13.6 — World Geography, Capitals and Currencies

The highest-yield page in any quiz bank, because the facts are stable and they come up everywhere.

Capitals worth knowing

Which countries have more than one capital? South Africa has three — Pretoria executive, Cape Town legislative, Bloemfontein judicial. Bolivia has two: Sucre constitutional, La Paz seat of government.

Which capital is the highest in the world? La Paz, Bolivia, at around 3,600 m. Quito, Ecuador, is second.

Which is the world's northernmost and southernmost capital? Reykjavík, Iceland, and Wellington, New Zealand.

Which capitals are not the largest city in their country? Washington DC, Canberra, Brasília, Ottawa, Ankara, Abuja, Islamabad, Wellington, Bern and Astana — a favourite quiz set.

Which countries built a new capital deliberately? Brazil built Brasília in 1960; Nigeria moved to Abuja; Myanmar to Naypyidaw; Kazakhstan to Astana; Indonesia is currently moving from Jakarta, which is sinking.

Capital of Australia, Canada, Turkey, Switzerland? Canberra, Ottawa, Ankara, Bern — none of them the largest city, which is why they are asked.

Capital of Bhutan, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Myanmar? Thimphu, Kathmandu, Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte with Colombo as commercial capital, and Naypyidaw.

Capital of Kenya, Morocco, Egypt, South Korea, Vietnam? Nairobi, Rabat, Cairo, Seoul, Hanoi. Morocco and Vietnam catch people out, since Casablanca and Ho Chi Minh City are larger.

Which country has the capital Ulaanbaatar, and what is it known for? Mongolia — the coldest national capital on Earth by average temperature.

Currencies

Which countries use the yen, the won, the yuan and the rupiah? Japan, South Korea, China and Indonesia. China's currency is the renminbi; the yuan is its unit.

Which countries other than India use the rupee? Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Mauritius, Seychelles and Indonesia's rupiah is a cousin.

What is the currency of Russia, Israel, Saudi Arabia, Thailand, Vietnam? Rouble, shekel, riyal, baht, dong.

Which currency is used by the most countries? The euro, in twenty EU members plus several others. The US dollar is used or pegged in more places overall.

Which currency has the highest value per unit? The Kuwaiti dinar, consistently.

Which countries use the dollar but are not the United States? Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Singapore, Hong Kong, Fiji, Jamaica and many more — the word simply comes from thaler, a Bohemian silver coin.

Which country's currency is the lira, and which the peso? Türkiye uses the lira; peso is used across Latin America and in the Philippines.

Rivers and lakes

Which is the longest river in the world? Disputed between the Nile and the Amazon, because a river's source is a choice. The Amazon wins on volume beyond argument.

Which is Europe's longest river, and Asia's? The Volga in Europe; the Yangtze in Asia, and the Yangtze is third longest in the world.

Which river flows through the most countries? The Danube, through ten. The Nile basin touches eleven.

Which river forms the largest delta? The Ganges-Brahmaputra, shared by India and Bangladesh.

Which is the world's largest lake by area, and by volume? The Caspian Sea by area — and whether it is a lake or a sea is a legal question worth billions. Lake Baikal by volume, holding about a fifth of the world's unfrozen surface fresh water.

Which is the deepest lake, and the oldest? Baikal on both counts — 1,642 m deep and about 25 million years old.

Which is the highest navigable lake? Titicaca, on the Peru-Bolivia border, at about 3,810 m. Bolivia's landlocked navy operates on it.

Which sea is the saltiest, and which lake? The Dead Sea is about ten times as salty as ordinary seawater and is technically a lake. Don Juan Pond in Antarctica is saltier still.

Which sea has no coastline? The Sargasso Sea, in the Atlantic, bounded entirely by ocean currents.

Which is the largest waterfall by width, height and volume? Victoria Falls is often called the largest sheet of falling water; Angel Falls in Venezuela is the tallest at 979 m; Inga Falls on the Congo has the greatest flow.

Mountains, deserts and forests

Which are the seven summits? The highest peak on each continent: Everest, Aconcagua, Denali, Kilimanjaro, Elbrus, Vinson and either Kosciuszko or Puncak Jaya depending on how Oceania is defined.

Which is the longest mountain range on land, and overall? The Andes on land, about 7,000 km; the Mid-Atlantic Ridge underwater is far longer.

How many peaks are above 8,000 m, and where are they? Fourteen, all in the Himalayas and Karakoram.

Which is the largest desert, and the largest hot desert? Antarctica and the Sahara. A desert is defined by rainfall, not heat.

Which is the driest non-polar place? The Atacama in Chile, where some stations have never recorded rain.

Which is the largest rainforest, and the second largest? The Amazon and the Congo.

Which country has the most forest area? Russia, by a wide margin, mostly boreal taiga.

Countries and borders

Which country has the longest coastline? Canada, over 200,000 km, because of its Arctic islands.

Which country borders the most others? China and Russia, with fourteen each.

Which is the only country that is also a continent? Australia. It is classed as a continent rather than an island by convention alone.

Which countries are entirely surrounded by one other country? Lesotho inside South Africa; San Marino and Vatican City inside Italy.

Which two countries are doubly landlocked? Liechtenstein and Uzbekistan — every neighbour is itself landlocked.

How many landlocked countries are there? Forty-four. Bolivia lost its coast in 1879 and still maintains a navy.

Which country spans the most time zones? France, twelve, because of its overseas territories. Russia has eleven contiguous.

Which country lies in both the eastern and western hemispheres and on the equator? Several do — Kiribati famously moved the date line east so its whole territory shares a date.

Which is the largest island, and the largest island country? Greenland; Indonesia by population and Australia if counted as an island.

Which country has the most islands? Sweden by most counts, followed by Norway and Finland.

Which country has no rivers? Saudi Arabia has no permanent rivers. Several Gulf states are the same.

Which is the newest widely recognised country? South Sudan, 2011.

Which country changed its official English name recently, and to what? Türkiye, from Turkey, in 2022. Eswatini replaced Swaziland in 2018, and Czechia is the short form of Czech Republic.

The named lines and features

What is the Ring of Fire? The horseshoe of volcanoes and earthquake zones around the Pacific, where about 75 per cent of the world's active volcanoes sit.

What is the Great Rift Valley? A continental split running from Lebanon to Mozambique, where Africa is slowly tearing apart. Most early human fossils come from it.

What are the Roaring Forties and the Doldrums? Strong westerly winds around 40° south, and the calm belt at the equator where sailing ships could sit becalmed for weeks.

What is the International Date Line, and does it run straight? No — it bends around Russia, the Aleutians and Kiribati so that no country is split across two dates.

What are the Tropics, and why at 23.5 degrees? Cancer at 23.5° north and Capricorn at 23.5° south, marking the furthest the sun ever passes overhead — set by the Earth's axial tilt.

Which canal connects the Mediterranean to the Red Sea, and which the Atlantic to the Pacific? Suez, opened 1869, and Panama, opened 1914. Panama has locks because of a 26 m elevation change; Suez is at sea level.

Which strait separates Europe from Africa, and which Asia from North America? Gibraltar and the Bering Strait.

Which strait is the world's most important oil chokepoint? Hormuz, between the Persian Gulf and the Arabian Sea.

What is the Prime Meridian, and where does it run? Zero longitude, through Greenwich, chosen in 1884 because two thirds of the world's shipping already used Greenwich-based charts.

Cities, extremes and oddities

Which is the world's largest city by urban area population? Tokyo's agglomeration, around 37 million, though rankings change with the definition used.

Which is the world's oldest continuously inhabited city? Contested between Damascus, Jericho, Byblos and Varanasi, and depends on what counts as continuous.

Which city sits on two continents? Istanbul, split by the Bosphorus between Europe and Asia.

Which country is the flattest, and which the most mountainous? The Maldives, whose highest natural point is under three metres; Bhutan and Tajikistan are usually named as the most mountainous.

Which are the coldest and hottest inhabited places? Oymyakon and Verkhoyansk in Siberia, below −60 °C; Death Valley recorded 56.7 °C in 1913, the highest reliably accepted air temperature.

Which country has the most volcanoes, and which the most earthquakes? Indonesia has the most active volcanoes; Japan and Indonesia record the most significant earthquakes.

Which places have midnight sun and polar night? Everywhere above the Arctic Circle and below the Antarctic Circle. Norway's Svalbard has around four months of continuous daylight.

Which country has the most official languages? South Africa, with twelve after sign language was added. Bolivia recognises even more indigenous languages, at 37.

Which is the world's most linguistically diverse country? Papua New Guinea, with over 800 languages for about ten million people.

Flags and symbols

Which two national flags are square? Switzerland and Vatican City.

Which flag has a weapon on it? Mozambique, which features an AK-47. Saudi Arabia's flag carries a sword.

Which flag features a building? Cambodia, which shows Angkor Wat — the only national flag with a building on it.

Which flag has the most colours? South Africa's, with six.

Which two flags are nearly identical? Indonesia and Monaco differ only in proportion. Chad and Romania are effectively identical.

Which flags feature a maple leaf, a cedar and a dragon? Canada, Lebanon and Bhutan or Wales.

Which country's flag has never changed? Denmark's Dannebrog is the oldest continuously used national flag, in use since at least the fourteenth century.

Which flags are made of only one colour? Libya used a plain green flag from 1977 to 2011 — the only single-colour national flag in modern history.

Superlatives, quick-fire

Tallest building? Burj Khalifa, Dubai, 828 m. Tallest statue? Statue of Unity, Gujarat, 182 m. Longest wall? The Great Wall of China, about 21,000 km of sections in total, and not visible from space. Longest bridge? The Danyang-Kunshan Grand Bridge in China, a railway viaduct over 160 km long. Longest tunnel? The Gotthard Base Tunnel, Switzerland, 57 km. Busiest airport by passengers? Atlanta, for most of the last three decades. Largest palace? The Royal Palace of Madrid is the largest in Europe by floor area; the Istana Nurul Iman in Brunei is the largest residential palace. Largest religious structure? Angkor Wat, Cambodia. Largest island in a lake? Manitoulin in Lake Huron, Canada. Largest country in Africa, South America and Europe? Algeria, Brazil, and Russia — with Ukraine largest entirely within Europe. Smallest country in Africa and Asia? Seychelles and Maldives.

What comes next

The next page turns to science — physics and chemistry, the two categories where a single misremembered unit loses a whole round.