Do These Countries Still Exist, or Are They History?

Susan McDonald

5 Min Quiz

Image: Shutterstock

About This Quiz

We're headed to Czechoslovakia! Wait. Are we? In a world with tons of countries, it's sometimes hard to keep up with all the dissolutions and name changes. From Ceylon to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, do these countries still exist or are they history?

Within the six habitable continents of the world, there are 197 countries. Since the beginning of time, countries have been claiming others and the battle for power is ever-present. With the battle for power and the political changes, many countries have been given name changes. While it might be easy to recognize if the United States, France, and China still exist, what about Georgia, Angola, and Paraguay? 

If you were growing up before the 2000s, your textbooks might talk about Czechoslovakia as a country. When looking at a map, you'd see it no longer exists. This former country actually split into the Czech Republic and Slovakia in 1993. Many countries have had the same fate or just went through an entire name change. Can you sort through the old and the current?

Is Zaire a country or is it the Democratic Republic of the Congo? Is Singapore still a country? What about the United Arab Republic? If you can sort through these questions, you're well on your way to mastering this quiz.

Will you be able to tell whether these countries still exist or will you be left in the past with the former ones? There's only one way to find out.

Let's begin!

Does Persia still exist as a country?

Persia was one of several imperial dynasties that gradually changed and shrank over the centuries. The current country formerly known as Persia is now called Iran.


Does the Gold Coast still exist as a country?

The Gold Coast is a region in West Africa on the Gulf of Guinea. It is named for the area's rich gold resources, but it is now commonly known as Ghana.


Is India still a country?

India is a vast country in South Asia that has held the same name for centuries. However, some of its large cities have changed names. For example, the former Bombay is now called Mumbai.


Is British Honduras still a country?

British Honduras was part of the British Empire until fairly recently. Located on the eastern coast of Central America, it gained its independence in 1981 and is now called Belize.


Is Lesotho still a country?

The country now known as Lesotho was called Bosoutoland until 1966, when it gained independence from Britain and became the Kingdom of Lesotho. The country is unusual because it is surrounded on all four sides by a single country, South Africa.


Is Holland a country?

This area of Western Europe, home of tulips, Van Gogh, and the original franchise of "The Voice," is officially called the Netherlands, but some people still refer to it as Holland. Don't get this confused with the former New Holland, which is now New South Wales.


Does Thailand still exist as a country?

Thailand has become one of the most popular tourist destinations in Southeast Asia, thanks to its beautiful beaches and rich history. It was formerly known as Siam.


Is Zaire a country?

This Central African country has a long and complicated history, but it is no longer called Zaire. It is now the Democratic Republic of the Congo.


Is Benin a country?

This small country in West Africa was formerly known as Dahomey. The name was changed to Benin in 1975 after a government overthrow that designated the nation as Marxist.


Is Lithuania a country?

The Baltic nation of Lithuania has a population of nearly 3 million people. It was formerly associated with the U.S.S.R.


Does Bolivia still exist as a country?

Bolivia is an independent country today, but it wasn't always that way. Until the 19th century, it was part of neighboring Peru. Remember when Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid moved there to escape U.S. authorities?


Is Bosnia a country?

The country's full name is Bosnia -Herzegovina, but it is often referred to simply as Bosnia. It is one of the independent nations that resulted from the breakup of Yugoslavia.


Is the Dutch East Indies a country?

This former Dutch colony was a much sought-after source for spices, sugar, tea and even opium. Today it is part of Indonesia.


Does the country of Yemen exist today?

The Republic of Yemen is at the southern end of the Arabian Peninsula. North Yemen and South Yemen united in 1990 to form a single government.


Is Singapore still a country?

Singapore is a parliamentary republic in Southeast Asia. It gained independence from Britain in 1963, and its tropical climate makes it a popular tourist destination.


Is China a country?

Officially called the People's Republic of China, this East Asian country is the fourth largest country in the world and has the largest population with more than 1.4 billion people. While the country's name has stayed essentially the same, its capital, Beijing, was formerly called Peking.


Is the Khmer Republic a country?

The country known as the Khmer Republic is now Cambodia. Its complicated history includes being deeply embroiled in the Vietnam War, but it is now a constitutional monarchy operating as a parliamentary democracy.


Is Myanmar a country?

Some people still refer to it as Burma, but this Southeast Asian nation has been Myanmar since 1989. Its capital Yangon used to be called Rangoon.


Is Zanzibar still a country?

After British colonial rule ended in this region of East Africa in the 1960s, the countries of Zanzibar and Tanganyika merged. The country is now called Tanzania, a combination of the two names.


Is Abyssinia a country?

Located in the region known as the Horn of Africa, Abyssinia is the ancient name for the country now called Ethiopia. Artifacts found in the area date back millions of years.


Is Judea a country?

Judea, along with Samaria, is the ancient and biblical name of part of a mountainous region in Western Asia. It was never a country and is now part of the West Bank.


Is Sri Lanka a country?

Sri Lanka is an island located southeast of India. Until 1972, it was known as Ceylon.


Is Bechuanaland a country?

The southern African nation of Botswana was called Bechuanaland when it was part of the British Empire. It gained independence in 1964.


Is the Philippines still a country?

The islands called the Philippines were once part of the Spanish East Indies. The area was also under American rule until it gained independence in 1946.


Is Yugoslavia a country?

A large portion of the Balkan peninsula was occupied by a country called Yugoslavia for most of the 20th century. After much violence, in the late 1990s the country split into seven independent nations.


Is Latvia a country?

Latvia is in the Baltic region of northern Europe. Its long history most recently includes having part of the former Soviet Union.


Is Mesopotamia a country?

Mesopotamia was a historic region of Asia. Today the area includes primarily Iraq, but also parts of Turkey and Syria.


Is Russia a country?

In fact, Russia is the world's largest country in terms of geographic size. It is considered to be in Eurasia (parts in Europe and parts in Asia) and is one of the independent nations that emerged from the U.S.S.R.


Is the United Arab Republic a country?

The United Arab Republic, or UAR, existed as a country only between 1958 and 1961. It was a political union between Syria and Egypt.


Is Chimor a country?

Chimor was once a kingdom along the northern coast of Peru. It's been history since the Incan conquest in the 1400s.


Is Kazakhstan a country?

Kazakhstan is one of the countries that emerged from the Soviet Union. It is in the news these days because astronauts returning from the International Space Station land there.


Is Burkina Faso a country?

Burkina Faso was formerly known as Upper Volta. It is a landlocked country in West Africa and adopted its current name in 1984.


Is Malaysia a country?

Malaysia is a tropical nation in Southeast Asia. Its Patronas Towers, located in the capital of Kuala Lumpur, are the largest twin towers in the world.


Is Babylonia a country?

Babylonia was a part of ancient Mesopotamia. The area is now Iraq.


Is the Soviet Union a country?

The Soviet Union was formally the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. It dissolved in 1991into several independent states including Russia, Ukraine and Belarus.


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