1. Arizona
   North Dakota
2. Nevada
   New Mexico

Phoenix is the capital of Arizona. It is named for a mythical bird that seems to die, but rises from its own ashes.

1. Ohio
   Massachusetts
2. Missouri
   No one knows

The series has deliberately confounded viewers' attempts to locate it; Springfield has a coastline, a desert, a glacier, and it borders more states than is geographically possible. Oregonians like to think it's their Springfield, though, as Matt Groening is from Oregon, and Springfield, Oregon, has a bar named "Mo's."

1. California and Nevada
   Minnesota and Georgia
2. Alabama and Arkansas
   Florida and South Carolina

The town in Minnesota is actually quite scenic. Situated at the edge of Minnesota's low "Iron Range" mountains, this border town sits right on the edge of Lake Superior, with great bridges spanning the lake over to Wisconsin.

1. Slalom
   Curling
2. Marathon
   Pole vault

Marathon, Greece, was the site of a battle in ancient times. A messenger ran from there to Athens to announce the victory, and so the long-distance running event was named.

1. Le Mans
   Nantes
2. Crecy
   Paris

Of course, the answer is Paris. Paris, Texas, gained a bit of fame from an independent movie of the same name.

1. England
   France
2. Greece
   Spain

Louisiana was sold to the United States by French leader Napoleon. Louisiana's French roots means that a number of its cities take their names from ones in France.

1. Five
   12
2. 17
   25

America has not been wildly original in naming towns. Ohio alone has 11 "Springfield Townships."

1. Costa Rica
   El Salvador
2. Peru
   Suriname

Costa Rica is a small, famously friendly country in Central America. San Jose is not only its capital, but its largest city.

1. Brazil
   China
2. Guyana
   Ukraine

Odessa is a lovely smaller city on the Black Sea. It isn't the capital of Ukraine, though; that's Kiev.

1. Alaska
   Arizona
2. Georgia
   Mississippi

Georgia has no shortage of towns named for famous world cities (and one ancient one; that's Smyrna, in Greece). But its capital is named for the Atlantic Ocean. It's a shortening of "Atlanta-Pacifica," an earlier but unwieldy proposed name.

1. Alaska
   Iowa
2. New York
   Texas

In Latin America, there are a number of "San Antonios" even within one country, state or province. That's because there is usually a descriptor at the end of the name, like "San Antonio Acutla" or "San Antonion de la Cal" in Oaxaca, Mexico.

1. California
   Iowa
2. Arkansas
   New York

Ancient Utica was destroyed in relentless fighting over territory among various world powers after the Roman empire declined. It has given its name to several US cities, the most famous of which is in New York state.

1. France
   Italy
2. Turkey
   Ukraine

The ancient Troy was better known in its day as "Ilium." It was suspected to be solely legendary until ruins were discovered. It's now a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

1. Buffalo
   Rochester
2. Syracuse
   Yonkers

The old Syracuse is on the coast of Sicily, which once used to be a Greek holding. This inspired the name of a city in New York state and its university.

1. Aberdeen
   Bellevue
2. Columbia
   Yelm

Aberdeen is a working-class town in Washington, near Seattle, the city with which Cobain and Nirvana are most associated. Nowadays, Aberdeen's city-limits sign reads "Come As You Are" in Cobain's honor.

1. Cullum
   Lincoln
2. Oakport
   Salem

Salem was a common name in the early US because it is taken -- sort of -- from the Bible. It's short for Jerusalem. Of course, Salem, Massachusetts, is now notorious for the witch trials of its early years.

1. Germany
   Italy
2. Scotland
   Wales

Bremen is a town in northern Germany. It has gorgeous old churches and quite a few museums.

1. England
   Germany
2. Italy
   Portugal

Locals in the Kentucky town say it wasn't named for the German city, but for an early bar owner. We're not going to argue with them!

1. An opera house
   A U.S. Mint facility
2. A prison
   Wine-making

Other notable California prisons include Folsom and Pelican Bay. But San Quentin is the most notorious. It's where California's executions are held.

1. Leningrad
   Boise
2. Moscow
   St. Petersburg

The town in Idaho is pronounced with a soft "oh" at the end, compared to "Mosc-ow," the hard pronunciation of the Russian city. Of course, Russian speakers call their capital "Moskva," so the similarity is somewhat moot.

1. Dubai
   Lebanon
2. Saudi Arabia
   Qatar

Lebanon is mentioned several times in the Bible, which may explain its popularity as a town name in early America. Many "Lebanons" are in the East or Midwest.

1. California
   Connecticut
2. Colorado
   both #1 and #3

Riverside is a Southern California town. It's home to one of the University of California campuses.

1. Georgia
   Florida
2. Minnesota
   New Mexico

Austin, Minnesota, isn't a well-known town. Unless you love SPAM, the canned meat product. That's where it's made.

1. Georgetown
   Clinton
2. Lincoln
   Litchfield

There are many Georgetowns in the US. They might have been named to honor King George III (before the American Revolution), George Washington, or just a prominent local.

1. Andorra
   Greece
2. Egypt
   Wales

Ithaca was the home to which Odysseus sought to return after the Trojan War. Modern Ithaca is home to Cornell University, where Carl Sagan taught and Bill Nye studied. Nye occasionally also returns there to teach.

1. Alaska
   Kansas
2. Iowa
   New Hampshire

You want to tell Kansans to their faces that their Manhattan is insignificant? Manhattan, Kansas, has its own airport, just like New York City (although technically, none of NYC's airports are in Manhattan), and proudly calls itself "The Little Apple."

1. California
   France
   Louisiana
2. All of these
   Only #1 and #3

"Lafayette" is a family name in France, not a city. Founding "Lafayettes" have given their names to towns in Louisiana (naturally), California (where Olympic swimmer Natalie Coughlin is from), and other states.

1. California
   Connecticut
2. Ohio
   Vermont

California shares a number of Spanish-language names (like San Jose) with other states and countries. It does not, however, have a town named for the first president.

1. Alexandria
   Ben-salem
2. Freetown
   Sparta

Alexandria was named after a Greek conqueror, Alexander the Great. It was also known for the Library of Alexandria, the greatest storehouse of knowledge the ancient world had ever known.

1. Litchfield
   Fairview
2. Midway
   Truth or Consequences

Truth or Consequences, New Mexico, was renamed from "Hot Springs" in order to win a contest, which got the popular game show, "Truth or Consequences," to broadcast a special episode from the town. Which just goes to show you the lengths people will go to for entertainment when living in the middle of nowhere.

1. Arizona
   Arkansas
2. New Hampshire
   Vermont

Show Low reputedly got its name from an epic poker game over the ownership of land. Which eccentric name do you like better -- "Show Low" or "Truth of Consequences"?

1. Egypt
   Spain
2. Russia
   Turkey

Memphis was once the capital of Egypt. Today you can only see ruins where it used to stand.

1. England
   Greece
2. Syria
   Turkey

Damascus, in Syria, lays claim to being one of the oldest cities in the world to have been continuously inhabited. It is also the capital of Syria.

1. Hawaii
   Illinois
2. Oklahoma
   Vermont

Driving around America's back roads, you can find no shortage of towns with exotic names. Cairo, at the southern tip of Illinois, counts as one of these. If you have a choice, we'd recommend a visit to the "city of a thousand minarets" instead of the Illinois town.

1. Italy
   Lebanon
2. Nigeria
   Australia

If the name sounds familiar, it might be because the Bible repeatedly mentions "Tyre and Sidon." Sidon is a seaside city that was a crossroads of the ancient Middle East.