Capital Idea! Trivia Quiz

Answer: Ottawa, Canada

Ottawa was chosen as the capital of Canada by Queen Victoria in 1857, and formally established as such when Canada was confirmed as a sovereign nation on July 1, 1867, as the Dominion of Canada. It is home to the Ottawa Senators of the NHL. The city has evolved dramatically since its origin as a lumber town in the 19th century.

It is home to many high technology companies (Mitel, Corel Corporation, Dragonwave, etc.), hosts the annual National Capital Marathon each May, and boasts the 'longest skating rink in the world' when the Rideau Canal freezes over in the winter.

Answer: Amsterdam, Netherlands

The House of Orange-Nassau has reigned as monarch over the nation since the Netherlands won its independence from Spain following the Eighty Years War (1648). A descendant of that dynasty, Queen Beatrix assumed the throne of the Netherlands with the abdication of her mother, Queen Juliana, in 1980. Amsterdam, the capital, is a favoured destination for travellers, who flock there to tour the Van Gogh Museum, observe the beautiful canals, and to walk through the famed 'Red-Light District', where prostitutes openly entice potential customers from open doorways and windows.

Answer: Amman, Jordan

Once known as Philadelphia after Philadelphus, Ptolemaic king (circa 300 BC), the city that would become the capital of Jordan was renamed Amman (Ammon) in the 7th century AD. It was established as the capital of the new state of Transjordan (subsequently Jordan) by Emir Abdullah Bin al-Hussein in 1921. King Abdullah assumed the throne following the death of his father, King Hussein, who had ruled from the early 1950s until 1999.

Answer: Lima, Peru

Coined "the City of Kings" by Spanish conquistador Francisco Pizzaro, the port city of Lima sits on the Pacific coast of this South American nation. Peru has a very diverse ethnic mix, as a result of a long history of immigration, both forced and natural. African slaves were introduced to Peru during the period of Spanish Conquest and colonization. They were followed centuries later by immigrants from Asia (predominantly Japanese and Chinese), who worked in manual labour, and Europeans from a range of nations.

Alberto Fujimori, the son of Japanese immigrants, was born in 1938, in a district of Lima, Peru. An engineer by trade, Fujimori worked subsequently as an educator, academic administrator and broadcaster, before entering politics, and winning election as President of Peru in 1990. Acknowledged as powerful leader, Fujimori was credited with success in combating domestic terrorism, most notably the Shining Path Maoist organization. He was also scored high points for his management of the Peruvian economy, which was in a tail spin, and under IMF monitoring. Fujimori took aggressive and effective steps that served to satisfy financial monitors, and returned the nation's economy to a healthier state. After ten years in power, Fujimori was under investigation - and subsequently charged - for crimes against humanity, human rights abuses and corruption. He fled to Japan, but was later arrested in Chile in 2005, and extradited to Peru. He was found guilty of deploying death squads in the early 1990s against student supporters of Peruvian extremist groups. He was also convicted of embezzlement and bribery and sentenced to over 25 years in prison.

Answer: Brasilia, Brazil

A city of just under three million people (2010 estimates), Brasilia was built as the seat of government for Brazil. Brasilia is actually the third city to bear the honour of being Brazil's capital, having been preceded by Rio de Janeiro and Salvador. Brasilia is situated on the shore of an artificial lake, Lake Paranoa, which offers a locale for water recreation.

Answer: Berlin, Germany

The German capital was the focal point of the Cold War from the end of WWII until the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989. Following the defeat of the Nazi regime in May 1945, Berlin was subdivided into areas of legal jurisdiction between the American, French, British and Russian governments. As post-WWII tensions grew, Germany was partitioned into two halves with Berlin a divided city: a communist East Berlin, and a capitalist West Berlin. Joseph Stalin refused access to the eastern sector in 1948, and western countries - most notably lead by the United States - supported West Berlin via a 13 month airlift of food and materials, refusing to permit the Soviets from starving the western occupants into submission. Soviet Premier Nikita Khruscheve ordered the political division of the city to be tangibly achieved with the construction of the Berlin Wall in 1961, to stop the flood of defections from the eastern sector to the west. Tensions between the USSR and the USA reached fever pitch once more. During the years the wall was in place, over 100 people were shot and killed by East German troops, as they tried to escape by breaching the concrete and barbed wire barrier.

Since the reunification of East and West Germany in 1990, Berlin was re-established as the capital of the nation.

Answer: Tallinn, Estonia

Tallinn has emerged as a confident, diverse city since Estonia declared its independence from the USSR in 1991, an achievement celebrated annually at Tallinn's Freedom Square, located on the edge of the Old Town. The spire of Tallin's St. Olav's Cathedral is reputed to have once been the tallest building in the world in the latter era of the Middle Ages (13th century).

Answer: Ulan Bator, Mongolia

With an annual average temperature estimated at -1.3 Celsius, Ulan Bator has bragging rights as the coldest capital in the world. This is based on average temperatures, however, and not the coldest recorded temperature. Ottawa, Canada's coldest day on record (without the chill factor) was -36.1 Celsius in 1943, which is much colder than Moscow's record -30 C in 2006.

Answer: Singapore, Republic of Singapore

The port city of Singapore is an economic powerhouse in Asia, a status that is encouraged by low income taxes, low unemployment, high foreign currency reserves, and a well-educated, multi-lingual and highly-skilled workforce. Official languages include English, Tamil, Malay and Mandarin, although English is predominant in business. Singapore is a popular tourist destination. It maintains its character as a safe and clean society through the application and enforcement of very conservative laws governing public behaviour. Corporal punishment is common (caning) for public disobedience, and the death penalty is mandatory for a range of offences including murder, drug trafficking and certain weapons offences.

Brought into the British Empire in the early 1800s, Singapore was occupied by Japan during WWII after the British garrison was overrun by the Imperial Japanese Army. Singapore declared independence from Great Britain in 1963.

Answer: Washington, D.C.

Architect Pierre-Charles L'Enfant was engaged by President George Washington in 1791 to design the city that would eventually bear his name. The city of Washington, which replaced Philadelphia as the capital of the United States, was established within a federal territory, the District of Columbia (DC) that is not within the legal jurisdiction of any state. Attacked and burned by the British in the War of 1812, and threatened by Confederate troops during the Civil War (1861-65), Washington was developed into one of the most beautiful cities in the world.

Its majestic monuments include the Lincoln Memorial, the Washington Monument, the White House, the National Mall, the Capital and institutions such as the Smithsonian, the Ford Theatre, the Kennedy Centre.