Africa has more countries than any other continent, and several of them have changed their name or their capital within living memory. That makes an Africa quiz a good test of real knowledge rather than half-remembered school atlases: plenty of people still answer "Lagos" for Nigeria or "Swaziland" for Eswatini.
This countries of Africa quiz has 60 questions in three rounds (easy, medium and hard), with answers after each question. We checked the answers against official sources where they exist, including the United Nations, the African Union and national government pages, and we flag the places where the "right" answer depends on how you define a capital.
Quick facts about the countries of Africa
Spoiler: these facts answer a few of the questions below.
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| How many countries are in Africa? | 54 UN member states; the African Union has 55 members, including the Sahrawi Republic (Western Sahara) |
| Largest country by area | Algeria |
| Most populous country | Nigeria |
| Smallest country | Seychelles (The Gambia is the smallest on the mainland) |
| Highest point | Mount Kilimanjaro, Tanzania |
| Lowest point | Lake Assal, Djibouti, about 155 m below sea level |
| Newest country | South Sudan, independent since 2011 |
How many countries are in Africa?
The short answer is 54. According to the UN Dag Hammarskjöld Library, 54 African countries are members of the United Nations. The African Union lists 55 member states because it also includes the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic, which claims Western Sahara but is not a UN member. If a quiz asks for "countries in Africa", 54 is the answer most quizmasters expect, but it is fair to give a point for 55 if the player explains why.
Easy round: countries of Africa quiz
- How many African countries are members of the United Nations?
Answer: 54 - What is the largest country in Africa by area?
Answer: Algeria (the largest since Sudan split in two in 2011) - Which African country has the largest population?
Answer: Nigeria - Which country is home to the Great Sphinx and the Pyramids of Giza? a) Morocco b) Egypt c) Sudan d) Libya
Answer: b) Egypt - What is the highest mountain in Africa?
Answer: Mount Kilimanjaro, in Tanzania - What is the longest river in Africa?
Answer: The Nile - What is the capital of Kenya?
Answer: Nairobi - Accra is the capital of which country?
Answer: Ghana - Which large island country off Africa's south-east coast is famous for its lemurs?
Answer: Madagascar - What is the capital of Nigeria? a) Lagos b) Abuja c) Kano
Answer: b) Abuja, which replaced Lagos as the capital in 1991 - What is the capital of Morocco? a) Casablanca b) Marrakesh c) Rabat
Answer: c) Rabat - Which country is completely surrounded by South Africa?
Answer: Lesotho - Which long, narrow sea lies between Egypt, Sudan and Eritrea on one side and the Arabian Peninsula on the other?
Answer: The Red Sea - Africa's largest lake is shared by Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda. What is it called?
Answer: Lake Victoria - Which is Africa's newest country, independent since 2011?
Answer: South Sudan - Which desert covers much of North Africa?
Answer: The Sahara - Which country, once known as Abyssinia, has Addis Ababa as its capital?
Answer: Ethiopia - Which narrow strait separates Morocco from Spain?
Answer: The Strait of Gibraltar - Which ocean lies off Africa's east coast?
Answer: The Indian Ocean - The island of Zanzibar belongs to which country?
Answer: Tanzania
Medium round: countries of Africa quiz
- South Africa has three capital cities. Name them.
Answer: Pretoria (administrative), Cape Town (legislative) and Bloemfontein (judicial), according to the South African government - What is the official capital of Côte d'Ivoire? a) Abidjan b) Yamoussoukro c) Bouaké
Answer: b) Yamoussoukro. It has been the official capital since 1983, while Abidjan, the largest city, is the economic capital - In 2018, Swaziland changed its name. What is it called now?
Answer: Eswatini - Eswatini has two capitals. Name them.
Answer: Mbabane (administrative) and Lobamba (royal and legislative) - Which country was once called Nyasaland?
Answer: Malawi - Which country was known as Upper Volta until 1984?
Answer: Burkina Faso - Which country was called Zaire from 1971 to 1997?
Answer: The Democratic Republic of the Congo - Lake Assal, the lowest point in Africa, is in which country? a) Tunisia b) Djibouti c) Egypt
Answer: b) Djibouti - In which year did Nelson Mandela become President of South Africa?
Answer: 1994 - What is the official capital of Tanzania? a) Dar es Salaam b) Dodoma c) Arusha
Answer: b) Dodoma. Dar es Salaam is the largest city and the former capital - Kigali is the capital of which country?
Answer: Rwanda - Which famous waterfall is known locally as Mosi-oa-Tunya, "the smoke that thunders"?
Answer: Victoria Falls, on the border of Zambia and Zimbabwe - Liberia's capital, Monrovia, is named after whom? a) A local Monroe tree b) James Monroe, the fifth US president c) A Portuguese explorer
Answer: b) James Monroe - Which South African city lies at the foot of Table Mountain?
Answer: Cape Town - Dakar is the capital of which country?
Answer: Senegal - Which four countries are usually counted as the Horn of Africa?
Answer: Somalia, Ethiopia, Eritrea and Djibouti - In which city is the headquarters of the African Union?
Answer: Addis Ababa, Ethiopia - The historic city of Timbuktu is in which country?
Answer: Mali - What is the capital of Cabo Verde?
Answer: Praia - Which country was once called Northern Rhodesia?
Answer: Zambia
Hard round: countries of Africa quiz
- What is the smallest country in Africa by area?
Answer: Seychelles - Which is the smallest country on the African mainland?
Answer: The Gambia - Nouakchott is the capital of which country?
Answer: Mauritania - What is the official capital of Benin? a) Cotonou b) Porto-Novo c) Parakou
Answer: b) Porto-Novo. Cotonou, the largest city, is the seat of government - Which city became Burundi's political capital in 2019, replacing Bujumbura?
Answer: Gitega. Bujumbura remains the economic capital - In January 2026, which Central African country proclaimed Ciudad de la Paz its new capital, replacing Malabo?
Answer: Equatorial Guinea - What is the capital of Gabon?
Answer: Libreville - Which country's flag features an AK-47 rifle?
Answer: Mozambique - Which country is the only independent state in the world lying entirely above 1,000 metres?
Answer: Lesotho. Its lowest point is about 1,400 metres above sea level - Lake Chad borders which four countries?
Answer: Chad, Cameroon, Niger and Nigeria - Mauritius was the only home of which extinct bird?
Answer: The dodo - Which Egyptian king's tomb was discovered in the Valley of the Kings in 1922?
Answer: Tutankhamun - After Nigeria, which is the second most populous country in Africa? a) Egypt b) Ethiopia c) DR Congo
Answer: b) Ethiopia - Which language, widely spoken in East Africa, is an official language of the African Union alongside Arabic, English, French, Portuguese and Spanish?
Answer: Kiswahili (Swahili), according to the African Union - Which African country's name comes from the Latin word for "free"?
Answer: Liberia - Which South African leader was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for 1960?
Answer: Albert Lutuli (also spelt Luthuli) - What is the capital of Namibia?
Answer: Windhoek - The Qattara Depression, one of the lowest points on the continent, is in which country?
Answer: Egypt - Which country is the world's largest producer of cocoa?
Answer: Côte d'Ivoire - Which country did Muammar Gaddafi rule from 1969 until 2011?
Answer: Libya
Add a map or picture round
A picture round breaks up a long run of text questions and suits geography well. Show a blank outline map and ask players to name the highlighted country, or show a flag, a landmark or a capital's skyline and offer four options.
If you want more geography rounds, try our geography quiz, the name the country games or the Latin America map quiz.
How to host this Africa quiz live
Reading questions aloud works for a small group, but in a classroom or at a team quiz night it helps if everyone can answer at the same time. Here is a simple format:
- Build the rounds. Add the multiple-choice questions as pick-answer quiz slides and the open questions as type-answer slides, so nobody can guess from options.
- Add pictures. Put a flag, map or landmark photo on a quiz slide for the picture round.
- Let people join from their phones. Players scan a QR code or enter a join code, then answer on their own device.
- Show the leaderboard between rounds. A live leaderboard keeps the competition going and shows who knows their capitals.
You can set all of this up with the AhaSlides online quiz maker, or start from a ready-made quiz in the template library.
Frequently asked questions
Is it 54 or 55 countries in Africa?
54 African countries are members of the United Nations, which is the usual answer. The African Union has 55 members because it also recognises the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (Western Sahara), whose status is disputed.
Which African countries have more than one capital?
South Africa has three (Pretoria, Cape Town and Bloemfontein). Eswatini splits its capital between Mbabane and Lobamba, Benin between Porto-Novo and Cotonou, and Burundi between Gitega (political) and Bujumbura (economic). Côte d'Ivoire's official capital is Yamoussoukro, while Abidjan is the economic capital. Tanzania's capital is Dodoma, although Dar es Salaam, the former capital, is still the largest city, and Equatorial Guinea is moving its government from Malabo to Ciudad de la Paz, proclaimed the capital in 2026.
What is the easiest way to memorise the countries of Africa?
Learn them region by region (North, West, Central, East and Southern Africa) rather than alphabetically, and use a blank map to test yourself. Short, repeated quizzes help more than one long study session, so try a round of ten questions a day and mix in capitals and flags as you go.
