What's in Your Pocket? Online Quiz | World

Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. We start our tour in a country in a former French colony in the Maghreb region of western North Africa. The currency, the 'ouguiya', replaced the CFA franc in 1973 at the rate of 5 francs-to-1 ouguiya. A highlight of your visit will be the Grand Mosque in Nouakchott. Which country the size of Egypt with a fraction of the population is this?

Answer: Mauritania

Officially the 'Islamic Republic of Mauritania', the name Mauritania derives from an ancient Berber kingdom that lasted a thousand years from the 3rd century B.C. until the 7th century A.D.
Some 90% of Mauritania's land lies within the Sahara, so most of the country's 3.5 million people (2013 Census) live in the southeast. Close to a third of them in the capital, Nouakchott, which is on the Atlantic coast. Mauritania is the 11th-largest country in Africa: it is of similar size to Egypt, which has 25 times the population of Mauritania. More than half of the people in the capital live and run their businesses in the 'kebbe', a shanty-town of tents and shacks that they move regularly from place to place within the city.
The name of the country, which appears in French on one side of the pictured currency, has been blocked out for obvious reasons.

2. We travel north to Africa's Mediterranean coast for our next stop. Here you might wish to visit the Roman ruins of Sufetula (pictured here on the back of the 10 dinar note), the best-preserved Forum temples in the region. The dinar was introduced as the unit of currency here in 1960. Which country the size of Wisconsin are we visiting?

Answer: Tunisia

The Republic of Tunisia is the northernmost country in Africa and the smallest in the Maghreb region. Similar in size to the U.S. states of Florida and Wisconsin, Tunisia is about 20% larger than Greece, which has a similar-sized population, just over 10 million (2104 estimates).
The name "dinar" derives from the Roman 'denarius', a small silver coin first minted during the Second Punic War, around 211 B.C. The coin was used in the Roman's Africa province of Carthage, the ruins of which are a popular tourist attraction on the outskirts of modern-day Tunis.

3. We head south now to central Africa. On this stop you can enjoy a safari in the Garamba National Park, established in 1938 and one of the oldest in Africa. The park's status as home to the world's last-known wild population of Northern White Rhinoceros is commemorated on the country's 5 franc note. The franc has been used here since the late-19th century, but this is not the CFA franc used in many African countries. Which country, Africa's second-largest, are we visiting?

Answer: Democratic Republic of the Congo

The Democratic Republic of the Congo is sometimes known as Congo-Kinshasa, to differentiate it from the Republic of Congo, or Congo-Brazzaville, the names of the respective capital cities being used to identify the country. A former Belgian colony, the Belgian franc was used here since 1887. Congolese francs were issued on a par with the Belgian currency, and also were used in Rwanda and Burundi from 1916 on.

The Congolese franc remained the unit of currency after independence until 1967, when it was replace by the 'zaire' in line with the re-naming of the country.

The Congolese franc was re-introduced in 1997 when the country's name was changed from Zaire.

4. Our next stop is in the world's most populous landlocked country. Here you can visit the source of the Blue Nile at Lake Tana. The picture shows the back of the 1 birr note, a depiction of the Tis Issat Waterfalls as the flow begins its 900-mile journey to join its White counterpart. The birr was established as the currency here in the 1850s, although until 1976 it was translated as 'dollar' in English. Which country are we now visiting?

Answer: Ethiopia

Officially known today as the 'Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia', the history of Ethiopia, once known as Abyssinia, stretches back more than three millennia. Indeed, the oldest archaeological evidence of modern human beings is found here. Homer's great works include a character referred to as 'an Ethiopian', and the Ancient Greeks designated Ethiopia as the name of all lands south of Egypt.
The Blue Nile is sourced from Lake Tana in northern Ethiopia and flows out of the lake via the Tis Issat Falls as it journeys southeast towards the capital, Addis Ababa, before swinging west to the Sudanese border. It then heads northwest to join the White Nile at Khartoum.
The currency changed from Abyssinian birr to Ethiopian birr in the 1930s. It was replaced briefly by first the Italian lira and then the East African shilling, but was re-instated in 1945.

5. We now return to west Africa, where you can visit the world's second-largest city square, smaller only than Tiananmen Square in Beijing, China. Here you will find Independence Arch, which is depicted on the back of the country's 10 cedi note. The portrait on the front of all value notes is that of the country's first President, Kwame Nkrumah. Which country are we in?

Answer: Ghana

Ghana was the first country in sub-Saharan Africa to gain independence from its European colonists. Independence was declared in the former British colony of The Gold coast in 1957 and the Republic of Ghana was founded in 1960 with Kwame Nkrumah as its first President.

He remained in office until 1966. The word 'Ghana' mean "warrior king" in the Mande language, spoken by more than a million Soninke people throughout West Africa. Introduced in 1965, the Ghanaian cedi has since been re-launched twice since, in 1967 and again in 2007, due to rising inflation.

The name 'cedi' is the word for the cowry shell (which were formerly used as currency in The Gold Coast) in the Fante language, one of the three formal dialects of the Akan language, which is widely spoken in central and western Ghana.

6. Leaving Africa, we now head east to Asia, landing at the international airport serving what was by far the world's largest metropolitan area at the time of the 2010 Census. Whilst in the country, you might like to get out of the metropolis to see Shureimon, the 16th-century gate to Shuri Castle in the city of Naha. A representation of the gate appeared on the pictured banknote, issued in 2000. Which country are we visiting?

Answer: Japan

It would have made the question too easy if I had told you that the currency here was the yen. Japan is the world's last remaining country with an Emperor.
There are many ways of measuring the 'world's largest city' and of course population numbers change regularly too. If you measure a city's size by its metropolitan area, though, Tokyo has been at the top of the list by some distance since well before the turn of the 21st century. The number of people living in Tokyo's metropolitan area was estimated in 2010 at almost 37 million. The second-largest, Seoul, South Korea, was way behind with 'only' 26 million residents. Behind that were Shanghai and Guangzhou in China, Karachi in Pakistan and Delhi in India. The largest outside of Asia was Mexico City, in seventh place with 21 million.
The Shureimon Gate in Naha, the capital of the Okinawa Prefecture, was chosen for the re-designed 2,000 yen banknote in 2000 to commemorate that year's G8 Summit meeting in Okinawa.
First introduced in 1873, the yen is now the third most-traded currency in the world (after the US dollar and the euro).

7. We move on into central Asia now, to a huge country more than one-and-a-half times the size of the largest US state, Alaska. Whilst here, pay a visit to the Mangystau Region in the southwest of the country, on the Caspian Sea. Here you will find the famous rock paintings depicted on the back of the picture 50 tenge note. Which country are we visiting?

Answer: Kazakhstan

The world's largest landlocked country and the ninth largest country, The Republic of Kazakhstan is bigger than the whole of Western Europe combined. Independence was finally achieved on Christmas Day in 1991, making Kazakhstan the last of the former Soviet satellites to break away. Reflecting the historic nomadic hose-riding culture of the people of this region, the word 'Kazakh' derives from a Turkish word meaning "free spirit"
An image of the rock paintings of Mangystau also appear on the region's official coat of arms.
The Kazakh tenge was introduced in 1993. Larger denomination banknotes have been added periodically since, starting with the 200, 500 and 1,000 in 1994 right up to the 10,000 tenge note (depicting the snow leopard) in 2003. The word 'tenge' literally means 'scales' and originates from the Old Turkik word 'ten' meaning "equal" or "balance".

8. We remain in Asia for a visit to the world's fourth-most populous country. Whilst here, pay a visit to the Pura Ulun Danu Bratan water temple, built in 1663 on the shores of Lake Bratan. The temple appears on the back of the 50,000 rupiah note, whilst a portrait of national hero I Gusti Ngurah Rai is on the front. which country are we now in?

Answer: Indonesia

Estimates in 2015 identified the Republic of Indonesia as the world's fourth country with a population in excess of 250 million. A country spread over thousands of islands with major population centers on seven of those, Indonesia is about the same size as Mexico.
The Pura Ulun Danu Bratan water temple depicted on the 50,000 rupiah note is located near to the mountain resort of Bedugul in the centre of the province of Bali, at the westernmost end of the Lesser Sunda Island chain.
The word 'rupiah' derives from a Sanskrit word meaning "wrought silver".

9. We head now for the Caucasus region in southwestern Asia. Be sure to visit the Black Sea port of Sukhumi, the capital of the disputed Abkhazia region. Here you will find numerous historical monuments including a 12th-century Beslet arcaded bridge, the 11th-century castle of Bagrat III, a 14th-century Genoese fort and an 18th-century Ottoman fortress. The city is depicted on the back of the pictured 200 lari note. Which country are we now in?

Answer: Georgia

Located at the eastern end of the Black Sea, Georgia is about the size of the Republic of Ireland, or a little larger than the U.S. state of West Virginia. Named for Saint George, the region now occupied by modern-day Georgia has been home to homo sapiens since the end of the Paleolithic Era more than 10,000 years ago.
One of the most prosperous cities in the region, numerous Soviet leaders had their summer dachas in and around Sukhumi. Riots in 1989 and the Georgian-Abkhaz war in 1992-93 saw the cities population reduced my more than half of its 1980s-high of more than 110,000.
The word 'lari' derives from an Old Georgian word meaning "property". The Russian ruble was with the kuponi in Georgia in 1993. Hyperinflation soon put paid to that currency and the Georgian lari was introduced in 1995.

10. We finish this tour on the Persian Gulf, in the second-largest country in the Middle East. Whilst here, be sure to visit the city of Hamadan in the Midwestern part of the country. Here you will find the Tomb of Avicenna, and 11th-century jurist and polymath regarded as the most significant thinker and writer of the Islamic Golden Age. The tomb is depicted on the back of the pictured 200 rial note issued in 1980. All value notes in this series featured the Imam Reza shrine in the city of Mashhad on the front side. Which country are we now visiting?

Answer: Iran

The world's 18th-largest country, the Islamic Republic of Iran is marginally smaller than the U.S. state of Alaska. Home to one of the world's oldest civilizations, human history here dates back to the Elamite Kingdom (3200-2800 BC).
Located in the foothills of Alvand Mountain, the city of Hamadan is one of the oldest cities in the world. Occupied by the Assyrians in 1100 BC, it was the capital of the ancient Medes people around 700 BC.
The rial was first introduced as a coin in 1798. It was replaced by various currencies in the century or more that followed, but was re-established as the official Persian currency in 1932. Massive inflation in recent decades now sees rials issued in denominations of hundreds of thousands and in 2011 it was officially the world's least valued currency unit.

Source: Author EnglishJedi

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor stedman before going online.
Any errors found in FunTrivia content are routinely corrected through our feedback system.

What's in Your Pocket? Trivia Quiz

Take a trip around Africa and Asia. Of course, we will need something to spend. Amex or Visa is okay for your swanky hotel, but not for the street-side food seller or Joe Taxi. For that we'll need some local currency...

NEXT>

NEXT>

NEXT>

NEXT>

NEXT>

NEXT>

NEXT>

NEXT>

NEXT>