Mostly Marvelous Capital Cities Beginning with "M" Quiz

Answer: Madrid

Madrid, can trace its origins back to Roman times. A vibrant wealthy city of over three million people (over six million in the metropolitan area), it is literally the centre of Spain. All road distances are measured from Puerta del Sol, a massive public place in Madrid's centre.

The main river flowing through Madrid is referred to as Manzanares. It is not as important as a navigable waterway as rivers in other major Spanish cities. Madrid is the cultural and financial centre of Spain.

Answer: Mexico City

The city of Tenochtitlan was founded in 1325 by the Mexica people making it the oldest capital city in the Western Hemisphere. In 1520 Hernán Cortés invaded the settlement and overcame the indigenous population, due as much to the introduction of smallpox by the Europeans, as violent confrontation.
Situated in a a basin called the Valley of Mexico, the city is nevertheless at high altitude with a minimum of 2 200 metres above sea level. The centre of the city is dominated by a massive square, Zócalo, also known by its more formal name, Plaza de la Constitución.

Answer: Mogadishu

Mogadishu is situated on the coastal Banaadir area in Somalia on the Indian Ocean. Tracing its history back to ancient times, it has been a sultanate, capital of an Italian colony, capital of a U.N. Trust territory and the centre of a bloody civil war.

Despite all these hardships, since 2011 Mogadishu has turned itself around to form a modern African city with improving infrastructure and a good economy. The area is dry for a capital city with the nearby Shebelle river dry for two months of the year but still an important resource for growing sugarcane, bananas and cotton. Arba'a Rukun Mosque was built in the 13th century, and is still a feature on Mogadishu's skyline.

It is an integral part of the Islamic religion which predominates in Somalia.

Answer: Montevideo

Montevideo has had an international past to say the least. Established in 1724, it has been part of the Portuguese, Spanish and Brazilian empires before Uruguay was formed as a nation in 1828 and Montevideo was installed as the capital. Uruguay hosts about one third of the country's 3.5 million people.

It is ranked as having the highest quality of life of any city in Latin America as well as the the region's seventh largest GDP. Situated on the northern side of Rio de la Plata, it is nevertheless more southerly than the capital situated on the southern aspect of the Plate River, Buenos Aires. Plaza Independencia is the centre of the whole country's identity.

It is situated between downtown and the old city.

Answer: Maputo

Originally settled in 1544 as Lourenço Marques and named after the Portuguese navigator who explored the rivers in the area, Maputo is located in the far south of Mozambique near the South African and Swaziland borders. The city came to a virtual standstill when 250 000 ex-pat Portuguese returned to Portugal in 1974. Renamed Maputo (after the nearby river) after independence from Portugal in 1975, the city survived a bloody civil war in the '80s to become a progressive African capital with a thriving port which forms the economic basis of the city. Previously denying its Portuguese heritage by removing colonial statues, today the city is proud of its Portuguese architecture and it is known for its avenues of Acacia trees.

Answer: Managua

Managua is the the largest city in Nicaragua. It was declared the capital in 1852 after the capital issue was unable to be resolved between the cities Leon and Granada. Managua is located on the southern shores of Lake Xolotlán, which is also known as Lake Managua. (Managua comes from "Mana-ahuac", which in the Nahuatl language translates as "adjacent to the water").

The city has an even tropical temperature throughout the year, the seasons marked by the rainy and dry seasons. Plaza de la Revolución previously Plaza de la República is home to the historical centre located on the lake shore.

Many of the old buildings have had to be rebuilt because of a severe earthquake in 1972.

Answer: Muscat

Muscat is the largest city and capital of Oman. It is wedged between the Western Al Hajar Mountains and the Gulf of Oman near the strategic Straits of Hormuz on the Arabian Sea. The city can trace its origins back to the first century BC and has always been an important trading port between Asia and Africa.
Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque is the main (Grand) mosque in the city. It was completed in 2001. It is built from 300,000 tonnes of Indian sandstone. The main prayer hall is 75 metres square and can hold 20 000 worshipers.

Answer: Minsk

Minsk, situated on the Svislach and Nyamiha Rivers is centrally located in the former Soviet Republic of land-locked Belarus. At one time the centre of the the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, the city became under control of Russia in 1919 before the Germans designated Minsk the administrative centre of Reichskomissariat Ostland during WWII.

The city reverted to Russian control after WWII and gained independence (somewhat reluctantly compared with the three Baltic States) in 1991. Minsk has one of the highest public transportation utilisation rates in the world due to extensive underground metro, tram and trolley networks.

Answer: Manila

Manila is located on the eastern side of the Manila Bay on a natural harbour and bisected by the Pasig River on the island of Luzon. The capital and second largest city in Philippines after Quezon city, it is by far the most densely populated city in the world.

Intermuros (literally "walled city) was built by the Spaniards in the 16th Century to protect against invaders (ironically the city has been occupied by the Spanish, the Americans, the Japanese) before developing as an the capital of an independent country in 1948.

Answer: Moscow

Moscow, named after the river which flows through it is home to the Red Square and the unique silhouette of St Basil's cathedral. One of the largest cities in the world, it has some extraordinary transport capacity - four international airports, a monorail system, nine railway termini and the busiest metro system in Europe.

The architecture of the metro stations, opening in 1935, which is a tribute to the Stalinist era, is a sight to behold.