150 Geography Trivia Questions and Answers

Here are 150 geography trivia questions with answers, sorted into easy, medium, hard, and expert rounds. Every answer is verified, capitals and counts come straight from this site’s country data, and the contested ones (looking at you, longest river) say so instead of pretending. Steal freely for quiz night; that’s what they’re for.

How to run these questions

A few notes from people who host quiz nights, so your rounds land properly.

Mix difficulties within a round rather than running all-easy then all-expert. A round of ten works best as roughly five easy, three medium, two hard; it keeps weak teams alive and strong teams honest. Save the expert questions for tiebreakers, where “which two countries are doubly landlocked” can end a war between two smug tables.

Read the answer notes, not just the answers. Half these questions have a why attached, and the why is what makes a table go “ohhh” instead of just writing down a word. “Canberra” is an answer; “because Sydney and Melbourne couldn’t stop arguing” is entertainment.

And when a dispute breaks out, and it will, this site is the referee: the world capitals list settles capital fights, the how many countries page settles count fights, and the landlocked countries list settles the rest. For teams who’d rather click than shout, the hard geography quiz is the interactive version of the upper rounds.

Play a quick 15-question round

Rather answer than read? This round pulls 15 random questions from the full list below, mixed across all four difficulty levels.

15 random questions from a pool of 150. Four choices each, no timer, no signup.

Easy geography trivia questions

The warm-up round: famous capitals, unmistakable countries, and the facts everyone half-knows. These get every table on the board, and they hide a couple of gentle traps for the overconfident, because even the easy round should draw blood once.

What is the capital of France?
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Paris
What is the capital of Japan?
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Tokyo
What is the capital of Italy?
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Rome
Which country is the largest in the world by area?
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Russia
What is the longest river in Africa?
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Nile
How many states make up the United States?
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50
Which country's flag features a red maple leaf?
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Canada
What is the capital of Spain?
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Madrid
Egypt is mostly located on which continent?
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Africa
What is the largest ocean on Earth?
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Pacific Ocean
What is the capital of the United Kingdom?
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London
Which country is also a continent?
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Australia
What is the capital of Germany?
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Berlin
The Statue of Liberty stands in which city?
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New York City
Which country has the largest population in the world?
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India
The Sahara Desert is on which continent?
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Africa
What is the capital of Russia?
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Moscow
Which US state is the largest by area?
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Alaska
Mount Everest is part of which mountain range?
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Himalayas
What is the capital of China?
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Beijing
Which country is famously shaped like a boot?
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Italy
Most of the Amazon rainforest lies in which country?
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Brazil
What is the capital of Egypt?
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Cairo
How many continents are there in the standard seven-continent model?
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7
What is the capital of the United States?
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Washington, D.C.
The Great Barrier Reef lies off the coast of which country?
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Australia
Which country's flag is a plain red circle on a white background?
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Japan
Niagara Falls sits on the border between the United States and which country?
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Canada
What is the capital of Mexico?
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Mexico City
Brazil is located on which continent?
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South America
The Eiffel Tower stands in which city?
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Paris
Which ocean lies between North America and Europe?
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Atlantic Ocean
What is the capital of Canada?
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Ottawa
Kangaroos are native to which country?
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Australia
What is the capital of Greece?
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Athens
The Grand Canyon is located in which US state?
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Arizona
What is the world's largest island?
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Greenland
What is the capital of India?
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New Delhi
The Pyramids of Giza are located in which country?
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Egypt
Which sea separates Europe from Africa?
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Mediterranean Sea

Medium geography trivia questions

The separator round: capitals that aren’t the famous city, flags with stories, rivers and mountain ranges, and country counts. Casual players start guessing here; quiz players start earning their reputations. This is where 193 UN members and their tricky capitals do most of the damage.

What is the capital of Australia?
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Canberra
What is the capital of Turkey?
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Ankara
What is the capital of Brazil?
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Brasília
Which country ties Russia for the most land neighbors, with 14?
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China
Which African country famously defeated an Italian invasion in 1896 and kept its independence?
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Ethiopia
Which continent has the most countries?
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Africa
Which city is the capital of Switzerland?
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Bern
What is the capital of New Zealand?
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Wellington
Which two countries share the longest international border in the world?
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United States and Canada
The Danube River empties into which body of water?
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Black Sea
Which country has the most time zones, counting its overseas territories?
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France
What is the deepest lake in the world?
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Lake Baikal
La Paz and Sucre both serve as capitals of which country?
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Bolivia
Angel Falls, the world's highest waterfall, is in which country?
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Venezuela
What is the state capital of New York?
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Albany
Which country's flag features an AK-47 rifle?
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Mozambique
What is the largest desert in the world?
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Antarctica
Which strait divides Istanbul between Europe and Asia?
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Bosporus
Which country was historically known as Persia?
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Iran
What is the capital of Argentina?
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Buenos Aires
Mount Kilimanjaro, Africa's highest peak, is in which country?
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Tanzania
Which country has the world's only non-rectangular national flag?
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Nepal
Sacramento is the capital of which US state?
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California
The Volga, Europe's longest river, flows through which country?
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Russia
Nairobi is the capital of which country?
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Kenya
Which two countries are South America's only landlocked nations?
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Bolivia and Paraguay
Which desert in Chile is considered the driest place on Earth outside the polar regions?
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Atacama
Madagascar lies off the coast of which continent?
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Africa
Seoul is the capital of which country?
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South Korea
Which European country is famous for its fjords and has Oslo as its capital?
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Norway
What is the largest lake in the world by surface area?
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Caspian Sea
The Panama Canal connects which two oceans?
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Atlantic and Pacific
Which country has more living languages than any other, with about 840?
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Papua New Guinea
What is the capital of Portugal?
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Lisbon
What is the most populous country in Africa?
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Nigeria
What is the smallest US state by area?
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Rhode Island
Havana is the capital of which country?
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Cuba
The Suez Canal is located in which country?
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Egypt
Which mountain range is the traditional boundary between Europe and Asia?
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Ural Mountains
What is the official capital of the Netherlands?
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Amsterdam

Hard geography trivia questions

Superlatives, borders, and the world’s fine print: doubly landlocked countries, transcontinental cities, deserts that aren’t sandy, and the capitals nobody’s heard of. Expect tables to disagree confidently and be wrong together. The best sound in trivia.

Which two countries are doubly landlocked, surrounded only by other landlocked countries?
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Liechtenstein and Uzbekistan
What is the constitutional capital of Bolivia?
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Sucre
Which country has three capital cities: Pretoria, Cape Town, and Bloemfontein?
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South Africa
What is the official legislative capital of Sri Lanka?
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Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte
Which two countries have nearly identical blue-yellow-red vertical tricolor flags?
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Chad and Romania
Indonesia's red-and-white flag is nearly identical to the flag of which European microstate?
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Monaco
Which country flies the oldest continuously used national flag in the world?
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Denmark
What is the highest national capital city in the world?
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La Paz
Naypyidaw has been the capital of which country since 2005?
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Myanmar
What is the current name of Kazakhstan's capital, renamed back in 2022?
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Astana
Ouagadougou is the capital of which country?
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Burkina Faso
What is the lowest point on land on Earth?
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Dead Sea shore
What is the deepest known point in the world's oceans?
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Challenger Deep in the Mariana Trench
What official height for Mount Everest did China and Nepal jointly announce in 2020?
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8,848.86 meters
Which country has the longest coastline in the world?
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Canada
Which is the only continent that lies in all four hemispheres?
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Africa
Which US state is technically both the westernmost and easternmost state?
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Alaska
The Danube flows through how many countries, more than any other river?
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10
Which African country's official capital is Dodoma rather than its largest city, Dar es Salaam?
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Tanzania
Yamoussoukro is the official capital of which country?
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Côte d'Ivoire
Which island nation's flag features a map of the country itself?
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Cyprus
Which African country has coastlines on both the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea?
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Morocco
What is the least populous US state capital?
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Montpelier
Which two countries share the island of Hispaniola?
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Haiti and the Dominican Republic
Kaliningrad, an exclave separated from its mainland, belongs to which country?
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Russia
Lesotho is entirely surrounded by which country?
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South Africa
Which two independent countries are entirely surrounded by Italy?
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San Marino and Vatican City
Besides Vatican City, which country has a square national flag?
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Switzerland
At about 979 meters, what is the world's highest waterfall?
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Angel Falls
Which body of water, despite its name, is generally considered the world's largest lake?
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Caspian Sea
In which years did the Berlin Conference divide Africa among European powers?
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1884-1885
Ashgabat is the capital of which Central Asian country?
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Turkmenistan
Vientiane is the capital of which country?
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Laos
Which Pacific nation's territory straddles both the equator and the International Date Line?
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Kiribati
Which country was known as Zaire from 1971 to 1997?
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Democratic Republic of the Congo
Which country's national flag has different designs on its front and back?
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Paraguay
Along with Tennessee, which US state borders eight other states?
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Missouri
Ethiopia became landlocked in 1993 when which country gained independence?
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Eritrea
In what year did South Sudan become the world's newest country?
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2011
The flags of Colombia, Ecuador, and Venezuela descend from the flag of which former republic?
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Gran Colombia

Expert geography trivia questions

The tiebreaker vault. Time zones, exclaves, disputed rankings, and oddities that feel invented and aren’t. Anyone clearing this round without a phone deserves the trophy and a moment of silence from the room.

At about 21 square kilometers, what is the world's smallest island country?
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Nauru
Which country is the least populous in the world, with fewer than 1,000 residents?
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Vatican City
UN Resolution 2758 in 1971 transferred China's UN seat away from which government?
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Taiwan (Republic of China)
In what year did Kosovo declare independence from Serbia?
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2008
Which river do most global records, including Guinness, recognize as the world's longest?
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Nile
The summit of which mountain is the farthest point from the center of the Earth?
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Chimborazo
Along with Ethiopia, which African country largely avoided European colonization?
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Liberia
Thanks to French Guiana, France's longest land border is with which country?
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Brazil
Which two national capitals face each other across the Congo River, the world's closest capital pair after Rome and Vatican City?
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Kinshasa and Brazzaville
How many time zones does mainland-plus-regions Russia span?
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11
Which is the only major city located on two continents?
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Istanbul
Roughly how deep is Challenger Deep, the ocean's deepest point?
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About 10,900 meters
The Dead Sea's surface lies roughly how far below sea level?
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430 meters
Which country's flag features the temple complex of Angkor Wat?
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Cambodia
Which creature appears on the flag of Bhutan?
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A dragon
Which country renamed its capital Nur-Sultan in 2019, then reversed the change in 2022?
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Kazakhstan
Which two EU capitals are the closest pair of capital cities in the European Union?
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Vienna and Bratislava
Nebraska's state capital is named after which US president?
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Abraham Lincoln
Which country controls and claims most of the disputed territory of Western Sahara?
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Morocco
Somaliland, self-governing since 1991 but unrecognized by any UN member, is officially considered part of which country?
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Somalia
Which strait separates Spain from Morocco?
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Strait of Gibraltar
Papua New Guinea shares the island of New Guinea with which country?
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Indonesia
How many member associations does FIFA have, more than the UN's 193 members?
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211
Which country became Europe's newest UN member when it split from Serbia in 2006?
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Montenegro
Which country has coastlines on both the Caspian Sea and the Persian Gulf?
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Iran
Which country's remote position means it has no official capital city, with government offices in Yaren district?
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Nauru
What is the largest country in Africa by area?
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Algeria
Timor-Leste, independent since 2002, shares the island of Timor with which country?
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Indonesia
K2, the world's second-highest mountain, belongs to which mountain range?
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Karakoram
Which landlocked country still maintains a navy and marks a national Day of the Sea?
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Bolivia

Frequently asked questions

Are these trivia questions free to use?

Completely. Use them at pub quizzes, in classrooms, on long car rides, wherever. No attribution needed, though sending your victims to the geography quiz afterward is a kindness, since losing at trivia is the leading cause of wanting a rematch.

How are the answers verified?

Every question carries a source, and the computable facts, capitals, country counts, areas, come from the same verified data layer that runs the site’s quizzes. Where geography genuinely disputes itself, like the Nile-versus-Amazon length fight, the answer notes the dispute rather than picking a silent winner.

What difficulty mix should I use for a pub quiz?

For a general crowd: half easy, a third medium, the rest hard, with expert questions held back as tiebreakers. For a crowd that chose a geography night on purpose, shift one notch harder. Nobody enjoys a round where every table scores ten or every table scores two.

Can I play these interactively instead?

Yes. The geography trivia hub links the playable versions, and the hard geography quiz covers the upper difficulty tiers with scoring, streaks, and none of the paper. The written list and the quizzes draw from the same well.