Smart Cookie Trivia

40 Geography Trivia Questions and Answers (Easy to Hard)

Capitals, rivers, deserts, borders, and a few curveballs. These start easy and get harder as you go. Tap any question to reveal the answer and a quick fact.

1. 1What is the largest ocean on Earth?Answer

   The Pacific OceanIt covers roughly a third of the planet's surface, more than all of Earth's land combined.

2. 2What is the capital of Australia?Answer

   CanberraIt was purpose-built as a compromise after Sydney and Melbourne both wanted the title.

3. 3Which continent has the most countries?Answer

   AfricaIt has 54 United Nations member states.

4. 4What is the capital of Canada?Answer

   OttawaNot Toronto or Montreal: Queen Victoria chose Ottawa in 1857.

5. 5Which river flows through Paris?Answer

   The SeineIt runs about 775 km from Burgundy to the English Channel.

6. 6What is the largest country in the world by area?Answer

   RussiaAt about 17.1 million square kilometers, it covers more than a ninth of Earth's land.

7. 7What is the smallest country in the world by area?Answer

   Vatican CityIt covers less than half a square kilometer inside Rome.

8. 8Mount Everest sits on the border between which two countries?Answer

   Nepal and ChinaThe border runs right across the summit, with Tibet on the Chinese side.

9. 9Which U.S. state is made up entirely of islands?Answer

   HawaiiIt has eight main islands and well over a hundred smaller ones.

10. 10Which country is home to the city of Marrakesh?Answer

    MoroccoIts old walled city, the medina, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

11. 11Which country has the world's largest population?Answer

    IndiaUnited Nations estimates show it passed China in 2023.

12. 12What is the longest river in South America?Answer

    The AmazonIt also carries more water than any other river on Earth.

13. 13What is the largest desert in the world?Answer

    AntarcticaA desert is defined by low precipitation, not heat. The Sahara is the largest hot desert.

14. 14Which narrow strait separates Europe from Africa at the entrance to the Mediterranean?Answer

    The Strait of GibraltarAt its narrowest, Spain and Morocco are less than 15 km apart.

1. 15Which African country was once known as Abyssinia?Answer

   EthiopiaIt is one of the few African countries never colonized, apart from a brief Italian occupation.

2. 16What is the deepest lake in the world?Answer

   Lake BaikalIn Siberia, it plunges past 1,600 m and holds about a fifth of the world's unfrozen surface fresh water.

3. 17What is the capital of Turkey?Answer

   AnkaraIstanbul is the largest city, but Atatürk made Ankara the capital in 1923.

4. 18Which two South American countries are landlocked?Answer

   Bolivia and ParaguayBolivia lost its coastline to Chile in the War of the Pacific in the 1880s.

5. 19What is the driest non-polar desert on Earth?Answer

   The Atacama DesertParts of this Chilean desert have gone years without measurable rain.

6. 20Which Italian city is built on more than 100 small islands linked by bridges and canals?Answer

   VeniceIt spans about 118 islands connected by over 400 bridges.

7. 21What is the highest mountain in Africa?Answer

   Mount KilimanjaroThis Tanzanian volcano rises to 5,895 m.

8. 22Which country has the longest coastline in the world?Answer

   CanadaCounting its Arctic islands, it has over 200,000 km of coast.

9. 23The Danube empties into which sea?Answer

   The Black SeaAlong the way it flows through or along the border of ten countries.

10. 24What is the largest landlocked country in the world?Answer

    KazakhstanIt is also the ninth-largest country in the world overall.

11. 25Which imaginary line passes through Ecuador, Brazil, Kenya, and Indonesia?Answer

    The EquatorEcuador is named after it.

12. 26What is the capital of New Zealand?Answer

    WellingtonIt is often called the southernmost capital of a sovereign country.

13. 27Which country, counting its overseas territories, spans the most time zones?Answer

    FranceIts territories from the Caribbean to the Pacific give it 12.

14. 28Which U.S. state has the longest coastline?Answer

    AlaskaIts coastline is longer than that of all the other states combined.

1. 29What is the capital of Bhutan?Answer

   ThimphuIt is one of the few capitals in the world without a single traffic light.

2. 30Which country has the only national flag that is not a rectangle?Answer

   NepalIts flag is two stacked triangular pennants.

3. 31Which country is completely surrounded by South Africa?Answer

   LesothoIt is also the only country lying entirely above 1,000 m.

4. 32What is the lowest point on dry land?Answer

   The shore of the Dead SeaIt lies roughly 430 m below sea level, and it drops a little lower every year.

5. 33Which country has the most natural lakes?Answer

   CanadaBy most estimates it holds more than half of the world's lakes.

6. 34What is the longest mountain range above sea level?Answer

   The AndesIt runs about 7,000 km down the western edge of South America.

7. 35Which strait separates Asia from North America?Answer

   The Bering StraitAt its narrowest it is about 82 km wide.

8. 36Ulaanbaatar is the capital of which country?Answer

   MongoliaIt is usually ranked the coldest national capital in the world.

9. 37Which sea has no coastline?Answer

   The Sargasso SeaIt sits in the North Atlantic and is bounded only by ocean currents.

10. 38Which country has three capital cities?Answer

    South AfricaPretoria is the executive capital, Cape Town the legislative, and Bloemfontein the judicial.

11. 39What is the largest island in the world that is not a continent?Answer

    GreenlandIt covers about 2.2 million square kilometers.

12. 40Which two countries share the longest international border?Answer

    Canada and the United StatesIncluding the Alaska boundary, it runs about 8,900 km.