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Independence from Whom

For each selected country, name the country it was a part of prior to independence.
Answer must correspond to the yellow box
In the case of multiple possible answers, use the date to guide you
The one in 301 A.D. is considered dubious
Quiz by Quizmaster
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Last updated: June 10, 2020
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First submittedNovember 5, 2012
Times taken150,759
Average score79.2%
Rating4.99
5:00
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 / 24 guessed
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Year
Country
Independent From
1776
United States
Great Britain
1810
Mexico
Spain
1960
D. R. Congo
Belgium
1962
Algeria
France
1822
Brazil
Portugal
1945
Indonesia
Netherlands
1903
Panama
Colombia
2011
South Sudan
Sudan
1960
Nigeria
United Kingdom
1993
Eritrea
Ethiopia
1905
Norway
Sweden
1971
Bangladesh
Pakistan 
Year
Country
Independent From
1822
Greece
Ottoman Empire
2002
East Timor
Indonesia
1911
Mongolia
China
1965
Singapore
Malaysia
1991
Croatia
Yugoslavia
1991
Estonia
Soviet Union
1944
Iceland
Denmark
1962
Samoa
New Zealand
1975
Papua New Guinea
Australia
1946
Philippines
United States
301
San Marino
Roman Empire
1828
Uruguay
Brazil
+5
Level 86
Nov 21, 2012
24/24!
+5
Level 51
Nov 23, 2017
Same here! Only hard one was Colombia colonizing Panama.
+33
Level 26
May 3, 2018
Colombia didn't colonize Panama, it was part of Colombia after the Spanish independence, but in 1903 the American goverment convinced the Panamians who felt left behind from the Colombian goverment due to the lack of accessibility from the capital to Panama, which created an independentist feeling in them feeded by the desire of the US to build a canal in that area, Colombian government didn't pay much attention to the rebels and surprisingly, they won and separated to create a new republic.
+2
Level 48
Dec 28, 2021
*Panamanians
+2
Level 35
Dec 23, 2012
all with 3.31 left.
+2
Level 58
Jan 10, 2014
Same score upto the second!
+12
Level 82
Jan 22, 2013
Had to guess several times before finally getting Samoa, but I got them all.
+4
Level 82
Apr 11, 2015
and... same result this time. Still had to guess at Samoa. I guess I didn't learn anything last time I took the quiz. :P
+2
Level 49
Apr 11, 2015
same here
+1
Level 48
Jul 5, 2017
Same. Still managed to finish with 3:22 remaining.
+6
Level 52
Jan 5, 2015
Can you accept Gran Columbia for the Panama one, considering that is the empire it seceded from.
+5
Level ∞
Jan 21, 2015
I don't believe that is correct:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gran_Colombia

+1
Level 60
Oct 25, 2023
It seems that they were in a union with Gran Colombia, but at a different date.
+1
Level 54
Oct 12, 2020
thats what i guessed but it was wrong
+2
Level 34
Apr 11, 2015
100%!
+2
Level 56
Apr 11, 2015
Fascinating quiz. I'll be honest and say some of those were news to me. I was most surprised to learn that Norway has not always been independent.
+1
Level 49
Feb 7, 2016
Watch this video -> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hXiLMb-OFgY Quite fascinating. There are a lot like this, some better, but I couldn't find them.
+3
Level 60
Jun 28, 2020
No country in the world has "always" been independent.
+1
Level 64
Aug 9, 2022
The UK?
+2
Level 39
May 18, 2023
The majority of the now UK was controlled by the norman french for hundreds of years. Thats where we get a lot of our french based vocabulary in english
+5
Level 43
Apr 11, 2015
Norway never became "independent" from Sweden, because they were joined in a personal union.
+4
Level 55
Apr 11, 2015
When I found out recently that Norway and Sweden were in a Union, I realised it was not dissimilar to the union connecting Scotland to the United Kingdom. But if Scotland had voted recently to dissolve that union, nobody (least of all the Scottish) would complain if someone said they had achieved "independence from England", even if that would technically not have been the case.
+1
Level 60
Apr 12, 2015
That'll be Britain, or the UK, not England.
+3
Level 34
Jul 7, 2015
England and Scotland were in personal union from 1603 until 1707 (excluding interregnums and pretenders), meaning they were independent countries with the same monarch. After this they were united as one country by the Act of Union, which combined the two seperate parliaments into one Parliament of Great Britain. This didn't happen with Sweden and Norway, which remained nominally independent of one another despite sharing a monarch.
+1
Level 55
Mar 31, 2020
England and Scotland were united as a single nation for a short period in the 17th century too, by the "Tender of Union" passed by the Commonwealth Republic and repealed by Charles the Second.
+1
Level 82
Jun 10, 2020
I remember reading that Sweden was debating whether to allow it and maybe use the army. So it might have been nominally in a personal union, but in practice much more.
+6
Level 77
Apr 13, 2015
You should add Uruguay to the list. It got independence from Brazil in 1825.
+5
Level 26
May 3, 2018
It was called "Cisplatina" back then.
+1
Level 89
Aug 9, 2022
It's been added!
+1
Level 53
Jun 29, 2015
One entire minute thinking what country near Eritrea didn't try yet... Bang! 24/24.
+1
Level 85
Jul 15, 2015
How to guess on a few, but got 100%!!!!!
+2
Level 36
Aug 20, 2015
Please accept Gran Colombia as well when answering for Panama:)
+7
Level 50
Sep 2, 2015
Gran Colombia dissolved in 1831. Panama revolted and seceded from the modern republic of Colombia in 1903.
+1
Level 47
Dec 13, 2015
2:50 left. Getinthereson
+2
Level 52
Feb 7, 2017
Make this a series!
+1
Level 75
Mar 9, 2017
Great quiz.
+1
Level 51
Jul 4, 2017
I thought that Indonesia gained independence in 1947, the dutch didn't recognise Indonesia and kept the army and government for another two years
+1
Level 67
Jul 4, 2017
Enjoyed this one, got stuck on Philippines though, I thought it was Spain, took a while before I remembered the USA.

This would be good as a series, surely theres enough countries to make at least 2 more, or a easy medium hard quiz series!

+2
Level 31
Jul 4, 2017
Nice quiz
+2
Level 57
Jul 4, 2017
Great quiz (5/5).
+2
Level 47
Jul 4, 2017
Great quiz! It's an interesting way of testing history knowledge
+2
Level 82
Jul 4, 2017
Very nice quiz. I did surprisingly bad.......lol. Shows me I'm not as smart as I think I am.
+2
Level 67
Jul 5, 2017
You should accept Malaya, because that's what it was called when Singapore was still a part of it.
+2
Level 74
Jan 27, 2022
The Federation of Malaya was subsumed by the new entity of Malaysia in 1963. Singapore was expelled from Malaysia in 1965, becoming an independent nation.
+1
Level 34
Jul 5, 2017
Good quiz. Got the lot with 1.58 left
+1
Level 41
Jul 6, 2017
I enjoyed that
+1
Level 59
Sep 27, 2017
Very entertaining quiz!
+1
Level 35
Feb 18, 2018
Pretty straight forward, 3:41 left
+1
Level 16
May 3, 2018
Wow those kiwi's actually had more land
+1
Level 67
Dec 4, 2018
But both we and Samoa were part of the British Empire.
+1
Level 37
Oct 12, 2018
Great Quiz!
+1
Level 35
Jan 23, 2019
Panama proclaims its independence from Spain, not Colombia.
+6
Level 55
Apr 7, 2019
You should check out Panama's history and you'll see that you're wrong about that. Panama was part of Colombia until they separated in 1903 supporting America's desires to build the canal on that area.
+2
Level 82
Jun 10, 2019
nope
+2
Level 79
Feb 19, 2019
Could be description be reworded please? Many of these countries were not part of the countries from which they gained independence (e.g. Congo, Jamaica, Indonesia, Philippines, Nigeria).
+1
Level 65
Jun 10, 2019
Nice quiz :)
+1
Level 69
Jun 11, 2019
PNG was never actually colonised by or a territory of Australia. It was a UK territory merely administered by Australia after WWII until independence from the UK.
+1
Level 39
May 19, 2021
It wasn't a UK territory. It was a League of Nations mandate under Australian (and a bit of Japanese) control until its independence.
+1
Level 79
Oct 11, 2023
That's only true for the northern half of PNG, which was originally a German colony called Germany New Guinea. The southern half was most certainly a British territory in 1882 when it became British New Guinea.
+1
Level 39
Dec 17, 2019
Good quiz! Got stuck on Indonesia and Philippines for ages, but the rest weren't too tough. A good mix of recent ones and really old ones.
+2
Level 44
Feb 10, 2020
I always forget that Papua New Guinea was controlled by Australia
+2
Level 57
Aug 13, 2021
It does explain their otherwise rather surprising enthusiasm for rugby league.
+2
Level 55
Apr 17, 2020
Quizmaster must be relieved the DRC gained independence from Belgium :)
+10
Level ∞
Jun 10, 2020
I wasn't alive at the time, but yes I am very glad that those Belgians got what they deserved.
+2
Level 56
Jun 28, 2020
What do you have against Belgium ?
+1
Level 79
Oct 11, 2023
Have you read anything about King Leopold II and the attrocities committed in Belgian Congo during his reign?
+1
Level 85
Sep 25, 2020
What do you have against the Congolese?
+2
Level 72
Jun 10, 2020
Accept "Roman"?
+1
Level ∞
Jun 10, 2020
Sure, why not/
+1
Level 69
Jun 10, 2020
While there is suprisingly little known/mentioned on the history of San Marino, it is documented that San Marino belonged to the Duchy of Spoleto in the early medival times. Apparently, San Marino became an independent state somewhen in the 13th century.
+1
Level 67
Jun 28, 2020
96%, got San marino wrong
+1
Level 68
Jun 28, 2020
Missed San Marino and Samoa
+1
Level 85
Jun 28, 2020
Norway was always independent, but it was in union with Sweden until 1905. Iceland was in a similar situation with Denmark until 1944 when it became a republic.
+1
Level 33
Jun 28, 2020
damn, didn't know that my country's independence was officialy

given in 1828 instead of 1825, nice quizz by the way!

+1
Level 49
Jun 29, 2020
i didnt know some of these, cool quiz!
+2
Level 63
Jun 30, 2020
Are you trying to tell me, that San Marino has been under one consistent, self-governing rule for the past 1700 years (or thereabouts, since it is dubious) ???
+2
Level 82
Jul 10, 2020
San Marino is often touted as the oldest country in the world. So, yeah.
+1
Level 57
Nov 4, 2020
Quiz doesn't except just "Soviet" while it accepts just "Ottoman" or "Roman".
+1
Level 51
Dec 6, 2020
Interesting. I didn't know many about these.
+2
Level 67
Aug 11, 2021
24 seconds remaining, Samoa took me forever but I was proud of myself when I got it. A lot of these are interesting
+1
Level 67
Nov 15, 2021
Mongolia should be Qing Dynasty as opposed to China, right?
+2
Level 67
Dec 26, 2021
Too specific I feel like
+1
Level 63
Dec 28, 2021
Really fun quiz, A nominate from me!
+1
Level 61
Feb 21, 2022
Portuguese Timor was invaded by Indonesia before the formal recognition of independence by Portugal, the situation was only settled in 2002.
+1
Level 51
Apr 28, 2022
for Philippines you should be able to type "us" and not have to type the full "united states" that one confusefed me for a second
+1
Level 62
Aug 9, 2022
You could always type “USA”.
+1
Level 67
May 8, 2022
I was stuck at the DR Congo question when I remembered the Billy Joel hit "We Didn't Start The Fire" where he sings the line "Belgians in the Congo". That gave me my 24th correct answer.
+1
Level 66
Sep 6, 2023
Came to comments only to post this exact thing. Only got 100% because Billy Joel got me over the hump thanks to the "Belgians in the Congo" line.
+1
Level 58
May 16, 2022
I want to object to the term "part of" in the instructions. There is an important (legal and practical) difference between being a territory of a country and being part of that country.

In some of these cases the new country was part of the country from which it gained independence (e.g. Singapore, Panama). In others not (e.g. Indonesia, Nigeria).

+1
Level 66
Aug 9, 2022
I'm from Singapore! 🇸🇬
+1
Level 67
Aug 9, 2022
Based San Marino 301
+1
Level 49
Aug 10, 2022
Could you accept Gran Colombia for Panama?
+2
Level 82
Aug 10, 2022
While Panama was a part of Gran Colombia, that country ceased to exist in 1831. Panama gained its independence from Colombia in 1903 - over seven decades after Gran Colombia ceased to exist. So that answer shouldn't be accepted.
+1
Level 67
Aug 11, 2022
great quiz, got all right very quickly.

It's who, not whom. Whom is never actually right. It's a made up word used to trick students.

+2
Level 59
Aug 16, 2022
How can you type Serbia for Yugoslavia, Russia for USSR but not Italy for Roman Empire?
+1
Level 53
Oct 25, 2022
I didnt know the US used to own Philippines. I'm from the US...should i have known this??
+2
Level 50
Dec 22, 2022
Yes.
+1
Level 79
Oct 11, 2023
There are plenty of youtube videos of random Americans being asked questions about other countries and failing badly, so it's not like you're on your own on this one.
+1
Level 59
Feb 17, 2024
bro has never learned about world war one
+2
Level 81
Dec 26, 2022
GB doesn't work as a type-in for Great Britain, but UK does.
+1
Level 37
Aug 4, 2023
Singapore was ruled by Malaysia and the United Kingdom.
+1
Level 68
Dec 8, 2023
Easy, 100%.
+1
Level 56
Jan 14, 2024
i was so confused why San Marino wasn't accepting "Holy Roman Empire" cuz i was sure that was the answer... turns out they weren't holy at the time *shrugs*