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Independence from Whom

For each selected country, name the country it was a part of prior to independence.
Answer must correspond to the yellow box
In the case of multiple possible answers, use the date to guide you
The one in 301 A.D. is considered dubious
Quiz by
Quizmaster
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Last updated: June 10, 2020
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First submittedNovember 5, 2012
Times taken210,179
Average score75.0%
Rating4.99
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Year
Country
Independent From
1776
United States
Great Britain
1810
Mexico
Spain
1960
D. R. Congo
Belgium
1962
Algeria
France
1822
Brazil
Portugal
1945
Indonesia
Netherlands
1903
Panama
Colombia
2011
South Sudan
Sudan
1960
Nigeria
United Kingdom
1993
Eritrea
Ethiopia
1905
Norway
Sweden
1971
Bangladesh
Pakistan 
Year
Country
Independent From
1822
Greece
Ottoman Empire
2002
East Timor
Indonesia
1911
Mongolia
China
1965
Singapore
Malaysia
1991
Croatia
Yugoslavia
1991
Estonia
Soviet Union
1944
Iceland
Denmark
1962
Samoa
New Zealand
1975
Papua New Guinea
Australia
1946
Philippines
United States
301
San Marino
Roman Empire
1828
Uruguay
Brazil
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101 Recent Comments
celloninja
+7
Level 41
Apr 11, 2015
Norway never became "independent" from Sweden, because they were joined in a personal union.
LarryLovage
+13
Level 55
Apr 11, 2015
When I found out recently that Norway and Sweden were in a Union, I realised it was not dissimilar to the union connecting Scotland to the United Kingdom. But if Scotland had voted recently to dissolve that union, nobody (least of all the Scottish) would complain if someone said they had achieved "independence from England", even if that would technically not have been the case.
Rozzi
+4
Level 61
Apr 12, 2015
That'll be Britain, or the UK, not England.
Charliezard
+2
Level 67
Jul 15, 2025
Right, but England does hold the most power and leadership in the UK.
Kaficek
+5
Level 34
Jul 7, 2015
England and Scotland were in personal union from 1603 until 1707 (excluding interregnums and pretenders), meaning they were independent countries with the same monarch. After this they were united as one country by the Act of Union, which combined the two seperate parliaments into one Parliament of Great Britain. This didn't happen with Sweden and Norway, which remained nominally independent of one another despite sharing a monarch.
Teegthebeeg
+1
Level 53
Mar 31, 2020
England and Scotland were united as a single nation for a short period in the 17th century too, by the "Tender of Union" passed by the Commonwealth Republic and repealed by Charles the Second.
Djilas
+1
Level 86
Jun 10, 2020
I remember reading that Sweden was debating whether to allow it and maybe use the army. So it might have been nominally in a personal union, but in practice much more.
tales
+6
Level 82
Apr 13, 2015
You should add Uruguay to the list. It got independence from Brazil in 1825.
kolumbyia
+5
Level 24
May 3, 2018
It was called "Cisplatina" back then.
Jacktheguy
+2
Level 93
Aug 9, 2022
It's been added!
kleiner
+1
Level 56
Jun 29, 2015
One entire minute thinking what country near Eritrea didn't try yet... Bang! 24/24.
interopia
+2
Level 90
Jul 15, 2015
How to guess on a few, but got 100%!!!!!
Hevic
+2
Level 36
Aug 20, 2015
Please accept Gran Colombia as well when answering for Panama:)
ElijahCaine
+12
Level 49
Sep 2, 2015
Gran Colombia dissolved in 1831. Panama revolted and seceded from the modern republic of Colombia in 1903.
BugsBunny
+1
Level 46
Dec 13, 2015
2:50 left. Getinthereson
bkbrowning
+2
Level 50
Feb 7, 2017
Make this a series!
ander217
+1
Level 73
Mar 9, 2017
Great quiz.
PatoPotato
+1
Level 55
Jul 4, 2017
I thought that Indonesia gained independence in 1947, the dutch didn't recognise Indonesia and kept the army and government for another two years
giommaso
+1
Level 77
May 22, 2024
Having another country's army within your territory, which doesn't recognise the validity of your independence claims, and governs over the territory, sounds like not that independent from my point of view.

U.S.A., for instance, had its own working government, more or less from day 1.

GollossalKitty
+1
Level 45
Apr 30, 2025
it wasn't in its current form on day 1 but yeah your correct in your assumptions of sovereignty
clivey
+3
Level 69
Jul 4, 2017
Enjoyed this one, got stuck on Philippines though, I thought it was Spain, took a while before I remembered the USA.

This would be good as a series, surely theres enough countries to make at least 2 more, or a easy medium hard quiz series!

epicdjyoshi
+2
Level 55
Jul 4, 2017
Nice quiz
100Greats
+2
Level 56
Jul 4, 2017
Great quiz (5/5).
NiKnight
+2
Level 46
Jul 4, 2017
Great quiz! It's an interesting way of testing history knowledge
Tomtrific
+2
Level 80
Jul 4, 2017
Very nice quiz. I did surprisingly bad.......lol. Shows me I'm not as smart as I think I am.
bakainu
+2
Level 70
Jul 5, 2017
You should accept Malaya, because that's what it was called when Singapore was still a part of it.
TheWombat
+4
Level 72
Jan 27, 2022
The Federation of Malaya was subsumed by the new entity of Malaysia in 1963. Singapore was expelled from Malaysia in 1965, becoming an independent nation.
SupBroDude
+1
Level 56
Feb 20, 2025
I remember how Singapore didn't want independence, but Malaysia didn't want them. ironically Singapore became the GDP of all ASEAN nations. (Malaysia probably did because of ethnic issues since Malaysia was Malay and Singapore had a large Chinese majority).
naughtynick
+1
Level 33
Jul 5, 2017
Good quiz. Got the lot with 1.58 left
DonStar
+1
Level 40
Jul 6, 2017
I enjoyed that
cyroman
+1
Level 61
Sep 27, 2017
Very entertaining quiz!
yorksguy1865
+1
Level 34
Feb 18, 2018
Pretty straight forward, 3:41 left
BPeter123
+3
Level 15
May 3, 2018
Wow those kiwi's actually had more land
GlassMonkeyOLD
+2
Level 69
Dec 4, 2018
But both we and Samoa were part of the British Empire.
divantilya
+1
Level 36
Oct 12, 2018
Great Quiz!
Zatris
+1
Level 36
Jan 23, 2019
Panama proclaims its independence from Spain, not Colombia.
kolya
+12
Level 60
Apr 7, 2019
You should check out Panama's history and you'll see that you're wrong about that. Panama was part of Colombia until they separated in 1903 supporting America's desires to build the canal on that area.
kalbahamut
+3
Level 79
Jun 10, 2019
nope
JackintheBox
+2
Level 82
Feb 19, 2019
Could be description be reworded please? Many of these countries were not part of the countries from which they gained independence (e.g. Congo, Jamaica, Indonesia, Philippines, Nigeria).
Sifhraven
+1
Level 76
Jun 10, 2019
Nice quiz :)
lucd13
+3
Level 70
Jun 11, 2019
PNG was never actually colonised by or a territory of Australia. It was a UK territory merely administered by Australia after WWII until independence from the UK.
evileve
+2
Level 38
May 19, 2021
It wasn't a UK territory. It was a League of Nations mandate under Australian (and a bit of Japanese) control until its independence.
blizzrd33
+1
Level 81
Oct 11, 2023
That's only true for the northern half of PNG, which was originally a German colony called Germany New Guinea. The southern half was most certainly a British territory in 1882 when it became British New Guinea.
quicksilver87
+1
Level 38
Dec 17, 2019
Good quiz! Got stuck on Indonesia and Philippines for ages, but the rest weren't too tough. A good mix of recent ones and really old ones.
BenFL
+3
Level 43
Feb 10, 2020
I always forget that Papua New Guinea was controlled by Australia
spingospungo
+3
Level 56
Aug 13, 2021
It does explain their otherwise rather surprising enthusiasm for rugby league.
sacheth9
+2
Level 65
Apr 17, 2020
Quizmaster must be relieved the DRC gained independence from Belgium :)
Quizmaster
+11
Level ∞
Jun 10, 2020
I wasn't alive at the time, but yes I am very glad that those Belgians got what they deserved.
AbhishekNS
+3
Level 59
Jun 28, 2020
What do you have against Belgium ?
blizzrd33
+2
Level 81
Oct 11, 2023
Have you read anything about King Leopold II and the attrocities committed in Belgian Congo during his reign?
nerdalert
+1
Level 89
Sep 25, 2020
What do you have against the Congolese?
Aaron197
+2
Level 76
Jun 10, 2020
Accept "Roman"?
Quizmaster
+1
Level ∞
Jun 10, 2020
Sure, why not/
TheLastFish
+3
Level 71
Jun 10, 2020
While there is suprisingly little known/mentioned on the history of San Marino, it is documented that San Marino belonged to the Duchy of Spoleto in the early medival times. Apparently, San Marino became an independent state somewhen in the 13th century.
jbro
+1
Level 76
Jun 28, 2020
96%, got San marino wrong
BotswanaEmperor
+1
Level 73
Jun 28, 2020
Missed San Marino and Samoa
TheRatmeister
+1
Level 95
Jun 28, 2020
Norway was always independent, but it was in union with Sweden until 1905. Iceland was in a similar situation with Denmark until 1944 when it became a republic.
ImDumb
+1
Level 33
Jun 28, 2020
damn, didn't know that my country's independence was officialy

given in 1828 instead of 1825, nice quizz by the way!

johnnyrdnck
+1
Level 48
Jun 29, 2020
i didnt know some of these, cool quiz!
undeadwarrior
+3
Level 66
Jun 30, 2020
Are you trying to tell me, that San Marino has been under one consistent, self-governing rule for the past 1700 years (or thereabouts, since it is dubious) ???
kalbahamut
+4
Level 79
Jul 10, 2020
San Marino is often touted as the oldest country in the world. So, yeah.
giommaso
+1
Level 77
May 22, 2024
Of course it doesn't.

They say it is so, just like the Papal States dated their history back to Constantine, to gain legitimacy for their (much later) independence.

Likely the independent self-rule came to be in the late Middle Ages (after 11th century).

Which is still impressive, by the way!

Hampus
+2
Level 56
Nov 4, 2020
Quiz doesn't except just "Soviet" while it accepts just "Ottoman" or "Roman".
Finlay
+1
Level 51
Dec 6, 2020
Interesting. I didn't know many about these.
SpartanLlama
+2
Level 79
Aug 11, 2021
24 seconds remaining, Samoa took me forever but I was proud of myself when I got it. A lot of these are interesting
dinothedreamo
+1
Level 69
Nov 15, 2021
Mongolia should be Qing Dynasty as opposed to China, right?
SpartanLlama
+3
Level 79
Dec 26, 2021
Too specific I feel like
IlikeLuigi
+1
Level 73
Dec 28, 2021
Really fun quiz, A nominate from me!
AfonsoSilva
+1
Level 60
Feb 21, 2022
Portuguese Timor was invaded by Indonesia before the formal recognition of independence by Portugal, the situation was only settled in 2002.
TreasureP
+1
Level 50
Apr 28, 2022
for Philippines you should be able to type "us" and not have to type the full "united states" that one confusefed me for a second
DrWhoFanJ
+2
Level 64
Aug 9, 2022
You could always type “USA”.
RealDad12
+1
Level 67
May 8, 2022
I was stuck at the DR Congo question when I remembered the Billy Joel hit "We Didn't Start The Fire" where he sings the line "Belgians in the Congo". That gave me my 24th correct answer.
JudgeRudy
+1
Level 68
Sep 6, 2023
Came to comments only to post this exact thing. Only got 100% because Billy Joel got me over the hump thanks to the "Belgians in the Congo" line.
daraconn
+1
Level 57
May 16, 2022
I want to object to the term "part of" in the instructions. There is an important (legal and practical) difference between being a territory of a country and being part of that country.

In some of these cases the new country was part of the country from which it gained independence (e.g. Singapore, Panama). In others not (e.g. Indonesia, Nigeria).

VoltaireEsquirez
+1
Level 74
Aug 9, 2022
I'm from Singapore! 🇸🇬
KrishPatel
+1
Level 70
Aug 9, 2022
Based San Marino 301
TheLonelyAlula
+1
Level 57
Aug 10, 2022
Could you accept Gran Colombia for Panama?
Findlay
+5
Level 80
Aug 10, 2022
While Panama was a part of Gran Colombia, that country ceased to exist in 1831. Panama gained its independence from Colombia in 1903 - over seven decades after Gran Colombia ceased to exist. So that answer shouldn't be accepted.
GlassMonkeyOLD
+1
Level 69
Aug 11, 2022
great quiz, got all right very quickly.

It's who, not whom. Whom is never actually right. It's a made up word used to trick students.

Szatan
+2
Level 61
Aug 16, 2022
How can you type Serbia for Yugoslavia, Russia for USSR but not Italy for Roman Empire?
giommaso
+1
Level 77
May 22, 2024
Because Russia was the puppeteer of USSR, Croatia fought its independence war against mostly Serbian troops, but Italy wasn't anything close to a political entity for another 300 years, and what you consider Italy today didn't come to be for another 1500+ years, with a completely different population. It's like asking "why isn't Iroqouis confederation not a type-in for U.S.A."
abracadabrant
+1
Level 54
Oct 25, 2022
I didnt know the US used to own Philippines. I'm from the US...should i have known this??
penniesinastream
+5
Level 52
Dec 22, 2022
Yes.
blizzrd33
+5
Level 81
Oct 11, 2023
There are plenty of youtube videos of random Americans being asked questions about other countries and failing badly, so it's not like you're on your own on this one.
EvanAviator
+2
Level 61
Feb 17, 2024
bro has never learned about world war one
DictatorTalia
+2
Level 95
Dec 26, 2022
GB doesn't work as a type-in for Great Britain, but UK does.
giommaso
+1
Level 77
May 22, 2024
There are no entries where Great Britain would be an answer, while United Kingdom is.
Pharley
+1
Level 75
May 24, 2024
Ummm... look again?
coolboyAarav
+1
Level 37
Aug 4, 2023
Singapore was ruled by Malaysia and the United Kingdom.
giommaso
+1
Level 77
May 22, 2024
But it was kicked out (and therefore gained independence from) Malaysia.
Aoto327
+1
Level 87
Dec 8, 2023
Easy, 100%.
zsijamie
+1
Level 59
Jan 14, 2024
i was so confused why San Marino wasn't accepting "Holy Roman Empire" cuz i was sure that was the answer... turns out they weren't holy at the time *shrugs*
MalyJacus
+1
Level 60
Mar 20, 2024
Time to add the newest -- Bougainville in 2027.
giommaso
+1
Level 77
May 22, 2024
When it becomes a country, of course.

So far, no. As long as it doesn't exist, it doesn't exist.

EnlightWolif
+1
Level 51
May 18, 2024
Did any of you type the capital as a brainfart? Then remembered wait, countries don't liberate themselves from their capital city
RedDoor
+1
Level 60
May 18, 2024
Now do one where all the answers are just the UK
giommaso
+1
Level 77
May 22, 2024
San Marino is VERY dubious.

It actually exists since, likely, less than 1000 years as an independent entity.

Definitely nothing dating earlier than Constantine!

But also, it wasn't independent from HRE until at least the Communes age (11th-12th century A.D.).

I'm not saying to delete it, but there should be a caveat about historical truth of such risible claim.

Edit: saw the caveat. Sorry for the unneeded pedantry.

cyceryx
+1
Level 61
May 22, 2024
24/24 :3
Sceptasaur
+1
Level 33
Jun 14, 2024
Too much time available, pls reduce it.
RollingStones1
+1
Level 50
Feb 20, 2025
Nice quiz and historically accurate.
eurotec
+1
Level 56
Oct 28, 2025
Missed Nigeria. 23/24 great quiz.
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