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99 free Countries of the World trivia questions with answers — geography quiz, new questions added Aug 2026.
50 free country trivia questions with answers. Think you know the world? This Countries of the World quiz tests your geography knowledge across continents, capitals and cultures. You will discover surprising facts about nations you thought you knew while identifying lesser-known countries that might stump you. The questions run from easy ones for kids and beginners (which country is Tokyo in) to hard country trivia on borders, languages and flags, so it works as a classroom warm-up, a family game or a pub quiz round. Every answer has been checked against a reference source, and each question shows its citation once you have answered.
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Q 01What is the capital city of Japan?
Tokyo
Tokyo became the capital when Emperor Meiji moved his court there from Kyoto in 1868; the Greater Tokyo Area is home to roughly 37 million people.
Q 02Which country overtook its neighbour in 2023 to become the world's most populous?
India
India passed China in 2023 with over 1.4 billion people, ending a run at the top that China had held for decades.
Q 03Which island country was known as Ceylon until 1972?
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka gained independence as the Dominion of Ceylon in 1948 and took its present name when it became a republic in 1972.
Q 04What is the official currency of the United Kingdom?
Pound Sterling
The pound sterling, with roots in Anglo-Saxon England, is the UK's currency; Britain kept it rather than adopting the euro when the single currency launched in 1999.
Q 05Angel Falls, the world's tallest uninterrupted waterfall, is in which country?
Venezuela
Angel Falls in Venezuela drops 979 metres from Auyán-tepui; it is named after US aviator Jimmie Angel, who crash-landed his plane on the tepui's summit in 1937.
Q 06What is the capital city of Australia?
Canberra
Canberra is the capital of Australia. It was purpose-built as the capital in the early 20th century to resolve a rivalry between Sydney and Melbourne.
Q 07Whose flag carries a green cedar tree between two red stripes?
Lebanon
Lebanon's flag shows a green cedar, the country's emblem since antiquity, on a white band between two red stripes; the design was adopted in 1943.
Q 08The temple complex of Angkor Wat, the largest religious monument in the world, is in which country?
Cambodia
Angkor Wat was built in Cambodia in the 12th century under the Khmer king Suryavarman II and appears on the country's national flag.
Q 09The ancient trading city of Timbuktu is in which modern country?
Mali
Mali's Timbuktu was a centre of Islamic scholarship in the 14th century, and its name became a byword in English for somewhere impossibly remote.
Q 10What is the official language of Brazil?
Portuguese
It is the only Portuguese-speaking country in the Americas, a legacy of colonisation that began in 1500.
Q 11Reykjavík, the world's northernmost national capital, is the capital of which country?
Iceland
Reykjavík, Iceland's capital, sits at about 64°08′ N; Nuuk in Greenland lies slightly further north, but Greenland is a Danish territory rather than a sovereign state.
Q 12What is the smallest country in the world by area?
Vatican City
Vatican City covers about 0.44 square kilometres as an enclave inside Rome and is also the world's least populous state, with well under 1,000 residents.
Q 13Which African country was formerly known as Abyssinia?
Ethiopia
Ethiopia was long called Abyssinia in the West, a name derived from the Arabic al-Habasha; apart from Italy's 1936–41 occupation it was never colonised.
Q 21Which country produces the most cocoa beans in the world?
Ivory Coast
Ivory Coast has been the world's leading cocoa grower since the late 1970s, supplying roughly 40% of global output; neighbouring Ghana ranks second.
Q 22Which country's coastline, roughly 243,000 km across three oceans, is the world's longest?
Canada
The Arctic archipelago does most of the work: its islands account for the bulk of Canada's 243,000 km of shore.
Q 23What is the only country that borders both France and Brazil?
Suriname
Suriname's eastern neighbour is French Guiana, an overseas department of France, and its southern neighbour is Brazil; no other country touches both.
Q 14Which city, on the Ontario side of the river opposite Gatineau, is the Canadian capital?
Ottawa
Ottawa, on the Ontario bank of the Ottawa River facing Gatineau, Quebec, was chosen as capital by Queen Victoria in 1857; Toronto is merely the largest city.
Q 15Easter Island, famous for its moai statues, is a territory of which country?
Chile
Easter Island (Rapa Nui) was annexed by Chile in 1888 and lies about 3,500 km west of the Chilean mainland; its nearest inhabited neighbour, Pitcairn Island, is over 2,000 km away.
Q 16Which country's flag is the only national flag that is not rectangular?
Nepal
Nepal's flag consists of two stacked triangles, making it the only national flag in the world that is not rectangular or square.
Q 17What currency is used in Japan?
Yen
The yen was adopted as Japan's currency by the New Currency Act of 1871 and is one of the world's most traded currencies, alongside the US dollar and the euro.
Q 18Which Central American country abolished its army in 1948 and never brought it back?
Costa Rica
Costa Rica's junta leader José Figueres abolished the army in December 1948, and Article 12 of the 1949 constitution made the abolition permanent.
Q 19Which Caribbean island nation is named after a virgin martyr of Syracuse?
Saint Lucia
Saint Lucia is named after Lucy of Syracuse, martyred in 304; legend says shipwrecked French sailors landed there on her feast day, 13 December.
Q 20What is the capital of South Korea?
Seoul
Seoul is the capital and largest city of South Korea, home to about half of the country's population in its greater metropolitan area.
Q 24Which Asian country escaped European colonisation as a buffer between Britain and France?
Thailand
Thailand, then called Siam, lay between British Burma and French Indochina; in 1896 Britain and France agreed to leave the Chao Phraya valley as a neutral buffer zone.
Q 25Which country was historically known as Persia?
Iran
Iran was known abroad as Persia until 1935, when Reza Shah asked foreign governments to use the native name; the Achaemenid Persian Empire arose there in the 6th century BC.
Q 26Lake Baikal, the deepest lake in the world, is in which country?
Russia
Lake Baikal, in Siberian Russia, reaches 1,642 metres deep and holds roughly a fifth of the world's unfrozen fresh surface water.
Q 27Which country topped the UNESCO World Heritage list in 2025, with 61 sites?
Italy
After the 2025 session Italy had 61 sites, 55 of them cultural, with China one behind on 60.
Q 28Nairobi is the capital of which country?
Kenya
Nairobi, Kenya's capital, began as a depot on the Uganda Railway in 1899 and has a national park, home to lions and rhinos, inside its city limits.
Q 29Which country is home to the ancient city of Petra?
Jordan
Petra is located in southern Jordan. This ancient Nabataean city, carved into rose-red cliffs, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and one of the New Seven Wonders of the World.
Q 30Which Scandinavian country's North Cape is a famous place to watch the midnight sun?
Norway
North Cape (Nordkapp) sits on Magerøya island in northern Norway at about 71° N; the midnight sun is visible there from mid-May to late July.