Southeast Asia
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100 free Southeast Asia trivia questions with answers — geography quiz, new questions added Oct 2026.
Eleven countries, about 676 million people, the world's largest archipelago, the largest religious complex on Earth, the longest river in the region, the biggest lizard, the biggest flower and the most violent volcanic eruption in recorded history. Southeast Asia packs a lot in. These 100 questions range across geography (the Mekong, Hkakabo Razi, Puncak Jaya's glaciers, Tonlé Sap, the Gulf of Thailand, the Wallace Line), history (Funan, Srivijaya, the Chola raid, Angkor, Majapahit, the spread of Islam, Portuguese Malacca, the Manila galleon, Siam's escape from colonisation, ASEAN's 1967 founding, Timor-Leste in 2002), nature (Komodo dragons, Rafflesia, orangutans, Krakatoa, Lake Toba, the Coral Triangle) and culture (durian bans, sepak takraw, gamelan, Borobudur, Bagan, Naypyidaw). Every answer is cited to a page we checked and each explanation adds one more detail. Play it solo or print it for a geography round.
30 of 100 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01Which 1954 battle in northern Vietnam ended French rule in Indochina?
Dien Bien Phu
Dien Bien Phu's fall led to the Geneva Accords, which temporarily divided Vietnam in two.
Q 02Which is the only landlocked country in Southeast Asia?
Laos
Laos took more than two million tons of US bombs from 1964 to 1973, making it the most heavily bombed country for its population.
Q 03Which is the longest river in Southeast Asia?
Mekong
The Mekong's water levels have been pushed down by drought and dozens of hydroelectric dams, damaging a fragile ecosystem.
Q 04What is the highest mountain in Southeast Asia?
Hkakabo Razi
Hkakabo Razi's claim to be the region's highest peak has been challenged by Gamlang Razi, a neighbouring peak on the Myanmar–Tibet border.
Q 05As of the early 2020s, which Southeast Asian peak still held tropical glaciers?
Puncak Jaya
Puncak Jaya's glaciers have been retreating rapidly and are expected to disappear around 2030.
Q 06Which lake in Cambodia is the largest freshwater lake in Southeast Asia?
Tonlé Sap
Tonlé Sap's river flows backwards each rainy season, swelling the lake to as much as 16,000 square kilometres.
Q 07Which Myanmar democracy leader won the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize while under house arrest?
Aung San Suu Kyi
Aung San Suu Kyi was freed in 2010, but after a 2021 military coup she was arrested again.
Q 08About how many islands make up the Philippines?
About 7,500
The Philippines has about 7,500 islands, and on one of them local warriors killed the explorer Ferdinand Magellan in 1521.
Q 09Which Philippine volcano's 1991 eruption cooled global temperatures for about two years?
Mount Pinatubo
Mount Pinatubo shot sulfur dioxide into the stratosphere, and that gas spreading around the world is what cooled the planet.
Q 10Which is the largest ethnic group in Southeast Asia, numbering over 100 million?
Javanese
Javanese was the language of the largest ethnic group, yet Indonesia chose Malay-based Indonesian as its national language to avoid favouring the Javanese.
Q 11Which Southeast Asian country was the only one to avoid European colonisation?
Thailand
Thailand kept its independence, and a 1932 revolution made it a constitutional monarchy.
Q 12Who became Philippine president when the 1986 'people power' movement forced Ferdinand Marcos into exile?
Corazon Aquino
Corazon Aquino's government was shaken by several coup attempts during her presidency.
Q 13In which city was the ASEAN Declaration signed on 8 August 1967?
Bangkok
Bangkok hosted the 1967 signing, where five countries formed ASEAN seeking a common front against the spread of communism.
Q 21Which East Kalimantan city was designated in 2022 to replace Jakarta as capital?
Nusantara
Nusantara was chosen partly to relieve Jakarta, whose congestion, flooding and sinking ground helped prompt the move.
Q 22Which city is Vietnam's largest, though not its capital?
Ho Chi Minh City
Ho Chi Minh City was Saigon until North Vietnam took the South and renamed it after its leader, though the old name is still used informally.
Q 23Angkor Wat was built in the 12th century as a Hindu temple dedicated to which god?
Vishnu
Angkor Wat was built for Vishnu, but from the late 13th century Buddhist monks took it over.
Q 14Which country became ASEAN's 11th member in 2025?
Timor-Leste
Timor-Leste voted for independence in a 1999 UN-supervised referendum, and pro-Indonesian militias answered with a campaign of violence.
Q 15Which Indonesian province lay closest to the epicentre of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami?
Aceh
In Aceh, within a year of the disaster, armed separatists and the government signed a historic peace agreement.
Q 16Which cyclone left more than 138,000 people dead in Myanmar in 2008?
Cyclone Nargis
Cyclone Nargis struck days before a constitutional referendum, which the junta held anyway, postponing it only in the worst-hit areas.
Q 17As of 2025, which Southeast Asian country had the smallest population?
Brunei
Brunei's oil and natural gas fields give it one of the world's highest incomes per person.
Q 18Who called Singapore's separation a 'moment of anguish'?
Lee Kuan Yew
Lee Kuan Yew said so because all his adult life he had believed in the merger of Singapore and Malaysia.
Q 19Which city serves as Malaysia's federal administrative capital?
Putrajaya
Putrajaya was built to relieve congestion in Kuala Lumpur, and the federal government began moving its offices there in 1999.
Q 20Which city replaced Yangon as Myanmar's administrative capital in 2005?
Naypyidaw
Naypyidaw was carved out of the bush near Pyinmana, and the public first glimpsed it on Armed Forces Day in 2006.
Q 24Which king commissioned Angkor Wat?
Suryavarman II
Suryavarman II's temple faces west, toward the land of the dead, which is why many think it was meant as his funerary temple.
Q 25On which island does the Buddhist temple of Borobudur stand?
Java
Java's Borobudur lay abandoned for centuries until the island's British ruler drew world attention to it in 1814.
Q 26Bagan, with over 2,200 surviving temples, was the capital of which realm?
Pagan Kingdom
It was the first kingdom to unify the regions that became Myanmar, building over 10,000 temples on the plain.
Q 27Which maritime empire controlled both the Malacca and Sunda straits?
Srivijaya
Srivijaya's hold on both straits made it rich on the sea trade linking China, India and Arab merchants.
Q 28Which Indian dynasty launched naval raids on Palembang and Kedah around 1025?
Chola
The Chola raids captured the king of the realm they struck, and that maritime empire may have broken apart soon after 1025.
Q 29Which Hindu-Buddhist empire was founded in 1293, after a Mongol invasion?
Majapahit
Majapahit's founder, Raden Wijaya, helped the Mongol army defeat Kediri, then turned on his allies and defeated them.
Q 30Which European power arrived first in the region, taking Malacca in the 16th century?
Portugal
Portugal's capture of Malacca in 1511 destroyed the Malacca Sultanate that had ruled the port.