Second on the Right Trivia Quiz

Answer: Spanish

Spanish explorer, Alvaro de Mendana de Neira, set sail in 1567 with a mission to find Terra Australis (Australia). In 1568 he sighted the island of Nui in what is now Tuvalu. He christened the island Isla de Jesus (Island of Jesus) and continued with his quest. It would be another 200 years before Spanish traders would pass through the same waters before the islands would appear on Spanish maps with any reliability. These traders would be followed by whaling ships, some fifty years later, and they were closely followed by London based missionaries.

The British would colonize the islands and, in 1892 it would become a British protectorate. They would name them the Ellice Islands, and then group them with the Gilbert Islands in 1916. This did not sit very well with the islanders, culminated in tension between the two during the 1960s. In 1974 the Ellice Islanders held a referendum seeking separation from Gilbert Island (which would become Kiribati) and in 1978 they sought independence from Great Britain and changed their name to Tuvalu.

De Neira's voyage, beyond the island of Nui, would see him land in the Solomon's. They stopped to gather supplies and, in the process, discovered gold at Guadalcanal. Mistaking this to be the source of King Solomon's wealth he named the area Islas Salomon - The Island of Solomon. Subsequent voyages by Spanish explorers in 1595 and 1609 would fail to substantiate these claims. Their attempts to colonize the area also met with no success.

The British would arrive in 1767 and the islands would, in 1900, become a protectorate of theirs. The Solomons would play a strategic role in the outcome of World War II. The Japanese occupied a number of locations on the islands and sought to establish naval bases and airfields, but were worn down by strong resistance from the Allies. The Battle of Guadalcanal would prove to be a decisive turning point in the war.

The Solomon Islands would achieve self-governance in 1976 and independence from the United Kingdom in 1978, with Sir Peter Kenilorea appointed as the country's first Prime Minister.

Answer: Dutch

The first recordings of the island of Tonga came from the journals of the Dutch explorer Jakob Le Maire in 1616. He would be closely followed into the region by his compatriot Abel Tasman some 27 years later. Neither of them would record any contact with the island's native population.

The first notable contact with the Tongans would result from the voyages of British explorer Captain James Cook. Cook would visit the islands on three separate occasions between 1773 and 1777. He was so taken by the warm welcome that he received from the islanders that he named them the Friendly Islands. The country would adopt a monarchy in 1875 and, whilst it was never colonized, would become a British protectorate in 1900. They became an independent nation within the British Commonwealth in 1970.

Answer: Portuguese

Though there may have been others before him to sight this island, these were never documented and, as a consequence, Don Jorge de Meneses was credited with the discovery of Papua New Guinea (PNG) in 1526. However, it would not be until the late 19th century, when driven by the growing need for coconut oil, that the Germans would arrive and commence trading for copra on the northern part of the island, known simply as New Guinea. By 1899 the German government had assumed control of this region, but lost it during World War I when the area was occupied by Australian troops.

At a similar time to the German occupation of New Guinea (1895), the region of Papua would become a British protectorate, which they fully annexed four years later. In 1902 possession and administration was placed in the hands of Australia. After World War I Australia received the authority to administer the German section of New Guinea by the League of Nations. After World War II the two territories of Papua and New Guinea would be combined. The country become self-governed in 1973 and independent in 1975.

Answer: Dutch

Willem Janszoon, captain of the Duyfken (Little Dove), would land on the western side of the Cape York Peninsula in 1606. He would also map approximately 300 kilometres of the coastline and this would be the first recording of a European landing on Australian soil. A number of Dutch sailors would soon arrive to chart the northern, western and southern coastlines of Australia but it wouldn't be until the arrival of Captain James Cook in 1770 that the first recorded exploration of the country's eastern coast would be undertaken. Significantly, Cook used maps that were based on the earlier Dutch visits.

Australia was colonized by the British with the arrival of the First Fleet in 1788. In 1901, all of the Australian states agreed to Federation and the Commonwealth of Australia was created. There have been numerous claims of earlier landings (to Janszoon) by the Spanish, the Chinese, Arabs and even the Romans. The strongest of these theories points toward the Portuguese explorer, Cristovado de Mendonca in 1522, possibly being the first, however, there has been no credible evidence provided to prove any of these claims.

Answer: Spanish

Alonso de Salazar would catch sight of the Marshall Islands in 1526 and was followed closely by his countryman Alvaro Saavedra. Despite Saavedra's report indicating a lack of wealth in the area, the country was colonized by Spain. The effect was a great loss of native population due to their lack of immunity to the European diseases that were introduced.

British explorer John Marshall would visit the islands in 1788 and they would eventually owe their name to him. German traders soon arrived and the Islands were purchased by Germany from Spain in 1885 as part of their own expansion plan. They would name the islands German New Guinea. They held the islands until, first, they were overrun by the Japanese during World War I and then relinquished as part of the Treaty of Versailles and formally passed onto Japan in 1920 as part of the South Seas Mandate by the Council of the League of Nations.

The Japanese would hold the islands until they, too, were overrun by the United States in 1944 during World War II. The islands became a part of the United States in 1947 thanks to creation of the Trust Territory of the Pacific. The islands would achieve independence and become a self governing country in 1979.

Answer: Dutch

Abel Tasman is recognized for both discovering New Zealand (in 1642) and the first European to meet with the Mâori peoples, though not all of the encounters with the locals were of a friendly nature. Despite labelling his voyage a success the Dutch authorities decided that they would not pursue any further exploration of the country.

Surprisingly, it was another 127 years before another European would set foot on New Zealand's soil. On this occasion it was Captain James Cook in 1769. This then opened the doors for whalers and traders to make their way there. In 1840 William Hobson, New Zealand's first governor, arranged the signed of the Waitangi Treaty to be executed between the Mâori nation and Great Britain. The treaty would be taken right across the length of the nation to obtain over 500 signatures from the local chieftains.

Whilst the treaty essentially founded the New Zealand nation, its people still remained British citizens. This changed with the adoption of the Statute of Westminster in 1947 though full legal independence was not obtained until the Constitution Act was passed in 1986.

A year after discovering New Zealand, Tasman was also credited with the discovery of Fiji, though this was generally thought to be more by accident than design. Once again, it would be another 130 years before the next sighting of the islands and, again, it was James Cook.

However, the credit for the first landing on Fiji goes to Captain William Bligh who was somewhat forced to go there following the famous mutiny on his ship the Bounty in 1789. The discovery of sandalwood here would draw numerous European nations to the shores. This, in turn led to a series of disputes and it took the enactment of Native Title laws in 1876 and 1882 by the country's first governor, Sir Arthur Gordon, to provide clarity and ease some of the tensions. In 1966 Fiji introduced its own electoral system and, four years later, they gained their independence from the United Kingdom.

Answer: British

Though it is possible that Nauru may have been sighted earlier, the first recorded sighting of the country was by John Fearn, the captain of the British whaling ship the Snow Hunter. Nauruan locals rowed out to meet the ship but Fearn refused to make contact. However, the nature of the greeting and the verdant nature of the island's central plateau led him to name the site Pleasant Island.

The island became a haven for beachcombers, in particular escapee from nearby Norfolk Island, who introduced guns, tobacco, alcohol and disease to the community. German traders reported the island's presence to their superiors and they incorporated the island under their Marshall Island protectorate in 1888. They would lose the island to an Australian force during World War I and the island became a mandated territory under the League of Nations, to be administered by a triumvirate made up of Great Britain, Australia and New Zealand.

The Japanese invaded the island in 1942 at the start of their World War II campaign, lost it to Australian troops in 1945 and then it became a United Nations Trust territory in 1947. In 1967 Nauru would complete its quest for independence.

Answer: Dutch

In 1722, on an east to west voyage across the Pacific Ocean, Dutchman Jacob Roggeveen became the first European to sight the islands of Samoa. He was pleasantly welcomed, not so much for his company but the technology and goods that he bought to trade. However, it wasn't until the 1830s and the arrival of John Williams, a member of the London Missionary Society, that European trade and interaction intensified.

By the 1850s the country began to develop rapidly and three great powers, the United States, Great Britain and Germany, were drawn into conflict over the Samoan nation as each tried to annex the country for their own ends. In 1889, a war between the three appeared a certainty but a great typhoon hit the island, sinking six of their battleships, and the subsequent signing of the Berlin Agreement prevented further hostilities.

At the turn of the 20th century, without the islander's knowledge, Samoa was divided into two sections. The eastern half, now known as American Samoa, was taken by the United States and Western Samoa went to Germany. The Germans would lose their possession in 1914, at the start World War I. Administration of their section of the island was granted to New Zealand under the auspices of the League of Nations until 1962 when Samoa became the first of the Pacific Islands to gained its independence.

Answer: Portuguese

The islands of Palau were first sighted by the crew of the Trinidad, the flagship of Ferdinand Magellan's fleet, while he was attempting his circumnavigation of the globe in 1522. He sailed on without stopping to explore them and it wasn't until 1696 that a map of Palau was drawn up. This was done Paul Klein, a Czech missionary.

The islands became a part of the Spanish East Indies in 1885 but, after Spain was defeated in the Spanish American War, they were sold to Germany in 1899. Japan gained control during World War I but lost it to the United States in 1944, during World War II. The United Nations, as part of the Trusteeship of the Pacific Islands, would formally pass the islands to the United States in 1947. In 1978 Palau began its quest for independence and the process was formalized by 1994.

Answer: Portuguese

Tough call this one. Whilst it is acknowledged that Pedro de Queiros was a Portuguese explorer (and we did ask for nationalities), at the time of his discovery of Vanuatu (1606), he was working for the Spanish crown. Thinking that he'd discovered Terra Australis (Australia), he named the island La Austrialia del Espirutu Santo (The Southern Land of the Holy Spirit). The bay he landed in still bears the name Espirutu Santo.

He would be followed to the islands by the Frenchman, Louis de Bougainville, in 1768 and then by the Englishman, James Cook in 1774. Cook would rename the island the New Hebrides and it would remain as such until the country achieved its independence. The islands were found to be rich in sandalwood and, in 1825, this led to an influx of traders who were closely followed by missionaries.

By the late 19th century, the islands were occupied by a strong mixture of French and British interests. The attempts to abide by two sets of laws created confusion and tension and pressure was soon bough to bear on either nation to annex the islands and bring clarity to the scene. Both countries went the other way and arranged a unique "Condominium" government in 1906. This brought together two legal systems under one court. It did little to clear the air and was soon referred to as the "Pandemonium" contract. In 1980 this was finally dispensed with, and the island became an independent nation, bearing the new name of Vanuatu.

On the same expedition that led to the discovery of Vanuatu, de Queiros also sighted the Kiribati islands of Butaritari and Makin. He named them Buen Viaje, the Spanish term for "good voyage", but did not stop there. Others that passed through, but did not stop to explore, included British mariners Captain John Byron in 1764 and Captains Thomas Gilbert and John Marshall in 1788.

The above explorers however, did open the door to an influx of European traders and settlers. The islands became known as the Gilbert Islands and came under the protection of the British government in 1892, who then made it an official colony in 1916. The British would briefly lose control of the islands during World War II when they were overrun by the Japanese in, what has been described as, some of the fiercest fighting in the Pacific during that conflict. In 1979 the islands would gain their independence, change their name to Kiribati and elect Ieremia Tabai as its first President.