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All Modern-Day Countries Ever Controlled by Arab People with a Map

With the help of a map, can you guess all modern day countries that were once (at least partially) under Arab rule?
Includes tributary states and occupied territory.
Quiz by Dekkie
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Last updated: November 1, 2021
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First submittedFebruary 3, 2021
Times taken38,129
Average score92.1%
Rating4.99
6:30
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Countries
Afghanistan
Algeria
Andorra
Armenia
Azerbaijan
Bahrain
Benin
Burkina Faso
Burundi
Cameroon
Central African Republic
Countries
Chad
Comoros
Croatia
Cyprus
D.R. Congo
Djibouti
Egypt
Ethiopia
Eritrea
France
Georgia
Countries
Greece
India
Iran
Iraq
Israel
Italy
Jordan
Kazakhstan
Kenya
Kuwait
Kyrgyzstan
Countries
Lebanon
Libya
Madagascar
Mali
Malta
Mauritania
Morocco
Mozambique
Niger
Nigeria
Oman
Countries
Pakistan
Palestine
Portugal
Qatar
Russia
Saudi Arabia
Somalia
South Sudan
Spain
Sudan
Syria
Countries
Tajikistan
Tanzania
Tunisia
Turkey
Turkmenistan
United Arab Emirates
United Kingdom
(Akrotiri & Dhekelia / Gibraltar)
Uzbekistan
Yemen
Zambia
+29
Level 76
Feb 3, 2021
Truely beautiful! Not gonna lie, wasn't initially expecting Mozambique to be on the list. Looks like the Omanis did go quite a distance beyond Zanzibar
+13
Level 55
Feb 3, 2021
Thanks! The Kionga Triangle is a sneaky one on the German Empire quiz as well funnily enough.
+2
Level 57
Oct 27, 2021
Congo surprised me a lot
+2
Level 75
Dec 9, 2021
A clue - Swahili is the lingua franca of eastern Congo.
+1
Level 78
Jan 7, 2022
what's the connection between swahili and arabic peoples?
+2
Level 69
May 3, 2022
Swahili is partly derived from Arabic, but Swahili isn't only spoken by Arabs
+24
Level 65
Dec 9, 2021
the Sultan of Oman lives in Zanzibar now...
+11
Level 34
Dec 9, 2021
"that's just where he lives"
+4
Level 36
Dec 9, 2021
the sun is a deadly laser...
+3
Level 46
May 26, 2022
Never mind there's a blanket...
+12
Level 52
Feb 3, 2021
At first I thought this was areas controlled by Muslims, not Arabs, and was very confused at the lack of Chad, Niger, etc.
+2
Level 38
Dec 9, 2021
I was confused at the lack of Balkan countries at first
+7
Level 42
Feb 3, 2021
I was confused that there are 3 countries missing when all of them were green until I found out that they are small countries or part of a country.
+7
Level 63
Feb 3, 2021
Great quiz Dekkie, nominated
+3
Level 55
Feb 3, 2021
Thanks!
+25
Level 67
Mar 18, 2021
Obligatory: What about countries that were controlled by Arab people who didn't have a map?
+23
Level 55
Mar 18, 2021
...That is information lost to history I'm afraid.
+2
Level 51
Mar 25, 2021
Didn't the Omanis get the Kenyan and Somali coasts too?
+3
Level 55
Mar 25, 2021
Omani control over most of the Kenyan and Somali coasts was very dubious and most probably only under their control on paper.
+5
Level 55
Apr 4, 2021
I decided to cave in and add territories under nominal Omani suzerainity.
+3
Level 65
Mar 31, 2021
Great, fun quiz to take after learning about Arab rule. Although I got 100% first try, it took me quite a while to get Andorra, before I finally remembered that they were only stopped in mid-France. My suggestion is to add surrounding nations to the map.
+3
Level 57
Apr 4, 2021
If you said that Somali land doesn't count, why put Somali land on the map?
+4
Level 55
Apr 4, 2021
Outdated caveat, so I'll remove that real quick. The reason why Somalia is here now is due to Oman's nominal suzerainity over the area.
+5
Level 61
Apr 30, 2021
Could you put some light water in Malta and a little circle in Andorra?
+2
Level 60
Sep 25, 2021
What’s the fun in that?
+1
Level 72
Nov 3, 2021
A circle round Malta would help. I missed it. I got the others but I couldn’t see it and my time ran out before I could zoom in on the right area.
+1
Level 64
Jun 14, 2021
really instructive... wouldn't have expected this many countries!

1:03

Thanks!

+2
Level 71
Jun 20, 2021
Nice quiz as always! But when did Arabs control so much land in the Congo? It looks very disconnected from everything else and the Congo isn't a place normally associated with Arab influence.
+6
Level 55
Jun 20, 2021
Tanzania was very much under the influence of Zanzibar for a while. Western Tanzania, DRC and Burundi are here because of several Arab sultanates being established in these areas by slave traders Tippu Tip (Sultanate of Utetera) and Rumaliza (Sultanate of Ujiji) in the late 19th century. While it's not certain whether these states were truly independent or vassals to Zanzibar, it is for certain that (Afro-)Arabs controlled these areas.
+1
Level 52
Aug 1, 2021
France should be included due to Mayotte being a part of it and not Comoros but great quiz.
+12
Level 55
Aug 1, 2021
I barely understand what you're trying to say here. France is already included.
+2
Level 79
Dec 3, 2021
Part of mainland France is also included in this quiz.
+1
Level 69
Sep 28, 2021
WTH were they doing in that detached part of the DRC?
+3
Level 55
Sep 28, 2021
Arab slave trader states held territory in that area for some time. The biggest example is this sultanate controlled by Afro-Arab slave trader Tippu Tip: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tippu_Tip%27s_state
+1
Level 41
Oct 24, 2021
Amazing quiz! Nominated
+1
Level 24
Oct 25, 2021
There should be a circle around malta. Couldnt see what country i was missing
+3
Level 55
Oct 25, 2021
Done.
+2
Level 63
Oct 29, 2021
Great quiz! Maybe add a circle around Comoros? It was really hard to see what I was missing.
+2
Level 55
Nov 1, 2021
Done.
+2
Level 73
Nov 2, 2021
I thought the kingdom of Asturias was never under Arab control.
+3
Level 55
Nov 2, 2021
Its territory was under the Umayyads for a relatively short time period after the conquest of the Visigothic Kingdom between 715 - 718/722.
+4
Level 59
Nov 24, 2021
Whats the story behind croatia?
+6
Level 55
Nov 24, 2021
The Aghlabid siege of Ragusa from between 866 to 868.
+2
Level 67
Dec 9, 2021
Interesting
+2
Level 66
Nov 28, 2021
Why does the Azerbaijani border look strange?
+1
Level 67
Dec 9, 2021
3:32 remaining
+1
Level 77
Dec 9, 2021
4:17
+2
Level 48
Dec 9, 2021
I love your quizzes, keep up the great work!
+1
Level 55
Dec 9, 2021
Thanks!
+1
Level 73
Dec 9, 2021
fantastic quiz! So when did Arabs control Nigeria and Cameroon, and the other West African territories?
+1
Level 55
Dec 9, 2021
Thanks! Northern Nigeria and surrounding areas used to be (mostly) controlled by the Sokoto Caliphate, which was ruled by Hausa-Fulani Arabs.
+1
Level 57
Dec 9, 2021
Didn't Libya control the Aouzou strip for some time? Didn't see it on the map
+1
Level 55
Dec 9, 2021
I'll add it when I have the chance.
+2
Level 61
Dec 9, 2021
Nice quiz, i'm very surprised that arab got all spain, portugal, and even some france and little of italy

But i think arabians have expanded more east until Xinjiang / East Turkestan in northeast and Indonesia in southeast. Correct me if i'm wrong

+2
Level 55
Dec 9, 2021
Thanks! As far as I'm aware, there was no Arab state in modern-day Indonesia. As for Xinjiang, it's purported whether the caliphate actually reached that far or not, but the general concensus says that they reached up to modern-day Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan.
+1
Level 40
Jan 16, 2023
I thought they reached Kashgar
+2
Level 50
Dec 14, 2021
Asturias was never Arab
+1
Level 73
Dec 14, 2022
it was for like 3 years
+1
Level 78
Dec 15, 2021
Nice quiz Dekkie, cheers - if you know the world map, though, your map makes it relatively straightforward.
+2
Level 44
Jan 14, 2022
Can someone explain about Arabs ruling in Croatia
+2
Level 55
Jan 14, 2022
Saracen siege of Ragusa/Dubrovnik from between 866 and 868.
+1
Level 37
Apr 17, 2022
Somalia isn't an Arabic state?
+2
Level 55
Apr 17, 2022
Nope. Somalis are Cushitic rather than Arab or even Semitic.
+1
Level 44
May 17, 2022
got 100%
+1
Level 40
Jun 8, 2022
I think Arabs reached East Turkestan (current China)... specifically Kashgar
+1
Level 24
Aug 8, 2022
100% but that was hard. I spent like half a minute on croatia, and another 45secs on burundi. I wouldn't have guessed zambia without seeing it's a country with 'z' below and I only barely saw malta.
+1
Level 37
Aug 19, 2022
Burundi was pretty hard, great quiz anyways
+1
Level 69
Sep 16, 2022
Out of curiosity, if a country not on this list elects an Arab PM or President, would they get on? Like if Rashida Tlaib became US president or something.
+1
Level 26
Oct 4, 2022
Imagine this being a real empire
+1
Level 47
Nov 18, 2022
Cameroon… whyyyyy
+1
Level 67
Dec 9, 2022
I have gotten 100 percent on every quiz in this series
+1
Level 30
Dec 14, 2022
I have a question how do you get this SVG?