Getting your questions ready
Getting your questions ready
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This geography quiz covers the whole planet in 100 free questions with answers: continents and oceans, capital cities, the longest rivers and highest mountains, deserts, islands, borders and the flags and landmarks that make each country recognisable. It opens with easy geography trivia that kids and middle schoolers can answer and works up to hard geography trivia on obscure capitals, enclaves and physical geography that will test seasoned quizzers. Every answer has been checked against atlases, encyclopaedias and official sources, and each question shows an explanation and its citation after you answer. Play it solo for a shareable score, or use it as a ready-made geography round for a classroom or trivia night.
30 of 100 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01What is the largest continent by land area?
Asia
Asia is the largest continent, covering approximately 44.6 million square kilometers, which is about 30% of Earth's total land area.
Q 02Which river is the longest in the world?
Nile
The Nile runs about 7,088 kilometres from its farthest source to the Mediterranean, yet it carries far less water than the Amazon or the Congo. Some measurements put the Amazon ahead, so the title is disputed.
Q 03What is the capital of Australia?
Canberra
Canberra is the capital of Australia. It was purpose-built as the capital in the early 20th century as a compromise between rivals Sydney and Melbourne.
Q 04Which ocean is the largest by area?
Pacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean also holds the deepest point on Earth, the Challenger Deep in the Mariana Trench, nearly 11 kilometres down.
Q 05Which European country is nicknamed 'the land of a thousand lakes', with roughly 168,000 of them?
Finland
The nickname undersells it: the count runs to about 168,000 lakes bigger than 500 square metres, plus 179,000 islands.
Q 06What is the smallest country in the world by area?
Vatican City
At just 0.44 square kilometres it is entirely enclosed within the city of Rome.
Q 07Which mountain is the tallest in the world measured from sea level?
Mount Everest
Mount Everest stands at 8,849 meters above sea level, making it the tallest mountain in the world by elevation.
Q 08Which African country was formerly known as Abyssinia?
Ethiopia
Ethiopia and Liberia are the only African states counted as never fully colonised; Mussolini's forces occupied it in the 1930s but never controlled all of it.
Q 09What is the driest non-polar desert in the world?
Atacama
The Atacama Desert in Chile is considered the driest non-polar desert in the world. Some weather stations there have never recorded rainfall.
Q 10Which country is home to the ancient city of Petra?
Jordan
Petra is located in southern Jordan. This ancient city was carved into rose-red cliffs by the Nabataeans over 2,000 years ago and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Q 11What strait separates Europe from Africa?
Strait of Gibraltar
The Strait of Gibraltar separates Spain in Europe from Morocco in Africa, connecting the Atlantic Ocean to the Mediterranean Sea.
Q 12Which country has the longest coastline in the world?
Canada
The coastline runs to more than 240,000 kilometres, thanks largely to the fjords and islands of the Arctic archipelago. Measured lengths vary with the scale of the map used.
Q 13What is the capital of Mongolia?
Ulaanbaatar
Ulaanbaatar is the capital and largest city of Mongolia, home to nearly half of the country's entire population.
Q 21What is the capital of New Zealand?
Wellington
Wellington is the capital of New Zealand. While Auckland is the largest city, Wellington has been the capital since 1865 due to its central location.
Q 22Which is the largest hot desert in the world?
Sahara
The Sahara Desert is the largest hot desert in the world at approximately 9.2 million square kilometers across North Africa. The Antarctic Desert is larger overall but is a cold desert.
Q 23Name the country where you would find Machu Picchu.
Peru
The 15th-century Inca citadel sits at about 2,430 metres above sea level in the mountains above the Urubamba valley.
Q 14Which waterfall is the tallest in the world?
Angel Falls
Angel Falls in Venezuela is the world's tallest uninterrupted waterfall, with a height of 979 meters and a plunge of 807 meters.
Q 15Which country is entirely surrounded by South Africa?
Lesotho
Lesotho is completely enclosed by South Africa, making it one of only three countries in the world that are entirely surrounded by a single other country.
Q 16The Great Barrier Reef stretches along which country's northeast shore?
Coast of Australia
The Great Barrier Reef is located off the northeast coast of Australia in the Coral Sea. It is the world's largest coral reef system, stretching over 2,300 kilometers.
Q 17What is the largest island in the world?
Greenland
Greenland is the world's largest island at approximately 2.17 million square kilometers. Australia is larger but is classified as a continent.
Q 18Which two countries share the longest international border?
United States and Canada
The boundary stretches approximately 8,891 kilometres including the stretch along Alaska.
Q 19What is the deepest lake in the world?
Baikal
Lake Baikal in Siberia, Russia, is the deepest lake in the world at approximately 1,642 meters deep. It also holds about 20% of the world's unfrozen fresh surface water.
Q 20Which European country had the most UNESCO World Heritage Sites as of 2025?
Italy
Italy led the world with 62 sites, one ahead of China. They range from the historic centre of Rome to Venice and its lagoon and the ruins of Pompeii.
Q 24Which country spans the most time zones?
France
France spans the most time zones (12) when including its overseas territories such as French Polynesia, New Caledonia, and others spread across the globe.
Q 25Which body of water in northern Israel is the lowest freshwater one on Earth, over 200 metres below sea level?
Tiberias
Better known as the Sea of Galilee, it is fed and drained by the river that continues south to the world's saltiest lake, and it supplies much of Israel's drinking water.
Q 26Which Central American country does not have a Pacific coastline?
Belize
It lies entirely on the Caribbean coast, wedged between Mexico and Guatemala.
Q 27What is the largest landlocked country in the world?
Kazakhstan
At roughly 2.72 million square kilometres it stretches from the Caspian Sea to the Altai Mountains.
Q 28Which volcano buried the Roman cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum under ash in 79 AD?
Mount Vesuvius
Mount Vesuvius is the only volcano on mainland Europe to have erupted in the last century, and around three million people live within its danger zone.
Q 29Which South American country has coastlines on both the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans?
Colombia
Its Caribbean shore counts as Atlantic; Chile is sometimes added to the list on the strength of the Strait of Magellan.
Q 30Which major city straddles two continents, split by the Bosphorus Strait?
Istanbul
It is the only major city in the world built on two continents, with the historic core on the European shore.