Skylines of Great Cities Around the World Quiz

Answer: Jakarta, Indonesia

Named Sunda Kelapa when it was founded in 397, it was renamed Jayakarta in 1527. It became capital of the Dutch East Indies and was renamed Batavia in 1619 and it became Djakarta when Indonesia gained independence in 1949. The city gained its current name, Jakarta, in 1972. The Indonesian New York (The Big Apple) is nicknamed "The Big Durian" after the foul-smelling Asian fruit.
Opened in 1996, the Jakarta skyline is dominated by the 750-feet high "Wisma 46" (the building with the blue top in the photograph), Indonesia's tallest building. The 23 elevators in the block reach speeds of up to 360 metres per minute!
Of the alternatives, Colombo was named by the Portuguese in 1505. The name derives from 'Kolon thota', meaning "port on the river Kelani". There have been human settlements in the area of Manila for more than 5000 years. It was known as the Kingdom of Tondo from the 9th until the 16th centuries. Kuala Lumpur was only founded in 1859, and was granted city status as recently as 1972.

Answer: Santiago, Chile

Founded by Spanish Conquistador Pedro de Valdivia, the city was originally named Santiago de Nueva Extremadura -- Extremadura was Valdivia's birthplace in Spain. It would be more than two centuries before the two halves of Santiago were finally linked by the Calicanto Bridge across the Mapocho, started in 1767 and completed twelve years later.
The decisive Battle of Chacabuco on February 12, 1817 was fought on the northern outskirts of Santiago. The Argentine and Chilean patriots led by José de San Martín and Bernardo O'Higgins defeated the Spanish, and Chile declared independence later than same day. It would be more than a quarter of a century (April 25, 1844) before the Spanish finally recognized Chile as an independent nation.
The skyline here is dominated by the 984-foot high "Gran Torre Santiago" (on the far right of the photograph). While still under construction, it became the tallest building in South America in 2011 and the tallest in Latin America in 2012.
Of the alternatives, Mexico City is significantly higher, with an average elevation of more than one mile, 7,350 feet above sea level. La Paz is even higher, more than two miles up, at 11,975 feet above sea level. Lima stands at the confluence of the Chillón, Rímac and Lurín rivers.

Answer: Chicago IL

The same two airports have led the ranks as the world's busiest (measured by the number of aircraft movements) for every year since 2005. Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson International has ranked number one and Chicago O'Hare International has ranked number two. In 2014, all but two of the world's top ten in this list were in the USA, with only Beijing Capital and London Heathrow breaking American domination. In previous years it has been Beijing and Paris Charles de Gaulle as the only two non-American airports.
Chicago is also known as "The Windy City" or "The Second City". Carl Sandberg's 1916 poem, "Chicago", also gave rise to the nicknames "City of Broad Shoulders" and "Hog Butcher for the World".
The Chicago skyline is dominated by the black building with the white masts on the left of the photograph. The 1,451-foot high Willis Tower (formerly the Sears Tower) surpassed New York's World Trade Center as the world's tallest building when it opened in 1973, a record it held for 25 years.

Answer: Montreal QC, Canada

Part of the Monteregian Hills, Mount Royal ('Mont Royal' in French) is located immediately west of downtown Montreal. The hill actually consists of three peaks, 'Colline de la Croix' (aka Mount Royal proper) which rises 764 feet above sea level, 'Colline d'Outremont' (or Mount Murray), which rises 692 feet, and Westmount Summit (659 feet).
The city itself stands mostly on Montreal Island, located at the confluence of the Saint Lawrence and Ottawa Rivers. Suburbs also spread across numerous other small islands, the largest of which is 'Île Bizard'.
Montreal is the world's second-largest primarily French-speaking city after Paris. The 2006 census revealed that 57% of Montrealers speak French as their first language, whilst only 19% speak English at home. Around 56% of the city's population can speak both languages, making it one of the world's largest bilingual cities.
Of the alternatives, Ottawa, founded in 1826, was originally called Bytown. 'La Nouvelle-Orléans' (New Orleans) was founded by the French Mississippi Company in 1718. Founded by the Spanish in 1610 and the oldest state capital in the U.S., Santa Fe NM was originally named 'La Villa Real de la Santa Fe de San Francisco de Asís' ("The Royal Town of the Holy Faith of St. Francis of Assisi").

Answer: Singapore, Singapore

Founded in 1819 by Sir Stafford Raffles, Singapore Island has a total area of only 270 square miles (just less than a quarter the size of Luxembourg), but it's only city is one of the world's five busiest ports and is the world's fourth-largest financial center.

The colony became one of the British Straits Settlements in 1826. In 1963 it became one of the founding states within the newly-independent nation of Federated Malay States, but two years later it was expelled and became an independent nation. Singapore's legal system, although based on British common law, has diverged significantly. Trial by jury was abolished in 1970. Judicial corporal punishment is common and the death penalty is mandatory for murder. Amnesty International claims that Singapore has "... possibly the highest execution rate in the world relative to its population".

Answer: Shanghai, China

The actual city of Shanghai covers 2,448 square miles (almost the same as the U.S. state of Delaware). With a population of more than 24 million (Delaware has just under one million) there are around 9,900 people per square mile in Shanghai. In 2013, this was the world's largest city proper (rather than those living in the metropolitan area surrounding a city), ahead of Karachi (23.5 million), Beijing (21.1 m) and Lagos (16m).
The easiest structure to pick out of a mass of high-rise buildings in the photograph is the 1,535-foot high Oriental Pearl Tower built in 1994 which is on the far left side of the picture. Building of the 2,073-foot high Shanghai Tower began in 2008, and when it topped out in 2013 it became China's tallest building, overshadowing the former holder of that record, the Shanghai World Financial Center, by 360 feet.

Answer: Seattle WA

With a population of around 650,000 (2010 census), Seattle WA is the largest city in the Pacific Northwest region of the USA. It is home to the fictional Frasier Crane (and his family) after his move from "Cheers" in Boston MA.
The Seattle skyline is dominated by the 605-foot high "Space Needle", built for the 1962 World's Fair, and this iconic structure stands out in white in the photograph. You might wait in line for hours to ascend the Space Needle, but once you get into the elevator you will be whisked to the top in just 41 seconds.

Answer: Sydney, Australia

Home to around 4.75 million Sydneysiders, Australia's most populous city stands on the site of the first British colony here on the coast of the Tasman Sea. Established as a penal colony in 1788, the city today stands on the hills around Port Jackson, one of the world's largest natural harbors.
On the far right of the photograph are the iconic Sydney Opera House and Harbour Bridge, nicknamed "The Coathanger". Just to the left of center in the photograph the 1,014-foot high Sydney Tower, completed in 1981 and the city's tallest structure, is easily discernible.

Answer: Kuwait City, Kuwait

The British East India Company established Kuwait City as a major hub on the trade routes between India, east Africa and the major cities of the Middle East such as Muscat, Allepo, Baghdad and Constantinople. One of the hottest summer cities in the world, average temperatures between May and September are well above 40 degrees Centigrade (105 F) with record highs for both June and August hitting 54C (129F).
The most distinctive structure on the skyline is the 613-foot high Kuwait Tower, opened in 1977, in the center of the photograph.

Answer: Rome

With an area of 496 square miles, which is about half the size of Luxembourg, Rome is the only city in the world that has another independent country (Vatican City) within its borders. Nicknamed "The Eternal City" and 'Caput Mundi' ("Capital of the World"), Rome was the capital of the Roman Empire that once dominated Europe.
The 4th-largest city in the European Union, more than 2.5 million people live within Rome's city limits and its metropolitan area has a population of around 4 million.