Gee Whiz: The Global "G" Cities Quiz

Answer: Poland

Gdańsk lies at the mouth of the Motława River, part of the Vistula delta on the Baltic coast of Poland. With a population of just under half a million, it is the centre of a metropolitan area of 1.4 million people making it Poland's fourth largest city.
Found in the tenth century, Gdansk has had a turbulent history. It has always been a major seaport and shipbuilding town but its proximity to the German nation has been a huge factor in its history. In the period between the two world wars, the city and its multi-ethnic make-up lay in a disputed area between Poland and the Weimar Republic. This political instability set the scene for the invasion of Poland by Germany in 1939 and its name was changed to Danzig. The city returned to Polish sovereignty but under Soviet rule after the war.
In 1980 the Solidarity movement commenced in the Gdansk shipyards. This was the start of the end of Soviet rule in Poland.
Today Gdansk is an important educational and cultural centre for Poland with such organisations as University of Gdańsk, Gdańsk University of Technology, the National Museum, the Gdańsk Shakespeare Theatre, the Museum of World War II and the Polish Baltic Philharmonic all based in the city.

Answer: Ecuador

Capital of the Ecuadorian province of Guayas, and situated on a river of the same name, Guayaquil, with a population of 2.7 million, is the largest city in Ecuador.
First settled in 1538, this city has had a rocky history with attacks from French and British pirates, from Peru and even internal revolutionary forces from within.
The city is the largest port in the country and as a consequence, most of Ecuador's heavy industry is based here. The city is under constant threat of earthquakes and tsunamis. Being near the equator, the climate is tropical with wet summers and slightly milder but drier winters. Long considered an industrial centre, Guayaquil is taking steps to overhaul its current transportation issues and 'regenerate' its downtown area to attract tourism.

Answer: Malaysia

George Town is the capital city of the Malaysian state of Penang and with a population of over 700 000 is Malaysia's second largest city. Situated on an island, about a third of the size of Singapore, on the north-west coast of the Malay peninsula, the city has expanded beyond its island limits and now extends onto the mainland. First settled by the British East India Company in 1786, and named after King George III, George Town was one of the first British settlements in this part of Asia. Along with Singapore and Malacca, George Town was collectively governed as the Straits Settlements, and later a crown colony of Britain in 1867. With Malacca, George Town was prescribed a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2008.

Answer: Guyana

Georgetown is the capital of Guyana and is located on the Atlantic Ocean coast at the mouth of the Demerara River. The city lies nearly a metre below the high tide line and needs protection from a seawall to prevent constant flooding. The city of 120 000 people has been controlled by Dutch, French and the British.

In 1812, the town was named after the British King, George III. The city has many canals, built by the Dutch and later the British, to drain the city of water that threatens to flood it from the heavy rainfall that occurs year round.

The climate is tropical with little seasonal variation. Whilst tourism is not a major industry, the city has some fine examples of both Dutch and British colonial architecture.

Answer: Botswana

Gaborone is one of the newest and fast growing cities in the world, situated in the south east corner of Botswana, itself a new country. The capital of the Bechuanaland Protectorate moved from Mafeking to Gaberones in 1965. When Botswana gained its independence in 1966, Lobatse was proposed to be Botswana's capital.

However Gaberones was chosen because of its proximity to fresh water and its proximity to the railway to Pretoria. Other major decision points were its central location among the major tribes, and its independence from association with those surrounding tribes.

The word "Gaborone" literally means "it does not fit badly" - The "s" was dropped in 1969. The city was built around a commercial strip called the mall and a government sector housed within a semicircle at one end of the strip.

The rapid expansion of the city to a population of 421 000 at the 2011 census has also created housing and illegal settlement problems exacerbated by refugees spilling into Botswana from neighbouring Zimbabwe.

Answer: France

Grenoble is a moderately sized city in southeastern France, at the foot of the French Alps at the confluence of river Drac and the river Isère. Grenoble is the capital of the department of Isère is known as the "Capital of the Alps" as it lies at the foot of these mountains. The city can trace its history back over 2000 years with a small Gallic settlement in Roman times.

It developed as in industrial centre for gloves in the 18th and 19th centuries and became a major hydro-power provider in the early 20th century.

The tenth Winter Olympics were held in Grenoble in 1968. Today Grenoble is the centre of a science based economy with one in five inhabitants working in research, technology, and innovation centres.

Answer: Australia

The Gold Coast, wedged in between the southern outskirts of Queensland capital, Brisbane and the New South Wales border, is the sixth largest city in Australia (with a population of over 640 000 people in 2016) and is the largest non-capital city in Australia. Even though it was close to Brisbane the area was barely inhabited by Europeans until 1875 when the nearby hinterland attracted loggers to the red cedar supply.

A small settlement at Southport attracted holiday makers from Brisbane. However when the Surfers Paradise Hotel was built in the 1920, this was the start of the boom that saw the Gold Coast become one of Australia's fastest growing cities. Today the city is the largest Australian tourism drawcard after Sydney.

It is the centre of the country's film-making and theme park industry with its sub-tropical climate and its stunning white-sand beaches attracting tourists faster than hotels can be built.

Answer: Mexico

Guadalajara is the capital and largest city of the Mexican state of Jalisco in central western Mexico. It is the tenth largest Latin American city and one of the largest in Mexico with 1.5 million people (2016 estimate). Named after the Spanish city of the same name (but more than twenty times larger), the name means "River of stones". First settled in 1532, Guadalajara has developed into a vibrant Mexican city with a pleasant climate and a service based economy.

It was the American Capital of Culture for 2005 (Guadalajara is the home of mariachi music) and hosted the 2011 Pan American Games.

Answer: Canada

Gatineau is the fourth largest city in Quebec and sits across the Ottawa River from Ottawa (which is in Ontario). Together they comprise Canada's National Capital Region with a population exceeding 1.25 million people with about a fifth situated in Gatineau itself. First settled in 1800, Wrightstown, named after its founder, was established to be an agricultural centre but it was the timber industry that sustained the settlement.

It changed its name to Hull, and thousands of British immigrants were attracted to the timber trade. Ottawa was founded much later as the end point of the Rideau Canal. Of course when it became the national capital Ottawa thrived, but Hull also prospered.

In 2002, Hull merged with four other nearby communities to form the new city of Gatineau.

Answer: Switzerland

After Zurich, Geneva is the second largest city in Switzerland with over 490 000 people in its metropolitan area. It is situated in the far southwest of the country, being the capital of its canton in the French speaking part of the country.
Geneva is a centre for diplomacy and finance. The Red Cross and UNESCO has its headquarters here.
It is considered that Geneva (in 2009) had the third-highest quality of life of any city in the world behind Vienna and Zurich, and was the fifth most expensive city in the world to live in 2011.