80+ geography quiz questions and answers (2026)

A good geography quiz is one of the most satisfying ways to test what you really know about the world, countries, capitals, landmarks, oceans and the odd fact that catches everyone out. This set has more than 80 questions with answers across six rounds, from gentle warm-ups to proper globe-trotter territory.

Every answer sits directly beneath its question, and we have re-checked the tricky ones for 2026 so nothing trips you up on out-of-date facts.

Quick facts

Round 1: easy geography quiz questions

1. What are the names of the five oceans of the world? Answer: the Atlantic, Pacific, Indian, Arctic and Southern (Antarctic).
2. Which river flows through the Brazilian rainforest? Answer: the Amazon.
3. Which country is often nicknamed Holland? Answer: the Netherlands.
4. What is the coldest place on Earth? Answer: the East Antarctic Plateau.
5. What is the largest desert in the world? Answer: the Antarctic Desert.
6. How many main islands make up Hawaii? Answer: eight.
7. Which country has the largest population in the world? Answer: India.
8. Where is the largest volcano on Earth located? Answer: Hawaii (Mauna Loa).
9. What is the world’s largest island? Answer: Greenland.
10. In which US state is Niagara Falls located? Answer: New York.
11. What is the highest uninterrupted waterfall in the world? Answer: Angel Falls.
12. What is the longest river in the UK? Answer: the River Severn.
13. Which major river flows through Paris? Answer: the Seine.
14. What is the smallest country in the world? Answer: Vatican City.
15. In which country would you find the city of Dresden? Answer: Germany.

Round 2: medium geography quiz questions

1. What is the capital of Canada? Answer: Ottawa.
2. Which country has the most natural lakes? Answer: Canada.
3. Which African country has the largest population? Answer: Nigeria (about 240 million).
4. How many time zones does mainland Australia have? Answer: three.
5. What is the official currency of India? Answer: the Indian rupee.
6. What is the longest river in Africa? Answer: the Nile.
7. What is the largest country in the world by area? Answer: Russia.
8. In which country are the Great Pyramids of Giza located? Answer: Egypt.
9. Which country lies directly above Mexico? Answer: the United States.
10. How many states does the United States consist of? Answer: 50.
11. Which country shares the only land border with the United Kingdom? Answer: Ireland.
12. In which US state can the world’s tallest trees be found? Answer: California.
13. Which four East African countries still use the shilling as currency? Answer: Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania and Somalia.
14. What is the largest US state by area? Answer: Alaska.
15. How many US states does the Mississippi River flow through or border? Answer: 10.

Round 3: hard geography quiz questions

Below are 15 tougher questions for the seasoned traveller.

1. What is the tallest mountain in Canada? Answer: Mount Logan.
2. What is the largest capital city in North America? Answer: Mexico City.
3. What is often cited as the world’s shortest river? Answer: the Roe River, Montana.
4. To which country do the Canary Islands belong? Answer: Spain.
5. Which two countries border Hungary directly to the north-east? Answer: Slovakia and Ukraine.
6. What is the second-tallest mountain in the world? Answer: K2.
7. The world’s first national park was established in 1872 in which country, and what is its name? Answer: the USA, Yellowstone.
8. Which city is one of the world’s most densely populated? Answer: Manila, the Philippines.
9. Which sea has no coastline? Answer: the Sargasso Sea.
10. What is the tallest building in the world? Answer: the Burj Khalifa in Dubai.
11. Which lake has a famous mythical creature named after it? Answer: Loch Ness.
12. Which country is home to Mount Everest’s summit border with China? Answer: Nepal.
13. What was the first capital of the United States? Answer: New York City.
14. What is the state capital of New York? Answer: Albany.
15. Which is the only US state with a one-syllable name? Answer: Maine.

Round 4: landmarks geography quiz questions

1. What is the name of the famous rectangular park in New York? Answer: Central Park.
2. Which iconic bridge stands next to the Tower of London? Answer: Tower Bridge.
3. The Nazca Lines are in which country? Answer: Peru.
4. Which 8th-century Benedictine abbey sits on a tidal island in Normandy? Answer: Mont Saint-Michel.
5. The Bund is a landmark in which city? Answer: Shanghai.
6. The Great Sphinx stands guard over which other famous landmarks? Answer: the Pyramids of Giza.
7. In which country would you find Wadi Rum? Answer: Jordan.
8. Which giant hillside sign names a famous Los Angeles district? Answer: the Hollywood Sign.
9. La Sagrada Família is in which Spanish city? Answer: Barcelona.
10. Which castle inspired Disney’s Sleeping Beauty and Cinderella castles? Answer: Neuschwanstein Castle.
11. The Matterhorn straddles the border of Switzerland and which other country? Answer: Italy.
12. In which museum would you find the Mona Lisa? Answer: the Louvre.
13. Preikestolen (Pulpit Rock) rises above the fjords of which country? Answer: Norway.
14. Gullfoss is a famous waterfall in which country? Answer: Iceland.
15. Which German landmark was pulled down, to scenes of mass celebration, in November 1989? Answer: the Berlin Wall.

Round 5: world capitals and cities geography quiz questions

1. What is the capital of Australia? Answer: Canberra.
2. Baku is the capital of which country? Answer: Azerbaijan.
3. If you are looking at the Trevi Fountain, which capital city are you in? Answer: Rome, Italy.
4. WAW is the airport code for which capital city? Answer: Warsaw, Poland.
5. If you are visiting the capital of Belarus, which city are you in? Answer: Minsk.
6. The Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque is found in which capital city? Answer: Muscat, Oman.
7. Camden and Brixton are areas of which capital? Answer: London, England.
8. Which capital city appears in the title of a 2014 Wes Anderson film starring Ralph Fiennes? Answer: Budapest (The Grand Budapest Hotel).
9. What is the capital of Cambodia? Answer: Phnom Penh.
10. Which of these is the capital of Costa Rica: San Cristóbal, San José or San Sebastián? Answer: San José.
11. Vaduz is the capital of which country? Answer: Liechtenstein.
12. What is the capital of India? Answer: New Delhi.
13. What is the capital city of Togo? Answer: Lomé.
14. What is the capital city of New Zealand? Answer: Wellington.
15. What is the capital of South Korea? Answer: Seoul.

Round 6: oceans geography quiz questions

1. How much of the Earth’s surface is covered by ocean? Answer: about 71%.
2. How many oceans does the Equator run through? Answer: three, the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian.
3. Which ocean does the Amazon River flow into? Answer: the Atlantic.
4. True or false: more than 70% of African countries border the sea. Answer: true, only 16 of Africa’s 54 countries are landlocked.
5. True or false: the longest mountain range in the world is under the ocean. Answer: true, the Mid-Ocean Ridge runs roughly 65,000 km along the sea floor.
6. Roughly what percentage of the ocean has been explored and mapped in detail? Answer: only around 5%.
7. Roughly how long is an average flight across the Atlantic, from London to New York? Answer: about 8 hours.
8. Is the Pacific Ocean larger than the surface of the Moon? Answer: yes, at about 165 million km² it is several times the Moon’s surface area.

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Frequently asked questions

When was the first world map made?

It is hard to pinpoint a single date. Cartography spans many centuries and cultures, but some of the earliest known world maps date back to ancient Babylonian and Egyptian civilisations, as early as the 3rd millennium BCE.

Who made one of the most influential early world maps?

The Greek scholar Ptolemy produced a hugely influential world map in the 2nd century CE. Grounded in Greek geography and astronomy, it shaped European views of the world for centuries.

Did ancient people think the Earth was flat?

Not universally. Many ancient civilisations, including the Babylonians, Egyptians and Greeks, understood the Earth to be a sphere, and Greek scholars even estimated its circumference with striking accuracy.