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This world geography quiz covers the planet country by country in 100 free questions with answers: the continents and oceans, the biggest and smallest nations, capital cities, famous rivers, mountains and deserts, and the flags and landmarks that make each place recognisable. About two-thirds of the questions are easy enough to work as country trivia for kids, so it suits a classroom or a family quiz night, and the rest climb to the sort of capitals and borders that will test seasoned travellers. Every answer has been checked against atlases, encyclopaedias and official sources, and each question shows an explanation and its citation after you answer.
30 of 100 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01What is the largest continent by land area?
Asia
Asia covers roughly 30 percent of Earth's land and holds about 60 percent of its people. It is the largest continental economy as well.
Q 02Which river is the longest in the world?
Nile
The Nile runs about 6,650 km from its farthest headwaters to the Mediterranean, ahead of the Yangtze at about 6,300 km, though it carries far less water than the Congo.
Q 03What is the capital of Australia?
Canberra
Canberra was purpose-built as a compromise between rivals Sydney and Melbourne, and had to sit at least 100 miles from Sydney. It was formally named in 1913.
Q 04Which ocean is the largest by area?
Pacific
The Pacific Ocean is the largest ocean, covering approximately 165.25 million square kilometers — more than all of Earth's land area combined.
Q 05Which is the only named sea in the world with no land boundaries?
Sargasso Sea
The Sargasso Sea is bounded only by the currents of the North Atlantic Gyre, not by any coast; both European and American eels migrate across the ocean to spawn there.
Q 06Which country spans the most time zones, thanks to its far-flung territories?
France
France's overseas territories, from French Polynesia to Réunion, give it 12 time zones, or 13 counting its polar claim. Metropolitan France itself sits on Central European Time.
Q 07What is the smallest country in the world by area?
Vatican City
Vatican City covers just 44 hectares (0.44 km²) with roughly 800 residents, making it the smallest state by both area and population; it is enclaved entirely within the city of Rome.
Q 08Which city is the northernmost capital of a sovereign state?
Reykjavík
Reykjavík sits at 64°08′ N. Nuuk lies about 4 km further north, but it is the capital of a Danish constituent country, not an independent state.
Q 09Which South American country is the largest by area?
Brazil
Brazil is the largest country in South America and the fifth-largest in the world, covering about 8.5 million square kilometers — nearly half of South America's total land area.
Q 10What is the capital of Canada?
Ottawa
Ottawa is the capital of Canada, located in Ontario on the south bank of the Ottawa River. Despite Toronto and Montreal being larger cities, Ottawa was chosen as the capital by Queen Victoria in 1857.
Q 11Which African country was formerly known as Abyssinia?
Ethiopia
Ethiopia was long known abroad as Abyssinia, a name derived from the Arabic Ḥabash for its highland peoples; it kept its independence by defeating an Italian invasion at Adwa in 1896.
Q 12The Great Barrier Reef lies in which sea?
Coral Sea
The Coral Sea reef is separated from the mainland by a channel up to 160 km wide; James Cook ran aground on it in 1770.
Q 13Which strait separates Europe from Africa?
Strait of Gibraltar
The Strait of Gibraltar separates Spain (Europe) from Morocco (Africa), connecting the Atlantic Ocean to the Mediterranean Sea. At its narrowest point, it is only about 14 kilometers (8.7 miles) wide.
Q 21Which landlocked kingdom is entirely enclosed by a single neighbouring country?
Lesotho
Lesotho is the largest of the world's three enclaved states and sits so high that all of it lies above 1,000 metres. Eswatini, by contrast, also borders Mozambique.
Q 22Which body of water in Siberia is the deepest lake in the world?
Baikal
Baikal in Siberia reaches 1,642 metres and holds 22–23 percent of the world's fresh surface water, more than all the North American Great Lakes combined.
Q 23The Galápagos Islands belong to which country?
Ecuador
Ecuador annexed the islands in 1832, three years before Darwin's visit; only about 33,000 people live in the province.
Q 14Which city is the constitutional capital of Bolivia, even though the government sits in La Paz?
Sucre
Sucre, at about 2,810 metres, is Bolivia's constitutional capital and seat of the Supreme Court, while the executive and legislature sit in La Paz; it was renamed in 1839 for independence hero Antonio José de Sucre.
Q 15Which country is home to the ancient city of Petra?
Jordan
Petra is located in southern Jordan. Carved into rose-red cliffs by the Nabataeans over 2,000 years ago, it was named a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1985 and is one of the New Seven Wonders of the World.
Q 16Lake Titicaca, the highest navigable lake in the world, sits on the border of which two countries?
Peru and Bolivia
Lake Titicaca straddles the border of Peru and Bolivia at 3,812 metres; near Puno on the Peruvian side, the Uros people live on dozens of floating islands built from totora reeds.
Q 17Which European country has the most UNESCO World Heritage Sites?
Italy
Italy leads not just Europe but the world in UNESCO World Heritage Sites, with about 60 inscribed by 2024, from Pompeii and Venice to the Dolomites; Germany and France each trail by several.
Q 18What is the longest mountain range in the world?
Andes
The Andes run about 7,000 kilometres down the western edge of South America, from Venezuela to Chile.
Q 19Which island nation is the largest in the Caribbean by area?
Cuba
Cuba's main island is the largest in the Caribbean and the 17th-largest in the world, making up most of the nation's land area.
Q 20How many national capitals does the Danube flow through?
Four
The four are Vienna, Bratislava, Budapest and Belgrade. The river touches ten countries before reaching its delta in Romania and Ukraine.
Q 24After Vietnam's reunification in 1976, Saigon was renamed in honour of which leader?
Ho Chi Minh
Saigon became Ho Chi Minh City on 2 July 1976, honouring the North Vietnamese leader Ho Chi Minh, who had died in 1969; the old name survives in everyday speech and in a central ward's name.
Q 25Which desert is the largest in the world by total area?
Antarctic
Deserts are defined by precipitation, not heat: Antarctica's 14.2 million square kilometers get almost none, dwarfing the Sahara's 9.2 million sq km.
Q 26What is the most populous country in Africa?
Nigeria
Nigeria is Africa's most populous country, with roughly 220 million people in 2023 — far ahead of Ethiopia's 125 million — and the UN projects it to be the world's third-largest population by 2050.
Q 27Which two countries share the longest international border in the world?
United States and Canada
The United States and Canada share the world's longest international border, 8,891 km in total: a 6,416 km contiguous stretch plus 2,475 km between Alaska and Canada.
Q 28In which country would you find Machu Picchu?
Peru
Built around 1450, probably as an estate for the emperor Pachacuti, the citadel was brought to world attention by Hiram Bingham in 1911. It receives over 1.5 million visitors a year.
Q 29Which country counts more islands than any other — over a quarter of a million?
Sweden
A 2013 count found 267,570 Swedish islands, fewer than 1,000 of them inhabited. Together they make up just 3 percent of the country's land area.
Q 30What is the capital of New Zealand?
Wellington
Wellington took over from Auckland in 1865, and its status rests on convention rather than any statute.