Countries of the World Quiz
Counting the world's countries is harder than it sounds: the answer depends on who is counting.
A countries of the world quiz with answers that skips flags and capitals. It asks about the records and oddities that set nations apart: size, age, islands, hemispheres and even how they got their names.
Did you know?
- Canada has the longest coastline of any country, more than 200,000 kilometres when its many islands are included. Walking it without a break at a normal pace would take over thirty years. The second longest coastline is less than half that length.
- The Pacific island nation of Nauru has no official capital city. Government offices stand in one district of the island, which is only about twenty-one square kilometres in area and can be driven around in well under half an hour.
- Lesotho, in southern Africa, is the only country in the world that lies entirely above 1,000 metres. Its lowest point, at about 1,400 metres above sea level, is higher than the lowest point of any other nation.
What counts as a country
There is no single official list of the world's countries. The most widely used figure is the membership of the United Nations, but other organisations count differently. The Olympic movement recognises just over two hundred national committees, and football's world body has even more members, because some territories that are not independent states field their own teams. A few places operate as states in practice but are recognised by only some governments, which adds to the confusion.
Giants and miniatures
The largest country covers about a ninth of the world's land, while the smallest could fit inside a city park. Population varies just as widely: two countries have more than 1.4 billion people each, and several have fewer than fifty thousand. Size has little to do with wealth or influence; some of the smallest states are among the richest per person. The least crowded countries have fewer than three people per square kilometre.
Lines on the map
Borders follow rivers, mountain ranges or simply straight lines drawn by surveyors. The longest shared border in the world runs for almost nine thousand kilometres across North America. Three countries are completely surrounded by a single neighbour. Dozens have no coast at all, which shapes their trade, since goods must cross another country to reach a port. A few borders even run through the middle of buildings, with a line painted on the floor.
Names that change
Country names are not fixed. Governments sometimes ask the world to use a different form, usually one closer to the name used at home. In recent years one African kingdom and one country on the edge of Europe have made such requests to the United Nations. Many names simply mean 'land of' a people, while others describe a landscape, a colour or a direction.