Three Stars in the North Trivia Quiz

Answer: Oslo

Founded in 1049, at the end of the Viking Age, the Norwegian capital was originally named Ánslo, the name of a large farm in the present-day neighbourhood of Bjørvika. The meaning of the name is still being debated, though most scholars interpret it as "meadow at the foot of the hill" or "meadow consecrated to the gods". The region where Oslo is located was part of the Danish province of Viken, and was claimed by Denmark until 1241.

Oslo became the capital of the Kingdom of Norway in the early years of the 14th century. Destroyed by a fire in 1624, the city was rebuilt in a different site, near Akershus Fortress, during the reign of King Christian IV - in whose honour it was named Christiania (spelled Kristiania from 1877). When the site of the old settlement, which had not been abandoned, became part of the city proper, its original name was transferred to the whole city - which has been known as Oslo since 1925. The suburb is now known as Gamlebyen, meaning "the Old Town".

Answer: Oslo

Oslo lies at the northernmost end of Oslofjorden, a deep inlet in southeastern Norway located directly north of the Jutland Peninsula. The fjord flows south into the Skagerrak, the strait that connects the North Sea with the Kattegat - the sea area between Denmark and Sweden that leads to the Baltic Sea. During the time in which Oslo was called Christiania (1624-1925), the fjord was named Christianiafjorden. In the Middle Ages, the region was known as Viken ("the bay").

Hundreds of islands dot the inner part of Oslofjorden, whose steep slopes are covered in forest. The area around the inlet has a relatively warm climate, considering its latitude (59.8º N), and winters are never excessively cold. More than 40% of the population of Norway lives within less than an hour's drive from Oslofjorden, which is also a busy waterway for cargo boats and ferries.

A view of Oslofjorden appears in the famous painting "The Scream" by Edvard Munch (1893), which can be admired in Oslo's National Museum.

Answer: Oslo

The renowned Viking Ship Museum is part of the Museum of Cultural History of the University of Oslo. Located on the Bygdøy peninsula in the western part of the city, the museum houses three Viking burial ships found in various locations of the region around the Norwegian capital. It was designed by architect Arnstein Arneberg and built between 1926 and 1932; the last hall, however, was only completed in 1957 because of WWII.

The Viking Ship Museum's most famous exhibit is the extremely well-preserved Oseberg ship, discovered in a burial mound in the early years of the 20th century. The Gokstad ship, which was found in the late 19th century, is the largest Viking ship preserved in Norway - while the Tune ship, the smallest of the three, is in fragmentary condition. Along with the ships, a large number of artifacts from the Viking Age are on display in the museum, which is one of Oslo's most popular attractions (even if it has been closed for renovation since 2021).

The painting I have chosen as a cover photo, by Russian painter Nicholas Roerich, is titled "Guests from Overseas", and pays homage to the Viking heritage of the Scandinavian countries.

Answer: Oslo

The Nobel Peace Prize is the only one of the six Nobel Prizes not to be awarded in Stockholm. In accordance with the instructions left by Alfred Nobel in his will, the Norwegian Nobel Committee - assisted by the Norwegian Nobel Institute - annually selects one or more recipients of this prestigious award. The Committee comprises five members appointed by the Norwegian Parliament: in recent times, most of these members have been retired politicians. Since 1990, the award ceremony has taken place at Oslo City Hall, in the presence of the Norwegian monarch and royal family, on 10 December (the anniversary of Nobel's death) of each year. The ceremony was previously held in the Norwegian Parliament, the Norwegian Nobel Institute, and the Assembly Hall of the University of Oslo.

The other five Nobel Prizes are awarded in Stockholm by the Swedish Academy (Literature), the Nobel Assembly at the Karolinska Institute (Physiology or Medicine), and the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences (Chemistry, Physics and Economics).

Answer: Oslo

Like neighbouring Sweden and Finland (which, however, is not geographically part of Scandinavia), Norway is known for its extensive conifer forests. Native to Northern and Central Europe, the majestic Norway spruce (Picea abies), though not officially designated as the country's national tree, embodies Norway's distinctive qualities of strength and endurance. This magnificent tree, which can grow to a height of over 55 m (180 ft) and live for hundreds of years, is also widely planted to be used as a Christmas tree.

Every year, the city of Oslo sends Christmas trees to a number of foreign cities - most notably London. The Trafalgar Square Christmas tree - typically a 50- to 100-year-old Norway spruce - has been gifted by Oslo to the UK capital since 1947 as a token of gratitude for British support during WWII. Since 1997 a Christmas tree has also been sent to Washington DC, where it is displayed in the city's Union Station.

Answer: Copenhagen

The Danish name of Copenhagen, København, comes from the Old Norse "Kaupmannahofn", which means "merchants' harbour". The word "kaupmann" is a cognate of the English "chapman", which denotes an itinerant trader. The city's Latin name is Hafnia, from which stems the name of the chemical element hafnium, discovered there in 1923.

Copenhagen was originally a Viking fishing village founded in the 10th century, which by the 11th century had grown into a larger trading town. The earliest mention of the city is found in the "Gesta Danorum" by 12th-century historian Saxo Grammaticus (incidentally, also the source of William Shakespeare's "Hamlet"), where it is referred to as "Portus Mercatorum" (merchants' harbour in Latin). Copenhagen became the capital of Denmark in the early 15th century, after the establishment of the Kalmar Union between Norway, Denmark and Sweden.

The oldest building in central Copenhagen is St Peter's Church, which was rebuilt in the mid-15th century after a fire destroyed the original medieval church.

Answer: Copenhagen

Most of Copenhagen's urban area lies on the eastern shore of the island of Zealand (Sjælland in Danish), the largest and most populous island in Denmark proper, as well as the fouth-most populous island in Europe after Great Britain, Ireland and Sicily. Part of the municipality - including the city's international airport, Kastrup - is located on the island of Amager, which is connected to Zealand by eight bridges and a metro tunnel. East of Copenhagen lies the Øresund strait, which connects the North Sea with the Baltic Sea.

A number of other cities are also located on Zealand - notably Roskilde, home to a magnificent Gothic cathedral and a Viking Ship Museum, and Helsingør, known in English as Elsinore, whose castle Kronborg is the setting of Shakespeare's "Hamlet".

Answer: Copenhagen

Of Copenhagen's many tourist attractions, Tivoli Gardens is probably the most famous. Located in the Vesterbro district, just outside the city centre and next to the central railway station, it is one of Europe's most popular amusement parks, attracting millions of visitors every year. Opened on 15 August 1843, it is also one of the world's oldest operating amusement parks. Its founder, Georg Carstensen, obtained a five-year charter from King Christian VII that granted him use of a large parcel of land outside the city's Vesterport (West Gate). The name Tivoli comes from the Jardin de Tivoli in Paris, which was in turn named for the Italian town of Tivoli near Rome.

Meant as a place of recreation for the members of the middle class, the original park included buildings in a variety of exotic styles, restaurants and cafés, a theatre, a lake and flower gardens, as well as carnival rides and a scenic railway. Most of these features are still found in present-day Tivoli Gardens, which are also home to a number of roller coasters (one of which, the Rutschebanen, is a wooden coaster built in 1914) and other amusement rides. The Tivoli Concert Hall hosts classical music performances, while pop and jazz open-air concerts are organized during the summer months. The open-air Pantomime Theatre, built in 1874 in a fanciful, Chinese-inspired style, is also used as a venue for ballet and modern dance. Events also take place during the winter months, in particular for Halloween and during the Christmas holidays.

Answer: Copenhagen

The Øresund strait separates the Danish island of Zealand from Scania (Skåne), the southernmost province of Sweden. It has a length of 118 km (73 mi); its narrowest point (4 km/2.5 mi) lies north of Copenhagen, between the cities of Helsingør (Elsinore) and Helsingborg. Connecting the Baltic Sea with the North Sea (and thus the Atlantic Ocean), it is one of the world's busiest waterways.

The Øresund Bridge runs for about 8 km (5 mi) from the artificial island of Peberholm, located in the middle of the strait, to the Swedish coast just south of Malmö, Sweden's third-largest city. A 4-km (2.5-mi) tunnel links Peberholm with the island of Amager, where part of the Copenhagen municipality is located. Built between 1995 and 1999, and opened on 1 July 2000, the cable-stayed bridge combines motorway and railway, connecting the road and rail networks of the Scandinavian peninsula with those of Western and Central Europe.

Answer: Copenhagen

Up to the end of the 20th century, very few people would have associated any of the Nordic countries with innovative cuisine and Michelin stars. In the mid-2000s, however, the culinary movement known as New Nordic Cuisine emerged in Scandinavia, emphasizing locally-produced foods and new ways to prepare traditional dishes. With the opening of Noma (short for "nordisk mad", meaning Nordic food) in 2004, Copenhagen became the main hub for this modern approach to haute cuisine. Noma was voted Best Restaurant in the World five times between 2010 and 2021, and was awarded three Michelin stars in 2021. Chef and co-owner René Redzepi and some of his collaborators have also published a number of books on the restaurant's culinary techniques and philosophy.

Copenhagen is also home to other highly-ranked restaurants, even though not all of them are followers of New Nordic Cuisine. Along with outstanding food, drink and service, these establishments also offer ultra-stylish decor in the best tradition of Danish design. As of 2025, there are 16 Michelin-starred restaurants in Copenhagen, three of which (including Noma) have obtained the coveted 3-star rating.

Answer: Stockholm

Stockholm was founded in 1252 by Swedish statesman Birger Magnusson (also known as Birger Jarl), in the area of eastern Sweden where Lake Mälaren (the country's third-largest lake) meets the Baltic Sea. The city's original nucleus, now part of the Old Town (Gamla Stan), was built on a group of small islands (Stadtholmen, Riddarholmen and Helgeandsholmen); Stockholm's name is believed to mean "log islet". The present city stretches over 14 islands: its many waterways have earned it the nickname of "Venice of the North" - which may also apply to cities such as Amsterdam and Bruges.

Though Stockholm was established well after the end of the Viking Age, the nearby town of Birka, located on an island in Lake Mälaren, was a major Viking trading centre that handled a large variety of goods coming from Europe, the Byzantine Empire and the Middle East. The Birka archaeological site was inscribed in the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1993: it is now one of the most popular tourist destinations in Stockholm County. Stockholm became the official capital of the Swedish Empire in 1634, though its status as the de facto capital of Sweden dates from the mid-15th century.

Answer: Stockholm

With a population of about one million in the municipality, and over 1.5 million in its urban area, Stockholm is the most populous city not just in Sweden, but in the whole of Northern Europe. The Stockholm metropolitan area includes a number of other municipalities, and is home to nearly 2.5 million people. About 22% of the Swedish population live in the Stockholm region, one of Europe's wealthiest, which also accounts for almost 30% of the country's GDP.

Stockholm is a major hub for finance, business and technology, with many of the most prominent Nordic corporations headquartered there. The suburb of Kista, in northern Stockholm, is often referred to as Europe's Silicon Valley because of the presence of many IT and communications companies.

Answer: Stockholm

Home to a number of high-profile universities and other scientific institutions, as well as museums and other sights of note, Stockholm is a thriving centre for culture and education. Its nearly 100 museums run the gamut from the the Nationalmuseum, dedicated to Swedish and international art, to an interactive exhibition about famous pop group ABBA. Stockholm's most popular attraction, however, is the Vasa Museum, which houses the almost intact 17th-century warship of the same name that sank in Stockholm Harbour in 1628, on her maiden voyage.

The Vasa was salvaged in 1961, and housed in a temporary museum until 1987. The current museum, whose copper-roofed main hall rises to the height of the ship when it was fully rigged, was officially opened on 15 June 1990. It is located on the island of Djurgården in central Stockholm, which is also home to the Skansen open-air museum and zoo, the Nordic Museum, and the amusement park Gröna Lund. The Vasa Museum receives nearly 1.5 million visitors every year, providing a fascinating insight into the history of Sweden at the height of its power.

Answer: Stockholm

Sweden has long enjoyed the reputation of being one of Europe's most welcoming countries to foreigners, in particular asylum seekers from troubled nations such as Iraq, Somalia and Syria. As a result, over the past 70 years its population has become one of Europe's most ethnically and culturally diverse. Of the over 250,000 foreign-born people who reside in Stockholm, more than half of them emigrated to Sweden when they were at least ten years old. If Swedish-born descendants of immigrants are taken into the equation, nearly 350,000 Stockholm residents have a foreign background.

While Finns make up one of the largest ethnic minorities in Stockholm (whose Finnish population is the largest in Sweden), many of the foreign-born inhabitants of the Swedish capital hail from outside Europe. Among the most numerous groups there are people from the Middle East - namely Iraqis, Iranians and Syrians. There is also a substantial presence of people from the countries of the former Yugoslavia.

Answer: Stockholm

In addition to its prominent role as a political, economic and cultural centre, Stockholm is also a thriving transport hub. Located at the junction of three European routes (E4, E18 and E20), the city has four airports, the largest of which, Arlanda, is also the largest in Sweden. Stockholm is also connected to a number of major ports on the Baltic Sea by regular ferry service.

Large cruise ferries run by two rival companies - Viking Line and Silja Line - ply the routes between Stockholm and the Finnish ports of Helsinki and Turku (which lies almost directly across the Gulf of Bothnia). These ships, which offer many onboard attractions, also call at Mariehamn, the capital of the Åland Islands, an autonomous region of Finland. Tallink ferries connect Stockholm with Mariehamn and Tallinn, the capital of Estonia. Stopping at Mariehamn or other ports in Åland allows ships to sell duty-free goods - of which alcohol is by far the most popular. On the other hand, the once-a-week ferry service to St Petersburg in Russia - operated by St Peter's Line - was suspended in 2019.