70 free Middle East trivia questions with answers — geography quiz, new questions added Aug 2026.
68 free Middle East trivia questions with answers. The Middle East is where farming, writing and three world religions began, and where a huge share of the world's oil still comes from. This quiz covers the region as a whole: its geography (the Fertile Crescent, the Dead Sea, the Empty Quarter, the Nile, the Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz), its landmarks (Petra, Mecca, Jerusalem's Old City, the Burj Khalifa, the Suez Canal) and its modern history (Sykes-Picot, the founding of Israel, OPEC, the Arab League, the Iranian Revolution, the Gulf War and the Arab Spring). There are country-by-country questions too, from Turkey and Iran to Egypt, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan and every Gulf state, plus a few on Arabic, the Hajj and who coined the term 'Middle East' in the first place. Early questions suit a general-knowledge round; later ones will stretch geography buffs. Every answer has been verified against Wikipedia and shows its citation once you have answered.
30 of 70 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01Which country is the largest in the Middle East by area?
Saudi Arabia
It was founded in 1932 by King Abdulaziz, who united the Hejaz, Najd and parts of eastern and southern Arabia.
Q 02Which three countries are the most populous in the Middle East?
Egypt, Iran and Turkey
Egypt alone has more than 107 million people, the most of any Arab country.
Q 03Which American naval strategist popularised the term 'Middle East' in 1902?
Alfred Thayer Mahan
He used it to designate the area between Arabia and India; the British had used 'Near East' for the Ottoman lands.
Q 04How many of the 18 countries usually counted as the Middle East are part of the Arab world?
13
The exceptions are Turkey, Iran, Israel and Cyprus, plus one more depending on the list used.
Q 05Which three religions all originated in the Middle East and have their holiest sites there?
Judaism, Christianity and Islam
Jerusalem is sacred to all three, and its Old City has been a World Heritage Site since 1981.
Q 06Which region spanning the Levant and Mesopotamia is nicknamed 'the cradle of civilization'?
The Fertile Crescent
It saw the first settled farming as well as writing, the wheel and irrigation.
Q 07Which archaeologist popularised the term 'Fertile Crescent' in a 1914 textbook?
James Henry Breasted
He founded the Oriental Institute in Chicago and was the first American to earn a PhD in Egyptology.
Q 08The Tigris and Euphrates both rise in which mountain range?
The Taurus Mountains
They flow through modern Turkey, Syria and Iraq before joining near the Persian Gulf.
Q 09The Dead Sea's shores are the lowest land on Earth, at roughly how far below sea level?
440 metres
It has been shrinking since the 1960s as the Jordan River's water is diverted upstream.
Q 10Roughly what is the salinity of the Dead Sea?
34%
That is nearly ten times the ocean, and dense enough that swimming turns into floating.
Q 11Which three territories border the Dead Sea?
Jordan, the West Bank and Israel
Jordan lies to the east and Israel to the southwest.
Q 12The Suez Canal opened in 1869 under the control of which European country?
France
Ferdinand de Lesseps's company built it; Nasser nationalised it in 1956 and triggered the Suez Crisis.
Q 13On what date did Egyptian President Nasser nationalise the Suez Canal?
26 July 1956
Britain, France and Israel invaded within months, then withdrew under American and Soviet pressure.
Q 21The Arab League was formed in 1945 in which city, which is still its headquarters?
Cairo
Seven states signed up at first: Egypt, Iraq, Transjordan, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Syria and North Yemen.
Q 22The Gulf Cooperation Council, founded in 1981, has how many member states?
Six
Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE, with headquarters in Riyadh.
Q 23The secret 1916 Anglo-French deal carving up the Ottoman Middle East is named after whom?
Sykes and Picot
The two men initialled the memorandum in January 1916; it defined spheres of influence rather than borders.
Q 14Which container ship blocked the Suez Canal for six days in March 2021?
Ever Given
Around 12 percent of world trade normally passes through the canal, so the queue quickly ran to hundreds of ships.
Q 15The Suez Canal has how many locks?
None
It is a sea-level waterway, so seawater flows freely along its 193 km.
Q 16Which narrow waterway connects the Persian Gulf to the Gulf of Oman?
The Strait of Hormuz
Eight countries have Gulf coastlines, and the region is the world's largest single source of petroleum.
Q 17How many nations have coastlines on the Persian Gulf?
Eight
Bahrain, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE.
Q 18What does 'Rub' al Khali', the name of the great desert of southern Arabia, mean?
Empty Quarter
It covers about 650,000 square kilometres across Saudi Arabia, Oman, the UAE and Yemen.
Q 19OPEC was founded in 1960 in which city?
Baghdad
Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Venezuela were the founders; the headquarters moved to Vienna in 1965.
Q 20Which non-Middle Eastern country was one of OPEC's five founding members?
Venezuela
The organisation moved its base to Vienna after Switzerland declined to extend diplomatic privileges.
Q 24Mohamed Bouazizi's self-immolation in December 2010 sparked the Arab Spring in which country?
Tunisia
Within weeks Ben Ali had fled, and Egypt's Hosni Mubarak resigned in February 2011.
Q 25Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak resigned in February 2011 after how many days of mass protests?
18
He had ruled since Anwar Sadat's assassination in 1981.
Q 26Which city is considered the holiest in Islam and the birthplace of Muhammad?
Mecca
Non-Muslims are barred from entering, and Hajj pilgrims more than triple its population each year.
Q 27The Kaaba, which pilgrims circle during the Hajj, stands inside which mosque?
Masjid al-Haram
Muslims believe the Kaaba was built by Abraham and Ishmael.
Q 28How many times do Hajj pilgrims walk around the Kaaba during the tawaf?
Seven
They circle it counter-clockwise, dressed in the plain white ihram.
Q 29Jerusalem's Old City has been divided since the 19th century into how many quarters?
Four
They are the Armenian, Christian, Jewish and Muslim quarters.
Q 30Israel captured East Jerusalem in which 1967 conflict?
The Six-Day War
It also took the West Bank, Gaza, the Sinai and the Golan Heights in the same week.