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About This Quiz
Calling all globetrotters or armchair travelers: Are you ready to test your knowledge of the countries of the world?
Planet Earth is home to about 190 nations, many of which are tiny and little-known, so we're only going to touch on the bigger, better-known ones (35 of them, to be exact). And just to mix things up, we're doing it Jeopardy-style. That means we'll give you a salient fact or two about the country, and then four answer choices that are written as a question.
You might know which country is home to the vast "Outback." Or which country is famous for its "Bollywood" film industry. But it takes a little more savvy to know which country is affectionately known as "the Hexagon," or which is the southernmost nation in the Eastern hemisphere. Some countries are most recognizable by a prominent natural feature -- a mountain of a river. Others don't have a marquee geographic feature -- they're known for a manmade marvel instead, or a historic event. So this quiz will test your knowledge in a variety of areas, not just one.
Settle in (with an atlas by your side if you want; that's not cheating!) and try our quiz on the countries of the world. It's the next best thing to getting new stamps in your passport!
This country is known for its immense "Outback."
What is Argentina?
What is Australia?
Of course, it's Australia. The only country that's also a continent by itself, Australia is likewise known for great beaches.
What is China?
What is Kenya?
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Its "Great Wall" is one of its most-visited tourist attractions.
What is China?
Building on the Great Wall of China was begun before the birth of Christ. It remains one of history's most impressive engineering feats.
What is Kenya?
What is Italy?
What is Zambia?
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Its majority language is English, but has a proud, vocal French-speaking minority.
What is Canada?
The province of Quebec, the capital of which is Montreal, is home to many of Canada's French speakers. However, you'll find bilingual signs throughout the country.
What is France?
What is New Zealand?
What is the United States?
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Mozart and Beethoven spent much of their adult lives in its capital, Vienna.
What is Austria?
Austria was the birthplace or adult home of many classical musicians. Though Mozart was buried in a common grave, (the tradition at the time), you can visit Beethoven's grave, with its grand marker, in Vienna's "Zentralfriedhof."
What is Bulgaria?
What is Estonia?
What is Russia?
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The world's widest river, the Amazon, cuts through this huge nation.
What is Brazil?
The Amazon might actually be the world's longest river. But since cartographers disagree on measuring methods, the Nile River in Africa generally is given that title.
What is Paraguay?
What is Kenya?
What is Zaire?
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The Parthenon stands high over Athens in this nation.
What is Germany?
What is Greece?
Tourists from all over the world come to Greece to see the ruins of the Parthenon, the Temple of Zeus, and more. Greece was home to two of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, but unfortunately, the Colossus of Rhodes and the Statue of Zeus at Olympia have been destroyed.
What is Egypt?
What is Uruguay?
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It shares beautiful Lake Titicaca with neighbor, Peru.
What is Bolivia?
Lake Titicaca is considered the world's highest navigable lake, at an elevation of about 12,000 feet. It's also the most likely to make schoolchildren snicker out loud in geography class.
What is Chad?
What is Papua New Guinea?
What is Botswana?
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Visit here to see the great pyramids and the Sphinx.
What is Chad?
What is Egypt?
Egypt is a storehouse of cultural treasures. Unfortunately, political turmoil in recent years has made it difficult for Western tourists to visit safely.
What is Saudi Arabia?
What is Sierra Leone?
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Visit the Coliseum on your Roman holiday here.
What is Greece?
What is Italy?
Italy is an evergreen tourist destination for lovers of history, art and great food and wine. Aficionados of the last two might go specifically to the region of Tuscany.
What is Spain?
What is Turkey?
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Once a military enemy of the United States, it is now an ally and economic superpower.
What is India?
What is Japan?
Japan's economic success is especially remarkable given its lack of natural resources. Its lands do not have oil or coal, or other notable mineral resources, while a minority of the mountainous land is arable. Technology, primarily, has been Japan's road to prosperity.
What is Argentina?
What is France?
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Visit my shores to see the Victoria and Albert Museum or climb the Yorkshire Dales.
What is Canada?
What is England?
"If a man is tired of London, he is tired of life," said Samuel Johnson. Maybe so, but there are still things to see outside England's capital!
What is Spain?
What is Wales?
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The mighty Mississippi divides this country's east coast from the rest of it.
What is Austria?
What is Colombia?
What is New Zealand?
What is the United States?
The Mississippi makes a rough two-thirds/one-third division in the United States. For many years, in America's youth, the other side of the Mississippi was "where the West began."
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This huge country spans 11 time zones; its capital is on Moscow Standard Time.
What is China?
What is India?
What is Mongolia?
What is Russia?
For such a large nation, Russia doesn't have as much climate diversity as you'd expect. Most of the country is either subarctic or temperate, though there is a subtropical region around Sochi, where the 2014 Winter Olympics were held.
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It's known around the world as the Emerald Isle.
What is Ireland?
A great many white Americans claim Irish ancestry (possibly more than actually have it). That's one reason why Irish writers, like Frank McCourt, have had fantastic success in the West.
What is New Zealand?
What is Sri Lanka?
What is Wales?
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This nation is known for its spicy food, monsoon season, and Bollywood film industry.
What is Afghanistan?
What is Austria?
What is India?
India is the second-most populated nation on the planet (behind only China). Though the majority of the population is Hindu, there is a sizable Muslim minority (nearly 15 percent of the population).
What is Morocco?
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Its capital of Havana is known for the vintage American automobiles you'll see rolling down its streets.
What is Bolivia?
What is Cuba?
The vintage cars you'll still see there are a result of the U.S. trade embargo. Without an automotive industry of its own, and unable to trade with the U.S., Cubans continually fixed up cars from the 1940s and 1950s, prior to the Castro revolution.
What is the Dominican Republic?
What is Surinam?
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It's fondly known as "l'Hexagon" to many of its inhabitants.
What is Germany?
What is Ecuador?
What is France?
France is called "the hexagon" because its boundaries roughly make a six-sided shape. Sometimes people will refer to "hexagon French" as classic French, compared to that spoken in former colonies.
What is Surinam?
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If you're going to climb to Machu Picchu in this nation, acclimate yourself to thin air ... it's at nearly 8,000 feet.
What is Indonesia?
What is Papua New Guinea?
What is Peru?
Peru is very popular as a tourist destination. People also love its Pisco sour cocktail, named for the town of Pisco.
What is Uruguay?
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Known for tech companies like Samsung, it lives in uneasy peace with its northern neighbor.
Indonesia
Malaysia
South Korea
Korea has been divided into North and South since the Korean Conflict, which ended in a cease fire that didn't go so far as a lasting peace. For a time after the war, the South was impoverished while the Communist North flourished, but today that situation has reversed itself.
Vietnam
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Come to the capital, Buenos Aires, to watch the tango dancers at night.
What is Argentina?
Buenos Aires has often been described as the "Paris of South America." Otherwise, it is a strongly agricultural nation, especially rich in cattle.
What is Mexico?
What is Peru?
What is Uruguay?
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This nation is technically part of North America, though it looks like the largest country in Central America.
What is Belize?
What is Costa Rica?
What is Mexico?
Mexico is part of North America, as signaled by its inclusion in the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). Americans cross the border to drink and have fun in border cities like Tijuana, but more serious-minded tourists can visit Aztec ruins in the jungles.
What is Uruguay?
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This country might be best known for Imelda Marcos and her many pairs of shoes.
What is Italy?
What is Portugal?
What are the Philippines?
Marcos, wife of Ferdinand, reportedly owned more than 1,000 pairs of shoes. It spawned a new word in the Philippines: "Imeldific," for "shoe crazy," "fashion crazy" or just "extravagant."
What is Spain?
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It shares the Iberian peninsula with Spain.
What is England?
What is Italy?
What is Portugal?
Spain has recently become a very popular tourist destination for Westerners, especially North Americans. They go for the museums, the nightlife and the tapas -- dinners entirely of shareable appetizers.
What is Wales?
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This island nation gave its name to a DreamWorks animated film.
What is Japan?
What is Sri Lanka?
What is Madagscar?
Madagascar is an island nation off the East Coast of Africa. Sadly, its diverse wildlife is threatened by rapid deforestation.
What is Prince William Island?
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Half of Hispaniola, its capital is Port-Au-Prince.
What is Angola?
What is Haiti?
Haiti has a proud tradition of independence. It was established after a successful slave revolt, and remains the only nation on Earth to be founded under such conditions.
What is Paraguay?
What is Surinam?
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The "Lord of the Rings" movies were shot in this gorgeous little country near Australia.
What is Bulgaria?
What is Malaysia?
What is New Zealand?
New Zealand's gorgeous mountains, meadows and seascapes have lent themselves to a number of film projects. Television, too: the wildly-popular '90s series "Xena: Warrior Princess" was shot there, and starred New Zealand actress Lucy Lawless.
What is Christmas Island?
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Comprising a great many islands, it's actually the world 7th largest country, if you include its territorial waters.
What is Ireland?
What is Indonesia?
If you're not counting the waters, then Indonesia drops to the planet's 14-largest country in terms of area. More than half of Indonesians live on the island of Java.
What is Papua New Guinea?
What is Chile?
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It is the southernmost country in the Eastern Hemisphere.
What is Australia?
What is Botswana?
What is Zaire?
What is South Africa?
South Africa is known for its ethnic diversity -- the flip side of which was its troubled history of "apartheid." Repeal began in 1990, spearheaded by national hero Nelson Mandela.
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This oil-rich nation is one of the last absolute monarchies on Earth.
What is Chechnya?
What is Pakistan?
What is Saudi Arabia?
Many nations still have monarchies that are largely symbolic, like the Netherlands and England. But in Saudi Arabia, the royal family wields great power -- a situation similar to monarchies in Brunei, Oman and the United Arab Emirates.
What is Zambia?
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For most of the 20th century, Slovakia and this country were one nation.
What is Bulgaria?
What is Croatia?
What is the Czech Republic?
Czechoslovakia was formed in 1918, after the Austro-Hungarian Empire fell apart. Czechoslovakia dissolved peacefully in 1993, after the fall of Communism.
What is Slovenia?
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This long, skinny nation looks like one big coastline on the Pacific.
What is Chile?
Chile has one of the most recognizable geographic profiles of any country on Earth. Wherever you are in Chile, you're never too far from a beach (relatively speaking, of course).
What is Crete?
What is Andorra?
What is Venezuela?
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Genghis Khan and Tamerlane are two of its national heroes.
What is Indonesia?
What is Monaco?
What is Mongolia?
Mongolia, south of Russia and north of China, is a sparsely-populated land. The Mongol Empire, founded by Genghis Khan, was once much bigger, extending into what is now China, Korea, and Russia.
What is Portugal?
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This African nation's largest city is Lagos.
What is Chad?
What is Lebanon?
What is Nigeria?
Don't confuse this with the nation of Niger, also named for the Niger River. Nigeria is a populous country, with three main ethnicities: the Igbo, the Hausa and the Yoruba.
What is Yemen?
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This small, central European nation gave America its current First Lady.
What is Estonia?
What is Lithuania?
What is Monaco?
What is Slovenia?
Slovenia was part of the former Yugoslavia (like the similiar-sounding "Slovakia"). Melania Trump was born there, leaving to pursue her modeling career.
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This northwest African nation is home to Casablanca, the city Humphrey Bogart made famous.
What is Libya?
What is Sierra Leone?
What is Morocco?
Morocco is a beautiful and ethnically diverse country. It has both coastal cities and a share of the Sahara desert, inhabited by its native Berber people.
What is Nigeria?
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You Got:
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