The European Union Trivia Quiz

Answer: Belgium, France, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands & West-Germany

Shortly after World War II (1939-1945), many Europeans realised that co-operation between European nations was the best way to prevent a repetition of war. In 1948 Belgium, the Netherlands & Luxembourg created a political union (Benelux) that would serve as an example for the current European Union; that started as a union between the above mentioned six nations in 1957.

Ireland and the United Kingdom became a member of the EU in 1973.

Answer: Germany, Austria, Slovakia, Croatia, Hungary, Romania & Bulgaria

The Danube runs through nine countries, but Serbia and Ukraine are not EU-members.

West Germany was a founding member of the EU. Austria joined the Union in 1995. Slovakia and Hungary (both 2004) and Bulgaria and Romania (2007) are relatively new members of the EU, with Croatia joining even more recently (2013).

Answer: Éire

Ireland is the second biggest island of Europe and the EU (Great Britain is the EU's biggest island). Rougly 5/6th of the island is formed by the Republic of Ireland, the remainder is called Northern Ireland and is part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain. The Republic of Ireland gained its independence from the UK on 6 December 1921. Airlann is the Ulster-Scots name of Ireland, Hibernia is the ancient Roman name of Ireland and Ulster is one of the original four provinces of Ireland that is mainly located in modern day's Northern Ireland.

The Republic of Ireland and the UK became members of the EU in 1973.

Answer: France

There are several overseas dependencies and territories, which are formally part of the EU, whereas other territories are excluded from the EU.

The French overseas departments (Réunion, Martinique, Guadeloupe and French Guyana) are members of the EU. Other overseas departments and territories that are part of the EU: Madeira & Azores (Portugal) and Canary Islands, Céuta & Melilla (Spain).

Overseas territories that are not a part of the EU include: Polynesia, Mayotte, Wallis et Futuna & New Caledonia (France) and Aruba, Curaçao, Sint Maarten & the Netherlands Antilles (the Netherlands), Greenland & Faroe Islands (Denmark) and most of the UK's territories.

Réunion's timezone is GMT +3. Bulgaria and Romania are only in timezone GMT +3 during summertime (daylight saving time).

Answer: The Netherlands

The Dutch national anthem, "Wilhelmus van Nassauwe", was written in 1574 and is the oldest national anthem in the world. Although its music and lyrics are over 430 years old, it is the Dutch official anthem only since 10 May 1932. The Japanese national anthem, "Kimigayo", was written in the 9th century, but the music was only composed in the 19th century.

The Dutch national anthem contains 15 stanzas, of wich only the 1st and the 6th are sung during official ceremonies. The anthem is an acrostic: the first letters of the stanzas form the name 'Willem van Nassov'.

The Netherlands (population 2007: 16,500,000) is a founding member of the EU. Its capital is Amsterdam, though the seat of government is The Hague.

Answer: 1986

Portugal and Spain joined the EU in 1986, when it expanded from 10 to 12 members. A year before, Greenland (part of the Kingdom of Denmark) had left the European Union.

Answer: False

Finland joined the EU in 1995, together with Austria and Sweden. Norway is not a member of the EU.

Answer: France

France is a founding member of the EU and has a population of approximately 60 million people (as of 2007), making it the 3rd largest EU-member (after Germany and Great Britain). The French capital is Paris.

French is also an official language of Switzerland, but Switzerland is not in the EU.

Answer: Estonia

Tallinn (population in 2004: 400,000), previously known as Reval, was founded in 1154 A.D. It is the capital of Estonia. The capitals of Latvia, Lithuania and Finland are Riga, Vilnius and Helsinki respectively. Tallinn (2002), Riga (2003) and Helsinki (2007) have all hosted the Eurovision Song Contest.

Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania joined the EU in 2004. Finland joined the EU nine years earlier.

Answer: 3

France (founding member), Austria (member since 1995) and Slovenia (member since 2004) - all share a border with Italy. Switzerland also shares a border with Italy, but it is not a member of the EU.

Answer: Slovakia

Poland and Slovakia both joined the EU in 2004. Poland (population 2003: 38,000,000) immediately became the Union's 6th largest nation. The capital is Warsaw. Famous Poles include Pope John Paul II, Marie Curie & Chopin.
Slovakia (population 2007: 5,400,000) formed one country with the Czech Republic from 1918 till 1993.

Answer: Malta

Malta (population 2005: 400,000) is an island state that consists of eight islands: Malta, Gozo, Comino, Manoel Island, Cominotto, Filfla, Fungus Rock and Saint Paul's Island. Only the first three islands are inhabited. The capital is called La Valetta. Malta gained its independence from the United Kingdom in 1969. Since 1974 it is a republic. The official languages are English and Maltese; Maltese stems from Arabic and is influenced by Italian, French and English. It is the only Semitic language in the world that is written in the Latin alphabet.

Malta joined the EU in 2004, as did Cyprus. Ireland joined the EU in 1973 (as did the UK, another island nation, although it left on 31 January 2020).

Answer: München

München (Munich) is the 3rd largest city of Germany and the capital of Bundesland Bavaria. It was founded in 1158.

Berlin is the largest city of Germany as well as its capital, and Hamburg is its 2nd largest city. Bonn was the capital of West-Germany from 1949 till 1990 and is situated in the Bundesland Nordrhein-Westfalen (capital: Düsseldorf).

West-Germany was a founding member of the EU. On 3 October 1990, the constituent 'Länder' of East-Germany acceded to West-Germany and automatically became members of the EU.

Germany shares borders with no less than eight fellow EU members: the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, France, Austria, the Czech Republic, Poland and Denmark.

Answer: false

Denmark (population 2006: 5,450,000) joined the European Union in 1973. In 1979 Denmark granted home rule to its territory of Greenland, which left the EU in 1985 after a referendum held in the same year. Greece (population 2004: 11,244,000) joined the European Union in 1981, becoming its tenth member. The capital of Denmark is Copenhagen; the capital of Greece is Athens.

Answer: Forint

The currency of Hungary is the forint (HUF). The guilder (f) was the currency of the Netherlands and Suriname, and is still the currency of the Netherlands Antilles and Aruba. The euro (€) is widely accepted in Hungary.

Hungary became a EU-member in 2004.