Unquiet Places Trivia Quiz

Answer: Venezuela

Located in northern South America, Venezuela boasts the world's largest oil deposits; it is also one of the founders of OPEC (Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, established in 1960. Plagued by corruption and internal struggles for most of the 20th century, since 1998 it has been ruled by an authoritarian government inspired by socialist populism (the so-called "Bolivarian Revolution") - first led by Hugo Chávez, then by Nicolás Maduro (elected in 2013) Under their rule, Venezuela - once one of the wealthiest countries in the continent - became one of the poorest, leading to the emigration of over 7 million people.

Tensions between Venezuela and other countries have been ongoing at least since the first Trump presidency in the US, when an embargo was imposed on the country, and Maduro was indicted of drug trafficking and narcoterrorism. However, things came to a head after Maduro was reelected for a third time in July 2024, in an election (widely suspected of having been rigged) that was followed by violent protests. In September 2025, the US military began a series of airstrikes in the Caribbean Sea against ships that were allegedly operated by narcoterrorists - in particular the Venezuelan crime syndicate Tren de Aragua. The airstrikes, which have killed at least 87 people, have been deemed illegal by various experts in international law - in particular because survivors of the first strike were targeted by a second ("double tap") strike.

Answer: Nepal

Home to eight of the world's ten highest mountains, Nepal is sandwiched between India and China. This ancient country, the birthplace of the Buddha, was ruled by a monarchy until 2008, when King Gyanendra (who had succeeded his brother Birendra in 2001 after he was killed in a mass shooting) was deposed and a federal republic was established. However, support for the monarchy has never waned in Nepal. In the spring of 2025, a series of protests were organized by pro-monarchy groups against the ruling Communist Party of Nepal. The protesters wanted to replace the current secular government with a Hindu monarchy led by Gyanendra, who was welcomed back in Kathmandu in the month of March.

The perfect opportunity for those who opposed the status quo came on 4 September 2025, when 26 social media platforms (including Facebook, X, YouTube and Reddit) were shut down by the government for failing to register with the Ministry of Communication and Information Technology. Because of high unemployment rates, many young Nepalese (the majority of the country's population) work in the digital economy, and the ban was seen as a threat to their livelihood. The plight of Nepal's youth was in sharp contrast with the corruption and lavish lifestyles of the political elite, frequently highlighted by those social media platforms. On 8 September, large-scale "Gen Z protests" broke out across the country, escalating into violence that claimed the lives of at least 76 people, and left over 2,000 injured. The protests ended on 13 September: the government resigned, replaced by an interim government led by former justice Sushila Karki, and the parliament was dissolved.

Answer: Sudan

Africa's largest country until South Sudan's independence in 2011, Sudan has been home to many ancient cultures, such as the powerful Kingdom of Kush. Settled by Arab nomads in the Middle Ages, it came under British-Egyptian control in 1899, and gained its independence in 1956, as a consequence of the Egyptian Revolution of 1952. The parliamentary system established at that time lasted a mere two years, ousted by a military coup in 1958. Another coup followed in 1969, led by Gaafar Nimeiry, while the civil war between the north and of the country raged on. Nimeiry was deposed in 1989 by another military coup led by Omar al-Bashir, who ruled the country with an iron fist until 2019. Under his watch, the war in Darfur began, culminating in an ethnic cleansing campaign against non-Arabs. In 2008 Bashir was indicted of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity by the International Criminal Court.

After Bashir was deposed, the political situation in Sudan remained precarious, and an attempt at establishing democracy and stabilizing the country's economic situation was short-lived. Another military coup followed in 2021, and by April 2023 the power struggles between two factions of the military government finally erupted into a civil war that has forced millions of people to leave their homes, or even flee the country. Most of Sudan's population is suffering from hunger, in many case severely so. It has been estimated that, since the beginning of the war, over 150,000 people have died as a consequence of the conflict.

Answer: Bangladesh

Although relatively small, Bangladesh is one of the world's most populous and densely populated countries. Being mostly located on the vast floodplain formed by the Ganges-Brahmaputra delta, barely above sea level, it is extremely prone to natural disasters that have often claimed the lives of thousands of people and caused immense economic damage. As if this was not enough, the country has also been plagued by corruption and political instability since it became independent from Pakistan at the end of 1971. Ruled by a dictatorship for most of the 1980s, after the restoration of democracy Bangladesh was caught in the power struggle between two female politicians, Khaleda Zia of the BNP (Bangladesh Nationalist Party) and Sheikh Hasina of the Awami League, dubbed "the battle of the Begums".

Hasina and her party had been in power since 2008, imposing an authoritarian rule characterized by corruption and human rights abuses. Hasina was elected for a total of four consecutive times in sham general elections - the most recent of which took place in 2024. A mass uprising in July 2024 put an end to her rule, forcing Hasina to resign and flee to India. An interim government was formed, led by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Mohammad Yunus. In May 2025, the Awami League was banned. In November 2025, Hasina was convicted in absentia of crimes against humanity - in particular for the violent repression of the 2024 protests, in which over 2,000 people were killed - and sentenced to death.

Answer: Mali

Many of the African nations located in the Sahel - the transition zone between the Sahara Desert and the Sudanian savannas - have been experiencing turmoil in the 2020s. In particular, the former French colonies often referred to as Françafrique have been targeted by Islamist terrorist groups - including Al-Qaeda and the Nigeria-based Boko Haram - which have turned these countries, already plagued by recurring droughts and desertification, into the global epicentre of terrorist violence. Though political instability and violence are rife not only in the Sahel region, but also much of West and East Africa, the situation in Mali - one of the largest landlocked countries in that area - has become particularly dire in the past few years.

Once part of various powerful African empires, Mali achieved independence from France in 1960, and was ruled by a military dictatorship until the early 1990s. Things started going downhill for Mali in 2012, when another military coup put an end to the hard-won democratic system, and local conflicts broke out in various parts of the country. In the 2020s, an unceasing series of coups, popular unrest and terrorist attacks have thrown Mali in a state of chaos, made worse by the involvement of the infamous Russian mercenary Wagner Group in support of the current junta. Mali's historic ties with France have also deteriorated to the point that, in June 2023, French was removed as one of the country's national languages.

Answer: Haiti

Established in 1804 by a slave revolt, the Republic of Haiti occupies the western part of the island of Hispaniola in the Caribbean Sea. Sadly, this beautiful country, nicknamed "the pearl of the Antilles", has hardly experienced any peace since that momentous event. In order to have its independence formally recognized by France, Haiti agreed to a payment of 150 million francs in reparations (which now would amount to the staggering sum of $560 million). Weighed down by that huge financial obligation, the Caribbean country's economy was never able to grow properly. This constant state of political turmoil has often been worsened by natural disasters, to which Haiti is particularly prone for geological and geographical reasons.

The return of democracy after the end of the Duvalier dictatorship in 1986 did not bring any relief to Haiti's beleaguered population. The devastating earthquake of 2010 - one of the worst disasters in recent history, followed by a cholera outbreak - was a blow from which Haiti has been unable to recover. The political crisis begun in 2021 with the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse has left the country without a functional government, with many areas - including most of the capital, Port-au-Prince - controlled by armed gangs. Since 2023, thousands of people have been killed, kidnapped or displaced from their homes, and many others have left the country. One of the world's least developed countries, and the poorest in the Western Hemisphere, Haiti has been described as a failed state - a distinction it shares with the likes of Somalia, Afghanistan and Syria.

Answer: Myanmar

The largest country in mainland Southeast Asia, Myanmar was previously known as Burma, its official name until 1989. Rich in natural resources such as precious gemstones and rare-earth elements, Myanmar's current territory was home to a number of powerful states before it became part of the British Empire in 1886. Invaded by Japan during WWII, with devastating consequences for the population, Burma became independent in 1948, declining to join the Commonwealth. A military coup in 1962 introduced authoritarian rule inspired by Soviet principles of nationalisation and central planning, which impoverished the country and violently suppressed dissent. Another military junta took power in 1989, releasing its iron grip on the country in 2011, when it seemed that Myanmar's long isolation had come to an end.

In 2016, Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, imprisoned for over 15 years under the junta, assumed the role of state counsellor (akin to prime minister). Myanmar's budding democracy, however, did not last long, as in 2021 another military coup overthrew the democratically-elected government. The conflict between the junta and the resistance forces has escalated into a full-blown civil war characterized by thousands of civilian deaths, arbitrary arrests and widespread human rights violations. It is estimated that at least 30,000 people were killed between 2024 and 2025. Myanmar has also become the world's largest produced of opium poppies, whose cultivation finances the activities of many resistance groups.

Throughout all these decades of violence and turmoil, Myanmar's treatment of its ethnic minorities - in particular the Rohingya, who speak an Indo-Aryan language and practice Islam - has drawn widespread international condemnation. Deprived of basic rights and subjected to violent persecutions, many members of this group have fled to other parts of Asia, in particular neighbouring Bangladesh, where they shelter in the world's largest refugee camp.

Answer: Yemen

Located in the southeastern part of the Arabian Peninsula, in ancient times Yemen was known as the fabled land of Saba (Sheba), a wealthy and powerful trading kingdom. Its prosperity continued after the spread of Islam in the Middle Ages, thanks to its favourable position across the Red Sea from the Ethiopian Empire (Abyssinia). The country subsequently became part of the Ottoman Empire. In 1839 the British East India Company occupied the port of Aden, near the eastern approach to the Red Sea, while the northwestern part of the country became the Kingdom of Yemen at the end of WWI. In the 1960, two states emerged - the Yemen Arab Republic (North Yemen) and the communist South Yemen. Engaged in war against each other for years, the two states eventually merged in 1990, but peace remained elusive.

The Houthis (officially Ansar Allah), an insurgent group of Shia Muslims backed by Iran, emerged in 2004 in northern Yemen: ten years later, in 2014, they took over the country's capital, Sana'a. A civil war broke out, with a coalition of nine countries led by Saudi Arabia intervening at the request of the Yemeni president, who had fled to Aden. Since the outbreak of the Gaza war in October 2023, the Houthis have fired ballistic missiles at Israel (which has retaliated) and attacked dozens of ships in the Red Sea. Because of that, the US launched a military campaign in Yemen in the spring of 2025.

In over a decade of unabated civil war, Yemen's population have experienced an unprecedented humanitarian crisis, in particular a famine that has been going on since 2016. In the 2025 Global Hunger Index, Yemen was ranked last along with Burundi - its situation being described as "alarming". Other international indicators (such as the Human Development Index) also see Yemen near the bottom of the list.

Answer: Mexico

The northernmost Latin American nation, Mexico is one of the world's 20 largest economies, with a considerably higher GDP per capita than most of the countries featured in this quiz, or even India, Brazil and some Eastern European nations. This federal republic, home to many ancient civilizations, also has a relatively more solid democratic tradition, and is a member of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and influential international organizations such as the OECD and the G20. In spite of that, Mexican politics and society are marred by systemic corruption and high levels of poverty and crime.

In the first quarter of the 21st century, the conflict between the Mexican government and the drug syndicates that hold sway in many of the country's regions has emerged as the most pressing issue. The government's military intervention against these cartels began in December 2006 during the presidency of Felipe Calderón. Since then, thousands of people have been killed (over 400,000 according to some sources - about 20,000 between 2024 and 2025), while the power of these groups shows no signs of flagging, fuelled by the constant demand for illegal drugs in the US. Some Mexican states - in particular those of Baja California, Guerrero, Chihuahua, Michoacán and Sinaloa - are at least partially controlled by drug trafficking cartels. A number of major cities, such as Ciudad Juárez and Tijuana (both close to the US border) - regularly rank among the world cities with the highest murder rate.

Answer: Democratic Republic of the Congo

Located in Central Africa, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is the world's 11th-largest country. This former Belgian colony, whose huge territory has been inhabited for over 90,000 years, has been in a nearly constant state of unrest since it achieved independence in 1960. In particular, the Second Congo War of 1998-2003, which involved nine nations and about 25 armed groups, is believed to have caused over 4.5 million deaths. The current instability in the country is mainly due to the M23 campaign, a series of military offensives launched by the Rwandan-backed rebel paramilitary group March 23 Movement in the North Kivu and South Kivu provinces, in the eastern part of the DRC.

Since the campaign began in March 2022, the M23 has gained control of a number of cities (including Goma, the capital of North Kivu), and committed numerous war crimes. The use of sexual violence is widespread in the conflicts occurring in the DRC, with devastating effects on women's and children's health. Child soldiers are also widely employed by insurgent groups. The Kivu conflict has compounded the already difficult situation of the Congolese population, impacted by a series of disease outbreaks. Not surprisingly, life expectancy in the DRC is 59 years for males, and 61 for females.