Q 01/05

Which city was the Kingdom of Italy's capital right before Rome took the job in 1871?

A) Florence

B) Milan

C) Turin

D) Naples

Answer · why

A) Florence

Florence became capital in 1865 under a deal with France meant to prove Italy had given up its claim on Rome; six years later the government moved to ...

Q 02/05

Which common object is often used to describe the shape of the Italian peninsula?

A) A boot

B) A star

C) A diamond

D) A circle

Answer · why

A) A boot

Italy is famously shaped like a boot, lo Stivale in Italian, with Apulia forming the heel and Calabria the toe.

Q 03/05

Which mountain range runs down the spine of peninsular Italy?

A) Apennines

B) Dolomites

C) Pyrenees

D) Carpathians

Answer · why

A) Apennines

The Apennines are still being pulled apart along their crest, which is why central Italy suffers earthquakes such as L'Aquila in 2009 and Amatrice in ...

Q 04/05

Which emperor began the Colosseum on the site of Nero's drained palace lake but died before it opened?

A) Caligula

B) Vespasian

C) Trajan

D) Hadrian

Answer · why

B) Vespasian

Vespasian drained the lake of Nero's private palace to give the land back to the public; his son Titus opened the arena in AD 80 with a hundred days o...

Q 05/05

Which island, one of Italy's twenty regions, is the Mediterranean Sea's largest?

A) Crete

B) Sicily

C) Cyprus

D) Ibiza

Answer · why

B) Sicily

Its 4.7 million people also make it the most populous Mediterranean island; Palermo alone accounts for 1.2 million.