I Lost my City Down the River Trivia Quiz

Answer: Elbe

The Elbe is to be found in Central Europe, with two thirds of its course being in Germany, and one third in the Czech Republic, whence it rises.

Hamburg is on the Elbe, at its confluence with two other rivers, the Alster and the Bille. In the late first century AD, Tacitus mentioned a town named Asciburgium, which lay beyond the Rhine, while Ptolemy, one century later, wrote of a mountain on the Elbe named Asciburgius. It is possible that those are the earliest references to Hamburg.

Answer: Daugava

The Daugava river rises in the Valdai Hills, close to the source of the Volga. In ancient times, the parts of its that are today in Latvia and Belarus were part of the riverine trade network known as "Amber Road", which connected the Baltic, the Black and the Mediterranean Seas, whereas in the Middle Ages, its basin was part of the road from the Varangians (Scandinavians) to the Byzantine Greeks.

Riga is built on the river's mouth. Due to this, medieval chroniclers often gave a false etymology for the city's name, linking it with the Latin word "rigata",meaning "irrigated".

Answer: Dnipro

The Dnipro is the largest river in Ukraine and one of the largest in Europe. A lot of important cities in the country are crossed by it, including Zaporizhzhia, the home of early Cossack leaders, and the city of Dnipro, which is named for the river.

According to legend (which may have a basis in fact), Kyiv was founded by three brothers (the princes Kyi, Shchek and Khoriv) and their sister Lybid. Although the names might not correspond to reality, the city may have well been founded in the late fifth century AD, when the Byzantine Empire re-focused its attention on the trade routes of Eastern Europe, after the defeat of the Huns.

Answer: Tiber

The name of the river Tiber antedates the Romans. It has been suggested that the Greek word typhe, meaning a wetland weed, or the Celtic root "dubri-" (as in the name of Dover) is the root that gives us the word Tiber.

Tiber rises in central Italy, in Mount Fumaiolo, meeting the Tyrrhenian Sea just past Ostia, the ancient harbour of Rome.

Answer: Tagus

The river Tagus is the longest in the entire Iberian peninsula. Its name derives from a pre-Roman root, "(s)tag-", meaning "to flow through".

Lisbon is the capital of Portugal. Named Olisipo during the Roman era, it is alleged by Strabo and Martianus Capella to have been founded by the Greek hero Odysseus (Ulysses to the Romans). A devastating earthquake occurred in Lisbon in 1755.

Answer: Danube

The Danube is the second-longest river in Europe and an important geographical and historical marker. Rising from the Black Forest in Germany, it passes through Germany, Austria, Hungary, Slovakia, Ukraine and other countries, before emptying into the Black Sea.

Esztergom derives from the medieval Latin name Strigonium, or, according to an earlier hypothesis, by a combination of the names Ister (Greek for the Danube) and Gran (Latin for the Hron, a tributary of the Danube). It's one of the biggest cities in Hungary and its first capital, from the 10th to the 13th century.

Answer: Nile

The Nile, known to everybody, is the Earth's longest river. It consists of two main waterways, the White Nile, rising in the African Great Lakes, and the Blue Nile, rising in Lake Tana. They converge in Sudan, near the capital of Khartoum, and flow all the way to the shores of the Mediterranean, forming a delta.

Edfu is located in Egypt, on the Nile's western bank. In Hellenistic times, it was known as Apollonopolis, meaning "city of Apollo". A temple of Horus has been found in the vicinity. The city continues to be inhabited in the 21st century, being a market town and having a thriving pottery industry.

Answer: Mississippi

The Mississippi is the main body of water in the United States, forming a river system with its main tributary, the Missouri, which is actually longer than its source, the Mississippi. The river rises in northern Minnesota, in Lake Itasca, flowing all the way to the Gulf of Mexico.

Memphis is located in the state of Tennessee, in Shelby County. It's the second-biggest city in the state. Its name derives from a city and former capital of Ancient Egypt. Memphis is associated both with a vibrant musical scene and with the African-American Civil Rights Movement.

Answer: James

The James River rises in the Appalachian Mountains and flows into Chesapeake Bay. Initially, it was called Powhatan River, from the name of a Native American tribe (which happened to be the tribe of Pocahontas, famous for her liaison with Captain John Smith). The name changed in order to honor the King of England at the time, James I, who ordered the English translation of the Bible to be made and printed.

Richmond is the capital of Virginia. It arose as a city before the American Revolution and, for most of the U.S. Civil War it served as the capital of the breakaway Confederate States of America.

Answer: Swan

The Swan River is the most important in Western Australia. Its main tributaries are: the Avon, the Canning and the Helena. It takes its name from the black swans that Dutch explorers observed in its estuary during the 17th century.

Perth was initially named Swan River colony, but later the name changed to Perth, with the intent of honoring the man who was then Secretary of State for War and the Colonies of Great Britain, George Murray, who hailed from Perthshire in Scotland. Perth is the capital of Western Australia.