Whose Colony Is It, Anyway? Trivia Quiz

Answer: Great Britain

Hong Kong was ceded to Britain by the 1842 Treaty of Nanking, which ended the First Opium War between China and Britain. The colony was expanded in 1860 after the Second Opium War with the addition of the Kowloon Peninsula, and again in 1898 with a 99 year lease on the "New Territories". Hong Kong was returned to China in 1997.

Answer: The Netherlands

The Portuguese established trading posts in what is now Indonesia in 1511. The first Dutch expedition arrived in 1595, and the separate Dutch trading companies were amalgamated into the United East India Company in 1602. They drove out the Portuguese and founded the capital of Batavia in 1619, but the territory now called the Dutch East Indies was not completely conquered until the early 20th century.

The Japanese occupied the country during World War II, and Indonesian nationalists took advantage of the situation to revolt.

Indonesia became an independent nation in 1949.

Answer: France

Spain had occupied parts of what is now Algeria in the early 1500s in order to suppress piracy, and they were not driven out until the 18th Century. France attacked Algeria in 1830, and had occupied the entire country by 1875. Large numbers of French settlers moved into Algeria, and the French government considered it an integral part of France. Algeria won independence after a bloody war fought between 1954-1962.

Answer: Portugal

The Portuguese arrived in what is now Angola in 1484 and soon established a trading post at the northern town of Soyo. Colonization began with the founding of Luanda in 1575. Angola was a center of the slave trade until the 1820s. The country won independence in 1975, but a bloody civil war followed.

Answer: Spain

The modern country of Mexico was home to several civilizations before the Spanish arrived in 1519. At that time, central Mexico was dominated by the Aztec Empire, which the Spanish conquered by 1521 , naming the area New Spain. Mexico revolted from Spain in 1810 and declared independence in 1821.

Answer: Great Britain

Bermuda was discovered by Spanish explorer Juan Bermudez in 1505. There was no indigenous population on the islands, and the Spanish did not settle there. The first European settlement on the islands was a British colony at St. George's Town, established in 1612. Though African slaves were brought to Bermuda after 1615, the land wasn't suitable for large scale farming.

The people turned to shipbuilding, fishing, and the export of shipbuilding materials. Bermuda became a Crown Colony in 1684 and remains so today.

The mainstays of the economy today are tourism and financial services.

Answer: The Netherlands

Cape Colony in Southern Africa was founded in 1652 by the Dutch East India Company as a stopover and re-provisioning station for ships traveling between Europe and the Dutch East Indies. The colony was lost to the British in 1795, but returned to Dutch rule in 1803.

It was again lost to the British in 1806, and this was made permanent by treaty in 1814. Cape Colony was later incorporated into the Union of South Africa in 1910.

Answer: France

The French began the conquest of Vietnam in 1858, and declared a protectorate over Cambodia in 1863. By 1899, Laos had been added as well. The French were ousted from the area by Japan during World War II, and when they returned in 1945, they faced independence movements in all three countries.

A brutal war was fought until 1954, when the French were defeated and granted independence to all three countries.

Answer: Portugal

Portuguese explorer Pedro Cabral discovered what is now Brazil in 1500, and the first settlement was established at Sao Vicente in 1530. The Portuguese imported large numbers of African slaves to work on the sugar plantations. Gold was discovered in the late 1600s, and replaced sugar as the main export by the 1720s.

The Portuguese king and court fled to Brazil from Napoleon in 1807, and the colony was elevated to kingdom status with the mother country. Brazil declared independence in 1822, and Portugal recognized it as an independent country in 1825.

Answer: Spain

The Spanish explorer Francisco Pizarro led a small force into what is now Peru in 1532. The area was part of the vast Inca Empire, which had been weakened by civil war. Pizarro captured and eventually executed the Emperor, Atahualpa, in 1533. Almost forty years of warfare followed, as the last Inca emperor was not killed until 1572. Peru declared independence in 1821, and the Spanish were defeated in 1824.

Answer: Great Britain

An attempt was made by the British to settle on Roanoke Island in 1585, but it was not successful. A second colony, this time including women and children,
was founded in 1587. The governor of the new colony, John White, returned to England for more supplies, but he was delayed for three years due to the outbreak of war with Spain. When White finally returned in 1590, he found the site abandoned. No definite trace of the settlers has ever been found.

Answer: The Netherlands

The Portuguese founded a small town, called Torarica, in what is now Suriname in 1629. The town's population consisted of Jews from Portugal and The Netherlands. The French also built a fort near modern day Paramaribo in 1644, but it was soon abandoned. British Baron Willoughby then built Fort Willoughby on the site in 1650.

The Dutch captured the area in 1667 and it became a constituent part of the Kingdom of The Netherlands in 1954. Suriname declared independence from The Netherlands in 1975.

Answer: France

Quebec, founded in 1608 by Samuel de Champlain, soon grew to become the capital of the French colony of New France, or Canada. The city was captured by the British in 1759 during the Seven Years War, and the entire colony was ceded to the British at the end of the war in 1763. Today, Quebec is still a French speaking city, the capital of the Province of Quebec, and the only walled city in Canada.

Answer: Portugal

Portuguese explorer Vasco de Gama first explored the coast of what is now Mozambique in 1498. The Portuguese began building forts and exploring the interior from 1500 on. Formal government was small, and power was held by wealthy settlers and trading companies.

The economy was mainly agricultural, but mining became important in the 20th century. A movement for independence began in 1964, and after a ten-year guerrilla war, Mozambique became independent in 1975.

Answer: Spain

Discovered in 1521 by the expedition of Ferdinand Magellan, who was killed in a skirmish with the native inhabitants, the Spanish began colonizing the islands in 1565. Spanish rule was harsh, and there were constant uprisings. A rebel group formed in 1892 began a revolt against the Spanish in 1896, and the islands were ceded to the United States after the 1898 Spanish-American War.

The rebels fought the U.S. until 1902. Independence was finally gained in 1946, after World War II.

Answer: Great Britain

The Bahamas were the site of the first European landfall in the Americas since the Vikings, Columbus having landed on San Salvador on his first voyage. The Spanish did not settle the islands, but the enslavement of the natives and the diseases brought by European contact had depopulated the islands by 1513.

The English began settling the islands in 1649, and they became a Crown Colony in 1718. Many American Loyalists came to the islands after the American Revolution, bringing the plantation economy with them.

The Bahamas became independent in 1973, and the economy is now based on tourism and financial services.

Answer: France

First sited by Columbus in 1493, Guadeloupe was not colonized by the Spanish due to native resistance. The French began to colonize the islands in 1635, establishing a plantation economy based on sugar and bringing in large numbers of African slaves. The British occupied the islands in 1759 during the Seven Years War, returning them to France in 1763.

The British again captured the islands in 1810, ceding them to Sweden, who returned them to France in 1814. Guadeloupe was declared a region of France in 1974.

Answer: The Netherlands

Built in 1614 to develop the Dutch fur trade with the Native Americans, Fort Nassau was located on the upper Hudson River in modern New York State. The original fort, as well as a second one built on the same site, was damaged several times by the weather and was abandoned in 1618.

The Dutch built Fort Orange nearby in 1624. The entire colony of New Netherland, including New York City, was lost to the British in 1664.

Answer: Portugal

Located on China's southern coast, Macau was leased to Portugal as a trading post in 1557. The fortunes of the colony rose and fell over the years due to political and economic changes, such as the establishment of Hong Kong by the British and the Dutch seizure of Malacca. Portugal was granted Macau in perpetuity by an 1887 treaty with China, and the colony prospered once again.

In 1987, a treaty was signed which returned Macau to China as a "special administrative district" in 1999.

Answer: Spain

Explored in 1513 for Spain by Juan Ponce de Leon, the first permanent Spanish settlement was established at St. Augustine in 1565. The Spanish presence was small and mostly limited to the coastal areas at this time. Florida was ceded to Britain in 1763 at the close of the Seven Years War, and British settlers began arriving. Florida was returned to Spain in 1783, after the American Revolution.

Incursions by American settlers from Georgia and hostilities between the Americans and the Seminole tribe, which the Spanish could not control, led Spain to cede Florida to the United States in 1821.