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Countries of the World in 1938 Quiz

Name the countries of the world that existed in the year 1938.
Some countries became sovereign mid-1938
Two countries featured are partially recognized states.
Data According to Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_sovereign_states_in_1938
Use the common English name in use at the time
Quiz by Jiaozira
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Last updated: June 19, 2020
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First submittedJuly 30, 2016
Times taken56,466
Average score88.2%
Rating4.97
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Show Missing Countries
Asia
Afghanistan
China
Hatay
Iran
Iraq
Japan
Mongolia
Nepal
Saudi Arabia
Siam
Tibet
Turkey
Tuva
Yemen
Europe
Albania
Andorra
Austria
Belgium
Bulgaria
Czechoslovakia
Danzig
Denmark
Estonia
Finland
France
Germany
Greece
Hungary
Iceland
Ireland
Italy
Latvia
Liechtenstein
Lithuania
Luxembourg
Monaco
Netherlands
Norway
Poland
Portugal
Romania
San Marino
Soviet Union
Spain
Sweden
Switzerland
United Kingdom
Vatican City
Yugoslavia
South America
Argentina
Bolivia
Brazil
Chile
Colombia
Ecuador
Paraguay
Peru
Uruguay
Venezuela
Oceania
Australia
New Zealand
North America
Canada
Costa Rica
Cuba
Dominican Republic
El Salvador
Guatemala
Haiti
Honduras
Mexico
Nicaragua
Panama
United States
Africa
Egypt
Liberia
South Africa
Jiaozira
+9
Level 69
Jun 19, 2020
Edited to add the "Show Missing Countries" feature, fix Finland's borders and grey some European possessions in the Americas and Oceania. Thanks for playing!
Gassu
+23
Level 71
Aug 15, 2017
Jiaozira: The master of the maps. Love it!
Jiaozira
+5
Level 69
Jan 28, 2018
Thank you Gassu, as always!
Gossguy
+6
Level 62
Jan 29, 2018
So much fun
Longhorn11
+2
Level 40
May 27, 2021
I would have gotten all but 3 if you had used dots for the microcountries in europe.

Otherwise, great quiz!

KoljiVriVoda
+4
Level 75
Aug 15, 2017
Great :)
promastermage
+24
Level 64
Aug 16, 2017
You should fix a map of Finland. This is a correct version.
sillie
+19
Level 78
Sep 9, 2017
Agreed. Finland didn't look like it does until after WWII. The pre-WWII had more skirt and a 2nd arm.
skukka
+5
Level 60
Sep 10, 2017
+2
Djilas
+9
Level 81
Oct 15, 2017
Yeah, Finland extended to the sea in the north and was very close to Leningrad.
Baalhammon
+8
Level 64
Jan 28, 2018
I second this. It's the only border I saw that wasn't accurate.
anna0kear
+4
Level 36
Jan 28, 2018
Yes, and Japan with the northern islands.
stevediverse
+4
Level 91
Sep 9, 2017
This is a good quiz, but about 10 countries aren't shown in yellow, even if you zoom in (like Andorra, Vatican, San Marino to name a few). A 'Show Missing Countries' link would also be useful.
Jiaozira
+2
Level 69
Sep 9, 2017
Ththey are too small. The only reason you can see the countries on the map is their outline, which is a grey colour like the other outlines. Andorra is a bit larger, but it's still overshadowed by the other countries, covered by their outline. The counties are yellow, but you cannot see that unless you scale the map even more.
PjotrL
+11
Level 73
Sep 10, 2017
The "missing countries" option which is sometimes used, might be an idea?
Zefyrinus
+4
Level 69
Oct 1, 2018
Or add circles directly on the map.
Balikati
+2
Level 67
Sep 9, 2017
Magnificent quiz.
bridog8456
+7
Level 48
Sep 10, 2017
Interesting how the boundaries in the Americas are pretty much the same as they are today.
kalbahamut
+22
Level 83
Jan 28, 2018
That's the Monroe Doctrine at work. The United States made sure that the Americas did not go through the same level of European meddling as Africa or Asia did. (and yes, before someone points it out, that didn't stop the USA from limited meddling itself)
TangoMike
+10
Level 49
Nov 25, 2018
"limited meddling"

Tell that to Salvadore Allande

JonOfKent
+5
Level 55
Apr 22, 2020
The Americas had had their meddling already - hence the existence of the USA as well as the vast majority of other countries!
kalbahamut
+4
Level 83
Apr 22, 2020
I just meant that the US never formally colonized or annexed any of the Americas south of the Rio Grande, as the European colonial powers had done to the entire world for centuries. To America, empire had become a dirty word. That was the self-imposed limit on their meddling.
wasserwand
+14
Level 75
Sep 10, 2017
I think the southern part of Sakhalin was Japanese in 1938. It was seized by the USSR not until 1945.
Djilas
+4
Level 81
Oct 15, 2017
Correct, the border was about in the middle of the island.
Osiris
+12
Level 62
Sep 10, 2017
I enjoyed this quiz. Great idea. I wasn't aware that Hatay existed before I took it. Would it be possible for overseas territories and dependencies to turn green when the home country does? It would be interesting to have the visual of which nations administered/controlled these territories at the time.
ubsaral
+5
Level 81
Sep 16, 2017
Hatay joined to Turkey in 1939 so 1938 was their last independent year.
tshalla
+10
Level 74
Jan 28, 2018
I might be wrong, but I don't think Hatay can be said to have been independent. I don't think there was any time at which neither the French nor the Turks had significant levels of formal and real control. The Maldives, on the other hand, was autonomous and sovereign in every meaningful way. In 1887, the Sultan signed a treaty with the UK, establishing it officially as a protectorate, but no Brits - none, official or private - resided in the islands, and they did not influence laws or trade. When World War II started, the RAF had to bargain to lease one island to use as an air base - a lease later unilaterally terminated by the Maldivian government. The Maldivian sultans were unfree, it's true, to make alliances with the USSR or Japan (since their protectorate agreement was essentially an alliance with the UK), but that was far less an imposition than the average IMF conditionality or "free trade" clause. So, fetishize the absolute nature of sovereignty at your peril.
NiKnight
+3
Level 47
Sep 11, 2017
I may not be right here, but I believe that Iceland remained an autonomous part of Denmark until the end of the war. In 1938, it is technically not its own country yet
Jiaozira
+3
Level 69
Sep 11, 2017
It was a fully sovereign country represented by Denmark, according to the Danish-Icelandic Act of Union.
alphonds
+9
Level 61
Sep 11, 2017
Great quiz! Could you accept Gdansk for Danzig?
VirusSlo
+3
Level 68
Sep 12, 2017
I tried Gdansk also.
Algarve
+4
Level 67
Sep 22, 2017
I third the motion. Gdansk for Danzig would be really good.
anna0kear
+1
Level 36
Jan 28, 2018
I agree, that's the version of the name that I tried first.
Djilas
+5
Level 81
Oct 15, 2017
Yup, It was officially bilingual.
Anzi
+1
Level 70
Jan 28, 2018
Another request for Gdańsk. I always forget that bit of what is now Poland also had a German name
Quizmaster
+2
Level ∞
Jan 29, 2018
Okay
Urdaneta
+2
Level 59
Jan 28, 2018
Awesome quiz! How about Ethiopia though? I think they had tossed the Italians out in the 1890s.
nichster
+3
Level 53
Jan 28, 2018
Italians invaded Abyssinia in the 1930s.
elmhammar
+4
Level 77
Jan 28, 2018
Abyssinia (Ethiopia) should be there. It was invaded by Italy in 1935 and occupied for 5 years but it was never a colony. Much like France or the Netherlands in WWII.
fitheach
+7
Level 59
Feb 13, 2018
That would mean that it was not independent in 1938. Being a colony or not is not relevant.
kalbahamut
+4
Level 83
Jan 28, 2018
Never heard of Tuva before... but I got Hatay because it's the country that Indiana Jones visits in the Last Crusade before going off to search for the Holy Grail. I looked it up because I was curious if it was a fictional place or not. Got everything else.
TheodoreE45
+2
Level 93
Jan 28, 2018
That's exactly the same reasoning for how I got Hatay! Indiana Jones is the best!
overtired
+3
Level 83
Sep 8, 2019
Same here :) It's described in the film as the Republic of Hatay, but has a Sultan which seems kind of odd.
Teegthebeeg
+2
Level 55
Feb 18, 2020
It's more odd that he's played by Alexei Sayle
NeilV
+1
Level 51
Jul 7, 2020
I thought Indiana Jones was in Turkey!
Algernon
+1
Level 71
Jan 28, 2018
Very interesting quiz. I just missed the three least guessed answers. I had never heard of the last two. Learning something every day.
ander217
+1
Level 76
Jan 28, 2018
+1
willmowill
+5
Level 79
Jan 28, 2018
Great quiz, a whole series of these would be awesome.
ander217
+2
Level 76
Jan 28, 2018
Another +1
anna0kear
+2
Level 36
Jan 28, 2018
Congratulations on the feature!
Hamburgler
+2
Level 48
Jan 28, 2018
All of them except Danzig, Tuva, and Hatay. I had no idea that those were a thing.
Dabossishere
+1
Level 38
Jan 28, 2018
Dang, I should have remembered the name from Indiana Jones The Last Crusade, for Hatay...
TheLastFish
+2
Level 69
Jan 28, 2018
I never saw the "greyness" of South-East Asia that obvious. I am somehow shocked. Although Japan was itself quite imperialistic, from an other (this!) point of view the asian part of WW2 looks more like an anti-imperialistic war for independence.
Corrode
+2
Level 61
Feb 1, 2018
In what way? Asia in WW2 was Japanese imperialism clashing with European imperialism, plus China. It was after the war that the Asian independence movements kicked off.
ChowPizz
+1
Level 41
Jan 28, 2018
Wasn't Iceland still under Danish control at this point?
Anzi
+3
Level 70
Jan 28, 2018
I didn’t know Vatican City had been independent for that long. Great quiz, thanks!
IsleAuHaulte
+4
Level 88
Jun 23, 2018
One of Mussolini's social changes was to separate the 1,600 year old grip of the Vatican on Italian politics. He also made the trains run on time. Other than bringing him back to run Amtrak he'd be pretty useless today.
djeedubbeljoe
+1
Level 63
Jan 29, 2018
I don't know how easy it is to get this, but: a "show missings"-button would be useful, like in the "normal" countries of the world quiz. I almost missed the microstates.
lestimian
+2
Level 48
Jan 29, 2018
I feel that Algeria should be colored green when typing in France. Unlike its other colonies, Algeria was in fact an incorporated part of France, with departments like in metropolitan France.

Although I acknowledge we might be getting ourselves on slippery ground once colonies get involved...

CaoMaru
+2
Level 49
May 29, 2018
Yes. I agree. Similar to the way that French Guiana is part of France today.
lucd13
+1
Level 68
Jan 29, 2018
Liechtenstein and Monaco not being on the map threw me off - no excuse, but sadly true. Also, I kept trying NORTH YEMEN, which should have worked. Can you please update? The official names were the Yemen Arab Republic (North Yemen) and the People's Democratic Republic of Yemen (South Yemen).
lucd13
+1
Level 68
Jan 29, 2018
See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yemen#/media/File:Divided_Yemen.svg
Jiaozira
+3
Level 69
Jan 30, 2018
If I could I would put a "show missing countries" button like on the original quiz! Also, North/South Yemen did not exist then, because the division was a part of the Cold War.
Notthat
+4
Level 25
Jan 30, 2018
HOI4 Anyone?
CuzKoos
+2
Level 22
Aug 8, 2019
Yup
Cosmeas
+1
Level 57
Oct 10, 2022
yes
yorksguy1865
+2
Level 36
Jan 31, 2018
Great idea for a quiz, got all of them but two!
Lemondance
+1
Level 66
Feb 4, 2018
Missed all the ones after the drop-off in percentages and also Andorra because I'm a big dumb-dumb who can't count properly when keeping track of the small countries.
CaoMaru
+2
Level 49
May 29, 2018
Great quiz. I'd love to see more for other years as well.
CaoMaru
+1
Level 49
May 29, 2018
I'd also love to see the grey bits turn green, when the country is guessed. That way you'd be able to see how much each country controlled, while not having to actually type the territory.
IsleAuHaulte
+1
Level 88
Jun 23, 2018
Anyone else get Tuva because of Richard Feynman?
Kontio100
+3
Level 51
Nov 12, 2018
This has been said before, but map of Finland is not correct. We had Karelia and Petsamo (access to Arctic sea) before Stalin stole those in WWII.
Penguin
+5
Level 38
Dec 24, 2018
got tuva when I type Tuvalu
scambigol
+4
Level 75
Mar 22, 2019
Should the Peru-Ecuador be changed to the one before the war in the 1940s?
Arii78
+2
Level 45
Mar 26, 2019
Love this type of quizz. Also, I'd almost never heard about Tuva, Hatay and Danzig... Glad I do now !
NeilV
+1
Level 51
Jul 7, 2020
Danzig was a city in Poland.
Sifhraven
+2
Level 66
Jul 1, 2019
Handnt hear of hatay and tuva before !

Good that a map was included. For present day countries I Dont really need it, but when it goes back in time I am not fully aware what was around at what year. So a map is very helpfull then.

Nerd0921
+3
Level 72
Oct 15, 2019
Enjoyed the quiz. But I found some errors in the map given:

1. Ecuadorian-Peruvian border did not take the shape of modern day until the war of '41 and settlements afterwards. //

2. Commonwealth nations of Canada, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand were de facto independent by this point but had their rights partially held by Westminster until certain bureaucratic processes were made (such as British right to amend kiwi and Canadian constitution) //

+) The Kingdom of Egypt was established in 1922, but it was under permanent British occupation with technically being and client state until 1956 //

+) Iceland did not have diplomatic liberty until Denmark was occupied by the nazis and until their independence was granted in post-war treaties //

3. Danzig was an international territory like Tangiers and LoN Mandates, and was practically controlled by Poland - not really independent

Nerd0921
+1
Level 72
Oct 15, 2019
4. Finno-Soviet border regions of Karjala, Salla, and Petsamo was Finnish before WWII //

5. Colonial Oman and Trucial States division not shown //

6. Colonial border of French Pondicherry and British Raj not shown //

7. Inaccurate shape of Northern German-Polish border

Sorry, I cannot use paragraph breaks in jetpunk apparently...

Jiaozira
+2
Level 69
Oct 15, 2019
All of my data is based on the Wikipedia article in the description. The borders are in line with the map included in said article, although I do agree the Finnish border is a little inaccurate. I tried adding French Pondicherry but it was so small on the map that I left it. Canada was not fully independent, technically, until 1982 when we made our constitution but I think everyone can agree we were a country before then.
Vajmar
+2
Level 57
Mar 19, 2021
Also Yugo borders are wrong, Istria and Zara were a part of Italian Kingdom, and also sakhalin was not fully controlled by the Soviets.

The aforementioned article does not include a map. Or has since removed it because of inaccuracies.

littleman
+2
Level 58
Dec 15, 2019
I surprisingly got Hatay but not Tuva rip
regalragabash
+2
Level 36
Jan 4, 2020
Got Tuva but not Hatay...
Marvel072506
+1
Level 43
Jan 22, 2020
South Africa. I was literally thinking, "What's a southern African country?" It was South Africa. smh.
bigbird54
+2
Level 50
Mar 2, 2020
a black dot to show the super small ones such as Vatican City, San Marino, Andorra, etc. would make it easier, they are the ones I missed
JackintheBox
+3
Level 77
Apr 1, 2020
Great quiz, but why is French Guiana in yellow but British and Dutch Guianas in grey? French Guiana, like British Guiana and Dutch Suriname, was a colony in 1938 and not yet an overseas department.
JackintheBox
+3
Level 77
Jul 27, 2020
Thanks for the update!
Jiaozira
+2
Level 69
Jul 27, 2020
You are very welcome!
ooftownroad
+1
Level 56
Apr 22, 2020
great quiz, but can you use the gray?
markasol
+4
Level 75
Apr 22, 2020
hmmm wasn't Newfoundland a separate dominion like Canada? Tuva was not recognised as independent by anyone but its neighbours.... and by the time Hatay was 'independent' under that name the Anschluss had happened so Austria should not be listed....
Jiaozira
+4
Level 69
Apr 22, 2020
Newfoundland's dominion status was revoked by 1938 due to poor governance. As for Hatay and Tannu Tuva, I'm going off of what my source, Wikipedia, has listed.
markasol
+4
Level 75
Apr 22, 2020
hehe I was looking at Wikipedia too! Tuva was like South Ossetia (or 5 or 6 others) today - self-governing but with no widespread recognition and effectively under Russian control. Both Hatay and Austria were technically independent in 1938 yes, but not simultaneously! Hatay's independence dated from September, 6 months after Austria was swallowed up by Germany. Also, as far as I was aware, Iceland was part of the Danish crown, albeit with autonomy, until WW2 - so like Greenland is today.
Jiaozira
+3
Level 69
Apr 22, 2020
I guess that is a flaw then, where I cannot make a map that properly shows all of the countries that were independent in 1938 haha (too much happened that year and all). For sure some of these countries are debatable, whether or not they should be included. Tibet also was unrecognised, for example. No problem, I think it's important to reply to as many comments as I can, although I do miss a few. Thanks for your insight :)
markasol
+3
Level 75
Apr 22, 2020
Thanks for answering by the way so few quizmasters ever do!
NeilV
+2
Level 51
Jun 12, 2020
All of them except Tuva and Hatay.
JesseFromThe6
+2
Level 67
Aug 2, 2020
I like the idea of this quiz and appreciate the amount of work it took, but the criteria confuse me. There appear, to me, to be inconsistencies.

Why is the puppet state of Tuva included but not the puppet state of Manchukuo?

Jiaozira
+2
Level 69
Aug 5, 2020
It is completely due to the level of sovereignty. States such as Tibet and Tannu Tuva had little recognition, but they still effectively existed as sovereign nations. I did not come up with the list myself, my source is in the caveat atop the page, but I agree with what was included/excluded.
TomatosRaafatos
+2
Level 73
Aug 11, 2020
Maybe be generous and accept "Alexandretta" for Hatay? The same territory was known as the Sanjak of Alexendretta for a while.
EvanAviator
+2
Level 58
Feb 5, 2021
Alaska and Hawaii were U.S. territories so shouldn't they be in white like the British ones?
LuigiDood227
+1
Level 64
Feb 16, 2021
Is it just me or does Finland look a little bit too fat
Jiaozira
+2
Level 69
Feb 16, 2021
These are pre-WWII Finnish borders.
driehoek25
+2
Level 65
May 21, 2021
Tanna what?
Rockett7
+1
Level 68
May 21, 2021
The only way I was able to get Hatay was Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.
Splodgylodgyy
+2
Level 62
May 29, 2021
The only reason i got tuva was because i guessed tuvalu lol
CanadaMonarchist
+1
Level 73
Oct 27, 2021
Good quiz, but you need to fix the Peru-Ecuador border in regard that it only was ceded in 1941, and Newfoundland enjoyed dominion status same as Canada. Also, Iceland was not independent and if Egypt is listed as independent Oman should be as well.

Will rate higher after these fixes

Jiaozira
+1
Level 69
Oct 27, 2021
According to Wikipedia, the border as of 1936 was "was very similar to that established by the Rio de Janeiro Protocol 5 years later" (which is the same as the modern border). Ecuador claimed much more territory prior to that, but it didn't control the claimed territory.

Newfoundland lost its status as a dominion in 1934, after going bankrupt during the Depression. While Iceland was associated with Denmark and shared a monarch, Iceland was widely recognised as a sovereign state. There was British influence in Egypt, but from 1936 they only had a military presence and Egypt was its own kingdom, unlike Oman which remained a British Protectorate straight through until 1970. Therefore I will not change these countries.

TonyxX
+1
Level 61
Jan 20, 2022
the italian-yugoslavian border is wrong
bishu
+1
Level 31
Feb 10, 2022
maybe czechloslovakia should be accepted? some people say it that way
LuigiDood227
+1
Level 64
Mar 29, 2022
There shouldn't be a border between Eritrea/Italian Somaliland and Ethiopia, as it was still in Italy's colonial empire.
Saftra
+1
Level 53
Apr 25, 2022
China was in cliques
Kingsfisher
+1
Level 57
May 30, 2022
what about the borders of Tuva? They are absolutely wrong
OvidiusPoeta
+1
Level 59
Aug 22, 2022
Hearts of Iron players:
dogmeat
+1
Level 66
Oct 13, 2022
Tonga should be included. It was never colonised. It did enter into a protection treaty with the UK in 1900 but it continued to set all domestic and foreign policy and retained its monarchy.

It is the only south pacific nation to have always retained its independence.

It was far more independent than Tuva or Hatay and no less so than e.g. Mongolia which also had a protection agreement (with USSR) and in reality did exactly what the Soviets told them to.

Rosik1939
+1
Level 53
Oct 16, 2022
1. Bhutan was independent in 1938

2. Iceland got independence in 1940

3. Hatay wasn't independent

RussiaIsChunk
+1
Level 44
Dec 8, 2022
Shouldn't Italy have Istria?
heyvischan
+1
Level 47
Dec 12, 2022
I would like to thank my HOI4 addiction for this 100%.
Chad
+1
Level 63
Dec 14, 2022
Why is the Japanese occupation of Tianjin greyed out, unlike the rest of the occupied territories in 1938?

Was Tianjin formally annexed to Japan?

Chad
+1
Level 63
Dec 20, 2022
Wouldn’t Alaska and Hawaii both be greyed out like the Philippines, having not yet been incorporated as states?
SirPhilippines
+1
Level 61
Mar 22, 2023
Again, HOI4 player, but wasn't China split into different cliques until after WW2 when the communists and Kuomintang battled it out?
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