Geography trivia questions and answers
30 geography trivia questions with the answers and a fact for each: capitals and countries, islands, rivers, mountains, deserts, oceans and the odd flag or anthem. Read them as a quiz for yourself, use them for a pub quiz round, or press the button and play a Geography round live with everyone answering on their own phone.
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The 30 geography quiz questions
- 1
Victoria Falls lies on the border between Zambia and which other country?
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AZimbabwe
Its local name, Mosi-oa-Tunya, means 'the smoke that thunders'; the spray can be seen from 50 km away.
- 2Languages
Dutch is the official language of which South American country?
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CSuriname
It was Dutch Guiana until independence in 1975, and Dutch remains the language of government and schools.
- 3Islands
Easter Island is known to its Polynesian inhabitants as…?
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DRapa Nui
The English name came from Dutch explorer Jacob Roggeveen, who happened to arrive on Easter Sunday 1722.
- 4
Which river is traditionally regarded as the longest in the world?
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BNile
The Nile runs about 6,650 km. The Amazon carries far more water, and some measurements put it longer — it depends where you say each river starts.
- 5
The River Rhine flows into which sea?
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ANorth Sea
It rises in the Swiss Alps and reaches the sea through the Netherlands, where its main branch is known to the Dutch as the Waal.
- 6
Which is the only European country that shares a land border with both Spain and Germany?
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AFrance
Mainland France touches eight countries: Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, Monaco, Spain and Andorra.
- 7Travel
The world's busiest airport by passengers is in which city?
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DAtlanta
Hartsfield-Jackson has topped the passenger charts for decades.
- 8World
The smallest country in the world is…?
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DVatican City
About 49 hectares — smaller than plenty of golf courses.
- 9Nations
Which country's name comes from the Latin word for silver?
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AArgentina
Early explorers hoped the Río de la Plata — the 'River of Silver' — would lead to mountains of the stuff. It didn't.
- 10
Which river flows through the centre of Baghdad?
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DTigris
The Tigris and Euphrates frame Mesopotamia, 'the land between the rivers', where writing was invented around 5,000 years ago.
- 11Mountains
Which mountain range runs like a spine down the length of Italy?
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BApennines
The range stretches some 1,200 km from Liguria to Calabria, topping out at Corno Grande at 2,912 m.
- 12Nicknames
Rajasthan's capital Jaipur is nicknamed the…?
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CPink City
The old city was painted pink in 1876 to welcome the Prince of Wales, the future Edward VII, and it has stayed that way since.
- 13Oceans
Roughly what proportion of Earth's surface is covered by ocean?
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C71%
The oceans hold about 97% of all Earth's water — leaving just 3% as fresh water, most of it locked up in ice.
- 14Deserts
The Atacama Desert, one of the driest places on Earth, is in which country?
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AChile
It's so dry and Mars-like that NASA has tested Mars rover instruments there.
- 15
Which country is home to the ancient rock-carved city of Petra?
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BJordan
Carved by the Nabataeans over 2,000 years ago, it was 'lost' to the West until 1812. Its Treasury building starred in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.
- 16
Which is the largest lake in Africa?
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BLake Victoria
Shared by Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania, it's the source of the White Nile. Tanganyika is deeper, but Victoria covers a far bigger area.
- 17
Nairobi is the capital of which country?
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BKenya
Nairobi National Park sits right on the edge of the city — the only capital where you can photograph giraffes against a skyline of office blocks.
- 18
Which is the largest hot desert in the world?
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BSahara
Roughly the size of the USA. Antarctica is bigger — if you count cold deserts.
- 19Islands
Haiti and the Dominican Republic share which Caribbean island?
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AHispaniola
Columbus named it La Isla Española — 'the Spanish island' — in 1492; Hispaniola is simply the Latinised version.
- 20Landmarks
The Petronas Twin Towers dominate the skyline of which city?
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DKuala Lumpur
The twin towers were the world's tallest buildings from 1998 to 2004 and are joined by a skybridge on the 41st and 42nd floors.
- 21Landmarks
The 192-metre Gateway Arch stands in which US city?
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DSt Louis
Finished in 1965, the arch celebrates the city's role as gateway to the American West; a tram inside carries visitors to the top.
- 22Volcanoes
Mount St Helens, which erupted spectacularly in 1980, is in which US state?
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CWashington
The blast removed about 400 m from the mountain's summit in a matter of minutes.
- 23
What is the longest mountain range in the world?
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CThe Andes
The Andes run about 7,000 km down the west of South America, through seven countries.
- 24
The Panama Canal links the Atlantic Ocean with which other ocean?
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DPacific
Because of the way the isthmus bends, a ship sailing from the Atlantic to the Pacific actually travels south-east.
- 25
What is the currency of Japan?
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DYen
The yuan is Chinese and the won Korean; all three names come from the same character meaning 'round', for a round coin.
- 26Anthems
Kimigayo, one of the world's shortest national anthems, belongs to which country?
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CJapan
Its words come from a 1,000-year-old poem wishing the emperor a reign that lasts until pebbles grow into mossy boulders.
- 27
Which country has the most natural lakes?
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BCanada
Roughly 60% of the world's lakes are Canadian.
- 28Islands
After Greenland, which is the world's second-largest island?
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DNew Guinea
The island is split almost down the middle: Papua New Guinea to the east, Indonesia's Papua provinces to the west.
- 29Rivers
What is the longest river in Europe?
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CVolga
The Volga never reaches the ocean: it empties into the Caspian Sea, the world's largest inland body of water.
- 30Capitals
Which city is the capital of Turkey?
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AAnkara
Ankara was known abroad as Angora until 1930 — hence Angora goats, Angora rabbits and their famously soft wool.
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Geography quiz FAQ
Can I use these geography trivia questions for my own quiz night?
That is what the page is for. Read them out at a pub quiz, paste them into a work quiz or a family quiz night, and keep the answers hidden until the table has committed. If you would rather not keep score by hand, the button on this page runs a Geography round on everyone's phones.
Are the answers on the page?
Yes. Every question has a "Show the answer" toggle with the right option and a one-line fact, so you can quiz yourself first or read straight through with the answers open.
How do I play a Geography quiz round live?
Press "Play a Geography round". It opens the host page with the Geography category already picked. The room shows a join code, everyone else opens huddlequiz.com/join on their phone and types it, and ten questions later there is a winner on the board. No accounts and nothing to install.
Will the live game ask the same questions?
Some of them. The game draws at random from a bigger Geography pool, of which this page is a sample, so a live round mixes questions you have read here with ones you have not.
How hard are they?
Mixed. They are written for adults and teenagers at pub-quiz level, so a table of four should get most of them between them and argue about the rest.