World Geography Quiz Prep: Capitals, Rivers and Records
Geography is one of the most reliable quiz categories: the facts rarely change, so a little study pays off for years. You do not need to memorise an atlas. Focus on the high-value areas below — capitals, records, continents and the classic trick questions — and you will recognise most questions instantly.
Capitals Worth Knowing
Everyone knows London and Paris, but quizzes love the trickier ones, where the famous city is not the capital. Learn these first:
- Australia — Canberra (not Sydney)
- Turkey — Ankara (not Istanbul)
- Canada — Ottawa (not Toronto)
- Brazil — Brasília (not Rio de Janeiro)
- Switzerland — Bern (not Zurich)
- Nigeria — Abuja (not Lagos)
- Morocco — Rabat (not Casablanca)
We cover dozens more in The Capitals Everyone Gets Wrong.
Record-Breaking Places
- Largest country: Russia, spanning 11 time zones. Canada is second.
- Smallest country: Vatican City, at less than half a square kilometre.
- Most populous country: India, which overtook China in 2023.
- Longest river: the Nile is traditionally listed as the longest, with the Amazon a very close second — some measurements put the Amazon first. The Amazon carries by far the most water.
- Largest hot desert: the Sahara. The largest desert of all is Antarctica, because deserts are defined by low precipitation.
- Largest ocean: the Pacific, which covers more area than all the land on Earth combined.
- Highest mountain: Mount Everest, on the Nepal–China border, at about 8,849 metres.
- Highest waterfall: Angel Falls in Venezuela, with a drop of nearly a kilometre.
- Largest lake: the Caspian Sea (despite its name). The largest freshwater lake by area is Lake Superior; the deepest is Lake Baikal.
- Longest mountain range on land: the Andes, running down the west of South America.
Continents at a Glance
- Asia is the largest continent by both area and population.
- Africa has the most countries — 54 — and is the only continent in all four hemispheres.
- Australia (or Oceania) is the smallest continent.
- Antarctica is the coldest, driest and windiest continent, and has no permanent population.
- Europe is home to the world's smallest country, Vatican City, and part of the largest, Russia.
Classic Trick Questions
- Which country has the most neighbours? China and Russia, with 14 each.
- Which is the largest landlocked country? Kazakhstan.
- Which countries are "doubly landlocked" — surrounded only by other landlocked countries? Liechtenstein and Uzbekistan.
- Which city is on two continents? Istanbul, split by the Bosphorus between Europe and Asia.
- Is Mount Everest the tallest mountain? It is the highest above sea level. Measured from base to peak, Mauna Kea in Hawaii is taller.
- How many oceans are there? Five: Pacific, Atlantic, Indian, Southern and Arctic.
Rivers and the Cities Built on Them
Many great cities grew up on rivers, and quiz writers love to ask which river runs through which capital:
- London — the Thames
- Paris — the Seine
- Rome — the Tiber
- Cairo — the Nile
- Baghdad — the Tigris
- Budapest, Vienna, Bratislava and Belgrade — all on the Danube, which flows through or along the borders of ten countries, more than any other river.
How to Remember It All
Do not try to memorise a whole atlas at once. Pick one region a week, learn its capitals and one standout fact for each country, and quiz yourself the next day. Spaced, bite-sized practice beats cramming every time.
It also helps to look at a map while you study. Seeing that Canberra sits between Sydney and Melbourne, or that Brasília is deep inland, gives your memory a picture to hold on to. Interactive games work even better: the World Map Quiz asks you to find countries on the map itself.
Put your new knowledge to the test in a free Geography quiz — and watch your leaderboard rank climb.