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Geography Trivia Questions
Capital cities, rivers, deserts and borders. Play the game first, then scroll down for the full list of geography trivia questions and answers.
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Geography trivia is the most-played category on almost every quiz site, and for good reason: the answers are settled facts. A capital city is either right or it isn't, which makes these questions fair to ask and easy to defend when someone at the table disagrees.
This set moves from the questions most people get right — Australia's capital, the largest country by area — through to the ones that separate the map-readers, like which two countries share the longest land border.
Countries and capitals: geography trivia questions
What is the capital city of Australia?
Answer: Canberra EasySydney is the largest city, but Canberra was purpose-built as the capital.Why?
Iceland's capital city is which of these?
Answer: Reykjavik EasyMuch of the city is heated by geothermal water piped from nearby fields.
Which country has Wellington as its capital?
Answer: New Zealand MediumIt sits at the southern tip of the North Island and is famously windy.Why?
Which country is sometimes called the Land of a Thousand Lakes?
Answer: Finland MediumIts glacial landscape actually holds well over a hundred thousand lakes.Why?
Which European country is often said to be shaped like a boot?
Answer: Italy EasyThe 'heel' is Puglia and the 'toe' is Calabria, kicking the island of Sicily.
Brazil lies on which continent?
Answer: South America EasyIt is the largest country on the continent and the only one where Portuguese is the official language.
Which of these is an island country?
Answer: Cuba EasyThe other three are landlocked, with no coastline at all.
Lima is the capital of which South American country?
Answer: Peru EasyIt was founded by Francisco Pizarro in 1535 as the seat of Spanish rule in the Andes.
The Taj Mahal is in which country?
Answer: India EasyIt stands beside the Yamuna river in the city of Agra.
Which country is known as the Land of the Rising Sun?
Answer: Japan EasyThe name Nippon means 'origin of the sun', as the islands lie east of the Asian mainland.
Which African country was formerly known as Abyssinia?
Answer: Ethiopia MediumIt is one of the few African countries never to have been colonised.
The temple complex of Angkor Wat is in which country?
Answer: Cambodia MediumIt appears on the national flag, the only building to do so.
The ancient rock-cut city of Petra is in which country?
Answer: Jordan MediumIt was the capital of the Nabataean kingdom before Rome absorbed it.
Which country lies at the tip of the Malay Peninsula, joined to Malaysia by causeway?
Answer: Singapore HardIt separated from Malaysia in 1965 and is one of the few city-states left in the world.
Greenland is a self-governing territory of which country?
Answer: Denmark HardIt is the world's largest island and gained home rule in 1979.
Rivers, mountains and oceans: geography trivia questions
Which is the longest river in South America?
Answer: Amazon EasyIt carries more water than any other river on Earth by a wide margin.Why?
Mount Everest sits on the border between Nepal and which other country?
Answer: China EasyThe Tibetan side is administered by China, and the peak straddles the line.
Which ocean lies between Africa and Australia?
Answer: Indian Ocean EasyIts monsoon winds shaped centuries of trade between Arabia, India and East Africa.Why?
Lake Titicaca lies on the border of Peru and which country?
Answer: Bolivia MediumIt is the highest lake in the world that large boats can navigate.
Which river flows through the Grand Canyon?
Answer: Colorado HardIt cut the canyon over millions of years and still drains seven US states.Why?
The Nile flows into which sea?
Answer: Mediterranean Sea EasyIt fans out into a broad delta north of Cairo.
The Andes mountain range runs down which continent?
Answer: South America EasyIt is the longest continental mountain range in the world.
The Great Barrier Reef lies off the coast of which Australian state?
Answer: Queensland MediumIt is made of thousands of individual reefs and hundreds of islands.
Which South American country has coastline on both the Caribbean Sea and the Pacific Ocean?
Answer: Colombia MediumPanama also has both coasts, but it is counted as Central America.Why?
Which country contains the source of the Blue Nile?
Answer: Ethiopia HardIt rises at Lake Tana and supplies most of the Nile's flood water.Why?
Kilimanjaro stands in which country?
Answer: Tanzania HardIt is a dormant volcano and the highest free-standing mountain on land.
Which is the largest ocean on Earth?
Answer: Pacific Ocean EasyIt covers more area than all the world's land put together.
The Rocky Mountains run through which continent?
Answer: North America EasyThey stretch from British Columbia in Canada down to New Mexico.
Mont Blanc, the highest peak in the Alps, stands on the border of France and which country?
Answer: Italy EasyA road tunnel beneath the mountain links Chamonix with the Aosta Valley.
Which sea separates Italy from the Balkan Peninsula?
Answer: Adriatic Sea EasyVenice sits at its northern end and Croatia's islands line its eastern shore.
The Amazon river empties into which ocean?
Answer: Atlantic Ocean EasyIts fresh water can be detected far out to sea from the Brazilian coast.
The Danube empties into which sea?
Answer: Black Sea MediumIts delta on the Romanian coast is one of Europe's largest wetlands.
Lake Victoria is shared by Uganda, Kenya and which other country?
Answer: Tanzania MediumIt is Africa's largest lake and the main reservoir of the White Nile.
Which is the longest river in Europe?
Answer: Volga MediumIt runs entirely through Russia and drains into the Caspian Sea.
Which is the longest river in Asia?
Answer: Yangtze HardIt flows entirely within China and is the third-longest river in the world.
Which Central Asian body of water has largely dried up since the 1960s?
Answer: Aral Sea HardSoviet irrigation schemes diverted the two rivers that fed it.
Which river flows through Vienna, Bratislava and Budapest in turn?
Answer: Danube HardNo other river passes through so many national capitals.
Aconcagua, the highest mountain outside Asia, is in which country?
Answer: Argentina HardIt rises to about 6,960 metres in the Andes near the Chilean border.
Flags, borders and straits: geography trivia questions
The Strait of Gibraltar separates Spain from which country?
Answer: Morocco MediumAt its narrowest the crossing is only about fourteen kilometres.
Which African country is completely surrounded by South Africa?
Answer: Lesotho MediumIts entire territory sits above 1,400 metres, the highest low point of any country.Why?
Which two countries share the longest international land border?
Answer: Canada and the United States HardAlaska's boundary counts towards the total as well as the southern line.Why?
Which sea does the Suez Canal connect to the Mediterranean?
Answer: Red Sea EasyThe canal lets ships avoid sailing around the whole of Africa.Why?
Which country lies directly south of the United States?
Answer: Mexico EasyMuch of the border follows the Rio Grande.Why?
The Ural Mountains are the traditional dividing line between Europe and which continent?
Answer: Asia MediumThe range runs roughly north to south through western Russia.
The Bering Strait separates Alaska from which country?
Answer: Russia HardAt its narrowest the two coasts are about eighty kilometres apart.
Which country is entirely surrounded by Italy apart from Vatican City?
Answer: San Marino HardIt claims to be the oldest surviving sovereign republic.Why?
Which strait separates mainland Europe from the United Kingdom at its narrowest point?
Answer: Strait of Dover HardRoughly thirty-four kilometres wide, and the route of the Channel Tunnel.Why?
Which country lies directly north of the contiguous United States?
Answer: Canada EasyMuch of the border runs along the 49th parallel and through the Great Lakes.
Which small country sits in the Pyrenees between France and Spain?
Answer: Andorra MediumIts heads of state are the French president and a Spanish bishop, jointly.
Which river forms much of the border between Germany and Poland?
Answer: Oder MediumTogether with the Neisse it has marked the frontier since 1945.
Which country has the only national flag that is not a rectangle?
Answer: Nepal MediumIt is made of two stacked triangles, or pennants, with a moon and a sun.
Which strait separates the North and South Islands of New Zealand?
Answer: Cook Strait MediumThe ferry crossing between Wellington and Picton takes about three hours.
Which country's flag shows a single red maple leaf?
Answer: Canada MediumThe design was adopted in 1965, replacing a flag that carried the British Union Jack.
Which island is divided between Indonesia, Malaysia and Brunei?
Answer: Borneo MediumIt is the only island in the world shared by three sovereign states.
Which two countries have square national flags?
Answer: Switzerland and Vatican City HardEvery other national flag is wider than it is tall.
The Khyber Pass links Pakistan with which country?
Answer: Afghanistan HardFor centuries it was the main invasion and trade route into the Indian subcontinent.
Which country has coastline on both the Caspian Sea and the Persian Gulf?
Answer: Iran HardThe Elburz mountains run along its Caspian shore and the Zagros along the Gulf side.
The Strait of Hormuz connects the Persian Gulf to which body of water?
Answer: Gulf of Oman HardA large share of the world's seaborne oil passes through it.
Which country's flag shows a green cedar tree?
Answer: Lebanon HardThe cedar has been the country's emblem since biblical times.
Which two countries face each other across the Strait of Malacca?
Answer: Malaysia and Indonesia HardIt is one of the busiest shipping lanes in the world, linking the Indian Ocean to the Pacific.
Cities: geography trivia questions
Which European capital is split by the Danube into Buda and Pest?
Answer: Budapest MediumThe two towns and Obuda merged into one city in 1873.Why?
Which capital city sits at the highest elevation?
Answer: La Paz HardLa Paz is roughly 3,600 metres above sea level.Why?
Which country is home to the city of Marrakesh?
Answer: Morocco EasyIts old walled medina is built largely from red clay, hence 'the red city'.Why?
Istanbul straddles the boundary between which two continents?
Answer: Europe and Asia MediumThe Bosphorus strait forms the dividing line through the city.
Which river runs through Paris?
Answer: Seine HardThe city's oldest core sits on an island in it, the Ile de la Cite.Why?
Novosibirsk, Omsk and Irkutsk are cities in which region?
Answer: Siberia HardAll three grew along the Trans-Siberian Railway.
Which river flows through the centre of London?
Answer: Thames EasyThe city grew up around a Roman bridge over it nearly two thousand years ago.
The Eiffel Tower stands in which city?
Answer: Paris EasyIt was built for the 1889 World's Fair and was meant to be temporary.
Big Ben and Buckingham Palace are landmarks of which city?
Answer: London EasyBig Ben is strictly the name of the bell, not the clock tower itself.
Cairo stands on the banks of which river?
Answer: Nile EasyThe city sits just south of the point where the river splits into its delta.
Which US city is nicknamed the Big Apple?
Answer: New York EasyThe nickname was popularised by a 1920s horse-racing columnist and later a tourism campaign.
Which capital city stands where the Tagus river meets the Atlantic?
Answer: Lisbon MediumThe Tagus is the longest river on the Iberian Peninsula.
The historic trading city of Timbuktu is in which country?
Answer: Mali MediumIt sits on the southern edge of the Sahara near the Niger river.
Which river flows through Baghdad?
Answer: Tigris MediumThe Euphrates runs roughly parallel to the west, and the two meet further south.
Which capital city lies on the Vltava river?
Answer: Prague MediumThe Charles Bridge has carried people across the river there since the fourteenth century.
Which is the northernmost capital city of a sovereign country?
Answer: Reykjavik HardIt sits at about 64 degrees north, just below the Arctic Circle.
Which city is the capital of Australia's Northern Territory?
Answer: Darwin HardIt was named after Charles Darwin by the crew of HMS Beagle in 1839.
Which capital city stands where the Blue Nile and White Nile meet?
Answer: Khartoum HardThe two rivers can be seen as distinct colours for some distance after joining.
Maps, deserts and records: geography trivia questions
What is the largest country in the world by land area?
Answer: Russia EasyIt covers around an eighth of the world's inhabited land.Why?
Which desert covers most of northern Africa?
Answer: Sahara EasyThe name simply means 'desert' in Arabic.Why?
Which country has the most time zones?
Answer: France MediumCounting its overseas territories, France spans twelve.Why?
What is the smallest country in the world by area?
Answer: Vatican City MediumAn enclave inside Rome, it is smaller than many city parks.Why?
Which sea is the saltiest body of water listed here?
Answer: Dead Sea MediumIts salinity makes swimmers float, and almost nothing lives in it.Why?
Which country has the longest coastline in the world?
Answer: Canada HardIts Arctic archipelago adds tens of thousands of kilometres of shore.Why?
The Danakil Depression, one of the hottest places on Earth, is mainly in which country?
Answer: Ethiopia HardIt sits below sea level where three tectonic plates are pulling apart.
Which continent is the driest on Earth?
Answer: Antarctica EasyAlmost no precipitation falls there, which makes it a polar desert.Why?
Which US state is the largest by area?
Answer: Alaska EasyIt is more than twice the size of Texas.Why?
The Atacama Desert lies mainly in which country?
Answer: Chile MediumSome weather stations there have never recorded rainfall.
The Mariana Trench lies in which ocean?
Answer: Pacific Ocean HardIts deepest point lies further below sea level than Everest stands above it.
Which line of latitude passes through Ecuador, Kenya and Indonesia?
Answer: The Equator HardEcuador is named after it in Spanish.Why?
Which desert stretches across southern Mongolia and northern China?
Answer: Gobi EasyIt is a cold desert, with winter temperatures far below freezing.
Which continent has the most countries?
Answer: Africa EasyAfrica has fifty-four internationally recognised states, more than any other continent.
Which is the largest continent by land area?
Answer: Asia EasyIt covers roughly thirty per cent of the world's land surface.
Which desert covers most of Botswana?
Answer: Kalahari MediumDespite the name it gets enough rain to support grass and acacia, so it is often called a semi-desert.
Which is the largest country in South America by area?
Answer: Brazil MediumIt takes up nearly half the continent and borders every other South American country except Chile and Ecuador.
Which island country lies off the south-east coast of Africa?
Answer: Madagascar MediumIt is the fourth-largest island in the world and most of its wildlife is found nowhere else.
Which lake is the deepest in the world?
Answer: Lake Baikal HardThe Siberian lake reaches over 1,600 metres and holds about a fifth of the world's unfrozen fresh water.
Angel Falls, the highest uninterrupted waterfall on Earth, is in which country?
Answer: Venezuela HardIt drops from a flat-topped mountain called Auyán-tepui in the Guiana Highlands.
Which is the only continent that lies in all four hemispheres?
Answer: Africa HardBoth the Equator and the Prime Meridian cross it.
Which is the largest landlocked country in the world?
Answer: Kazakhstan HardIt does touch the Caspian Sea, but that is an enclosed lake with no outlet to the ocean.
Answer key
- Canberra
- Amazon
- China
- Indian Ocean
- Russia
- Sahara
- Budapest
- Bolivia
- France
- Vatican City
- Morocco
- Lesotho
- Dead Sea
- Canada
- La Paz
- Ethiopia
- Canada and the United States
- Colorado
- Antarctica
- Mediterranean Sea
- Morocco
- South America
- Alaska
- Reykjavik
- Red Sea
- Mexico
- Queensland
- Europe and Asia
- New Zealand
- Asia
- Colombia
- Finland
- Chile
- Seine
- Ethiopia
- Russia
- San Marino
- Tanzania
- Pacific Ocean
- The Equator
- Siberia
- Strait of Dover
- Italy
- South America
- Cuba
- Pacific Ocean
- North America
- Thames
- Italy
- Peru
- Paris
- Gobi
- Africa
- Adriatic Sea
- Canada
- London
- India
- Atlantic Ocean
- Japan
- Nile
- New York
- Asia
- Andorra
- Black Sea
- Oder
- Nepal
- Lisbon
- Ethiopia
- Cambodia
- Tanzania
- Cook Strait
- Kalahari
- Canada
- Mali
- Tigris
- Volga
- Brazil
- Borneo
- Prague
- Jordan
- Madagascar
- Switzerland and Vatican City
- Yangtze
- Lake Baikal
- Venezuela
- Reykjavik
- Afghanistan
- Iran
- Aral Sea
- Gulf of Oman
- Singapore
- Africa
- Kazakhstan
- Darwin
- Khartoum
- Danube
- Lebanon
- Malaysia and Indonesia
- Denmark
- Argentina
How to play
- Pick a mode: multiple choice, true or false, a 60-second sprint, or the daily quiz.
- Answer with a tap, or press 1 to 4 on a keyboard. The right answer appears straight away with a line explaining it.
- Finish the round to see your score, copy the result grid, and step up a difficulty.
- Hosting a night? The full geography list and a separate answer key are printed below, and the print layout drops the game and keeps the paper.
Tiebreaker questions
Closest guess wins. Read one out when two tables finish level.
How high is Mount Kilimanjaro's summit above sea level, in metres?
Answer: 5895 metres Uhuru Peak is the summit, and its height is stated as 5,895 metres on the sign at the top.
How many sovereign countries are there in Africa?
Answer: 54 countries Fifty-four are recognised by the United Nations; Western Sahara and Somaliland are not counted.
How many countries share a land border with Germany?
Answer: 9 countries Denmark, Poland, Czechia, Austria, Switzerland, France, Luxembourg, Belgium and the Netherlands.
Common mistakes in geography trivia
- Sydney is the capital of Australia.
Canberra is the capital. It was purpose-built in the early twentieth century as a compromise between Sydney and Melbourne.
- The Nile is definitely the longest river in the world.
Measurements of the Nile and the Amazon are close and depend on which source is counted, so serious quiz setters ask about either river by continent instead.
- Africa is one country, or is smaller than it looks on the map.
Africa has fifty-four countries and is large enough to hold the United States, China, India and most of Europe combined; the Mercator projection shrinks it.
- Iceland is covered in ice and Greenland is green.
Iceland's coast is mild and mostly green, while about eighty per cent of Greenland lies under an ice sheet.
- Mount Everest is the tallest mountain from base to summit.
Everest is the highest above sea level, but Mauna Kea in Hawaii rises further from its base on the ocean floor.
Running this round at a quiz night
Mix a geography round so that no more than half the questions are pure capitals; pair them with a river, a strait and a flag question so the map-readers and the pub regulars both get a turn. Expect arguments over Australia's capital (Canberra, never Sydney), whether Turkey or Russia count as European (say 'straddles two continents' and move on), and anything involving 'largest' or 'longest' — always say by what measure. The Nile versus the Amazon is genuinely unsettled, so never ask which is longer. For tiebreakers use closest-guess numbers with one fixed answer, such as the height of Kilimanjaro, rather than populations, which change every year and start fresh disputes.
Frequently asked questions
Are these geography trivia questions free to use at a quiz night?
Yes. Every question and answer on this page is free to read out, print or copy for your own quiz. There is no account and nothing to pay.
How many geography trivia questions are on this page?
There are one hundred, split into thirty-four easy, thirty-three medium and thirty-three hard. You can play them all in one round or use the difficulty links above to pick a set that matches your players.
Where do the answers come from?
Each answer is checked against a standard reference before it is added, and where a question is commonly misremembered — such as Australia's capital — a short note explains why the answer is what it is.
Not in a quiz mood?
The question games are a different kind of round: no right answers, just prompts you read out and argue about. Would You RatherNever Have I EverTruth or DareThis or That