World Capitals by a Single Clue #2

These are good quizzes, enjoyable to do.

Either i'm really dumb or these are bloody tough, but so far I haven't got over 50% and looking at some of the answers I would NEVER have got them.

Bruges opened its stock exchange in 1309, nearly 200 years before Amsterdam. From Wikipedia's entry for Bruges: This [port] development opened not only the trade in spices from the Levant, but also advanced commercial and financial techniques and a flood of capital that soon took over the banking of Bruges. The Bourse opened in 1309 (most likely the first stock exchange in the world) and developed into the most sophisticated money market of the Low Countries in the 14th century.

Trying to think of Israel as Asian will get every time

thought of Panama with 2 seconds to go but couldn't type it fast enough. Only one I missed...

There is an all-too-predictable slant among some quizmakers to convince the world that Jerusalem is Israel's capital. Yeah, there is a good reason why no embassies are located there.

It's up to the country to decide which city is their capital, regardless of our opinion or conventional practice. Therefore some countries have their capital split (e.g. South Africa, Bolivia) or a ceremonial capital, when the seat of government is elsewhere (e.g. the Netherlands). If Israel calls Jerusalem it's capital, so be it.

Reasonable point, ignoring the more fundamental point of whether Israel has the right to occupy Jerusalem (under any designation) in the first place.

The reason that there are no embassies in Jerusalem is mostly the passing of UNSC Resolution 478, which condemned the occupation of East Jerusalem and called upon states to move their embassies elsewhere. The Resolution doesn't state that Israel's power over the rest of Jerusalem is unlawful, nor that Jerusalem is not the capital of Israel (which it has been since 1948).

Yeah, there is a good reason: the whole point of diplomacy is to avoid unnecessary trouble. If you're suggesting that Israel has no claim to the 4/5ths of Jerusalem west of the Green Line and thus cannot claim Jerusalem as its capital, I don't know what to tell you other than that you're clearly wrong.

The reason is politics. JetPunk's policy is to embrace reality over politics. The reality is that Israel's capital is in Jerusalem. The seat of government and national administration is there. What definition for capital are you using?

Why claim that Jerusalem is a capital, when NO government in the world acknowledges it as such?

Apparently one does - the government of Israel.

Since when does a capital require foreign recognition? And if Jerusalem isn't the capital of Israel, what city is? Israel not only calls Jerusalem its capital, its government is seated there too. It would be pretty silly to make up another capital for them.

Tel Aviv is Palestine's supposed Israeli capital since they themselves claim Jerusalem. It's not that they couldn't both claim the city since it lies on the hypothetical border between country and...whatever Palestine is, but the latter really wishes Israel didn't exist at all, so...yeah. The problem with Jesperbf's claim is that he appears to have failed to do much research into it. Wikipedia's page on the matter (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_recognition_of_Israel) shows a lovely little chart that shows how 162 of 193 UN member states (including Israel) recognise it. Jesperbf seems to be confusing embassies with declarations of capitals, but that's not the case. Take Canada's notes on the matter, for instance: 'While Israel designates Jerusalem as its capital, Canada believes that the final status of the city needs to be negotiated between the Israelis and Palestinians. At present, Canada maintains its Embassy in Tel Aviv.' Essentially, most countries recognise

Jerusalem as Israel's capital, but understand the dangers of placing their embassies there, so they take the safe option and move them to Tel Aviv, which works just as well for most people.

Does Pyongyang have a foreign embassy in it? Really interesting to get some info about it.

Worst. Diplomatic. Assignment. Ever.

Time to change Jerusalem