Q 01/05

Istanbul lies on the strait between the Black Sea and which smaller inland sea?

A) The Sea of Marmara

B) The Aegean Sea

C) The Sea of Azov

D) The Ionian Sea

Answer · why

A) The Sea of Marmara

About two-thirds of the city's 15 million people live on the European shore and the rest in Asia, making it a city on two continents.

Q 02/05

Which city replaced Istanbul as Turkey's seat of government in 1923?

A) İzmir

B) Ankara

C) Bursa

D) Konya

Answer · why

B) Ankara

The Republic chose Ankara as capital in 1923, but Istanbul remains the economic, cultural and historical centre.

Q 03/05

The city was founded around 657 BC by Greek colonists from Megara under what name?

A) Chalcedon

B) Nicomedia

C) Byzantium

D) Thessalonica

Answer · why

C) Byzantium

Legend traced the settlers to Byzas, son of Poseidon and the nymph Ceroëssa; a Thracian village called Lygos may have stood there first.

Q 04/05

Which Roman emperor refounded the city in 324 AD, initially calling it New Rome?

A) Diocletian

B) Justinian I

C) Theodosius I

D) Constantine the Great

Answer · why

D) Constantine the Great

It was proclaimed capital of the Roman Empire on 11 May 330 and kept his name for 1,600 years.

Q 05/05

The name 'Istanbul' is commonly held to derive from a Medieval Greek phrase meaning what?

A) Golden city

B) New Rome

C) To the city

D) City of peace

Answer · why

C) To the city

Local Greeks simply said eis tḕn Pólin, since it was the only major city around; the Ottomans also nicknamed it Dersaadet, the 'Gate to Prosperity'.