With the help of a map, can you name all the countries of the world just before the French Revolution in 1789?
Click on the map to zoom in.
Due to their complexity, most of the German states are unified under one single entity. States with territory outside of this entity are also included.
great quiz, enjoyed, of course, nation-states are only a relatively recent invention so there's lots of grey areas and complexity, esp. outside europe and east asia. what was going on in the caucasus? makes me want to learn their history.
Thanks! The Caucasus region had a lot of de jure vassal states of the Zand dynasty that had basically become de facto independent for some years after the Qajar dynasty (who would rule all the way to 1925) overthrew them and reduced their territory to just Sistan by 1789. The previously ousted Afsharid dynasty was also still holding out in Khorasan since 1751 aside from this. This also explains why there are three instances of Persia here.
Very detailed, but there is one error. Half of New Zealand shows up as British but in 1789 the UK had made no claim to NZ at all. There was no permanent British settlers there until 1814, and in 1835 the UK confirmed NZ was a totally independent country with the Declaration of Independence. It only became a British colony in 1840 with the Treaty of Waitangi.
Based on this I guess, however I don't think a claim without any actual possession makes it a part of UK:
"The Colony of New South Wales was founded by 1788. According to the future Governor, Captain Arthur Phillip's amended Commission, dated 25 April 1787 the colony of New South Wales included "all the islands adjacent in the Pacific Ocean within the latitudes of 10°37'S and 43°39'S" which included most of New Zealand except for the southern half of the South Island."
Yes, it's based off the claim as listed above. I feel like the "no actual control" argument can be used for a lot of historical colonial possessions. Like for example how Spanish control over Louisiana is greatly exaggerated on most maps, as much of that region was left to de facto native control and wouldn't be properly settled until decades later.
I would argue this case is different from Spanish Louisiana though. The British Government repeatedly stated they have no control over New Zealand over the 1810s to 1830s. There were multiple cases of British citizens violating British laws while in NZ, but being unable to be punished due to it being outside the Crown's jurisdiction. The Colonial Office's notes to William Hobson in 1839 clearly state Britain had no rights to NZ land and needed the Maori to agree to cede the land by treaty. Australia was claimed by right of discovery, but NZ by right of cession (at least for North Island).
The legal hair splitting there would definitely have to be the difference, because if we go by the "claim without actual possession" metric, then in 1789 British settlement in Australia consisted of a handful of ships, marines and half-starved convicts who'd just landed in Sydney Cove, yet laid claim to half the continent...
Ottoman control had already ended in 1670, when the garrison stationed there had been defeated by the Bani Khalid tribe, which would control the peninsula until 1783.
Bahrain would take control of the peninsula then, albeit under pretty decentralized rule. In 1868, Qatar would start an independence war against Bahrain and remain under control of the peninsula in its own right until 1871. Only then did the Ottomans regain control of the area.
Brunei used to be a major power in Southeast Asia for a good few centuries, pretty much until the British took over Malaysia and turned Brunei itself into a tiny protectorate.
As for Bahrain, it actually technically predates Qatar. Local tribes from Qatar had conquered the island from Persia by 1783, establishing the Hakimate of Bahrain. The name Bahrain / al-Bahrayn was synonymous with the eastern coast of Arabia at the time. Qatar would break free from Bahraini rule by 1868.
Wish type-ins/alternate names were shown in answer table. A lot of time I don't remember what some of my guesses were because I don't recognize the name.
The State of Vermont was briefly an independent republic between 1777 and 1791. Obviously this wasn't recognized by the United States and it was claimed as being part of New York at the time.
New Zealand was not part of Great Britain/UK in 1789. The Treaty of Waitangi was not signed until 1840. If you wanted you could split it up according to the various tribes eg Ngapuhi, Ngati Kahungunu, Ngai Tahu, Te Arawa, Tainui, Ngati Whatua etc etc
Hi Dekkie, I've made some historical Asian maps spanning from the years 1812 to 1886! I apologize for not asking this before I created them, but is it fine if I use some information from both this quiz and the 1882 quiz to help in labeling the Baluchistani and Afghani nation states? I'm also making some ones for 1754 to 1805 (If I can get your permission for those as well).
IJsselstein and Boxmeer were countries? I tried to find them on the map, but couldn't. I also tried to find information about it online, but didn't find anything. Could you please enlighten me? Thanks
They were lordships (closest translation to heerlijkheden) but located in or subjects to the Dutch Republic and the Holy Roman Empire, so they technically shouldn’t even be on here, haha.
I agree they shouldn't be here, there were many heerlijkheden hundreds of them so it would make for a very long quiz if they were all included. But they were basically manors with some local authority. (manors in the historical sense, so not just a fancy mansion, )
Lovely word though, heerlijkheid, isn't it ;) Or maybe I should say lordly :)
Texas. Yeah thats understandable
Vermont. Uh what now
California: Called themselves the Bear Republic, probably Russians
West Florida: ????
Vermont
Texas
California
Hawaii
Maybe Utah?
And non-US states that used to be independent but now is American
Indian Stream
Muskogee
West Florida
CSA
And occupied nations (fully / partial)
Germany (Partial)
Austria (Partial)
Japan
Iraq (Partial?)
And not a country until after US occupation, but South Korea
"The Colony of New South Wales was founded by 1788. According to the future Governor, Captain Arthur Phillip's amended Commission, dated 25 April 1787 the colony of New South Wales included "all the islands adjacent in the Pacific Ocean within the latitudes of 10°37'S and 43°39'S" which included most of New Zealand except for the southern half of the South Island."
Bahrain would take control of the peninsula then, albeit under pretty decentralized rule. In 1868, Qatar would start an independence war against Bahrain and remain under control of the peninsula in its own right until 1871. Only then did the Ottomans regain control of the area.
eg) Zaydi/Zaidi, Karnatak/Carnatac, ...
Also new dimensions of... unspellability (is that even a word?)
As for Bahrain, it actually technically predates Qatar. Local tribes from Qatar had conquered the island from Persia by 1783, establishing the Hakimate of Bahrain. The name Bahrain / al-Bahrayn was synonymous with the eastern coast of Arabia at the time. Qatar would break free from Bahraini rule by 1868.
This beats or equals 96.9% of test takers
The average score is 47
My high score is 103
I agree they shouldn't be here, there were many heerlijkheden hundreds of them so it would make for a very long quiz if they were all included. But they were basically manors with some local authority. (manors in the historical sense, so not just a fancy mansion, )
Lovely word though, heerlijkheid, isn't it ;) Or maybe I should say lordly :)
Rurutu is where Rimatara is supposed to be
Rimatara is where Raiatea is supposed to be
Raiatea is where Rurutu is supposed to be
thanks ;)
I felt rather good with my 59, until I saw I was barely in the 13th percentile... felt quite silly having Air, Mahra and Imereti while missing Korea