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Who Controlled These Colonies?

For each selected colony or territory, name the country that controlled it.
Answer must correspond to the highlighted box
Some answers used more than once
Quiz by Quizmaster
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Last updated: September 15, 2021
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First submittedFebruary 6, 2013
Times taken99,482
Average score72.7%
Rating4.72
5:00
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0
 / 22 guessed
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Colony
Years
Possession of ...
Hong Kong
1842–1997
United Kingdom
Brazil
1532–1825
Portugal
Congo
1908–1960
Belgium
_____ East Indies
1603–1949
Netherlands
Haiti
1697–1804
France
Alaska
1784–1867
Russia
Philippines
1565–1898
Spain
Philippines
1898–1946
United States
Korea
1910–1945
Japan
Virginia
1607–1776
Great Britain
Guam
1898–
United States
Colony
Years
Possession of ...
Guatemala
1609–1821
Spain
Suriname
1667–1975
Netherlands
Kamerun
1884–1919
Germany
Southern Rhodesia
1889–1953
United Kingdom
Libya
1912–1947
Italy
Macao
1557–1999
Portugal
Iceland
1380–1944
Denmark
Carthage
814–650 BC
Phoenicia (Tyre)
New South Wales
1788–1901
United Kingdom
Acadia
1604–1713
France
Saint Barthélemy
1784–1878
Sweden
+12
Level 82
Mar 31, 2013
Fun quiz. Got all of them pretty quickly down to the last two, then I just had to guess. but ended with 100%.
+34
Level 65
Aug 29, 2015
How on earth do you 'guess' Sweden for the last one? It's about the most un-Swedish name there is!
+57
Level 62
Aug 29, 2015
There are only a very limited number of European countries that existed back then that could have had colonies. I just guessed all of them. Sweden was the last one I could think of.
+5
Level 82
Aug 30, 2015
yeah, basically. I guessed several other countries first.
+11
Level 62
Dec 5, 2017
Among fellow Scandinavians (I'm a Dane) this is actually quite widely known. Because of a very small joke: even under French sovereignty the island has maintained the capital's name as "Gustavia". Named in honour of King Gustav - the most Swedish of all royal names.
+2
Level 67
Dec 5, 2017
I've heard sometime that Sweden used to have something in the Caribbean.
+2
Level 59
Apr 24, 2020
I just remembered Sweden had some kind of colonial empire at some point and so I tried it on both of the last 2 and it worked.
+3
Level 75
Sep 27, 2021
Thanks to praimos's comment, I went on Google Earth to have a look. I dropped down on street view directly in front of a pretty large statue that appears to be of a human-pig (human-bear?) tourist. Quite a first impression.
+3
Level 59
Nov 22, 2022
Please write the location, I'd like to see that......thing?
+20
Level 55
Apr 18, 2020
For once Kalbahamut isn't complaining about something!!!
+4
Level 78
Jan 13, 2021
It's just a matter of time.
+5
Level 82
Jun 4, 2021
"... he complained, hypocritically and without cause, lacking an iota of self-awareness"
+4
Level 78
Sep 8, 2022
Et voilà.
+1
Level 27
Jul 20, 2023
u spelled Cameroon Kameron
+1
Level 46
Aug 3, 2023
Kamerun is the German name
+1
Level 49
Nov 8, 2023
Proud of you Kal
+4
Level 68
Jun 11, 2013
I didn't knwo Sweden ever had a colony! I thought they were too busy ordering the Norwegians around.
+6
Level 26
Sep 4, 2013
yea the swedish empire
+4
Level 35
Feb 28, 2014
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swedish_colonial_empire
+1
Level 42
Jan 5, 2015
There's also a large (for the region) amount of Finns in the U.P of Michigan and North-East Wisconsin
+4
Level 37
Oct 13, 2016
People please: A large NUMBER of people, not a large AMOUNT

of people.

+11
Level 74
Dec 5, 2017
Divantilya: Thank you for your constructive feedback and educating us on your language. We appreciate all efforts to improve our vocabulary and use of phrases for our 2nd, 3rd or 4th languages. If only all users could be so considerate
+4
Level 89
Aug 30, 2018
@divantilya Are those acronyms?
+3
Level 93
Jan 30, 2019
numerical units must be explicitly referenced; aggregated mass of un-numbered things
+1
Level 62
Aug 15, 2019
and ontario
+1
Level 55
Apr 18, 2020
Supposedly you spelled "know" wrong.
+1
Level 67
Sep 27, 2021
They are encroaching on the NHL as well lately
+1
Level 28
Dec 7, 2013
So the Phoenicians founded Carthage?

On another note, this may be the first time that my very last guess has worked. 0:01 to go with the box showing 100% is almost screenshot-worthy. :P

+3
Level 32
Nov 7, 2015
Yes they did, along with many other cities in the Mediterranean
+2
Level 82
Jan 11, 2022
It leads to the interesting situation where Cartagena in Colombia was founded as a colony of Spain and named after Cartagena in Spain, which was founded as a colony of and named after Carthage in Africa, which was founded by the Phoenicians and has a name in Punic meaning 'New Tyre'.
+1
Level 15
Apr 23, 2014
100%, 3:10 sec left,good :)
+1
Level 55
May 15, 2014
That was really quite difficult! I only got 13!
+1
Level 75
Aug 6, 2015
Since there is Carthage, you could add ancient roman or greek colonies and many more historic ones!
+1
Level 76
Aug 29, 2015
I never actually knew Germany managed to colonise Africa at all. I thought it was just Britain, France, Italy, Portugal, Belgium and the Netherlands
+5
Level 86
Aug 29, 2015
Yes, they had a few colonies, like Tanzania. That's why there was some fighting in Africa during WWI. Anyway, the French and British empires were ridiculously big, which is, in my opinion, the main cause of the war... ironically, the German wanted more and they lost everything in 1919...
+6
Level 58
Aug 29, 2015
Apart from those and Germany, there was also Spain. The Netherlands on the other hand were already out of Africa before the main colonizing period started in the late 19th century.
+3
Level 56
Apr 14, 2020
When in doubt, guess France, UK, or Spain.
+3
Level 68
May 5, 2020
The Germans controlled modern day Namibia, Tanzania, Togo and Cameroon up until WWI when they were transfered to the British, French and South Africans.
+1
Level 59
Oct 3, 2021
And technically Belgium
+2
Level 72
Jan 11, 2023
The Germans also had Rwanda and Burundi which were transferred to the Belgians.
+2
Level 62
Dec 12, 2020
I only got it because "Kamerun" is the German name for Cameroon, since I've taken a few German quizzes.
+1
Level 51
Aug 29, 2015
i had seconds left and kept misspelling italy (just guessing). too bad i couldn't get it right...
+1
Level 39
Aug 31, 2015
Very nice quiz. Didn't get a few of them (St. Bart's, Carthage) but I learned a little something too.
+2
Level 32
Apr 8, 2017
Is Kamerun supposed to be Cameroon?
+13
Level 43
Apr 17, 2017
It's the german spelling
+4
Level 76
Nov 17, 2019
It was the German-ruled part of the present-day nation of Cameroon.
+1
Level 59
Sep 27, 2021
It's the norwegian spelling
+3
Level 59
Oct 3, 2021
Which is probably the same as the German spelling, where it more obviously comes from.
+9
Level 81
Apr 17, 2017
"Mother Country" is quite offensive. "Colonizer" is more accurate.
+14
Level 79
Mar 6, 2019
Definition of 'mother country' according to Oxford English Dictionary - a country in relation to its colonies: Australia sent the flower of its youth to defend the mother country's interests.
+4
Level 62
Sep 2, 2019
Depends on the context. The uk is certainly the mother country to the USA, Australia etc. but definitely not for India or any colonies in africa
+5
Level 82
Jan 26, 2020
::eyeroll::
+5
Level 59
Oct 3, 2021
I mean there’s definitely a thing such as abusive mothers
+4
Level 37
Apr 17, 2017
I do apologize if I offended any non-native English speakers (which I obviously have) with my comment about "NUMBER of" ... (people) rather than "Amount of..." (people). That was not my intent, but it was my fault for not first checking the name. My comment was directed to native English speakers who are just too careless to use the proper phraseology. My pet peeves are the above: "Number v. Amount" and the use of the word "Floor", when speaking of the sidewalk or walkway, for which the proper terminology is "ground". Again, this was not intended for English as a second-language speakers, of which I am one as well.
+3
Level 84
Sep 19, 2017
FWIW, that's what I understood the intent of you comment to be. And I appreciated what you pointed out. I always prefer to know more rather than less. Except when it comes to anything having to do with Harry Potter, of course. :-)
+2
Level 89
Aug 30, 2018
Who uses "floor" to mean sidewalk or walkway?
+1
Level 73
Nov 28, 2018
I've never heard of a sidewalk being called anything but a sidewalk. A sidewalk or walkway is what keeps you from walking on the ground. A path on the other hand is most often on the ground (or a way through a crowded room). A floor is part of a building: ground floor, dance floor, senate floor, third floor. The ground is the earth/dirt.
+3
Level 37
Dec 15, 2018
Just one of many instances; Listening to the TV news earlier tonight, I heard an eyewitness describe a scene in this way: "He ran out of the building holding his side and fell to the floor over there by the hydrant".
+1
Level 68
Sep 27, 2021
"Number" and "amount" is my pet peeve too!!!! The number of newsreaders who say amount instead of number... :-)
+3
Level 68
Oct 3, 2021
My other pet peeve is when people say "less" instead of "fewer".
+1
Level 59
Oct 3, 2021
Yes. I don’t get how less of my English teachers used less and fewer correctly than incorrectly.
+1
Level 68
Sep 27, 2021
The floor v. ground thing aggravates me.
+1
Level 51
Nov 27, 2017
Phoenicia is a bit unfair.
+5
Level 59
Dec 5, 2017
Why?
+3
Level 51
Dec 5, 2017
All the others are still countries, Phoenicia arguably never was (being rather a collection of city-states that were never very unified).
+7
Level 82
Dec 5, 2017
It's the obvious answer.
+2
Level 51
Dec 7, 2017
Really? Is it? I think at least there should be a note that 'some of these countries no longer exist'.
+5
Level 82
Dec 7, 2017
You have a location and time period, with that you either know or don't who was in Carthage at the time.
+3
Level 82
Dec 8, 2017
Yes. Really. What did you guess instead? Lebanon?
+4
Level 82
Aug 29, 2018
P.S. if at any point in the future you see an answer from 800 BC: not a single modern-day country in the world existed then, though ancient civilizations we call Egypt and China were around at the time, they have basically nothing to do with the modern states by the same names. And those are the only two.
+2
Level 89
Aug 30, 2018
Maybe you thought it was South Sudan? (JetPunk nerd humor)
+7
Level 47
Dec 5, 2017
Nice quiz. I would just highly suggest to specify that the Congo is the Congo Free State. I think it would be unambiguously then, because there used to be a different French Congo.
+2
Level 76
Nov 17, 2019
True. I guessed 'France' for that one initially, because the country that is now called 'Republic of the Congo' was a French colony.
+1
Level 33
Dec 5, 2017
St. Barthelemy was French from 1648 to 1783 and was then exchanged to the Swedish in 1784, then it was sold back to France in 1878 and is now an Overseas Collective of France.
+2
Level 48
Dec 19, 2017
Can Lebanon (maybe also Israel) be considered as type-in for Phoenicia?
+6
Level 66
Aug 29, 2018
Lebanon was part of Phoenicia, so was Israel. You might as well ask to accept Arkansas of for a type-in for America colonizing Guam.
+6
Level 89
Aug 30, 2018
Guam has a WalMart, so yes, technically they have been colonized by Arkansas, although not within the full dates given.
+1
Level 60
Aug 6, 2023
How did you think of this?
+1
Level 34
Jun 16, 2018
...seems like a lot of guesswork going on in this quiz...helps to be on the internet, i suppose...
+3
Level 49
Aug 29, 2018
"Mother country" sounds almost like an endearing term for a nation that exploits the native population and steals its resources in some twisted excuse of ushering "civilisation".
+3
Level 37
Aug 30, 2018
Especially since the "civilization" which they usher in is often more barbaric than that which they supplant.
+5
Level 59
Jan 26, 2020
Congo should be changed to the Democratic Republic of Congo. There are two countries with 'Congo' in their name - D.R.Congo (formerly Zaire) which was a Belgian colony and the Republic of Congo which was a French colony.
+1
Level 70
Sep 3, 2020
Good quiz, but it leaves an awful lot on the table. Most of these were quite easy and straightforward.
+3
Level 56
Dec 12, 2020
Iceland being a Danish colony is debatable. It was a part of the Norwegian realm (that was in a personal union with Denmark) until 1814. Technically it was a Norwegian colony (along with the Faroes and Greenland) up until that point.
+3
Level 43
Apr 22, 2022
A better answer would be Norway 1262 to either 1524 or 1814 depending on whether you count Denmark-Norway
+1
Level 59
Mar 13, 2021
Im actually kinda surprised by how less than half of people guessed Acadia
+1
Level 78
Mar 23, 2021
Me too. Acadian = Cajun.
+1
Level 66
Aug 3, 2023
Technically only the Acadianans are Cajun. Acadians are from Maine.
+1
Level 59
Sep 27, 2021
i have never heard of acadia
+3
Level 55
Sep 27, 2021
Is this the shortest featured quiz title?
+2
Level 64
Sep 27, 2021
When in doubt guess the UK, France, Spain, or the Netherlands
+2
Level 59
Sep 28, 2021
Guam, Haiti, Brazil, etc was Spain in the past too
+2
Level 41
Oct 3, 2021
I loved this quiz, but i need to correct one thing, Brazil became independent in 1822...
+2
Level 53
Mar 9, 2022
theres 2 congos you gotta say DRC for that one
+1
Level 54
Apr 26, 2022
Way too easy and too much time. Lower time to 2 minutes? Add something really obscure like Toco, Trinidad (Courland).
+1
Level 44
Jul 14, 2022
Perfect quiz for me. 80% easy. 15% had to think. 5% got lucky or had to look up later. Well done.
+1
Level 67
Jun 11, 2023
Just missed Sweden
+1
Level 38
Jun 17, 2023
Please accept Phunicia for Phoenicia because that's the reason i got it wrong
+1
Level 75
Aug 3, 2023
France should be accepted for Congo, as France controlled the Republic of Congo (Congo-Brazzaville) from 1908 to 1960, while Belgium controlled the Democratic Republic of Congo (Congo-Kinshasa), also from 1908 to 1960.
+1
Level 48
Aug 3, 2023
Don't know the answer to this one...starts typing:

UK?

Spain?

Portugal?

France?

Belgium?

Netherlands?

Germany?

It's gotta be one of these!

+1
Level 48
Aug 3, 2023
I feel like Phoenicians should have been an acceptable answer; I don't think Phoenicia was a country like the rest of these are in the modern sense. It was a group of peoples whose territory didn't have well defined borders (as is my understanding).
+1
Level 37
Aug 4, 2023
This is a nice, but challenging in a fun way kind of quiz on JetPunk.
+1
Level 56
Aug 4, 2023
Ok, being controversial, but what makes Alaska a colony of Russia but not of the USA?

(I'm not saying there is an equivalence, I just don't know where the difference is)

+1
Level 60
Aug 6, 2023
I think it's the level of administration they had. I'm not knowledgeable about the topic, but I assume that Alaska to the Russians was more like Puerto Rico to the United States. Either way, the time period on this quiz makes it impossible to be the United States.