Yes! It Has Shrunk Trivia Quiz

Answer: Poland

During the 1500s Poland was the second largest country in Europe, but over the years it suffered setback and decline. By the 18th century this culminated in the Partitions of Poland between Austria, Prussia and Russia. At the end of WWI Poland gained independence and was declared a republic in 1921. Poland once again ceased to exist when divided up by Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union in 1939. In 1945 Poland 're-emerged' much further west than before WWII. Eastern areas of Poland were annexed by the Soviet Union, and large areas of Germany were transferred to Poland.

Answer: Bolivia

Bolivia had an unfortunate history of losing territory. Chile was the first aggressor, seizing Bolivia's access to the Pacific in 1879. A territorial dispute with Brazil in 1903 saw the loss of more land. Following the Chaco War, Bolivia lost most of Gran Chaco to Paraguay.

The military staged a successful coup in 1936, probably after having suffered enough loss to national pride. Civilian rule was restored by 1982 with no further land loss.

Answer: Sudan

Sudan was formerly the largest country in Africa until South Sudan gained independence from Sudan on July 9, 2011. Sudan is now second after Algeria in terms of size. Khartoum, the capital of Sudan, is where the White and Blue Nile Rivers meet.

Answer: Mexico

Following the disastrous Mexican-American War of the nineteenth century, Mexico lost about half of its territory to the USA. This however did open up fuller expansion to the Pacific for a growing nation.

Answer: USSR

The USSR was essentially a Russian affair. Even with the loss of some two million square miles from the Soviet Union, Russia still has about six and a half million square miles of land, keeping Russia as the largest country on Earth. The breakup of the Soviet Union also left us with Kazakhstan, now the largest landlocked country in the world.

It also left us with Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Azerbaijan as independent nations to name just a few!

Answer: Lithuania

It's hard to believe that tiny Lithuania once had territory to equal the size of any in Western Europe. Present day Lithuania was established in 1918 but fell under Soviet domination at the end of WWII. On 11 March, 1990 Lithuania was the first of many former Soviet republics to declare independence.

Answer: Germany

The German nation came into being in 962AD, though the Germanic tribes were troublesome enough for the Romans in 100AD. Germany officially became a nation in 1871, albeit an Empire (I did say I wouldn't include overseas territories). The political maps of Europe shifted considerably after WWII with eastern German territory going to Poland and eastern Polish territory going to the Soviet Union.

Answer: Finland

There were a series of conflicts between Finland and the USSR during WWII. Though the Finns were vastly outnumbered in terms of men and machines during the Winter War of 1939-40, the Finns were able to hold the Russians back and prevented their country from being overrun.

Despite this initial success, the Finns ultimately had to capitulate to Soviet demands. The Finns further lost out as when the border between Finland and the Soviet Union was established after WWII, the Soviets insisted that no Finn be allowed to live within 7 miles of the border.

Answer: Mongolia

Mongolia is roughly the same size as Alaska. It has only one major city, Ulan Bator, its capital. Ulan Bator also has the distinction of being the coldest and windiest national capital on Earth. I can maybe see why the Mongol Empire spread southwards to warmer climates!

Answer: Rising sea levels

It seems inevitable that many nations across the world are susceptible to all these problems. But it is the possible threat of rising sea levels that are causing most concern for these vulnerable nations. One only has to look at recent history to witness the devastation that flooding can bring.