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Most Recently-Settled Countries

Name the countries of the world whose territory was not settled by human beings until after the start of the Christian era.
According to Wikipedia. Their list is incomplete.
Quiz by Quizmaster
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Last updated: December 29, 2016
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First submittedDecember 29, 2016
Times taken47,638
Average score66.7%
Rating4.88
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Year
First Settled By
Country
1770
French
Seychelles
1638
Dutch
Mauritius
1485
Portuguese
São Tomé and Príncipe
1462
Portuguese
Cape Verde
1250
Polynesians
New Zealand
874
Norse
Iceland
850
Taino
Bahamas
550
Various
Comoros
500
Borneans
Madagascar
48 Comments
+18
Level 84
Dec 29, 2016
Excellent idea!
+13
Level 77
Dec 29, 2016
Wow, I had no idea most of the island nations around Africa were uninhabited until the Europeans came. I also didn't know NZ was settled so late.
+8
Level 71
Aug 24, 2019
I'm especially surprised regarding Seychelles and Mauritius, considering the Indian Ocean was sailed by merchants from many countries.
+10
Level 77
Aug 24, 2019
Yes - further north though. Reunion, Mauritius, Rodrigues, and the Seychelles weren't on any common trade routes. Same for the Chagos Archipelago.
+7
Level 69
Nov 25, 2021
Madagascar was settled by asian people
+1
Level 71
Nov 28, 2021
Interesting right
+1
Level 83
Apr 14, 2024
As I recall, in the case of Cape Verde, it's very barren and windswept and quite far off the African continent. It was however a useful stopping-place for the Portuguese when they travelled and trafficking slaves to Brazil so grew from there, although I think constantly received resources from these ships as there wasn't much there.
+1
Level 59
Dec 30, 2016
5 star quiz!
+3
Level 66
Dec 30, 2016
Not too hard since I recently watched a video about it. Pretty cool!
+3
Level 71
Apr 4, 2017
I saw that video too! Definitely helped me on the quiz.
+3
Level 43
Apr 4, 2017
Me too
+3
Level 34
Apr 4, 2017
I watch all of his videos.
+3
Level 71
Aug 24, 2019
RealLifeLore gang
+2
Level 60
Nov 22, 2020
yes! reallifelore is the 2nd best youtuber :)
+1
Level 65
Apr 4, 2021
same
+1
Level 43
Nov 29, 2023
Reallifelore +9 Asissts.
+8
Level 76
Dec 31, 2016
I kept thinking "no, not NZ because Maori". No idea they came that late!
+1
Level 44
Jan 1, 2017
Same here!
+1
Level 69
Apr 7, 2017
And here..
+8
Level 65
Apr 21, 2021
Also interesting to note that the Maori and the Australian Aborigines are very different from each other, as the Aborgines walked from Asia when there was a landbridge 70,000 years ago, while New Zealand was settled by Polynesians
+6
Level 79
Nov 25, 2021
Aborigine isn't really commonly used in academics anymore (or quiz sites, I assume). You can find a PDF for schoolchildren to learn better terms by Googling "Appropriate Terminology, Indigenous Australian Peoples". It's a fun PDF with lots of colours and activities!
+1
Level 39
Nov 30, 2023
I'm neither an Aboriginal Australian or Torres Strait Islander but I am Australian and I've heard 'Aboriginal Australians' or 'First Nations People' are also appropriate. If you're discussing a specific location like Melbourne or Adelaide, try to mention the Aboriginal group so Wurundjeri and Kaurna people respectively
+9
Level 85
Dec 31, 2016
Got everything but Madagascar. When I saw Borneans, I started going through every Oceania and SE Asian country. Didn't even think about countries to the west. Very interesting.
+4
Level 45
Oct 30, 2018
happened to know that strange fact beforehand
+3
Level 72
Aug 24, 2019
I did the same, but after seeing the answer, i realised i allready knew that, well not borneans specifically, but that region, and not settled by africans or europeans
+2
Level 96
Jan 27, 2017
I was curious as to why the quiz stopped at 9, and the next step jumps back 1500 years to Vanuatu and Samoa at 1000 BC. Yeah, probably a good place to cut!
+1
Level 63
Apr 4, 2017
If I could spell Mauritania and Mauritius correctly and consistently as I knew them to be correct...
+2
Level 45
Oct 30, 2018
Maur(more), i t i, us
+1
Level 68
Apr 4, 2017
Cool moa picture.
+1
Level 66
Apr 21, 2017
Why isn't Capo Verde accepted?
+15
Level 25
Apr 26, 2017
Because it isn't the name of the country.
+15
Level 68
Aug 24, 2019
Did you mean Cape Verde? Cabo Verde?
+8
Level 90
Aug 25, 2019
Wasn't Capo Verde part of the Green Mafia?
+2
Level 76
Mar 27, 2018
Is there a better clue than "various" possible?
+1
Level 45
Oct 30, 2018
so many in the Indian
+6
Level 87
Dec 14, 2018
Strange that the Bahamas were settled so much later than Cuba, Haiti, Dominican Republic, etc.
+5
Level 79
Apr 20, 2020
As far as I know, the Taino were the only ones, at the time, really exploring those waters. Since they came from either South or Central America, the Bahamas would be quite far away.
+5
Level 79
Sep 15, 2021
You're no doubt correct. But being only 50 miles from Florida, it's just hard to fathom never being discovered! But I guess it comes down to the extent each civilization explored the oceans.
+4
Level 59
Sep 24, 2020
Wow, every island nation from Africa?
+2
Level 72
Nov 25, 2021
So you're telling me that all these South Pacific island countries were settled before New Zealand?
+3
Level 80
Nov 25, 2021
Yes, the trade winds helped Polynesians explore the other Pacific islands first. NZ was the last major land mass in the Pacific to be settled by humans.
+10
Level 81
Nov 25, 2021
New Zealand is bigger, but it's also extremely remote. Not only is it further west than most of those countries and much further south, it's also just very isolated with not much around it. If you zoom in closely to countries in Polynesia, Micronesia, and Melanesia you'll see that there are tons of little islands scattered about making hopping from one to the next much more feasible for people without modern sailing ships. New Zealand is just off to one corner by itself...

This, and the fact that prevailing winds don't blow as much toward NZ, make it one of the safest places in the world to flee to in case of a large-scale nuclear war.

+1
Level 71
Nov 28, 2021
Missed Mauritius and Sao Tome
+2
Level 66
Nov 29, 2023
great quiz. Definitions on this are interesting. Some areas only had nomadic people who were extremely thinly spread. Does that count as settlement?
+1
Level 77
Nov 30, 2023
I'm no expert, but surely even nomads, permanently living on a given landmass, count as settlers. Why wouldn't they? Out of curiosity, what "areas" did you have in mind?
+2
Level 43
Nov 30, 2023
Is anyone else surprised that the Bahamas weren't discovered till 850? I know that is really long ago, but they are very close to the mainland, and I feel like the who were visiting all these island chains in the Caribbean would have found them at some point.
+1
Level 52
Feb 14, 2025
the quiz is not about discovering, its about settling
+1
Level 52
Feb 14, 2025
missed New Zealand and the bahamas