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Geography of the French Empire

Can you answer these questions related to the geography of the French Empire?
Includes modern-day France and all European and colonial empires
Quiz by Quizmaster
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Last updated: January 8, 2020
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First submittedMarch 16, 2017
Times taken18,139
Average score70.0%
Rating4.44
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Hint
Answer
What massive territory did France sell to the U.S. in 1803?
Louisiana
Territory
What African canal was built by a French company?
Suez Canal
What was the most populous city in French Indochina?
Saigon
What former French colony is the largest island in the Indian Ocean?
Madagascar
What modern-day French region is located in South America?
French Guiana
What conqueror briefly incorporated parts of Spain, Italy,
and the other countries into France?
Napoleon
What small Caribbean island does France share with the Netherlands?
Saint Martin
What French colony became independent after a slave revolt in 1804?
Haiti
What is the most populous island in French Polynesia?
Tahiti
What is the most populous French-speaking city in the Americas?
Montreal
What city was founded in 1701 on the strait between Lake Erie and Lake Huron?
Detroit
What small country, formerly known as French Somaliland, gained independence in 1977?
Djibouti
In what country did France intervene during the "Opium Wars"?
China
Besides Vietnam, what other "V" country was once a French colony?
Vanuatu
What was the primary export of France’s North American colonies?
Fur
What is the nearest country to the French territory of Saint Pierre and Miquelon?
Canada
What colony became independent in 1962 after a brutal 8-year war?
Algeria
In what Middle Eastern country do 40% of the people speak French as a second language?
Lebanon
What former French possession is the westernmost city on the African mainland?
Dakar
In the 1700s French settlers left Nova Scotia to settle in Louisiana.
What are the descendents of those settlers called?
Cajuns
42 Comments
+2
Level 87
Mar 16, 2017
Cool quiz. However, I don't think the Suez Canal really belongs here, Egypt was not part of the French Empire.
+19
Level 78
May 27, 2017
Where in the question does it say that Egypt belonged to the French Empire? It is only about who built the canal.
+4
Level 87
Aug 26, 2017
The whole quiz is about the French Empire...
+8
Level 75
Aug 26, 2017
...and the French built the canal...
+2
Level 67
Apr 7, 2021
...and this quiz is about French Empire Geography. Two things wrong with this. 1. I can barely say that that question is geography. 2. This quiz is about the French Empire not France itself.
+4
Level 90
Mar 17, 2017
There are many people of French descent in Louisiana. The term 'Cajun' refers only to some of them, primarily the descendants of those people expelled from Nova Scotia in the 18th century. New Orleanians of French descent would not call themselves Cajuns.
+1
Level ∞
Mar 18, 2017
The question has now been improved.
+1
Level 70
Aug 27, 2017
A lot of the expelees also came from New Brunswick.
+2
Level 76
Dec 30, 2018
The colony was Acadia. The Acadiens who moved to Louisiana became known by the shortened form: Cajuns.
+6
Level 75
May 18, 2017
'and the other countries' is not very helpful
+1
Level 70
May 27, 2017
Time to give 'French' Guiana a referendum on independence.
+14
Level ∞
May 27, 2017
In 2010, voters in French Guiana overwhelmingly rejected a referendum that would have given them more autonomy.
+14
Level 75
Aug 26, 2017
Times have changed. Unlike previous centuries, empires' treatment of people in their colonies are no longer terrible, and being a French citizen means a much better life than a citizen of another Suriname or Guyana.
+2
Level 66
Aug 28, 2017
Not really a change, that.
+8
Level ∞
Jan 8, 2020
Colonialism is kind of like that famous Borscht belt joke. "The food tastes terrible ... and such small portions". Colonialism was bad, and it ended too soon. Many countries that became independent after WWII would have been better off had they stayed colonies.
+9
Level 72
Aug 30, 2017
People of French overseas regions are generally inclined to stay French nowadays, because they tend to enjoy far better standards of living than their neighbors, even if, to be fair, it's generally lower than what is called Metropolitan France.

The contrast is particularly striking in French Guiana, as it borders Suriname, one of the poorer countries in South America, and Northern Brazil, the least developed part of the country.

This is not to say that the situation could not be improved, as shown by the massive strikes that took place in the region earlier this year, but the issues they're suffering are either way smaller than in other countries in the area, or could not be resolved in any way by independence, which would cut them a critical lot of subventions to Overseas Territories from Metropolitan France.

+3
Level 36
Mar 9, 2019
The people of French Guiana choose to remain a part of France because they, wisely, saw what happened on the neighboring former Guianas - (Surinam and Guyana) once they became independent.
+1
Level 81
May 27, 2017
should have gotten all of these. Misspelled St Martin I guess and then ran out of time.
+1
Level 81
Aug 26, 2017
This time got the ones I missed before but read "westernmost" as "easternmost" so missed that one trying to guess Mogadishu.. :P
+2
Level 76
May 27, 2017
Does it depend on how we define North America? I certainly wouldn't call Haiti (Saint-Domingue) North American, but quizzes on this site often do. In that case, I doubt that the value of North American furs matched the sugar coming out of the Caribbean. (But I really don't know.)
+1
Level 74
Aug 26, 2017
The JetPunk definition of North America is everything from Panama north and every independent country in the Caribbean. South America is just the landmass itself, from Colombia to Argentina.
+4
Level ∞
Aug 26, 2017
It's not really the "JetPunk" definition:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_America

+2
Level 81
Aug 26, 2017
Haiti was undoubtedly rich but the fur trade was huge and basically the whole reason New Orleans exists.
+3
Level 57
Aug 28, 2017
Much of what is today Canada was owned by the French at one time, and Montreal was one of the most important cities in the fur trade. The entirety of the Northern part of North America was VERY rich in fur-bearing animals. The history of Canada and the fur trade is quite interesting. Give it a look :)
+5
Level 74
Aug 26, 2017
Couldn't figure out why Ho Chi Minh City wasn't accepted. Duh.
+1
Level 54
Aug 26, 2017
What does it mean by 'countries other than Vietnam' that start with V. What about Vatican City and Venezuela?
+1
Level 54
Aug 26, 2017
Sorry 'besides Vietnam'
+7
Level 75
Aug 26, 2017
The question asked for a country that belonged to France, not just any v country...
+7
Level 71
Aug 27, 2017
Could you accept "Ho Chi Minh City" for Saigon? That's the current name, and from my experience, most quizzes on Jetpunk will accept both answers.
+1
Level 44
Mar 26, 2023
Ho Chi Minh City is the new name for Saigon, after Vietnam gained Independence from France. So it sounds weird to accept it.
+2
Level 67
Aug 28, 2017
I really like Death in Paradise and I missed the Saint Martin question.
+1
Level 58
Aug 29, 2017
Does liking Death in Paradise mean you should know about an island where Death in Paradise is NOT filmed then?
+5
Level 50
Sep 1, 2017
Accept Ho Chi Minh ville
+2
Level 93
Apr 17, 2018
Is the 'the' in 'the other countries into France" unintentional? I think the clue reads better without it.
+3
Level 66
May 30, 2019
Left Nova Scotia to settle in Louisiana... I think you mean they were deported.
+1
Level 58
Oct 25, 2019
Expelled, even
+5
Level 77
May 18, 2021
HCMC for Saigon shall be accepted!
+1
Level 72
Jan 26, 2023
I'm pretty sure Vanuatu was never formally part of the French Empire, but was jointly administered by Britain and France, originally as a condominium and later as the New Hebrides
+1
Level 37
Mar 26, 2023
Yeah so ? It was both a French and an English colony
+1
Level 80
May 15, 2023
That is incorrect, it was a condominium but was never a colony of either France or the United Kingdom. One of the main reasons the country is one of the poorest in the Pacific today is that both European countries heavily exploited the islands but barely invested in creating infrastructure on the islands like roads, airports and port facilities. Most of the infrastructure which exists there today was created during WW2 when the Americans used Vanuatu as a staging area for their struggles with the Japanese in the Solomon Islands at Guadalcanal.
+1
Level 83
Oct 21, 2023
I had no idea what or where Saint Pierre and Miquelon was, but I figured I had enough time to brute force my way through as many countries of the world as I could to guess what's near it. Little did I know the very first country I guessed was the right answer!
+1
Level 77
Oct 27, 2023
Nitpick, but you should really accept Saint Domingue if you're gonna phrase the question like "which French colony"