Cities and Their Former Names

Geography · 10 questions

Same place on the map, a different name in the history books.

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1. Which country was formerly known as Ceylon?

   1. Sri Lanka
   2. Myanmar
   3. Malaysia
   4. Bangladesh
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   A) Sri Lanka

2. Thailand was known by which name before 1939?

   1. Ceylon
   2. Annam
   3. Formosa
   4. Siam
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   D) Siam

3. Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam was previously called what?

   1. Hanoi
   2. Phnom Penh
   3. Saigon
   4. Vientiane
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   C) Saigon

4. Zimbabwe was known by which name before independence?

   1. Nyasaland
   2. Rhodesia
   3. Bechuanaland
   4. Tanganyika
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   B) Rhodesia

5. The Turkish city of Izmir was known in antiquity as what?

   1. Ephesus
   2. Miletus
   3. Smyrna
   4. Halicarnassus
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   C) Smyrna

6. Which modern city grew from the settlement once called Byzantium?

   1. Athens
   2. Istanbul
   3. Thessaloniki
   4. Odesa
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   B) Istanbul

7. Which African city was formerly known as Salisbury?

   1. Harare
   2. Nairobi
   3. Lusaka
   4. Kampala
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   A) Harare

8. New York City was called New Amsterdam when the Dutch founded it.

   1. True
   2. False
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   A) True

9. Saint Petersburg was for a time named Leningrad.

   1. True
   2. False
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   A) True

10. Mumbai was previously known as Madras.

    1. True
    2. False
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    B) False