Keep the Red Flag Flying Here Trivia Quiz

Answer: Norway

The photograph shows the spectacular Geiranger Fjord, one of the most visited sites in Norway, with cruise ships regularly travelling along the ten-mile long waterway to reach the village of the same name. Jointly with the Nærøyfjorden, it was named as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2005.

The Norwegian flag, adopted in 1821, is officially described as "a white-fimbriated blue Nordic cross on a red field". King Harald Fairhair (reigned 872-930) is credited with unifying the various regions of Norway into a single nation. Norway joined the Kalmar In ion in 1397 and in 1524 became a joint state with Denmark. It became an independent kingdom again in early 1814, but almost immediately joined an alliance with Sweden, which lasted until 1905. The two official languages are Norwegian and Sami, a Uralic language spoken by the Sami people in the Arctic regions of northern Norway, Finland and Sweden and northwestern Russia.

Answer: Morocco

The photograph shows an aerial view of the Jemaa el-Fnaa square and market, popular with both locals and tourists and located in the Medina quarter (the old city) of Marrakesh in central Morocco.

Located in the Maghreb region of North Africa, Morocco is a country of vast deserts and rugged mountains bordered by both the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. Idris ibn Abdullah (King Idris I), a many-times-great grandson of the Prophet Mohammed, reigned only from 788 until 791 but is the founder of the dynasty that made Morocco a centre of Islam culture. Both France and Spain enjoyed dominion over the region throughout much of the 19th century, and Morocco became an official French protectorate in 1912, which lasted until independence in 1956. The Moroccan dirham replaced the franc as the official currency in 1960. There are 100 santim to the dirham.

Answer: Albania

The site of Rozafa Castle was captured by the Romans in 167BC and has been the site of numerous famous sieges, notably by the Ottomans in the 15th century and by the Montenegrins in 1912. The nearby city of Shkoder in northwestern Albania is one of the oldest and most historic places on the Balkan peninsular.

Known as the 'Kuvendit Popullor' ("People's Assembly") during the period of the People's Socialist Republic of Albania (1947-1999), the country's legislature has been known simply as 'Kuvendi' since 1997. The modern Albanian flag dates back only to 1992, although the basic design has changed little since 1912. Indeed, the central element, the double-headed eagle, dates back much further, to the Palaiologos dynasty, which ruled the Byzantine Empire from 1261 until 1453.

Answer: Bahrain

Situated in the extreme north of Bahrain, Manama is both the island's capital and its largest city. Oil has made Bahrain one of the world's richest countries.

The world's 173rd largest country by area, Bahrain would fit more than five times into Rhode Island, the smallest U.S. state. Home to the Semitic-speaking Dilmun civilization as long ago as 3,000 BC, Bahrain was later ruled by the Assyrians, the Babylonians and the Persians. More recently, Britain established dominance of the region in the 1890s and in 1971 Bahrain became an independent state. Bahrain's flag is similar to that of its near neighbour, Qatar, but the 'red' in the Qatari version is closer to maroon, there are nine triangles (rather than five) in the serrated edge between the colours, and the Bahrain version is much squarer. The current flag was adopted in 2002, replacing a similar version (instead with eight triangles) that had been used since independence.

Answer: North Korea

Completed in 1982, the Tower of the Juche Idea (commonly known as Juche Tower) was built to commemorate Kim Il-sung's 70th birthday. It stands in the centre of North Korea's capital, Pyongyang on the east bank of the Taedong River, directly across from Kim Il-sung Square.

Adopted in 1948, the description of the North Korean flag is officially defined in the country's constitution: "a central red panel, bordered both above and below by a narrow white stripe and a broad blue stripe. The central red panel bears a five-pointed red star within a white circle near the hoist". Dating back to the 15th century, the Korean alphabet is called Chosŏn'gŭl in North Korea and in China's Jilin Province and Hangul in South Korea.

Answer: Peru

Located high in the Andes mountains, the remains of what is sometimes called "The Lost City of the Incas", Machu Picchu has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1983. Although locals knew of its existence, the Spanish conquistadors never discovered the 15th-century Incan city and is was only unveiled to the wider world by an American historian in the early 20th century.

The official flag of Peru, adopted when the country declared independence from Spain in 1824, 'El Pendón Bicolor' ("The Bicolor Banner"), is a vertical triband with a white centre and red at the two extremities. Depending on its use, the centre white band may 'defaced' by various emblems, most commonly the national coat of arms. The three official languages of Peru are Spanish, Quechua and Aymara, (the languages of the two major groups of indigenous peoples of the same names living in the Andes mountains). The sol was the basic unit of currency used in Peru from the early 19th century until 1985, when it was replaced by the Peruvian inti. That new currency lasted just six years, and in 1991 the 'Neuvo Sol' was introduced. The 'new' aspect of the name was officially dropped in 2015.

Answer: Tonga

The Dutch were the first Europeans to reach Tonga, in 1616. Abel Tasman stopped here in 1643 and James Cook, who named the archipelago The Friendly Isles, visited in 1773. The Spanish stopped here in 1793 and the first missionaries, from London, came four years later. In 1900, the kingdom signed a Treaty of Friendship with Britain which lasted 70 years, although it is the only Pacific Ocean nation to have always been officially self-governing.

Consisting of 169 islands of which 36 are inhabited, Tonga (meaning 'south') is the southernmost archipelago in central Polynesia. Around 70% of the 103,000 population (2011 Census) live on the main island Tongatapu, a third of those in the capital. Although the kingdom has a land area of only 290 square miles (slightly less than the Mediterranean island of Malta) its territory is spread over an area of 270,000 square miles (the size of New Zealand).

The design of the Tongan flag was officially enshrined into the kingdom's constitution in 1875, including a stipulation that it can never be changed. For most of the period under British protection, Tongans used the pound sterling as their currency -- the pa'anga (which literally translated means 'money') was introduced in 1967.

Answer: Kyrgyzstan

The highly mountainous terrain of Kyrgyzstan has been a major factor in preserving the ancient culture of the Kyrgyz peoples, which dates back more than 2,000 years. The Great Silk Road leading from China to the West crossed Kyrgyzstan, so the region has long been dominated by various foreign powers. Indeed, only since 1991, when it escaped from the Soviet Union, has it officially gained the status of a sovereign state.

The red background of the Kyrgyzstan flag represents bravery, whilst the yellow Sun stands for peace and wealth. The 40 individual rays (which point clockwise on the front of the flag and counter-clockwise on the obverse) each represent one of the 40 Kyrgyz tribes that untied under the hero Manas against the Mongol invasion. A statue of Manas stands in the centre of the capital, Bishkek, which honoured the 1,000th anniversary of his heroics in 1995.

Answer: Vietnam

The easternmost country on Southeast Asia's Indochina Peninsular, Vietnam was part of Imperial China from 111 BC until it gained independence following the Battle of Bạch Ðằng River in 939. After China and North Korea, it is the world's oldest remaining one-party communist state, the Communist Party of Vietnam having taken power in 1956 when the country was still part of the colony of French Indochina and continued following independence after the Vietnam War. (Laos and Cuba are the world's only other countries that still have this form of government.)

Previously called Fai-Fo, the city of Hội An (meaning "peaceful meeting place") is centrally located on the country's east coast. An important trading port from the 15th until the 19th century, the historic district is exceptionally well-preserved.

The design of the Vietnamese flag dates to 1940, when it was used first to oppose French rule and then Japanese occupation during WWII. It remained as the flag of North Vietnam during the Vietnam War, and was then adopted by the reunified country in 1976.

Answer: North Macedonia

With a history dating back into antiquity, Macedonia has been invaded and occupied by just about everyone over the last two millennia. It was part of the Roman (and later Byzantine Eastern Roman) Empire and then the Ottoman Empire before becoming a constituent in the Serb-dominated Kingdom of Yugoslavia following WWI. Even when it declared independence in 1991, an ongoing dispute with Greece over the name 'Macedonia' meant that it was admitted to the UN in 1993 using the name "Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia"; in 2019 the name was changed to North Macedonia.

North Macedonia's colourful national flag was adopted only in 1995 when the Greeks forced them to replace their former flag, a red background with a centrally-located "Vergina Sun", a symbol which the Greeks considered belonged to them.

Evidence of human habitation in the region around the Macedonian capital, Skopje (known as Scupi to the Romans) dates back to at least Neolithic times, more than 6,000 years ago. For a period in the later 10th-century, it was the capital of the Bulgarian Empire, and in the 14th century performed the same function for the Serbian Empire.