Marriage and Divorce #2 Trivia Quiz

Answer: Slovenia and Croatia

Yugoslavia (or the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes as it was originally known) was formed after the First World War in 1918. The secession of Slovenia and, more particularly, Croatia marked the beginning of a long and often extremely bloody disintegration of Yugoslavia.

Answer: Eritrea

Eritrea was occupied by the Italians in the 1880s during the infamous "Scramble for Africa" by the European powers. After the Second World War the territory was occupied by the British and it was decreed that it should form a federation with Ethiopia. This was unpopular with the Eritreans and a civil war ensued which culminated in a referendum which led to Eritrea's independence in 1993.

Relations with Ethiopia deteriorated and the two countries were involved in a border war from 1998 to 2000.

Answer: Greece and Cyprus

Enosis was the stated aim of the National Organisation of Cypriot Fighters (EOKA), a nationalist organisation in Cyprus in the 1950s which fought against the British colonial forces. However, the settlement which ended EOKA's struggle against the British specifically ruled out the union of Cyprus with Greece.

In 1974 the Greek government backed a coup against the Cypriot government, aimed at forcibly bringing about Enosis. This, in turn, led Turkey to forcibly intervene on the island and as of 2005 Cyprus remains divided between the predominantly Greek Republic of Cyprus in the South and the predominantly Turkish and largely unrecognised Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus.

Answer: Norway and Sweden

The histories of these countries are all bound together. At one time Denmark, Norway and Sweden were all one kingdom under the Union of Kalmar, until the union was dissolved by Sweden. Denmark ruled Iceland until 1944. Finland was ruled by Sweden until 1808 when it was conquered by Russia but it finally became independent in 1917.

As compensation for the loss of Finland, Sweden was given Norway in 1815, which up until then had been ruled by Denmark which had sided with Napoleon during the wars.

However, after 90 years Norway broke away and chose a younger son of King Frederik VIII of Denmark as the new Norwegian king.

Answer: Belize

Originally known as the United Provinces of Central America and unofficially as the United States of Central America, the Federal Republic of Central America was a short-lived project. Honduras declared its independence in 1838 and the union dissolved over the following two years in a subsequent civil war. Attempts to resurrect the union in one form or another over the next century ultimately all ended in failure.

At the time of this union Belize was a British colony known as British Honduras.

Answer: Romania

Wallachia and Moldavia were under the suzerainty of the Ottoman Empire in 1859 when they elected the same man as prince of both. A formal union was declared in 1862 and independence from the Ottoman Empire was declared in 1877.

Answer: Uruguay

Brazil and Argentina contested the area following their own independence from Portugal and Spain respectively. Brazil annexed Uruguay in 1821 but could only hold on to it for seven years before a popular revolt led to Uruguay's independence.

Answer: Tanzania

Tanganyika became independent of Britain in 1961 while Zanzibar gained its independence in 1963. In 1964 the two countries united to form the United Republic of Tanzania.

Answer: 7

The United Arab Emirates originally consisted of six emirates - Abu Dhabi, Ajman, Fujairah, Sharjah, Dubai, and Umm al-Qaiwain - and was formed in 1971. A seventh, Ras al-Khaimah, joined the following year.

Answer: Bosnia & Herzegovina

Technically, the Muslim-Croat Federation is known as the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina but that would have given the game away.

The two entities were brought into being by the 1995 Dayton Agreement which ended the three-year war which had raged since Bosnia declared its independence from Yugoslavia.