We're Moving Uptown! Trivia Quiz

Answer: Abidjan

The coastal city of Abidjan became the capital of Cote d'Ivoire in 1933 back when the country was still a French colony, and it grew into one of the largest cities in Africa. But in 1983, President Félix Houphouet-Boigny moved the capital to the city of Yamoussoukro, located near the center of Cote d'Ivoire.

The president, who ruled the country from 1960 to 1993, had been born in Yamoussoukro and had committed himself to promoting the city. Although Abidjan was no longer the capital city, it continued to remain the economic center of the country.

Answer: Yangon

Naypyidaw became the capital of Myanmar on 6 November 2005. Prior to that, the capital was Yangon. Yangon was previously the capital of British Burma and then Japanese Burma before the country changed its name to Myanmar in 1948. Naypyidaw is unusual in Myanmar in that it is an entirely planned city, like Canberra, Australia, or Brasilia, Brazil.

It is the seat of government in Myanmar and houses the country's Union Parliament, Supreme Court, Presidential Palace, Cabinet, and Office of the President.

Answer: Dar es Salaam

Dar es Salaam was founded in the 1800s as a town on the Indian Ocean. Over the next century, it became one of the region's most populous and economically important cities. Following the merger of Tanganyika and Zanzibar in 1964, Dar es Salaam was named capital of the new Tanzania.

However, plans to reorganize and restructure the city came to a halt when the social problems inherent in these changes could not be remedied. A referendum in 1973 announced the move of the government to central Tanzania to a small town called Dodoma.

While trying to reduce the construction of large buildings and monuments and reflect a more traditional way of Tanzanian life, the goal was to design a city as "the chief village in a nation of villages". Despite multiple design proposals, most of these buildings remained unfinished decades later when Dodoma was made the official capital in 1996.

While the president's office and the National Assembly were located in Dodoma, most government offices and foreign embassies continued to remain in Dar es Salaam.

Answer: Karachi

Located on the southern coast of Pakistan, Karachi was a major transportation hub for the British during the occupation of India, and when Pakistan became an independent nation in 1947, Karachi became the capital. But the government of the new nation wanted a new capital away from the colonial business environment in Karachi and reportedly one that would be more accessible to the rest of the country, although that really doesn't ring true with the northeastern location of Islamabad, the chosen site.

The capital was temporarily moved to Rawalpindi, a suburb of Islamabad, in the late 1950s while Islamabad was being built, and then Islamabad became the official capital in 1967. The cosmopolitan city of Karachi still remained the economic capital of Pakistan.

Answer: Almaty

Almaty was the capital of the Kazakh Soviet state prior to Kazakhstan's independence from the U.S.S.R. in 1991. The major commercial and cultural center of Kazakhstan, not to mention the most populous, Almaty remained capital until 1997 when the government decided to move to Astana located in the northern part of the country.

The government claimed the lack of space for expansion in Almaty was the main reason for moving the capital though some have speculated it was a way to encourage a northern shift of Kazakh people to a city with a formerly Slavic majority. Nevertheless, soon after moving, the city underwent major architectural change mostly at the behest of Japanese architect Kisho Kurokawa.

As a result, since becoming capital, Astana has more than doubled in size to more than 800,000 people in 2016.

Answer: Lagos

When Nigeria declared independence from the United Kingdom in 1960, Lagos was named the capital city. In the 1970s, a movement to move the capital took hold. By the far the most populous city of Nigeria, Lagos had problems of burgeoning overpopulation with horrendous traffic jams which led to security problems for country leaders.

While Lagos' direct access to the Atlantic Ocean was key for European powers during colonial days, it was a concern for the independent Nigerian government who worried about a foreign naval invasion. Improved infrastructure made the move to a more centralized location reasonable, and a relatively unknown town called Abuja was chosen and became a planned city like Brasilia. By 1991, the capital was moved to this, both geographically and ethnically more centralized, location.

Answer: Rio de Janeiro

The port city of Rio de Janeiro became the capital of Brazil during its Portuguese colonial days, but in the 1950s, the decision was made to build a new capital further inland to help populate the area. Located in the central highlands, the very modern city of Brasilia was designed by planner Lucio Costa, architect Oscar Niemeyer, and landscape designer Roberto Burle Marx, and it became the nation's capital in 1960.

At that time, the population was estimated at around 140,000 people, but by the turn of the century, the population had grown to over two million residents, exceeding the government expectations.

In 1987, the city was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site for its artistic achievement in urban architecture.

Answer: Belize City

Belize City had been a major port on the Caribbean Sea since the 1600s. Declared the capital of former British Honduras, Belize City was and continued to be the most populous city in Belize through the end of the 20th century. However its proximity to the coast made it susceptible to hurricanes including Hurricane Hattie which in 1961 left over seventy percent of the city damaged and 10,000 people homeless.

This propelled an initiative to move the capital further inland. It was decided to plan a city fifty miles from the coast to reduce the risk of devastating impact if another hurricane should hit.

This planned city was called Belmopan named after two rivers - the Belize River and the Mopan River. In 1970, the city was completed and the capital officially moved to Belmopan from Belize City.

Answer: Istanbul

Constantinople became the capital of the Byzantine Empire way back in the 300s CE, and although the capital moved a few times over the years, notably to Syracuse and Nicaea, it essentially remained the capital until 1923 when the Ottoman Empire collapsed.

Although its current name of Istanbul is associated with the Ottoman Empire, it's actually a Greek name meaning "to the city", and it didn't fully replace Constantinople until after Turkey became a republic in 1923. At that time, the Turkish government also moved the capital from the port city of Istanbul to Ankara. Several reasons were given for the move, including that it was a central location in Turkey and that it would distinguish the modern Turkish republic from the Ottoman Empire. Ankara, formerly known as Angora, had about 35,000 residents at the time it became the capital, but by the year 2000, the population had reached nearly four million residents.

Answer: Colombo

Colombo became the capital of Sri Lanka way back in 1815 when it became a part of the British Empire - back in the days when the country was known as Ceylon. Colombo is located on the west coast of the country, and Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte is one of its suburbs.

The capital was moved to Kotte, as it is known colloquially, in 1982. The official reason for the move was that the government offices had outgrown Colombo. Colombo however remained the country's commercial center.