50 free Geography Trivia for Seniors trivia questions with answers — geography quiz, new questions added Aug 2026.
This geography trivia for seniors quiz is written for people who learned their atlas when Ceylon, Burma, Rhodesia and Siam were still on the map. It covers the classics everyone was taught in school (the longest river, the highest mountain, the largest ocean, the five Great Lakes) and the changes that happened during a long lifetime: the Berlin Wall going up and coming down, Alaska and Hawaii joining the Union, Hong Kong being handed back, the Soviet Union breaking into 15 countries, and cities changing their names from Peking, Bombay, Saigon and Leningrad. The questions are pitched for a senior centre or retirement community quiz, a family game with grandparents, or anyone who likes to travel from an armchair. Most are gentle; a handful will start a good argument. Every answer was checked against Wikipedia and reference sources, and each question shows where it comes from. All 50 questions are free with no sign-up. For more, try our main Geography trivia page or World Geography quiz.
30 of 50 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01Which river is generally listed as the longest in the world, at about 7,000 kilometres?
The Nile
It carries far less water than the Amazon, which is the largest river by volume and disputes the longest title. Egypt's ancient name, Kemet, meant 'black' after its floodwater silt.
Q 02Which two men made the first documented ascent of Mount Everest in 1953?
Tenzing Norgay and Edmund Hillary
They went up the Southeast Ridge. A 2020 Nepal-China survey put the summit at 8,848.86 metres, or 29,031 feet.
Q 03What is the world's largest hot desert?
The Sahara
At 9.2 million square kilometres it is only beaten overall by the cold deserts of Antarctica and the Arctic.
Q 04Which city was chosen as Australia's capital as a compromise between Sydney and Melbourne?
Canberra
It was purpose-built after federation and sits in its own territory, hemmed in by New South Wales.
Q 05Which is the smallest sovereign state in the world by both area and population?
Vatican City
It covers 44 hectares, about 109 acres, and was created by the Lateran Treaty with Italy in 1929.
Q 06Greenland, the world's largest island, belongs to which kingdom?
Denmark
It is an autonomous territory and its people are Danish citizens. The kingdom's other parts are Denmark proper and the Faroe Islands.
Q 07In what year did the Panama Canal open?
1914
The United States took over the failed French project in 1904. Under the Torrijos-Carter Treaties, Panama took full control at the end of 1999.
Q 08Which US president signed the 1977 treaties that eventually handed the Panama Canal to Panama?
Jimmy Carter
He signed with Panama's Omar Torrijos. After a period of joint control, Panama took over completely in 1999.
Q 09Which Egyptian leader nationalised the Suez Canal in 1956, sparking the Suez Crisis?
Gamal Abdel Nasser
The canal had opened in 1869, built by Ferdinand de Lesseps's company. British and French shareholders had operated it until then.
Q 10In what year did East Germany begin building the Berlin Wall?
1961
Work started on 13 August. The Wall stood for 28 years.
Q 11On what date did East Germany announce its citizens could freely cross into West Berlin?
9 November 1989
Germany was formally reunited on 3 October 1990, less than a year later.
Q 12Route 66 ran from Chicago to which California city?
Santa Monica
It covered 2,448 miles through eight states and was removed from the highway system in 1985. Steinbeck called it the Mother Road.
Q 13Which of the five Great Lakes is the largest freshwater lake in the world by surface area?
Superior
Michigan and Huron are technically one body of water joined at the Straits of Mackinac. Sailors have long called the five lakes inland seas.
Q 21Which country was officially called Burma in English until 1989?
Myanmar
Many governments and news organisations kept using the old name for years afterwards.
Q 22Southern Rhodesia became which independent nation on 11 April 1980?
Zimbabwe
Its capital Salisbury was renamed Harare. The region had been named for Cecil Rhodes's British South Africa Company in 1890.
Q 23Which country was historically known to the West as Persia?
Iran
It borders seven countries plus the Caspian Sea, the Gulf of Oman and the Persian Gulf.
Q 24Which Southeast Asian kingdom, formerly Siam, was never colonised by a European power?
Q 14The Mississippi River traditionally rises from which body of water in northern Minnesota?
Lake Itasca
From there it flows 2,340 miles to the Gulf of Mexico. Only the Missouri is longer among American rivers.
Q 15The United States bought Alaska from Russia in 1867 for how much?
$7.2 million
That is about $166 million in today's money. Alaska became the 49th state on 3 January 1959.
Q 16Which was the last state to join the United States, in August 1959?
Hawaii
It had been a kingdom until 1893 and was annexed in 1898. Alaska had joined seven months earlier.
Q 17Which sculptor carved Mount Rushmore, working from 1927 to 1941?
Gutzon Borglum
He called it the Shrine of Democracy and his son Lincoln finished the work. The Lakota name for the mountain means Six Grandfathers.
Q 18Which river carved the Grand Canyon?
The Colorado
The canyon is 277 miles long, up to 18 miles wide and over a mile deep.
Q 19Which of the three Niagara waterfalls straddles the Canada-US border?
Horseshoe Falls
The other two lie entirely in the United States. The falls sit between Ontario and New York State.
Q 20Sri Lanka was known by what name before 1972?
Ceylon
It gained independence from Britain in 1948 and kept the old name for another 24 years. Its tea is still often sold under it.
Thailand
It gave up territory and trade rights through unequal treaties, but kept its independence.
Q 25Which Indian city was officially called Bombay until 1995?
Mumbai
Its seven islands passed to England in 1661 as part of Catherine of Braganza's dowry when she married Charles II.
Q 26Which Chinese capital was long spelled Peking in the West?
Beijing
It has eight UNESCO World Heritage Sites, including the Forbidden City, the Temple of Heaven and the Summer Palace.
Q 27Vietnam's largest city, formerly Saigon, was renamed in 1976 after whom?
Ho Chi Minh
Many locals still say Saigon, and the river through the city keeps the old name. Its population passed 14 million in 2025.
Q 28Which Russian city was called Petrograd, then Leningrad, before getting its original name back?
Saint Petersburg
It became Leningrad after Lenin died in 1924 and endured the deadliest siege in history during the Second World War.
Q 29On what date was the Soviet Union formally dissolved?
26 December 1991
Mikhail Gorbachev's reforms, glasnost and perestroika, had loosened the system; economic stagnation and nationalism did the rest.
Q 30Czechoslovakia peacefully split into the Czech Republic and Slovakia in which year?
1993
Parliament dissolved the federation the year before and the two new states began on New Year's Day. It is often called the Velvet Divorce.