"The End is 'I'" - Capital Cities Quiz

Answer: Tripoli

Tripoli is located in north-west Libya, on the Mediterranean coast and close to the border with Tunisia. It has been a port since the Phoenicians founded a settlement around Tripoli's natural harbour over 2,500 years ago. The Phoenicians belonged to a string of city-states that were dotted around the southern coastline of the Mediterranean Sea and connected by a network of sea-trading routes. To avoid confusion with the city of Tripoli in Lebanon (which was also a Phoenician trading port), Tripoli is sometimes referred to as Tripoli-of-the-West.

Following the Phoenicians, a range of civilisations controlled Tripoli over the centuries, including the Romans, the Egyptians, the Berbers and the Ottomans, before it came under Italian control in the 19th century. Much of the city's infrastructure dates back to this period, including the former Tripoli Cathedral that was converted into a mosque shortly after Colonel Gaddafi seized control of Libya in 1969.

Answer: Tbilisi

Tbilisi was founded in the 5th century AD and first became the capital of Georgia in the early 12th century. However, it soon came under the control of a succession of foreign powers, culminating with the Russians in 1801. It once again became the capital of an independent Georgia when the country seceded from the Soviet Union in 1991. While the city has been an important centre for trade for centuries (thanks to its location close to the Silk Road), the 20th century heralded an industrial revolution and a period of both manufacturing and population growth. As a result, the modern city's economy is based on a mix of trade, logistics, retail and manufacturing.

The South Caucasus (also known as Transcaucasia) is the name given to the geographical region to the south of the Caucasus Mountains that forms part of the boundary between Europe and Asia. It contains most of Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan and is bordered to the west by the Black Sea and to the east by the Caspian Sea.

Answer: Dili

Dili is the capital of Timor-Leste (or East Timor), which became an independent nation in 2002 following over 25 years of violent conflict between revolutionary groups and Indonesian forces. Timor-Leste consists of the eastern portion of the island of Timor, plus a couple of smaller islands and an exclave on the northern coast of the western end of the island, the remainder of which remained part of Indonesia.

Dili was first established in the early 16th century by Portuguese explorers, although it didn't gain recognition as a city until 1864. Notable landmarks include several Portuguese-era buildings such as the Market Hall and Governor's Office as well as more recent structures such as the 'Cristo Rei' (which translates as 'Christ the King') - a statue of Christ that overlooks the city from a hill on a nearby peninsula.

Answer: Helsinki

The capital city of Finland, Helsinki is one of the northernmost capital cities in Europe, but is located in the far south of its country. It became the capital in 1812 (three years after Russia annexed Finland) when Tsar Alexander I of Russia decided that he wanted the capital city of the then Grand Duchy of Finland to be located closer to his own capital at Saint Petersburg. Prior to that, Finland's capital was the city of Turku, which is approximately 150km (95 miles) west of Helsinki. After becoming the capital, central Helsinki was largely redeveloped in the same neoclassical architectural style that was used in the design of some of Saint Petersburg's grandest buildings.

Helsinki hosted the Olympic Games in 1952. At the Games, Finland finished 8th on the medal table with a total of six gold, three silver and thirteen bronze medals - a figure that it was unable to match for the remainder of the 20th century.

Answer: New Delhi

New Delhi forms one of the eleven districts of the city of Delhi. Construction began on the new city following a decision to move the capital of British India from the eastern city of Calcutta (now Kolkata) to the more centrally located city of Delhi in northern India. The foundation stone of the new capital was laid in 1911 by King George V of the United Kingdom, during the celebration known as the Delhi Durbar, which commemorated his accession as Emperor of India (his father, King Edward VII, had died the previous year). The majority of the city was designed by two British architects - Edwin Lutyens and Herbert Baker. The city became the capital of an independent India in 1947.

The Yamuna River flows from its source in a glacier in the Himalayas to its confluence with the Ganges near the city of Allahabad in Uttar Pradesh. As well as passing through the city of Delhi, it also flows through the cities of Mathura, Agra (the home of the Taj Mahal), Etawah and Kalpi.

Answer: Bangui

While the most famous Notre-Dame Cathedral is located in the French capital city, Paris, the former French colony of the Central African Republic also has one in its capital city, Bangui. This African Notre-Dame was the site of a visit by Pope Francis in 2015.

The Central African Republic is located (completely unsurprisingly) in Central Africa. Its boundaries were originally established by France in 1894, and it was named the Ubangi-Shari territory, after two local rivers. It became part of the wider French colony of French Equatorial Africa in 1920, before gaining independence in 1960. Bangui is located in the south-west of the country on the banks of the Ubangi River, close to the border with the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Answer: Nairobi

Nairobi, the capital city of Kenya, is located on the banks of the Nairobi River in the southern part of the country. It is situated approximately halfway between the Kenyan port city of Mombasa on the Indian Ocean coast and Kampala, the capital city of Uganda, on the northern shore of Lake Victoria. Its position was a deliberate selection on the part of the Uganda Railway, who set up a depot there in the 1890s. A settlement soon grew up around the railway works - despite the swampy conditions - and continued growing throughout the 20th century, in terms of both its population and its physical size, to become one of the largest cities in Africa.

While the city is sometimes known as the 'Green City in the Sun' - presumably a reflection of its green spaces and hot climate - its name actually comes from the Maasai term 'Enkare Nyrobi', meaning 'cool water'.

Answer: Moroni

Moroni is located on the island of Ngazidja, the largest of the three major islands that make up the Comoros archipelago in the Indian Ocean. Outside of the Comoros, the island is usually referred to as Grande Comore, the name that was in use during the country's time as a French colony. The other two islands are Mwali and Nzwani (whose French names were Mohéli and Anjouan respectively). Moroni is believed to have been founded by Arab settlers in the 10th century and its old town, like many other Arab cities, is known as the Medina and is home to a large number of mosques.

The city is only a short distance from Mount Karthala, whose periodic eruptions over the last two hundred years have led to it being listed as one of the world's most active volcanoes. In 2005, a notable eruption resulted in the evacuation of Moroni's population, although there was no major long-term damage to the city.

Answer: Djibouti

Djibouti City is the capital of the small nation of Djibouti in the Horn of Africa. Djibouti City (usually referred to as just Djibouti) is a major port thanks to its strategic location at the entrance to the Red Sea on the Gulf of Tadjoura, which forms a (very) small part of the Indian Ocean. It is also home to the majority of the country's population and is a local hub for multinational businesses, particularly those with connections to the neighbouring countries of Ethiopia, Eritrea and Somalia.

The city was founded in 1888 by the French and was initially the capital of the colony of French Somaliland.

Answer: Hanoi

One of the many Red Rivers around the world, the Red River that flows through the Vietnamese capital, Hanoi, is also known as the Hồng Hà or the Sông Cái in Vietnam or as the Yuan River in China. It flows from Hengduan Mountains in China's Yunnan province, through northern Vietnam and out into the Gulf of Tonkin.

Hanoi has been a major city of Vietnam for over 1,000 years and became the capital of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam in 1946. It also served as the capital of North Vietnam between 1954 and 1976, before becoming the capital of the modern-day country. It is a centre for Vietnamese culture and a major destination for international tourists who can see ancient temples, visit the shopping district housed in the city's Old Quarter or admire the various views over the city's scenic lakes.