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Geography trivia: 110 questions and answers to test your knowledge

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Geography trivia is a great way to engage your curiosity about the world while also learning something new. Whether you’re planning a family trivia night or simply want to impress your kids with some cool facts, geography offers a treasure trove of fascinating tidbits. Whether you're challenging yourself, quizzing your kids, or just exploring the world virtually, there’s something here to inspire every budding explorer.

Let’s dive into 110 fun and surprising geography trivia questions, ranging from easy to hard, that will make you see the world in a whole new way.

Need a warm-up? Start with some easy trivia

We’ll start with some easier geography trivia questions for you to warm up:

Which U.S. state is the largest by land area? Alaska.
Which country is home to the Amazon Rainforest? Brazil.
What island nation is famous for lemurs? Madagascar.
What country is home to the Pyramid of Giza? Egypt.
What country is famous for the Taj Mahal? India.
What two countries have a population of more than 1 billion? India and China.
Which U.S. state is the smallest by land area? Rhode Island.
What is the longest river in the world? The Nile River in Africa, stretching about 4,132 miles.
What is the coldest continent on earth? Antarctica.
What is the largest country in the world by land mass? Russia.
What is the imaginary line that divides the earth into northern and southern hemispheres? The Equator.
What is the southernmost continent? Antarctica.

Trivia about the world’s natural wonders

Our planet is full of breathtaking landscapes and natural phenomena. Here are some trivia questions and facts to test your knowledge about the natural world:

What U.S. state has the most national parks? California, with nine.
What is the largest island in the world? Greenland is the world’s largest island, covering over 836,000 square miles.
What is the name of the body of water that separates the UK and France? The English Channel.
Which desert surrounds Las Vegas, Nevada? The Mojave Desert.
What is the name of the sea bordered by Jordan, Israel, and Palestine? The Dead Sea.
Which U.S. state is home to Yellowstone National Park? Wyoming.
What is the tallest mountain above sea level? Mount Everest, standing at 29,032 feet, in the Himalayan mountain range.
What is the smallest ocean in the world? The Arctic Ocean is the smallest and shallowest of the world’s oceans.
What is the world’s longest coral reef system? The Great Barrier Reef in Australia, stretching 1,429 miles long and covering an area of 133,000 square miles.
What is the largest lake in the world? Caspian Sea at 149,200 square miles.
Which desert is the largest in the world? Contrary to popular belief, the largest desert isn’t sandy. The Antarctic Desert, a cold desert, takes the crown with a size of about 5.5 million square miles.
Which is the deepest point in the ocean? The Challenger Deep, located in the Mariana Trench in the western part of the Pacific Ocean, reaches a depth of about 36,000 feet, making it the deepest known point on Earth.
Which river flows through the most countries? The Danube River flows through 10 countries in Europe — Germany, Austria, Slovakia, Hungary, Croatia, Serbia, Bulgaria, Moldova, and Ukraine.
Which country has the longest coastline? Canada, with a coastline of over 125,000 miles, has the longest coastline in the world.
Which U.S. state has the most active volcanoes? Alaska, with over 130 total volcanoes and 54 that are considered historically active, meaning they have been active within the last 300 years.
What is the hottest place on Earth? Furnace Creek in Death Valley, California, recorded a temperature of 134°F (56.7°C) in 1913.
What is the highest waterfall in the world? Angel Falls in Venezuela.
Which African lake is the largest by surface area? Lake Victoria, which flows within Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania.
What is the longest mountain range on land? The Andes, which passes through seven countries in South America across 4,300 miles.
What mountain range separates Europe and Asia? The Ural Mountains.
What is the flattest country in the world? The Maldives, with a maximum elevation of just 8 feet above sea level.
What mountain range is home to Mount Kilimanjaro? Mount Kilimanjaro is not part of a mountain range, making it the largest free-standing mountain in the world at 19,340 feet tall.

Can you identify these places by their famous nicknames?

Some locations around the world have earned unique nicknames. How many of these do you know?

What country is known as "The Boot"? Italy.
What U.S. state is nicknamed "The Lone Star State"? Texas.
What U.S. state is known as the "Sunshine State"? Florida.
Which city is known as the "Big Apple"? New York City.
What country is nicknamed "The Land Down Under"? Australia.
Which city is referred to as "The Windy City"? Chicago.
What U.S. state is known as "The Last Frontier"? Alaska.
What country is nicknamed "The Land of Smiles"? Thailand.
What city is called "The Gateway to the West"? St. Louis, Missouri, due to it being a key departure for exploring the western U.S., including the Lewis and Clark Expedition.
What island is known as the "Emerald Isle"? Ireland because of its green countryside.
Which city is known as the "City of Canals"? Venice, Italy.
Which country is known as the Land of the Rising Sun? Japan, due to its position in eastern Asia, where the sun appears to rise first. The Japanese word for Japan, “Nihon” or “Nippon” means “origin of the sun.”
Which city is nicknamed "The Eternal City"? Rome, Italy, due to its uninterrupted history spanning the past 2,500 years.
Which country is known as the "Land of Fire and Ice"? Iceland, with geography that features both glaciers and volcanoes.
Which country is called the "Pearl of the Indian Ocean"? Sri Lanka.
Which country is known as the “Land of the Thousand Lakes”? Finland, even though it has 188,000 lakes.
Which country is called the “Land of Poets”? Chile, due to a tradition of poets, including Pablo Neruda and Gabriela Mistral, who each won a Nobel Prize in Literature.
Which city is known as the “City of Dreaming Spires”? Oxford, England, due to the spires of the University of Oxford across the skyline that was immortalized in the poem “Thyrsis” by Matthew Arnold, in which he describes it as “that sweet City with her dreaming Spires”.
Which desert is known as "The Empty Quarter"? The Rub' al Khali Desert, which spans Saudi Arabia, Oman, Yemen, and the United Arab Emirates.

Capitalize on your knowledge of capital cities

Some capital cities are common knowledge. Others are a little trickier. See how well-versed you are about the world’s capital cities with these trivia questions:

What is the capital city of Mexico? Mexico City.
What is the capital city of Japan? Tokyo.
What is the capital city of Russia? Moscow.
What is the capital city of Spain? Madrid.
What is the capital city of Egypt? Cairo.
What is the capital city of Norway? Oslo.
What is the capital city of South Korea? Seoul.
What is the capital city of Australia? Canberra.
What is the capital city of Canada? Ottawa.
What is the capital city of Brazil? Brasília.
What is the capital city of Argentina? Buenos Aires.
What is the capital city of Thailand? Bangkok.
What is the capital city of Kenya? Nairobi.
What is the capital city of Belize? Belmopan.
What is the capital city of Slovenia? Ljubljana.
What is the capital city of Cyprus? Nicosia.
What is the capital city of Myanmar? Naypyidaw.
What is the capital city of Croatia? Zagreb.
What is the capital city of Mongolia? Ulaanbaatar.
What is the smallest state capital in the U.S.? Montpelier, Vermont, with a population of just over 8,000 people.
What is the only country without an official capital? Nauru, an island country in Micronesia that is divided into 14 districts, each with its own local government.

Trivia about manmade wonders of the world

The world has seen some epic manmade structures built throughout history. In honor of the Seven Wonders of the World, here are seven questions about impressive structures built by humans:

What is the largest railway station in the world? Grand Central Terminal in New York City.
Where was the Lighthouse of Alexandria located? Alexandria, Egypt.
Where is the Christ the Redeemer statue located? On top of Corcovado, a mountain in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Where is Chichén Itzá located? The complex of Mayan ruins is located on the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico.
In which modern day country were the Hanging Gardens of Babylon said to be located? Iraq.
In which modern day country was the Temple of Artemis said to be located? Turkey.
What manmade structure stretches for 5,500 miles and was built during the Ming Dynasty? The Great Wall of China.

Geography and culture trivia

Geography isn’t just about physical features — it also includes people and cultures. These questions explore the human side of geography.

Which European city is famous for its red double-decker buses? London.
What country is famous for tulips and windmills? The Netherlands.
Which city is split by two continents? Istanbul, Turkey, sits on the Bosphorus Strait, which divides Europe and Asia.
Which language is spoken by the most people as their native tongue? Mandarin Chinese, with about 955 million native speakers.
What country is famous for its fjords? Norway. Fjords are deep, narrow inlets carved by glaciers.
Which river is considered sacred in Hinduism? The Ganges River in India.
What country has the most UNESCO World Heritage Sites? Italy, with 60 recognized sites.
What country has the second-most UNESCO World Heritage Sites? China, with 59 recognized sites.
Where was the world’s first democracy said to have originated? Athens in ancient Greece.
What caused the United States to nearly double in size in the early 1800s? The Louisiana Purchase, in which the U.S. bought 828,000 square miles of land from France for $15 million.
In which country are the holy cities of Mecca and Medina located? Saudi Arabia, which is sometimes referred to as the “land of the Two Holy Mosques” due to these cities being significant to the Islamic religion.
What empire, whose capital was located in present day Turkey, lasted for over 600 years? The Ottoman Empire, from 1299 to 1922.
Which European country has the most castles? Germany, which is estimated to be the home of 25,000 castles.
What is the only country named after a woman? Saint Lucia, which is named after Saint Lucy of Syracuse because French sailors shipwrecked on the island on the feast day of Saint Lucy and decided to name the island in her honor.
What country has the largest Muslim population? Indonesia, which is home to about 13 percent of the world’s Muslim’s.

A weird place: Fun geographic oddities

The world is full of strange and surprising geographic quirks. Here are a few to stump even the geography buffs:

What is the only country that covers an entire continent? Australia.
What’s the smallest country in the world? Vatican City, which is only about 0.17 square miles in size.
What percentage of the world lives in the northern hemisphere? About 90%.
What European country is shaped like a hexagon? France.
What is the longest mountain range on earth? The mid-ocean ridge, which spans 40,398 miles, is longer than any mountain range on land. About 90 percent of the range is under the ocean.
Which country’s calendar is 13 months long? Ethiopia, which has a calendar based on that of the incident Coptic Orthodox Church that has 12 months that are 30 days long and a 13th month that is five days long in a normal year and six days long in a leap year.
Which country has the most time zones? France, which has territory in 12 time zones around the world.
With which country does France share its longest border? Brazil, which has a border of 450 miles with French Guiana.
Which two countries have a map of their country on their flags? Cyprus and Kosovo.
Which island changes administration between France and Spain every six months? Pheasant Island
What is considered to be the most remote point on earth? Point Nemo in the South Pacific Ocean. Ducie Island, the closest area of land, is about 1,670 miles away.
Which country has the most islands? Sweden, with 267,570 islands.
What island is in the middle of a lake, which is in the middle of a volcano, which is in the middle of a bigger lake, in the middle of a bigger island? Vulcan Point in the Philippines.
What mountain is considered the closest point on earth to the moon? Mount Chimborazo, which is actually not as tall as Mount Everest, but due to its location on the equator, which bulges out due to the earth’s rotation, it is considered closer to the moon.

How did you do?

Did you get all 110 questions right? If not, hopefully you and your family learned some new fun facts!

Geography trivia is more than just a fun game; it’s a window into the vast and diverse world we live in. Whether you’re testing your knowledge or teaching your kids about new places, the questions and facts above are sure to spark curiosity and wonder. Who knows? You might even inspire your family’s next travel destination!

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