Trivia is all the rage right now. We love to see how much we know about various subjects. For this article on trivia facts, think back to your high school and college geography classes. You will probably be a front runner if you travel a great deal or have friends that do so. So, if you think you know about the world, test yourself with our geography trivia. We begin with some geography trivia facts as a warm-up. Then challenge you with geography trivia questions and answers. Next, we give you a chance to test yourself on your knowledge of world geography and U.S. geography with trivia questions with answers. Read on for fun and a great learning experience!
Table of Contents
Geography Trivia Facts
What we have here are some relatively obscure geography facts. See how many you already know. Our guess is very few. For example, did you know Alaska is the westernmost and northernmost state in the United States, but parts of Alaska are so far west that the state actually stretches into the eastern hemisphere, making it the easternmost state as well?
- Two places are the lowest and highest points in California, and also the lowest and highest in the Continental U.S.
- This lake is famed for its deep blue color and water clarity and was formed when a volcano called Mount Manzano erupted.
- These Islands are located in the middle of the Bering Strait between mainland Alaska and Siberia.
- This 1,330-foot-long, three-foot-high prehistoric effigy mound is located on a plateau along Ohio Brush Creek in Adams County, Ohio.
- This mountain range, a segment of the Rockies, runs from southeastern Idaho to north central Utah and is seen from the Great Salt Lake.
- Guernsey is one of Britain’s islands called these; Santa Catalina is one of California’s.
- The Kodiak Archipelago in this gulf was the site of the first Russian colony in North America.
- Riyadh is the capital of this Middle-Eastern country.
- This is the smallest independent country on Earth.
- This is the deepest point in Earth’s oceans.
- This mountain is nicknamed the “Savage Mountain.”
- These two rivers’ confluence was the site of the Philadelphia Navy Yard, the USA’s first naval shipyard.
- Of the eight major islands in the Hawaiian Archipelago, this one is uninhabited. Why?
- This mountain range stretches from the town of Seesen in northwest Germany to Eisleben in the east.
- This Hawaiian island is known as “Bird Island.”
- The second largest salt-water lake in the United States after the Great Salt Lake in Utah, it is named after the French Minister of the Marine, chancellor of France and minister of finance during the reign of France’s “Sun King,” Louis XIV.
- This mountain lies directly outside of Atlanta, is the largest granite monolith in all of the country, and one of the largest monoliths in the world.
- This U.S. state has the largest aquifer.
- This African country served as the setting for Tatooine in Star Wars.
- This is the only major city located on two continents. Which continents are they?
- This is the largest city in the world based on surface area.
Geography Trivia Questions and Answers
Sometimes it is fun to try to answer trivia questions without being able to see the answers immediately. We have shared a list of twenty-five geography trivia questions and answers with the questions all listed first, followed by a list of answers. See how many you can get right without looking at any of the answers until you finish the list of questions.
Questions:
- What Canadian province boasts the longest freshwater beach in the world?
- What is the longest river in the United Kingdom?
- What is the highest mountain in the British Isles?
- What is the capital city of Saskatchewan?
- What is the national river of Russia?
- What is the longest river in Canada?
- Montevideo is the capital of what South American country?
- What are the only three countries completely surrounded by one other country?
- What is the only continent with land in all four hemispheres?
- What mountain is closest to the Moon?
- What continent contains the most fresh water?
- What ocean is home to 75% of the Earth’s volcanoes?
- What country borders the Caspian Sea, Persian Gulf, and Gulf of Oman?
- What is the capital of Costa Rico?
- What is the primary mountain range in Iran?
- What is the coldest sea on Earth?
- How many tributaries does the Amazon River have?
- What is the oldest active volcano on Earth?
- What river runs through Paris?
- What body of water separates Africa and Europe?
- Which of the following continents is intersected by the Equator?
- What is the smallest country in South America?
- What is the capital of Nigeria?
- Lake Titicaca sits on the border between what two nations?
- What is the largest country in the world in terms of land area?
Answers:
- Ontario’s Wasaga Beach is the longest freshwater beach in the world. It stretches 14 km along the shore of Lake Huron’s Georgian Bay.
- The longest river in the United Kingdom is the River Severn (220 mi; 350 km) which flows through both Wales and England.
- Ben Nevis, the highest mountain in the British Isles, is located at the western end of the Grampian Mountains.
- Regina is the capital city of the Canadian province of Saskatchewan and the second-largest city in the province.
- The Volga is widely viewed as the national river of Russia. Eleven of the twenty largest cities of Russia, including the capital, Moscow, are in the Volga’s drainage basin.
- The Mackenzie River is the longest river in Canada, and when combined with head streams, including the Peace River and the Slave River, is the second longest river system in North America.
- Montevideo is the capital and largest city of Uruguay.
- Lesotho is completely surrounded by South Africa, and Vatican City and San Marino are both completely surrounded by Italy
- Africa is the only continent that is in all four hemispheres: north, south, west, and east.
- Although Mt. Everest has the highest altitude in terms of sea level on the planet, because of the equatorial bulge Mount Chimborazo is the closest to the moon.
- The ice sheet in Antarctica is the largest solid ice mass on the planet. The enormous frozen structure contains about 90 percent of all the fresh water on Earth.
- The Pacific Ocean basin is home to 75% of the world’s volcanoes. These volcanoes actually form a ring around the Pacific Ocean basin known as the Ring of Fire.
- Iran borders the Caspian Sea, Persian Gulf, and Gulf of Oman.
- San José is the capital of Costa Rica and the nation’s largest city.
- The Zagros Mountains, a series of parallel ridges interspersed with plains that bisect Iran from northwest to southeast.
- The White Sea, in Russia, has the lowest temperature, only -2 degrees centigrade.
- The Amazon River has over 1,100 tributaries, 17 of which are over 1,500 kilometres long.
- Mount Etna of Italy is thought to be the world’s oldest active volcano with the first recorded eruption dated 1500 B.C. Etna has erupted 190 times.
- The Seine River runs through Paris. The Seine flows 482 miles through France, beginning in northeast France near Dijon and ending at the English Channel.
- The Strait of Gibraltar is a narrow strait that connects the Atlantic Ocean to the Mediterranean Sea and separates Gibraltar and Peninsular Spain in Europe from Morocco and Ceuta in Africa.
- The Equator passes through three of the seven continents: South America, Africa and Asia. Although it does not pass through the mainland of Asia, it does run through Indonesia and the Maldives, which are part of the continent.
- Suriname is the smallest country in South America.
- Abuja officially became Nigeria’s capital on December 12, 1991, replacing Lagos (the country’s most populous city).
- Lake Titicaca, the largest lake by volume of water and surface area, is the largest lake in South America.
- Russia is the largest country in the world, covering more than one eighth of Earth’s inhabited land area.
U. S. Geography Trivia
The United States is a vast country with many unusual geographic features. Our U.S. geography trivia has some fairly easy questions dealing with extremes such as highest, lowest, largest, and smallest, as well state capitals, mountain ranges, and names of bodies of water. See how many of these you remember and how many provide a surprise.
- What is the only state to border just one other state?
- What peak in Washington state, also known as Mount Tacoma, last erupted about 150 years ago?
- What water bodies that are a major tourist destination in the west-central section of Upstate New York, are actually eleven in number, but only seven of the largest are commonly identified as such?
- What is the state capital of Oregon?
- What U.S. state contains the world’s largest flat-top mountain?
- What is the state capital of Oklahoma?
- How many large islands in Hawaii are considered the “main islands”?
- What North Carolina site is known as known as Graveyard of the Atlantic?
- What desert is Las Vegas located in?
- What is the tallest mountain in North America?
- What is the oldest city in Texas?
- What is the flattest U.S. state?
- What U.S. state is home to Yellowstone National Park?
- What state has 2 national monuments: the Hagerman Fossil beds & Craters of the Moon?
- Which four states meet and are marked by the Four Corners Monument in the Navajo Nation and Ute Mountain Tribal Lands in the Southwest United States?
- What is the name of the largest island on Lake Superior (also a National Park)?
- What is the longest river in the United States?
- What state is bordered by Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming?
- Death Valley is located in what U.S. state?
- What U.S. state boasts the following rivers: the Guadalupe, Trinity, Rio Grande, Brazos, and Colorado?
- What is the highest point in Oregon?
- What U.S. state shares borders with Louisiana, Arkansas, Oklahoma, and New Mexico?
- Which of the Great Lakes is located entirely within the U.S. border?
- Pierre is the capital of what U.S. state?
- What is the least populated U.S. state?
- Lake Okeechobee is located in what U.S. state?
- What is the smallest U.S. state?
- Which U.S. state has the most miles of rivers?
World Geography Trivia
We live on a huge and amazing planet. Frequently, we think we know all about it and then discover a place or a piece of geographic trivia we have never heard of. The following world geography trivia should challenge you with some new and surprising facts about our world.
- What is America’s largest city by surface area?
- What razor-thin country accounts for more than half of the western coastline of South America?
- What river runs through Baghdad?
- What country has the most natural lakes?
- What is the only sea without any coasts?
- What percentage of the River Nile is located in Egypt?
- What is the driest place on Earth?
- In what country can you visit Machu Picchu?
- Which African nation has the most pyramids?
- What is the largest city in Saskatchewan?
- What city is the capital of Australia?
- What country occupies the southern end of the Arabian Peninsula?
- What is the highest waterfall in Europe?
- What is the name of the chain of more than 300 small volcanic islands forming an island arc in the Northern Pacific Ocean, extending about 1,200 mi (1,900 km) westward from the Alaska Peninsula toward the Kamchatka Peninsula?
- What mountain in New Hampshire holds the record for the highest recorded winds on Earth?
- What is the name of the estuary of the Atlantic Ocean that lies between the coast of Connecticut and Long Island, New York and serves as a geographic border between New England and the Mid-Atlantic states?
- What is the name of the dam formed by water impounded by Hoover Dam, that is the largest man-made lake and reservoir in the United States?
- What is the name of the narrow strip lying between Alabama and Georgia to the north and the Gulf of Mexico to the south and includes the westernmost 16 counties in the state?
- What are the names of Cape Cod’s two resort islands?
- What name is given to the volcanic craters on Oahu including Diamond Head, Koko Head, and this “bowl” in the heart of Honolulu?
- By what name is the sixth-largest of the Hawaiian Islands (known as the Pineapple Island because of its past as an island-wide pineapple plantation) called?
- What is the name of the waterway that allows boats to avoid the open sea stretches from Boston to Brownsville, Texas?
There you have it ¬¬– a collection of geography trivia that covers just about every area of the earth. We hope you have fun sharing your knowledge with your friends. Try challenging them with some of the trivia questions and answers. You could also use our geography trivia collection for a trivia team game night with your friends or family. Have fun!
Susan majored in English with a double minor in Humanities and Business at Arizona State University and earned a Master’s degree in Educational Administration from Liberty University. She taught grades four through twelve in both public and private schools. Subjects included English, U.S. and world history and geography, math, earth and physical science, Bible, information technologies, and creative writing.
Susan has been freelance writing for over ten years, during which time she has written and edited books, newspaper articles, biographies, book reviews, guidelines, neighborhood descriptions for realtors, Power Point presentations, resumes, and numerous other projects.
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