Asian Capitals for Vexillologists Quiz

Answer: Bangkok

The city that westerners call Bangkok is known to Thais as "Krung Thep Maha Nakhon". It's full ceremonial name came into use during the reign of King Rama IV (known in the West as King Mongkut), who reigned from 1851 until 1868. He is the king on whom the Yul Brynner character in the 1956 film "The King and I" is based. Back to the point, though -- the full ceremonial name of Bangkok is "Krungthepmahanakhon Amonrattanakosin Mahintharayutthaya Mahadilokphop Noppharatratchathaniburirom Udomratchaniwetmahasathan Amonphimanawatansathit Sakkathattiyawitsanukamprasit", which roughly translates to mean "City of angels, great city of immortals, magnificent city of the nine gems, seat of the king, city of royal palaces, home of gods incarnate, erected by Vishvakarman at Indra's behest". 'Guinness World Records' names this as the world's longest place name.

Answer: Jakarta

Known as Batavia at the time, Jakarta was the capital of the Dutch East Indies for most of the 17th and 18th centuries. It was nicknamed 'Koningin van het Oosten' (meaning "Queen of the Orient") by the Dutch. The city became the capital of Indonesia when it became independent in 1945 and was renamed Djakarta (meaning "complete victory") in 1949.

The spelling was changed to Jakarta in 1972. Seen as Indonesia's equivalent to New York City, Jakarta has been dubbed "The Big Durian", a play on words with the strong-smelling local fruit replacing "Apple".

At the end of 2012, Jakarta's population was approaching 10 million, making it the largest city in Southeast Asia. In 2014, it was ranked number one of the 35 leading "emerging cities of the world".

Answer: Astana

The settlement named 'Akmola' (meaning "a white grave" in Kazakh) was founded on the banks of the Ishim River by Siberian Cossacks in 1830. Two years later, it was granted town status and renamed Akmolinsk. In 1961, the Russians renamed the city Tselinograd, but after the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1992 it reverted to a variation on its original name, Akmola. The city became the capital of Kazakhstan in 1997, and the following year it was renamed again, to Astana.
A planned city, similar to Brasilia and Canberra, Astana's master plan was designed by Japanese architect Kisho Kurokawa.
The 'Astana Pro Team' has become a regular competitor in cycling's grand tours since it was founded in 2007. Former riders include Luxembourg's Benoit Joachim, American Lance Armstrong, Kazakhstan's Alexander Vinokourov, Spain's Alberto Contador and German Andreas Klöden. Going into the 2015 season, hopes are pinned on the rider dubbed "the Shark of Messina", Italian Vincenzo Nibali, considered one of the world's strongest stage riders.

Answer: Yerevan

Stone tools more than 325,000 years old have been found in this region. Wine-making facilities dating back more than 6,000 years have recently been discovered. The largest city in Armenia, Yerevan became the country's thirteenth national capital in 1918, and the seventh located on or around the Ararat Plain.

Yerevan underwent incredible growth during the years when Armenia was part of the Soviet Union. At the beginning of the 20th Century, it was a provincial backwater and home to under 30,000. In 2011 it had a population of just over one million and was the principal cultural, artistic and industrial centre of the region.

Answer: Kuala Lumpur

The Istana Negara, the official residence of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong, the Malaysian King is still located in Kuala Lumpur. So, too, is the Malaysian Parliament, although the legislature and some of the judiciary have now been moved about 15 miles south to the city of Putrajaya.
Rated as an 'alpha city' Kuala Lumpur is home to the world's tallest twin buildings, the Petronas Twin Towers.
The Malaysian Grand Prix joined the Formula One circuit in 1999. It is staged at the Sepang International Circuit in the nearby town of Sepang, which is also where you will find Kuala Lumpur International Airport.

Answer: Chisinau

Founded as a monastery village in the early part of the 15th Century, Chisinau grew up around a spring and the name it thought to derive from archaic Romanian words meaning "new source of water". Just 200 years ago, it was still a very small town with less than 10,000 inhabitants. Now home to around half a million people (2014 Census), Chisinau accounts for more than one-sixth of the entire population of Moldova.

This, though, is down from the city's population height of 675,000 in the early 1990s. The cultural heart of the country, Chisinau is home to twelve public and eleven private universities.

Answer: Tokyo

The design of the crest at the centre of the flag represents a Sun with six rays, representing Tokyo as the centre of Japan. The background colour is designated as 'Edo purple', a traditional colour that was popular in the days when the city was named Edo (meaning "estuary").

It was renamed Tokyo (meaning "Eastern Capital" in 1868 when the national capital moved from Kyoto. More than one third (36%) of the land area of the Tokyo Prefecture is designated as National Park, including Ogasawara National Park which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Ueno Park is home to many of the city's most famous museums.

Answer: Amman

Originally built on seven hills but now covering nineteen, Amman ranges between 2,300 and 3,600 feet above sea level. In the Bible, it was called Rabbat ʿAmmon. It has been conquered by the Assyrians, the Persians, the Greek Macedonians, the Nabataean kingdom and the Romans. Regularly destroyed by earthquakes and other natural disasters, it remained a small village; at the beginning of the 20th Century it had a population of only 5,000. King Abdullah I chose Amman as the capital for the newly-created state of Transjordan in 1921. Displacement of refugees due to wars in neighboring states caused the population of Amman to multiply by more than 15 times between 1950 and 1990.

More than two-thirds of the entire population of Jordan now live in Amman, a city of some four million.

Answer: Bishkek

Before its name was changed to Frunze, this city was called Pishpek, apparently driving from a Kyrgyz word for the churn used in the making of the country's national drink, a fermented mare's milk called kumis. Located 2,600 feet above sea-level, the Tian Shan mountain range, with its peaks rising to almost 16,000 feet, provide a picturesque backdrop for the city's skyline. Bishkek is both the capital and the largest city in Kyrgyzstan, and Soviet-era building still dominate the city's architecture.

The White House, now the main government building, was the former home of the Communist Party. A statue of Ivan Panfilov, a general and posthumous WWII hero of the Soviet Union, still stands outside the building.

Answer: Ulan Bator

In its almost 150 years as a roaming monastic centre, the settlement that would become Ulan Bator changed locations 28 times before settling on its permanent site in the Tuul River valley. Prior to Mogolian independence in 1911, it was called Ikh Khüree (meaning "great settlement"). It then became Bogdiin Khuree ("Great Holy Khan's Monastery") before becoming Ulan Bator in 1924 when it became the capital of the new Mongolian People's Republic.

Ulan Bator is one of the few capital cities in the world with an average temperature below zero. Short, warm summers are separated by long, bitterly cold, dry winters with average January temperatures around -40 degrees (in both Fahrenheit and Centigrade). With that warning, though, there are some fantastic sights to be seen in Ulan Bator -- Bogd Khan's winter palace, Choijin Lama monastery, the Janraisig statue and the huge equestrian statue of Genghis Khan.