Africa Map Quiz: Place All 54 Countries

Click the right place on the map.

Africa’s 54 countries make this the largest continental map quiz on the site, and for most players, the least familiar territory. That’s precisely the case for playing it. Nowhere else does an hour of practice move your world-map score as far as it does here.

Why the borders look the way they do

One factual paragraph of history explains a lot of what you’ll see on this map. In 1884-85, European powers met at the Berlin Conference to set rules for dividing Africa among themselves; no African leaders were invited. Borders were drawn in European capitals, often as straight lines across land the mapmakers had never seen, and roughly 44 percent of Africa’s borders today are straight-line segments, the highest share of any continent. Those lines cut across ethnic and linguistic communities and largely survived decolonization, which is why the modern map contains shapes like Egypt’s near-rectangle and the long ruler-straight edges of Algeria, Libya, Namibia, and Mali.

For map-quiz purposes, this history has a practical consequence: African countries offer fewer distinctive shapes to hang memory on, so neighbors and coastline position matter more. You learn Africa by relationships. Which country is between which.

Drilling 54 countries without drowning

Regions, always regions. North Africa is five Mediterranean countries learnable in minutes. The Horn juts unmistakably. Southern Africa clusters around its giant anchor. West Africa’s coastal arc is the dense part: work the coastline west-to-east like a string of beads, then fill the Sahel row above it. Central Africa comes last, hung off the easy-to-spot DRC. Five sessions, five regions, and the continent is yours.

Two anchors reward early attention: Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country, in the crook of the western coast, and the DRC dominating the center. Nearly everything else can be located relative to those two plus Egypt and South Africa. Once the map holds, stack on the Africa capitals quiz and the Africa flag quiz, and enjoy being the person who never loses points on Africa again in the world map quiz.

More map quizzes

Countries of the World QuizSee a flag, type the country. The full 193 in the pool.World Map QuizClick thirty countries anywhere on the world map.Europe Map QuizFind all 44 European countries, microstates included.Asia Map QuizClick all 46 Asian countries, Cyprus to Japan.South America Map QuizTwelve countries. The friendliest map quiz on the site.North America Map Quiz23 countries from Canada down through the Caribbean.Oceania Map QuizFourteen countries scattered across the Pacific.Country Shape QuizName the country from its outline alone.

Keep going with Africa

Africa Flag QuizAfrica Capitals QuizHow many countries are in Africa?

Frequently asked questions

How many countries am I placing in this quiz?

All 54 UN member states in Africa, the biggest single-continent set on the site. Island nations like Madagascar, Mauritius, the Seychelles, Cabo Verde, and the Comoros are included, and the zoom makes the small ones clickable.

Why is Africa considered the hardest map quiz?

Volume plus unfamiliarity. 54 countries is a third of the world’s total, and most school curricula barely touch the continent, so players start from near zero. The borders also offer fewer memorable shapes than other continents. None of this is a talent problem. It’s an exposure problem, and exposure is exactly what a map quiz provides.

What’s the fastest region of Africa to learn?

North Africa: a handful of large Mediterranean countries in a single row. The Horn of Africa is next, thanks to its unmistakable shape. Bank those two in your first session for momentum before starting the denser West African coast.

How long until I can place every African country?

With focused ten-minute sessions and same-day miss replays, two to three weeks is typical. It’s the single biggest upgrade available to your world map quiz score, since African countries are where most players’ misses concentrate.