Not a Capital Idea! Trivia Quiz

Answer: Casablanca

Casablanca was a city in Morocco almost two hundred years before the release of the famous movie bearing its name (and set within it). Found on the edge of the ocean, Casablanca is eighty-five kilometers from Morocco's capital, Rabat, and is home to much of the country's biggest businesses, mainly because of its access to the sea.

The city is also home to the most people in the country. The Hassan II Mosque is, perhaps, its most visible landmark. Sitting on the edge of the ocean, it stands 210m tall over the water and points directly towards Mecca.

Answer: Guangzhou

Though Beijing is China's capital (2,298 km away) and the metropolitan area of Shanghai has more people living in its extensive boundaries, Guangzhou is a front-runner as one of the largest Chinese cities. Only a short distance from Hong Kong and Macau, Guangzhou (also known as Canton) is a major port city on the southern coast. Found in Guangdong Province, its coast lays on the South China Sea.

A city entrenched in culture, it features historical and modern buildings alike from religious landmarks from several different faiths to a twenty-first century opera house.

Answer: Los Angeles

The largest city on the Pacific Coast of the United States, Los Angeles is neither the capital of the U.S. nor is it the capital of the State of California (that would be Sacramento to the north). Nonetheless, the city is a haven for the entertainment industry, notably because it's home to several of the world's biggest film stars (in Hollywood and the surrounding hills). Additionally, Los Angeles is one of the largest cities worldwide; the Greater Los Angeles Area has one of the widest sprawls around the globe, and nearly half of that population is of Latino/Hispanic descent.

Answer: Sydney

Sydney, Australia, known for its opera house, picturesque bay, and sunny weather, is not the capital of Australia; you'd be thinking of Canberra which is actually almost three hundred kilometers to the southwest of Sydney. Sydney, however, has become the largest city in the Oceania region and one of the largest economic centers in the Southern Hemisphere. Sydney's iconic bridge (nicknamed the Coathanger) is one of the most famous bridges in the world.

The Gap, from which this photo was taken, is in Eastern Sydney.

Answer: Florence

Florence, almost three hundred kilometers northwest of Italy's capital, Rome, is best known for its history and architecture. Found in the heart of Tuscany (as it's the Tuscan capital), Florence is home to several buildings of religious significance, notably the Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore (better known simply as The Duomo). One of the most famous tourist destinations in Italy, it's an artist's dream; a replica of the statue of Michelangelo's David stands in the Palazzo della Signoria, having originally been crafted in the city.

It was also a former home of Leonardo da Vinci.

Answer: Montreal

Found on the St. Lawrence River near the border with Southern Ontario, Montreal is one of the largest cities in all of Canada, and certainly the largest Francophone city in the country (topping even the capital, Ottawa, which is found in Ontario about two hundred kilometers away). Montreal, despite seeming to have small-city charms that Toronto certainly does not, is actually quite large.

In fact, the island of Montreal contains a larger population than that of Manhattan Island in New York City.

The actual Mount Royal, a three-peaked hill known for being the city's namesake, is actually park land.

Answer: Dubai

Dubai, only one hundred twenty-five kilometers from the capital of the United Arab Emirates, Abu Dhabi, is one of the richest cities on the Persian Gulf Coast...and it shows. Amongst the city's landmarks are the Burj Khalifa, which became the world's tallest structure in the early twenty-first century, the Burj Al-Arab hotel, Atlantis, The Palms, and a series of islands made to look like a world map.

Much of the city's economy was fuelled by an oil boom, but Dubai has since become a famous tourist destination and economic hub.

As much as the city is a modern haven for visitors, it's also one of the most expensive places to go.

Answer: Osaka

Nearly five hundred miles away from one of the largest and most densely-populated capital cities in the world, Tokyo, Osaka is a major cultural and economic hub on the island of Honshu. The picture shows Osaka Castle, one of the most famous locations in the city built more than four centuries ago during the tumultuous Azuchi-Momoyama Period. Now, it sits in a park and garden of sakura trees and other local plants. Osaka, sitting on a bay connecting to the Pacific Ocean, is also home to some of the country's oldest Buddhist and Shinto shrines.

Answer: Rio de Janeiro

Host of the 2016 Summer Olympic Games and the 2014 FIFA World Cup, Rio de Janeiro has been known over the decades as a rowdy city with a beautiful beach and endless supplies of festive atmosphere. It's no surprise that this is true, but Rio is also a major economic and industrial hub for Brazil. From Corcovado Mountain, El Cristo Redentor (Christ the Redeemer) can be seen; from Sugarloaf mountain you can see unparalleled views of Copacabana Beach. Because of its spot on the globe and along the coast, Rio experiences steady, warm temperatures year-round. Rio is over one thousand, one hundred kilometers away from Brasilia.

Answer: Barcelona

Barcelona, one of the largest cities by population in all of Europe, has beaches on the Balearic Sea (which is actually part of the Mediterranean) and is quite far from the centralized capital of Spain, Madrid, nearly six hundred thirty kilometers away. Barcelona is known for its Gothic architecture. One of the most visited cities in the continent for tourism, it's also a big deal in the business world, attracting foreign clients quite easily. Barcelona is only one hundred twenty kilometers south of the Spain-France border.