World Geography
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8correct to beat the crowd
This world geography quiz covers the planet country by country in 149 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 149 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01Which national park, widely considered the world's first, sits on top of a supervolcano?
Yellowstone
Yellowstone became a national park in 1872, while Wyoming and Montana were still territories rather than states.
Q 02Which river is traditionally ranked the longest in the world?
Nile
The Nile is traditionally ranked longest, though some studies measure a rival as longer; Egypt's Aswan High Dam, completed in 1970, ended its annual flood downstream.
Q 03Which city became Australia's capital as a Sydney–Melbourne compromise?
Canberra
Canberra was the compromise: Australia's constitution put the capital in New South Wales but at least 100 miles from Sydney.
Q 04Which country's canal lifts ships 26 metres through locks to cross between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans?
Panama
Panama's canal lifts ships to Gatun Lake, a reservoir made by damming the Chagres River, so each passage spends the lake's fresh water.
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, and eels from Europe and North America swim 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 give it 12 time zones, 13 counting its polar claim; mainland France switched to German time under the occupation and kept Central European Time after the war.
Q 07What is the smallest country in the world by area?
Vatican City
Vatican City has been a sovereign state only since the 1929 Lateran Treaty, which ended decades in which popes called themselves prisoners in the Vatican.
Q 08Which city is the northernmost capital of a sovereign state?
Reykjavík
Reykjavík is the northernmost capital of a sovereign state; Nuuk lies a few kilometres further north, but it is the capital of an autonomous Danish territory.
Q 09Which South American country is the largest by area?
Brazil
Brazil covers roughly half of South America, and after three centuries of Portuguese rule it became independent in 1822 as an empire, turning republic only in 1889.
Q 10What is the capital of Canada?
Ottawa
Queen Victoria chose Ottawa in 1857, partly because it lay on the border between Upper and Lower Canada and was harder to attack than rival cities.
Q 11Which African country was formerly known as Abyssinia?
Ethiopia
Ethiopia routed an invading army at Adwa in 1896, forcing the would-be colonisers to recognise its independence in the Treaty of Addis Ababa.
Q 12The Great Barrier Reef lies in which sea?
Coral Sea
The Great Barrier Reef lies in the Coral Sea, and in 1770 it ran James Cook's Endeavour aground, badly damaging the ship.
Q 13Which strait separates Europe from Africa?
Strait of Gibraltar
The Strait of Gibraltar is about 14 km wide at its narrowest, and salty Mediterranean water flows out along its floor while Atlantic water pours in above.
Q 21Which landlocked kingdom is entirely enclosed by a single neighbouring country?
Lesotho
Lesotho's lowest point, about 1,400 m, is the highest low point of any country, and in 1868 its king sought British protection against Boer settlers.
Q 22Which body of water in Siberia is the deepest lake in the world?
Baikal
Baikal reaches 1,642 m, holds more water than all five North American Great Lakes combined, and is home to the nerpa, a freshwater seal found nowhere else.
Q 23The Galápagos Islands belong to which country?
Ecuador
Ecuador annexed the Galápagos in 1832, three years before Charles Darwin's visit helped inspire his theory of evolution by natural selection.
Q 14Which city is the constitutional capital of Bolivia, even though the government sits in La Paz?
Sucre
Sucre lost the seat of government to La Paz in 1898, after the decline of Potosí's silver mines cost the city its main resource.
Q 15Which country is home to the ancient city of Petra?
Jordan
Jordan's Petra was reached in 1812 by Swiss traveller Johann Ludwig Burckhardt, who, disguised as a local, told his guide he wanted to sacrifice a goat at Aaron's tomb.
Q 16Lake Titicaca, often called the world's highest navigable lake, sits on the border of which two countries?
Peru and Bolivia
Peru and Bolivia share Lake Titicaca, where Uros communities live on floating islands built from totora reeds.
Q 17As of 2026, which European country has the most UNESCO World Heritage Sites?
Italy
Italy's sites include Venice, and from August 2021 Italy diverted large cruise ships from the city's centre as UNESCO weighed listing it as endangered.
Q 18What is the longest continental mountain range in the world?
Andes
The Andes are the longest mountain range on land, and the equatorial bulge makes one of their volcanoes, Chimborazo, the surface point farthest from Earth's centre.
Q 19Which island nation is the largest in the Caribbean by area?
Cuba
Columbus landed on Cuba in 1492, claimed it for Spain and believed it was part of mainland Asia rather than an island.
Q 20Which capital city stands where the Sava River flows into the Danube?
Belgrade
Belgrade, at the Sava–Danube confluence, was taken by the Habsburgs three times between 1688 and 1789, and each time it went back to the Ottomans.
Q 24After Vietnam's reunification, Saigon was renamed in honour of which leader?
Ho Chi Minh
Saigon became Ho Chi Minh City in 1976, seven years after the leader's death, yet many residents call it Saigon.
Q 25Counting cold deserts, which is the largest desert on Earth?
Antarctic
The Antarctic Desert, though buried in ice, counts as Earth's largest desert because its interior receives very little precipitation.
Q 26What is the most populous country in Africa?
Nigeria
Nigeria moved its capital from overcrowded Lagos to purpose-built Abuja in 1991, choosing a central site seen as neutral among its major ethnic groups.
Q 27Which two countries share the longest international border in the world?
United States and Canada
The United States and Canada share about 8,900 km of border, and a black line across the floor of the Haskell Free Library marks it between Vermont and Quebec.
Q 28In which country would you find Machu Picchu?
Peru
Peru: probably built as an estate for the Inca emperor Pachacuti, it was abandoned as the Spanish conquest unfolded, likely as its nobles joined the Inca court in exile.
Q 29Which city replaced Auckland as New Zealand's capital?
Wellington
Wellington replaced Auckland in 1865 after MPs who could not agree on a more central capital left the choice to Australian commissioners.
Q 30Aconcagua, the highest peak in the Western Hemisphere, stands in which country?
Argentina
Aconcagua, in Argentina's Mendoza province, is the highest mountain outside Asia, yet its normal route is arguably non-technical, needing no ropes.