Guess the Country Quiz
Can You Name the Country From Three Clues?
Ten countries, three clues each, getting easier as they go. No maps, no flags, just geography, borders and the occasional oddity.
Geography quizzes usually reward memorising capitals, which is a thin sort of knowledge. These questions try to reward something better: knowing roughly where things are and how they relate to each other.
Each question gives three clues in descending order of difficulty. The first is usually a record or a quirk, the second narrows it to a region, and the third makes it obvious. If you can get one from the first clue alone, that is genuinely good.
One warning: two of these are designed to lead you somewhere plausible and wrong.
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Ten countries. Each question gives three clues, from hardest to easiest.
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1 It has the longest coastline of any country. It shares the longest land border in the world with a single neighbour. Its capital is Ottawa.
Canada's coastline is by far the longest of any country, largely because of its enormous Arctic archipelago. Its border with the United States is the longest international border between two countries.
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B. Canada — Canada's coastline is by far the longest of any country, largely because of its enormous Arctic archipelago. Its border with the United States is the longest international border between two countries.
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2 It is the only country that occupies an entire continent. It has no land borders at all. Its largest city is not its capital.
Australia is the only country occupying a whole continent. Sydney is its largest city; Canberra is the capital, chosen as a compromise between Sydney and Melbourne.
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A. Australia — Australia is the only country occupying a whole continent. Sydney is its largest city; Canberra is the capital, chosen as a compromise between Sydney and Melbourne.
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3 It is landlocked by exactly one country. It uses its neighbour's currency in practice. It is one of the smallest states in the world.
San Marino is entirely surrounded by Italy and uses the euro. Monaco has a coastline. Andorra borders two countries. Liechtenstein borders two as well.
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C. San Marino — San Marino is entirely surrounded by Italy and uses the euro. Monaco has a coastline. Andorra borders two countries. Liechtenstein borders two as well.
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4 It spans eleven time zones. It borders fourteen countries. Its territory includes an exclave separated from the rest of it.
Russia spans eleven time zones and borders fourteen countries. Kaliningrad is the exclave, separated from the rest of the country by Lithuania and Poland.
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B. Russia — Russia spans eleven time zones and borders fourteen countries. Kaliningrad is the exclave, separated from the rest of the country by Lithuania and Poland.
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5 It contains the lowest exposed land surface on Earth. It borders four countries and has two coastlines. It was established as a state in 1948.
The shore of the Dead Sea is the lowest exposed land on Earth, and Israel has coastlines on both the Mediterranean and, at Eilat, the Red Sea.
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A. Israel — The shore of the Dead Sea is the lowest exposed land on Earth, and Israel has coastlines on both the Mediterranean and, at Eilat, the Red Sea.
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6 Almost the whole population lives on about four per cent of its land. It is divided by a river that has flooded predictably for millennia. It borders the Mediterranean and the Red Sea.
Egypt's population is concentrated overwhelmingly along the Nile valley and delta, with the vast majority of the country desert.
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C. Egypt — Egypt's population is concentrated overwhelmingly along the Nile valley and delta, with the vast majority of the country desert.
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7 It is the only country named after a woman, according to the most widely accepted explanation. It is divided into two main islands. It has more sheep than people.
Saint Lucia is generally held to be the only sovereign country named after a woman. The other two clues are deliberately misleading and point at New Zealand, which fits them but not the first clue.
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B. Saint Lucia — Saint Lucia is generally held to be the only sovereign country named after a woman. The other two clues are deliberately misleading and point at New Zealand, which fits them but not the first clue.
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8 It has no rivers. It is one of the most densely populated countries on Earth. It is a city, a country and an island all at once.
Singapore is a city-state on an island, extremely densely populated, with no significant natural rivers and a substantial reliance on imported and recycled water.
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D. Singapore — Singapore is a city-state on an island, extremely densely populated, with no significant natural rivers and a substantial reliance on imported and recycled water.
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9 Its name means land of the Bulgars. It shares a border with Greece and Turkey. It is the only European country whose name has not changed since it was first established.
Bulgaria has borne the same name since its foundation in 681, which is frequently cited as the longest-unchanged country name in Europe.
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B. Bulgaria — Bulgaria has borne the same name since its foundation in 681, which is frequently cited as the longest-unchanged country name in Europe.
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10 It is the world's largest archipelago by number of islands. Its capital is moving. It sits on the meeting point of several major tectonic plates.
Indonesia comprises many thousands of islands and lies across an extremely active tectonic zone. A project to relocate the capital from Jakarta to a new city on Borneo has been under way since 2019.
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C. Indonesia — Indonesia comprises many thousands of islands and lies across an extremely active tectonic zone. A project to relocate the capital from Jakarta to a new city on Borneo has been under way since 2019.
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Where this came from
- Country profiles and geographic data — CIA World Factbook
- Geographic and political reference — Encyclopaedia Britannica
- Member states information — United Nations
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