Borders Quiz: Which Country Is It?
You get the list of every country a mystery country borders by land; pick the country from four choices. 156 countries have land borders, ten per round, for the whole world or one continent.
10 questions from 156 countries, four choices each. A new mix every round.
How the borders quiz works
Each question lists every land neighbour of one country. The answer is the only country among the four choices that touches all of them: the wrong choices are picked so that none of them borders every listed country, and none of them is on the list itself.
The border lists come from Natural Earth's boundary data, so they are complete, including the less obvious ones: France borders Brazil and Suriname through French Guiana, Spain borders Morocco at Ceuta and Melilla, and Russia's Kaliningrad gives it borders with Poland and Lithuania.
How to solve a borders question
Start with the most unusual neighbour on the list. Many countries border Germany, but only a handful border both Germany and Russia's neighbours. Then count: one or two neighbours suggests a coastal or enclosed country (Lesotho has one, South Africa); eight or more points to a large country in the middle of its continent.
Island nations with no land borders (Japan, Iceland, Madagascar, most of the Caribbean and the Pacific) never appear in this quiz; try them in the shape or flag quiz.
Questions people ask
Which country borders the most countries?
China and Russia, with 14 land neighbours each. Brazil has 10, and Germany, the DR Congo and Austria have 9, 9 and 8.
Which countries have only one land neighbour?
Among others: Portugal (Spain), Ireland and the United Kingdom (each other), Denmark (Germany), Lesotho (South Africa), Haiti and the Dominican Republic, Canada (the United States), and San Marino and Vatican City (Italy).
Why isn't my country in the borders quiz?
It has no land border. Islands and island nations can only be asked about in the shape and flag quizzes.
Do overseas territories count?
Yes, as part of their country: French Guiana makes France a neighbour of Brazil and Suriname. Territories that aren't one of the 195 countries (Western Sahara, Kosovo, Gibraltar, Hong Kong) aren't listed.