Geography · Rung 8 of 12

The world, country by country

One hundred and ninety-five states: the 193 UN members plus two observers, the Holy See and Palestine. Russia is the largest, eleven time zones and nearly twice Canada; the next four are Canada, China, the United States and Brazil. The most populous is India since 2023, having overtaken China. The most bordered are China and Russia, fourteen neighbours each. Three countries completely surround another (Italy surrounds two, San Marino and the Vatican; South Africa surrounds Lesotho), and a dozen capitals are not the largest city: Washington, Ottawa, Brasília, Canberra, Abuja, Islamabad, Ankara, Astana, Naypyidaw and Yamoussoukro.

Where this sits

Comes after
Europe
Opens up
Population and cities, Borders and time zones

Exercises from this rung

Generated by the app, from easiest to hardest

  1. What is the capital of Ireland?

    • Reikiavik
    • Madrid
    • Dublín
    • Budapest

    Why The capital of Ireland is Dublín. The country covers about 70 thousand km² and has 5.3 million inhabitants.

    easier

  2. Which country is marked?

    • Myanmar
    • India
    • Mongolia
    • Indonesia

    Why It is India, in Asia. Placing something on the world map is the only way a country's figures start to mean anything: who it sits beside, at what latitude and with what coastline.

    in between

  3. This country is 4,300 km long and 180 km wide on average. Which is it?

    • Chile
    • Norway
    • Argentina
    • Peru

    Why Chile runs from the driest desert in the world, the Atacama, to the ice of Patagonia: 38 degrees of latitude, the same as from Norway to Morocco. That shape is imposed by the cordillera, which runs hard against the sea and leaves the country no room to grow eastward. Which is why it has almost every climate on the planet.

    harder