Historical Places

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Casablanca (Morocco): The port city where Churchill and F.D Roosevelt met for the Casablanca conference in 1943,

Catania (Italy): In Sicily. Often damaged by eruptions of Mt.Etna.

Cayenne (French Guinea): Capital and seaport. Founded in 1643 by the French, A penal colony.

Chaco (Paraguay-Bolvia): Chaco War (1932-35) between the two countries in the disputed Northern Chaco area. Paraguay was the winner.

Champagne (France): Noted for the production of champagne wine.

Changdu: Capital of China’s south west Sichuan province that was reduced to rubble in the 7.9 magnitude earthquake of May, 2008.

Changsha (China): Historic trade centre, capital of Kunan Province.

Channel Islands (US): Island group of the British Isles in the English Channel (Jersey, Guernsey, etc).

Chechnya (Russia): A constituent republic if Russia in north Caucasus. Resistance to Russian rule by Chechnya since 19th c. Chechen rebels keep carrying out attacks.

Chicago (USA): City on the shore of Lake Michigan. Devastated by fire in 1871. Transport, industrial, shipping, cultural centre. Largest rail terminal in the world. O’Hare is one of the busiest airports. World’s first skyscraper was built here in 1885-Sears tower.

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Chittagong (Bangladesh): Seaport, country’s chief port

Cluny (France): Town where the Cluniac order of Benedictine monks was established in 910.

Cognac (France): Town in river Charente, known for the brandy of the same name produced here.

Colditz (Germany): A castle here was used as a prison camp in WWII, for Allied escapers.

Coldstream (Scotland UK): Town known for regiment of Coldstream guards raised here first (1660) to restore Charles II.

Colorado (USA): Famous for Colarado National monument (1911) which has towering monoliths and canyons.

Colosseum (Rome): Amphitheatre built in AD 70-82 between gladiators and of men with animals.

Columbia (USA): State capital. Burned by Gen, Sherman in 1865.

Communism Peak (Tajikistan): Mountain in central Asia, known as Mount Garmo until 1933 and Stalin Peak until 1962. it was the highest peak in the former Soviet Union.

Concord (USA): The beginning of American war of independence was marked by battle of concord (1775).

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Constantinople (Turkey): Byzantium from 330 to 1930 capital of Byzantine empire, the eastern half of the Roman empire. Fell to Ottoman Turks (1453). Now, Istanbul.

Cook Strait (Pacific Ocean Channel): Separates New Zealand’s North and South Islands. Visited by Captain Cook in 1770.

Copperbelt (Africa): Aregion in central Africa, with the largest copper deposits in Africa.

Coral Sea (or Solomon Sea): It has many coral islands. Was scene of US victory over Japanese, 1942.

Cordoba (Spain): City which was the capital of Moorish Spain in 8th c. Great Mosque (990).

Corfu (Greece): Island in the lonian sea. British protectorate from 1815 to 1864.

Corinth (Greece): A powerful city of ancient Greece. Destroyed by Romans, 146 B.C, rebuilt by Caesar, 44 BC.

Corpus Christi (USA): A port on Corpus Christi Bay, channel access to Gulf of Mexico.

Corsica (France): Largest island of France, Napoleon Bonaparte was born here.

Cotopaxi (Ecuador): Highest active volcano in the world.

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Crete (Greece): Largest Greek island settled from 6000 BC, Minoan civilization, 2000 BC.

Crimea (Ukraine): Penisula in South Ukraine, now an autonomous republic of Ukraine. Crimean War (1853-56) fought by Britain, France and Ottoman Turks against Russia.

Darwin (Australia): Port, Allied hq in WWII, Bombed by Japan in 1942. A. 1974 cyclone destroyed the city.

Davos (Switzerland): A resort, the venue of World Economic forum.

Dayton (USA): The scene of the Peace Accord of 1995 that ended the Bosnian civil war.

Delphi (Greece): A village famous in ancient Greece as the sanctuary of Apollo and the seat of his oracle.

Dhaka (Bangladesh): Capital . From 1608-1704, capital of Mughal province of East Bengal, of British province of East Bengal & Assam, 1905-1912. of East Pakistan, 1947; of Bangladesh since 1971. ‘The city of mosques’. Centre of world’s biggest jute-growing region.

Diego Garcia (India Ocean): Island, American military airbase. Treaty was signed in1966 by US and UK for the use of the island.

Doogton (Ohio, USA): Hometown of Wilbur and Orville Wright.

Dresden (Germany): A centre of Napoleon’s military operations. The beautiful city was damaged in WWII bombing. Known for art galleries and other cultural institutions.

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Dumbarton Oaks(US): The first blue prints for setting upUN were formulated here in 1944.

Dumbarton (Scotland): An engineering and ship building centre.

Dunkirk (France): Seaport. Scene (in 1940) of he evacuation of over 300,000 allied troops under fire, as France fell to Germany.

East Anglia (UK): A powerful Anglo-Saxon kingdom of 6th century. The region of east England, it has very fertile agricultural land.

Edinburgh(UK): Capital of Scotland. Robert the Bruce was king of Scotland from 1306-29. Home to Adam Smith, David Hume, Robert Burns and Walter Scott. Home to University of Edinburgh. Famous for Edinburgh festival of music and drama.

Elba (Italy): Island in the Ligurian sea where Napoleon lived after his abdication

Eiffel Tower (Paris): An iron tower erected for the Paris Exhibition of 1889, on seine river, Paris, designed by A.G Eiffel. World’s most visited site.

Essen (Germany): On the Ruhr river, it is home to the Krupp steel works, Europe’s most extensive iron and steel works. Destroyed in WW II.

Eton (UK): Seat of Britain’s most famous public school, Eton college, founded in 1440.

Eureka Stockade (Australia): Scene of a armed clash 1854 when government was forced to back down, in the face of public opinion following gold miners on whom expensive mining license was imposed.

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Evian (France): Venue of the G8 summit, June 2003.

Eyre, lake (Australia): At 15 m. below sea level, it is the lowest point on the continent.

Falkland Islands (UK): British crown colony in S.Atlantic Ocean. To Argentina, they are ‘Malvinas’, War between Argentina and Britain over the Islands in 1982.

Fatima (Portugal): Small village where three shepherds children claimed to have seen visions of the Virgin Mary in 1917.

Finland (Northern Europe): A wealthy country. Thousands of lakes. Some think human habitation here dates back 100,000 years.

Flanders (Belgium-France): The region frequently fought over by France, Spain and Austria is divided between Belgium and France. Scene of big trench warfare in WWI.

Florence (Italy): Cultural, intellectual centre of Italy, the rule of the Medice family being the most glorious time, Leading centre of the Renaissance. Capital of the Kingdom of Italy, 1865-71. Te school of Florence includes Leonardo da Vinci, Michaelangelo and Raphael.

Florida (USA): It forms a long peninsula with thousands of lakes and many rivers. Belonged to the Spanish. America purchased it in 1819. Everglades, Florida Keys, Disney World, Miami, etc are here.

Forbidden city (China): The public museums in Beijing, were in the past imperial places where no commoner of foreigner could enter without special permission. The complex has some 9000 rooms.

Formosa (Taiwan’s former name, republic of China): Island in the Pacific. The Portuguese names it Formosa (“beautiful’), then was under the Dutch, and then under the Ming dynasty of China. Chiang Kaishek fled to Taiwan. Economic growth was spectacular from the 1950’s.

Freetown (Sierra Leone): Capital. Founded in 1790’s as a foundation for freed slaves. From 1808 to 1874, it was capital of British West Africa.

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Galliopoli (Turkey): Post on the European side of the Dardanelles; the first European city to b conquered by Ottoman Turks (1354). Famous for the Allied operation against Turks in WWI. After eight months of inconclusive fighting and deaths of 145,000 men, the allies withdrew.

Gaul (France): Transalpine Gaul, the region that developed into the mediaeval kingdom of France.

Gauteng (S.Africa): Province, whose capital is Johannesburg. Pretoria is S. Africa’s administrative capital.

Gaza Strip: Area (146 sq.mile) captured y Israel from Egypt, 1967.Mostly statelss Palestinians live there in refugee camps.

Gdansk (Poland): Formerly Danzig. Industrial port. 1980 saw labour unrest I the Lenin Shipyard, in support of ‘Solidarity’. Lech Walesa, an electrician here, rose to become president of Poland.

Gedrosia (Pakistan): Historical region west of the Indus River, in what is now the Baluchistan region of Pakistan.

Genoa (Italy): The country’s largest seaport. Birthplace of Columbus.

Gettysburg (USA): Famous for Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address (1863) at the dedication of a war cemetery in Pennsylvania, where the Battle of Gettysburg was fought, where the battle of Gettysburg was fought (1863) in the American Civil War.

Ggantija (Malta): Ggantija temples built 3600-3300) BC) are a copper age complex on island Gozo (the ‘ Isle of Calypso’)

Gibraltar (UK): British Crown colony. Smallest (6.5 sq.km) colony in the world. Played important role in allied naval operations in WWI & WWII. Gibraltar Rock’s height 426m.

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Gobi (Central Asia): Desert of 1,295,000 sq.km extending across China and Mongolia.

Golan Heights (Syria-Israel): This strategically important area of Syria was occupied by Israel in 2967 and annexed in 1981.

Granada (Spain): City founded by the Moors the 8th century. Capital of the Kingdom of Granada, 1238. Tombs of Ferdinand and Isabella can be seen.

Golconda (A.P): Capital of the Qutb Shahi Sultans of 16th c. Rich in historical monuments including the Golconda Fort.

Great Rift Valley: East African Rift system, extending from Jordan to Mozambique.

Great Slave Lake (Canada): Lake named for the slave Indians, drained by the Mackenzie River.

Great Smoky Mountains (USA): Part of the Appalachian Mountains. 2025m.

Greenwich (UK): The village near London. Greenwich Mean Time, the UK standard time, (GMT) is based in local time of the meridian passing through Greenwich.

Hamburg (Germany): Germany’s largest port foremost industrial city it was a member of the German confederation as a free city in 1815. Allied bombing destroyed city in WWI, was rebuilt. Home to the Hamburg Opera.

Harappa (Pakistan): The site of a great city of the Indus Valley civilization. Cemeteries brick buildings of Harappa were excavated in 1920s and 1946.

Harrow (London): Site of world famous private preparatory school for boys founded 1571.

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Harvard (USA): Harvard university at Cambridge, Massachusetts is the earliest (1636) US college. Almamater of seven American presidents.

Heiligendamm (Germany): Resort town which hosted G-8 summit, 2007.

Hiroshima (Japan): City destroyed on Aug.6, 1945 by the first atomic bomb dropped by USA.

Ho Chi Minh City (Vietnam): New name of Saigon. Former capital of French Indo-China. Hq of US military operations in Vietnam War. Captured by N. Vietnamese troops and renamed.

Holstein: A region in Germany. A breed of large, black-and-white dairy cattle of this name.

Huntingdon (UK): Birthplace of Oliver Cromwell.

Ibadan (Nigeria): City founded in 1830’s, Country’s intellectual centre.

Iona(UK): A remote island off Mull in Scotland, the site of a monastery set up in AD 563.

Islamabad (Pakistan): Capital since 1967 A new city.

Jakarta (Indonesia): Capital. Formerly Batavia. The Dutch founded it in 1619. Important centre of the Dutch East India company.

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Kisangani (Zaire): Founded as Stanleyville, renamed in 1966. A rebel government was established briefly during civil war (1960-64).

Kobe (Japan): Japan’s commercial port. Badly damaged by the 1995 earthquake. Kobe has 15 universities.

Kola Peninsula (Russia): A promontory between the Barents Sea and the White Sea. It is mostly granite, and is mined for apatitie and nephelimite.

Konya (Turkey): It was capital of sultanate of Konium or Rum under Seljuk Turks (11th c.)

Kosovo (Serbia): The autonomous province of the Yugoslav republic of Serbia that declared independence in 1990. Years of unrest and violence followed. Ethnic Albanians were repressed by Serbs. NATO’s air strikes (1999) hit Kosovo badly.

Krakov or Cracow (Poland): Poland’s third largest city. Pope John Paul II was born here.

Kremlin (Russia): The residence of tsars until 1712, political and administrative headquarters of USSR in 1918.

Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia): Capital. Petronas Twin Towers, until recently world’s tallest building are here.

Kurdistan (Iran): Inhabited by Kurbs, who also live in Iraq, Turkey and Syria, 20m. in number, the world’s largest ethnic group without its own state.

Kuril Islands (Russia): Chain of 30 large and 26 smaller islands in Sakhalin region. In 1875 Russia gave the islands to Japan in exchange for full control of Sakhalin island. Ceded to USSR, after WWII.