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50 free Egypt trivia questions with answers — trivia quiz, new questions added Aug 2026.
Most Egypt quizzes stop at the pharaohs. This one is about the country as it exists today and the two centuries that shaped it: a transcontinental state of more than 100 million people, the most populous in the Arab world, squeezed into the Nile Valley and Delta with the Sahara on either side. The questions cover geography (the canal, the Sinai, the highest mountain, the borders), the modern political story from Muhammad Ali and the British occupation through Nasser, Sadat, Mubarak and the 2011 revolution, and the culture that made Cairo the Hollywood of the East: its Nobel laureate, its first talkie, its UNESCO-listed street food and its national drink. There is football too, because the Pharaohs hold the Africa Cup of Nations record and Mohamed Salah is the country's most famous export. Fifty questions, four options each, with a one-line explanation after every answer. Expect the easy ones to be familiar from the news and the expert ones to test whether you have actually been there.
30 of 50 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01What is the capital of Egypt?
Cairo
Greater Cairo is home to more than 22 million people, making it the largest urban area in Africa and the Arab world.
Q 02Which river runs the length of Egypt into the Mediterranean?
Nile
It supplies about 90% of Egypt's water, and almost the entire population lives within a few kilometres of it.
Q 03Which man-made waterway links the Mediterranean and the Red Sea?
Suez Canal
It has no locks, so seawater flows freely through it, and it earned Egypt a record $9.4 billion in 2023.
Q 04What is the official language of Egypt?
Arabic
Coptic, the last stage of the ancient Egyptian language, survives only as the liturgy of the Coptic Orthodox Church.
Q 05Which religion is Egypt's official state religion?
Islam
Egypt also has the largest Christian population in the Middle East and North Africa, mostly Coptic Orthodox.
Q 06What is the currency of Egypt?
Pound
The Arabic name, junayh, comes from the English guinea; each one is divided into 100 piastres.
Q 07Which Egyptian site is the only surviving Wonder of the Ancient World?
Giza Necropolis
The Lighthouse of Alexandria was also on the list but was brought down by earthquakes centuries ago.
Q 08What is Egypt's second-largest city?
Alexandria
The Mediterranean port is nicknamed the Bride of the Mediterranean and was the country's capital under the Ptolemies.
Q 09Egypt borders which country to the west?
Libya
About 330,000 Egyptians live across that border, the second-largest Egyptian community in the Arab world.
Q 10Which Egyptian winger is the Premier League's all-time top foreign scorer?
Mohamed Salah
His two goals in the final qualifier sent Egypt to the 2018 World Cup, their first in 28 years.
Q 11Which conqueror founded Egypt's second city in 331 BC?
Alexander the Great
It grew up beside an Egyptian settlement called Rhacotis, which became the new city's Egyptian quarter.
Q 12The Sinai Peninsula is the only part of Egypt on which continent?
Asia
The canal is the conventional boundary, so the peninsula counts as West Asia while the rest of the country is African.
Q 13What is the nickname of Egypt's national football team?
The Pharaohs
Egypt was the first country outside Europe and the Americas to play at both the Olympics and the World Cup.
Q 21Egypt joined which country in 1958 to form the United Arab Republic?
Syria
The union lasted only until 1961, but Egypt kept the name until Sadat renamed the country in 1971.
Q 22Which country helped Egypt build the Aswan High Dam?
Soviet Union
When finished in 1970 it was the tallest earthen dam in the world and created the 479 km-long Lake Nasser.
Q 23Mohamed Morsi, elected president in 2012, belonged to which movement?
Muslim Brotherhood
He lasted just over a year before the military removed him on 3 July 2013.
The city of Luxor was formerly known by what name?
Q 14Which president was forced out by the 2011 Egyptian revolution?
Hosni Mubarak
He had ruled for nearly 30 years, renewing his term through single-candidate referendums until 2005.
Q 15Who became president of Egypt in 2014?
Abdel Fattah el-Sisi
Presidential terms were stretched to six years in 2019, and he won a third term in December 2023.
Q 16Anwar Sadat signed a 1979 peace treaty with which country?
Israel
The deal got Egypt suspended from the Arab League for a decade and was a main motive for Sadat's assassination in 1981.
Q 17Which Cairo plaza was the focus of the 2011 protests?
Tahrir Square
The name means Liberation Square; it was briefly renamed for Sadat in 1981 but nobody used the new name.
Q 18Which president nationalised the canal in 1956, provoking the Suez Crisis?
Gamal Abdel Nasser
Pressure from both the United States and the Soviet Union forced the invaders out, and his popularity across the Arab world soared.
Q 19Who invaded Egypt in 1798, defeating the Mamluks at the Battle of the Pyramids?
Napoleon Bonaparte
The French stay was short, but it brought the printing press to Egypt and cleared the way for Muhammad Ali Pasha's rise.
Q 20Which Egyptian writer won the 1988 Nobel Prize in Literature?
Naguib Mahfouz
He published 35 novels, all set in Egypt, including The Cairo Trilogy, and remains the only Arabic-language laureate.
Thebes
The Karnak and Luxor temples stand inside the modern city, with the Valley of the Kings across the river.
Q 25How many Africa Cup of Nations titles had Egypt won before the 2025 tournament?
7
Egypt's seven titles were a record going into the 2025 tournament; the three-in-a-row from 2006 to 2010 has never been matched by any other nation.
Q 26Which 10th-century Cairo university is Islam's preeminent seat of learning?
Al-Azhar
By some measures it is the second-oldest continuously operating university in the world.
Q 27Which king abdicated after the Free Officers coup of 1952?
Farouk
His baby son reigned in name for less than a year before the monarchy was abolished in June 1953.
Q 28Which Egyptian dish of lentils, rice and pasta is UNESCO-listed heritage?
Koshary
It is usually topped with tomato sauce and crispy fried onions and sold from dedicated street shops.
Q 29Which French diplomat formed the Compagnie de Suez in 1858?
Ferdinand de Lesseps
Construction took a decade, and the canal opened on 17 November 1869.
Q 30Amr Shabana, Ali Farag and Ramy Ashour were world number ones in which sport?
Squash
Egypt has won the world team championship five times, most recently in 2019.