Provinces and Regions of Western Europe Quiz

Answer: Greece

Greece is divided into 13 "perifereia", or regions.

Attica is the quintessential Greek region, being made up of the small triangular peninsula on which Greece's capital, Athens, is located.

There are also cities named Attica in Canada (Saskatchewan) and in eight states in the US.

Answer: Austria

Austria is divided into nine "Bundesländer", or federal states.

Kärnten lies in Austria's Alps and is bordered by both Italy and Slovenia to the south. Its capital is Klagenfurt.

Answer: Italy

Italy is made up of 21 "regioni", or regions.

Calabria, lying between the Tyrrhenian Sea and the Ionian Sea, makes up the "tip" of the Italian "boot", that is, the part that appears to be "kicking" Sicily. Before the Roman times, Calabria was the original "Italia", or "Italy." While Calabria's largest city is Reggio di Calabria, its capital is Catanzaro.

Answer: Germany

Germany is divided into 16 "Bundesländer", or federal states, three of which (Berlin, Hamburg, and Bremen) are "Stadtstaaten", or city-states.

The capital of Lower Saxony is Hanover ("Hannover" in German). Lower Saxony is Germany's second-largest state (Bavaria, or "Bayern" is largest), and stretches from the North Sea, including seven islands of East Frisia, to the Harz mountains in central Germany.

Answer: France

France is divided into 18 regions, five of which (Guadeloupe, Martinique, Mayotte, La Réunion, and Guyane, or French Guiana) are "overseas regions".

Brittany, with its capital at Rennes, is a peninsula in northwestern France that is bounded on the north by the English Channel and on the south by the Bay of Biscay. Much of Brittany reflects a Celtic culture, including the speaking of Breton, a Celtic language related to Cornish and Welsh.

Answer: Norway

Norway is divided into 19 "fylker", or counties, which were known as "amter" until 1919.

Skien is the largest city in Telemark and the birthplace of Henrik Ibsen. Telemark also lends its name to a style of skiing, as well as the standard landing form in ski jumping.

Answer: Ireland

The Republic of Ireland is composed of 26 counties, with six more Irish counties making up Northern Ireland, part of the UK.

Part of the Midlands Region in the Province of Leinster, Laois was once known as Queen's County. The name Laois is derived from "Loígis", a small medieval kingdom that disappeared in the Sixteenth Century.

Answer: Switzerland

Switzerland is made up of 26 cantons.

Uri, whose shield shows the head of a black bull on a yellow field, is said to be the birth canton of Wilhelm Tell. Uri lies in the center of Switzerland, between St. Gotthard Pass and Lake Lucerne, whose shores it shares with Obwalden and Nidwalden.

Answer: Finland

Finland is divided into 19 "maakunta", or regions.

Uusimaa is Finland's largest region by population, as it includes the country's two largest cities in Espoo and the largest, being the capital of Helsinki. Known as Nyland in Swedish, the nation's second official language, next to Finnish, it is Finland's southernmost region.

Answer: Spain

Spain is made up of 17 "Comunidades Autónomas", or autonomous communities, i.e. regions, as well as Cueta and Melilla, two autonomous cities in North Africa.

Galicia lies between Portugal and the Bay of Biscay, making it Spain's westernmost region. Castile and Aragon, along with Asturias, lie to Galicia's east. Its capital is Santiago de Compostela, one of Catholicism's most important pilgrimage sites as the location of the Shrine of St. James, going back to the 9th Century.