawn carriages, and architecture. Strategically located at the northern tip of the country near the strait of Gibraltar, Tangier is an important port city home to historic museums. It is a summer destination for Moroccan royalty.

8) (C) Nur-Sultan. Note: Almaty is the largest city in Kazakhstan and was the capital from 1991 to 1997. In 1998, The government moved the capital to Astana, in the north-central part of the country. Astana was renamed Nur-Sultan in 2019, after former president Nursultan Nazarbayev who ran the central Asian nation with a heavy hand from 1990 until his resignation in 2019. Side Note: Kazakhstan is home to over 40% of the world’s uranium. Uranium is a highly strategic resource used to power utilities throughout the world. To put that into perspective, the nation with the largest oil reserves is Venezuela, with ~18% of the global total.

9) (B) Canberra. Note: Sydney, located in the state of New South Wales, is the largest city on the continent (Australia is the only nation in the world that can call a single continent its home). Melbourne comes in at number two. Perth is the 4th largest city in Australia. Home to ~2,000,000 people, Perth is considered the most isolated major city in the world: The outback to its east, the Indian ocean to its west. The capital, Canberra, is just the 8th most populated metropolis in Australia with ~425,000 residents. It is also located in New South Wales.

10) (A) Windhoek. Note: Windhoek, located in the center of the country, is both the capital and largest city (pop. 325,000) in Namibia. Uis is in the Erongo region – known for its tin deposits – in the western part of the country at the foothills of the highest mountain in Namibia called Brandberg. Walvis Bay sits on Namibia’s coast. The area surrounding the city is recognized for its diverse bird life.