Bermuda Trivia
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49 free Bermuda trivia questions with answers — geography quiz, new questions added Aug 2026.
Bermuda trivia for cruise passengers, sailors, insurance executives and anyone who has ever wondered whether the Triangle is real. The quiz starts with the geography: 181 islands and 54 square kilometres in the Sargasso Sea, a thousand kilometres from the nearest land in North Carolina, with a 79-metre high point, no rivers, and a law obliging every house to catch its own rain. Then it runs through the history: Juan de Bermúdez and the Isle of Devils, the 1609 wreck of the Sea Venture that saved Jamestown, St George's as the oldest continuously inhabited English town in the New World, one of the world's oldest parliaments, the pearl-diving slaves of 1616, the 1775 gunpowder theft, the Second World War censors at the Hamilton Princess, the assassination of Governor Sharples and the 1995 vote against independence. Later rounds cover the cahow that came back from the dead, pink beaches, the world's smallest drawbridge, the Bermudian dollar, the offshore finance industry, calypso and Gombeys, Bermuda shorts at the Olympics, the Newport-Bermuda race and Flora Duffy's triathlon gold. Questions run from easy to expert, and every answer was checked against a reference page and carries its source. See also our Caribbean, islands and British Overseas Territories quizzes.
30 of 49 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01What is the capital of Bermuda?
Hamilton
Hamilton has been Bermuda's capital since 1815, when it replaced St George's; it houses the territory's bicameral parliament.
Q 02Which US state holds the closest land to Bermuda?
North Carolina
Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, is Bermuda's nearest landfall, roughly 1,035 km to the west-northwest.
Q 03How many islands make up the Bermuda archipelago?
181
Bermuda is conventionally counted as 181 islands and islets; the main ones are linked by bridges and read as a single landmass.
Q 04Bermuda is named after an explorer of which nationality?
Spanish
Spanish navigator Juan de Bermúdez sighted the uninhabited islands around 1505, and they took his name.
Q 05Early sailors called Bermuda the 'Isle of Devils' because of what?
Raucous bird calls and wild hogs at night
The 'Isle of Devils' name came from raucous bird calls and wild hogs at night: the eerie cries were probably cahows, and the hogs had been left by passing ships.
Q 06Which ship's wreck on Bermuda's reef in 1609 led to English settlement?
Sea Venture
The Sea Venture, flagship of a relief fleet bound for Jamestown, was driven onto Bermuda's reef in a 1609 storm; everyone aboard survived.
Q 07Which two ships did the stranded settlers build to continue to Jamestown?
Deliverance and Patience
The castaways built Deliverance and Patience from Bermuda cedar and salvaged timbers, sailing for Jamestown in May 1610.
Q 08Bermuda's first capital, St George's, is the oldest continuously inhabited English town where?
In the New World
St George's, founded in 1612, is the oldest continuously inhabited English town in the New World; Jamestown, settled in 1607, was later abandoned.
Q 09What may be the earliest conservation law in the New World, passed in Bermuda in 1620?
A ban on killing young sea turtles
Bermuda's 1620 'Act Agaynst the Killing of Ouer Young Tortoyses' was a ban on killing young sea turtles, passed four years after a 1616 proclamation protecting cahows.
Q 10Bermuda's flag is unusual among British Overseas Territories for being based on which flag?
The Red Ensign
Bermuda's flag is based on the Red Ensign, defaced with the territory's coat of arms; most other British Overseas Territories fly a Blue Ensign.
Q 11The colony was renamed in 1615 in honour of which admiral of the wrecked 1609 relief fleet?
Sir George Somers
Sir George Somers commanded the 1609 fleet and died on Bermuda in 1610; the colony became the Somers Isles under the Somers Isles Company from 1615.
Q 12The first two enslaved people brought to Bermuda in 1616 were sent to do what?
Dive for pearls
They were sent to dive for pearls, which turned out not to exist; one was Black and one Native American, brought from the West Indies.
Q 13What was stolen from Bermuda's magazine on 14 August 1775 while the governor slept?
100 barrels of gunpowder
Q 21What is Bermuda's highest point, Town Hill, in metres?
79
Town Hill in Smith's Parish rises only about 79 metres; the whole territory is low-lying with some 103 km of coastline.
Q 22Bermuda's islands are made mostly of what rock, sitting on an extinct volcano?
Limestone
Bermuda's islands are limestone: wind-blown carbonate sand cemented into eolianite, capping the flanks of an extinct volcano more than 30 million years old.
Q 23Bermuda's mild winters are attributed to which ocean current?
The Gulf Stream
The Gulf Stream passes nearby and keeps Bermuda's winters mild; February, the coldest month, averages around 17-18 °C.
About 100 barrels of gunpowder were rolled out to waiting American boats; in return the Continental Congress exempted Bermuda from its trade embargo.
Q 14The island's first newspaper, founded in 1784 by Joseph Stockdale, was called what?
The Bermuda Gazette
Joseph Stockdale printed the first issue of The Bermuda Gazette in St George's in January 1784 and also ran the island's first postal service.
Q 15Which flower's bulb exports to New York were vital to Bermuda's economy around 1900?
Easter lily
Bermuda shipped Easter lily bulbs to New York by the million; a mosaic virus nearly killed the trade until pathologist Lawrence Ogilvie identified it in the 1920s.
Q 16Which US law of 1930 killed Bermuda's agricultural exports and pushed it toward tourism?
The Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act
The Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act of 1930 priced Bermuda's onions and lily bulbs out of the US market, so the island turned to tourism.
Q 17The Bermuda Railway, opened in 1931, was abandoned in which year?
1948
The Bermuda Railway closed in 1948 and its rolling stock was sold to British Guiana; the right of way became the Bermuda Railway Trail.
Q 18Which hotel served as a British censorship centre during the Second World War?
The Hamilton Princess
Some 1,200 censors at the Hamilton Princess read transatlantic mail and helped expose Axis agents, including the 'Joe K' ring.
Q 19Which governor of Bermuda was assassinated in March 1973?
Richard Sharples
Sir Richard Sharples and his aide-de-camp were shot at Government House on 10 March 1973; Erskine Burrows was hanged for the murders in 1977.
Q 20How did Bermudians vote in the 1995 independence referendum?
A large majority against
A large majority against independence, about 74% of voters, was recorded in the August 1995 referendum, which the opposition PLP had urged supporters to boycott.
Q 24Which 2003 hurricane hit Bermuda directly with winds over 120 mph?
Fabian
Hurricane Fabian crossed Bermuda on 5 September 2003 as a Category 3 storm, killing four people on the Causeway and causing around $300 million in damage.
Q 25Bermuda's national bird, the cahow, was rediscovered in 1951 after being thought extinct since when?
The 1620s
The cahow was believed extinct from the 1620s, wiped out by settlers, hogs and rats, until 18 nesting pairs were found on rocky islets in 1951.
Q 26What are Bermuda's only indigenous mammals?
Five species of bat
Five species of bat are Bermuda's only native mammals, all of them also found in the eastern United States.
Q 27Which bird, locally called the longtail, is Bermudians' first sign of spring?
White-tailed tropicbird
The white-tailed tropicbird, known locally as the longtail, returns to Bermuda's cliffs to nest each February and March.
Q 28Somerset Bridge holds what world record?
Smallest drawbridge
Somerset Bridge is billed as the world's smallest drawbridge: its hinged plank opens a gap of just 32 inches, enough for a sailboat's mast.
Q 29The Royal Naval Dockyard stands on which island at Bermuda's western tip?
Ireland Island
The Royal Navy began building its dockyard on Ireland Island, at Bermuda's western tip, in 1809; the yard closed in 1951.
Q 30What colour are Bermuda's famous beaches?
Pink
Bermuda's sand is pink because it is flecked with the crushed red shells of foraminifera; Horseshoe Bay and Warwick Long Bay are the best known beaches.