Countries Reduced to Mere Palindromic Vowels Quiz

Answer: AA

Hiroshima in jApAn, is a very beautiful city with wide broad avenues arranged in a grid pattern, six rivers and many parks and monuments. Of course the city was literally flattened by an atomic bomb in WWII requiring a complete rebuild. The Peace Park and the Memorial Museum are a must-see for any bucket list.

Japan is a fiercely proud nation of over 125 million people crammed into a archipelago of four major islands with not much inhabitable land due to large amount of mountainous terrain. The country is renowned for its engineering prowess and paddy fields.

Honourable palindrome mentions: ghAnA, mAltA, qAtAr, rwAndA, myAnmAr.

Answer: EEE

Thessaloniki is the second largest city in grEEcE. It is a large port city on the Aegean Sea located in north-east Greece. It was founded in 315 BC by Cassander of Macedon. It is the centre of Greek Macedonia and has a metropolitan area population exceeding one million people.

Honourable Mention: sEychEllEs.
Also swEdEn is a palindromic vowel country albeit with one less vowel.

Answer: II

Suva, on the southeast coast of the island of Viti Levu is the capital of fIjI, an island nation in the south Pacific. Suva is a port city and the administrative and commercial centre of Fiji but not the main cultural centre. The city centre is a mix of traditional South Pacific buildings juxtaposed with British Colonial architecture.

Fiji is an island nation of nearly one million people in the central south Pacific, north-east of New Zealand's North Island tip spread over 330 islands though only about 170 are inhabited. Fiji was granted independence from the UK in 1970.

Answer: OOO

Fez is a major city in the north African country of mOrOccO. It is the second largest behind Casablanca and is an important crossroads to other major Moroccan cities. It is an inland city located in the Atlas mountains. The city is comprised of two ancient Arabic medinas (walled towns), Fes el Bali and Fes Jdid, linked by Ville Nouvelle (New Town) built during the French colonial era.

Morocco is located in Maghreb region of North West Africa with the unique characteristic of having coastlines on both the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea. The country is a constitutional monarchy in which the King has much power particularly in religious and military affairs.

Honorable palindrome 'OOO' country: cOmOrOs

Answer: AOA

sAmOA, formerly Western Samoa (to distinguish itself from American Samoa) is a small independent country in the Polynesian Pacific, halfway between New Zealand and Hawaii. It has formerly been colonised by Germany (German Samoa) and overseen by New Zealand (Western Samoa) before becoming an independent nation in 1962.

Apia is the capital of Samoa and is located on Upolu, Samoa's second largest island. (There are two major islands and eight smaller ones in Samoa). Apia is a port city and major commercial centre for Samoa. About one in four Samoans live in the city. Robert Louis Stevenson is buried on the outskirts of the city.

Answer: AAA

Colón is famous for being the Caribbean Sea port where the Panama Canal ends. Panama's second city was at first located on an island surrounded by the Limon sea and Folks River but the breakdown of the Panama Canal Zone meant the city could expand. The city's limits have been redefined to include a former U.S. Army base, and the former Canal Zone towns of Margarita, Coco Solo and Cristobal.

Panama, like most Central American countries broke away from Spain in 1821. It was part of Gran Colombia until 1903 when it seceded from Colombia to form an independent nation backed by the US to ensure the Panama Canal was built.

Honourable mention: kAzAkhstAn

Answer: AIA

Lusaka, one of the fastest growing cities in Africa, is the largest city and capital city of Zambia and is located in the southern part of the central plateau 1200 metres above sea level. While close to its southern borders the four major highways that reach the rest of the country converge in Lusaka. The south highway travels to Victoria Falls on the Zambezi River. The falls are the major tourist attraction for the country.

Zambia is a landlocked south-central African nation that gained independence from the UK in 1964. Its population in 2018 of 17 million people were found mainly around the capital and the Copperbelt Province in the northeast, copper being the chief export of Zambia.

Answer: OO

Lomé is the capital and largest city in tOgO, a small country wedged in between Benin and Ghana in West Africa. The country has a coast line of 56km on the Bay of Bengal. It is here near the border with Ghana that Lomé, the capital and largest city is located.

Lomé, is a maritime port chiefly. It has a population exceeding 1.5 million people. Trade includes the export of coffee, cocoa, copra, and phosphates. Since a massive oil refinery was built at the port, the population of the city has risen rapidly as the refinery offers many jobs for a country previously almost solely dependent on agriculture.

Answer: AAAA

Antananarivo is the largest city and capital of the island nation of Madagascar. traditionally the home of the Merina people, who continue to form the majority of the city's population estimated at 1,300,000 in 2013. Usually referred to by its colonial abbreviated form of 'Tana', this city is located on a plateau in central Madagascar. It is by far the biggest city and is the cultural and administrative centre of the nation. Antananarivo founded in the early 1600s, was already a major city before the colonial era.

Madagascar is the fourth largest island in the world, and along with a few much smaller peripheral islands comprise the country of Madagascar. The country has had a checkered past with its governance. The Kingdom of Madagascar was united and ruled by a series of Merina nobles in the early 19th century until 1897 when French Colonial rule commenced. Madagascar became an independent country in 1960.

Answer: IEEEI

The Principality of Liechtenstein is a double- landlocked country in central Europe. It is a constitutional monarchy ruled by the Prince of Liechtenstein. It is a tiny country of 160 square kilometres wedged between Switzerland and Austria. It has a 2016 population of 36000.

The country is divided into 11 municipalities and Vaduz, while not the largest, is the capital. The town of around 5,500 is dominated by Vaduz Castle, the permanent home of the ruling prince of Liechtenstein and the Liechtenstein royal family. Perched on a steep hill, the castle is visible from almost any point in Vaduz.