Founding Dates of Cities in North America Quiz

Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. Mexico City, Mexico

Founded in 1521 on the site of the capital of the indigenous Aztec Empire, Tenochtitlan, which itself was established in 1325, Mexico City is the oldest capital city in North America. It is also the largest city in Mexico, as well as the largest city in North America.

As of 2020, the city itself had a population of over 9.2 million, while the metropolitan area had some 21.8 million people.

2. Quebec City, Quebec, Canada

The city of Quebec was founded in 1608 by Frenchman Samuel de Champlain. The name is from the Algonquian word "Kebec", meaning "where the river narrows". Quebec is the only walled city in Canada or the United States. The capital of the Canadian province of Quebec, the population as of 2021 was 549,000, while the metro area population was 840,000.

3. New York, New York, USA

Founded in 1624 by Dutch colonists as New Amsterdam, the city was ceded to the British in 1664 and renamed New York. It is the largest city in the United States, with a city population of 8.8 million people as of 2020 and a metro population of 20.1 million. New York is also one of the largest ports in the world, and was traditionally the main entry point for immigrants to the United States.

4. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA

The city of Philadelphia, in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. was founded by William Penn in 1682. The city served as the capital of the United States from 1776-1800. With a population of 1.6 million people as of 2020, it is the sixth largest city in the United States. The population of the Philadelphia metropolitan area is 6.3 million.

5. Detroit, Michigan, USA

Founded in 1701 by French explorer Antoine de La Mothe Cadillac, Detroit is the largest city in the American state of Michigan and was once the hub of the American automobile industry. The city's population as of 2020 was 639,000 people, while the city's metropolitan area held some 4.3 million.

6. New Orleans, Louisiana, USA

New Orleans was founded by the French explorer Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville in 1718. The city is full of French-style architecture and to this day has a European atmosphere to it. The largest city in the American state of Louisiana, the population as of 2020 was 384,000 people, while the population of the metropolitan area was almost 1.3 million.

7. St. Louis, Missouri, USA

The city of St. Louis, Missouri was founded in 1764 by French fur traders. It soon became a major port on the Mississippi River, and by 1870 St. Louis was the fourth largest city in the United States. St. Louis was the first North American city to host the summer Olympic Games, in 1904. As of 2020, the city's population was 301,000, and the metro area held some 2.8 million people.

8. Guatemala City, Guatemala

Founded in 1776 on the site of the ancient Mayan city of Kaminaljuyu, Guatemala City was made the capital of the Captaincy of Guatemala following an earthquake in the former capital of Antigua. In 1821, the Central American countries of Guatemala, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Honduras, and Nicaragua declared independence from Spain, and Guatemala City was the capital of the Central American Republic.

The city became the capital of independent Guatemala when the federation broke up in 1841. The population in the city as of 2020 was 1.2 million people, while the population in the metropolitan area was just over 3 million.

9. Los Angeles. California, USA

The city that would become modern day Los Angeles was founded in 1781 as the "Pueblo de Nuestra Senora la Reina de Los Angeles", or "The Town of Our Lady the Queen of the Angels" in English. It was taken over with the rest of California by the USA after the Mexican-American War of 1846-1848.

It is the largest city in the American state of California, and the second largest city in the United States. The city population as of 2020 was 3.9 million people, and the metropolitan area population was 13.2 million.

10. Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

The city that would become Vancouver began as a small settlement near a tavern called Gastown. The site was registered as a town, called Granville, in 1870. It was renamed Vancouver after the British sailor and explorer George Vancouver, who surveyed the area in the late 1700s. With a 2020 population of 662,000 and a metropolitan area of some 2.8 million people, Vancouver is the largest city in the Canadian province of British Columbia and has the third largest metropolitan population in Canada.

Source: Author Reamar42

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What's the Correct Order?	Choices
1. (1521)	Quebec City, Quebec, Canada
2.	Mexico City, Mexico
3.	Los Angeles. California, USA
4.	New Orleans, Louisiana, USA
5. (1701)	St. Louis, Missouri, USA
6.	Guatemala City, Guatemala
7.	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
8.	Detroit, Michigan, USA
9.	Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
10. (1870)	New York, New York, USA

Discovered by Europeans in the 16th century, the continent of North America soon became a destination for colonists from various countries. These ten cities were all founded by European settlers. Place the cities in the order that they were founded.