Medium
Geography
World Capitals: Can You Name Them All?
Ten capitals that trip up even confident travellers, from Canberra to Abuja.
Sample question
Start quiz
What is the capital of Australia?
Borders, Enclaves and Odd Geography
Borders are agreements, and agreements produce some genuinely peculiar shapes.
About this topic
A border is a negotiated line, and negotiations produce oddities: territory entirely surrounded by another country, towns reachable only by driving through a neighbour, and in a few cases land that no state wants to claim at all. Many of the strangest arrangements are colonial inheritances — straight lines drawn on maps by people who had not visited the ground. Others are the residue of medieval treaties nobody has bothered to tidy up. These questions cover the most instructive examples.
Questions & answers
Borders, Enclaves and Odd Geography: all 10 questions and answers
Every question in this quiz is listed below with its correct answer and the reasoning behind it. Play first if you would rather not see the answers — or read through as a study sheet.
Play it insteadShow all answers and explanationsHide answers
-
1Which country is entirely surrounded by South Africa?
- A Eswatini
- B Botswana
- C Namibia
- D Lesotho Correct
Answer: D. Lesotho
Why: It is one of only three sovereign states completely enclosed by a single other country. San Marino and Vatican City are the others.
-
2A country entirely surrounded by one other country is called what?
- A A dependency
- B A condominium
- C An enclaved state Correct
- D A protectorate
Answer: C. An enclaved state
Why: An exclave, by contrast, is a piece of a country separated from its main body, such as Alaska relative to the rest of the United States.
-
3Which two countries share the longest land border in the world?
- A India and Bangladesh
- B Canada and the United States Correct
- C Russia and China
- D Argentina and Chile
Answer: B. Canada and the United States
Why: It runs for roughly 8,890 km including the Alaskan section, and much of it follows the 49th parallel rather than any natural feature.
-
4Vatican City and which other microstate are surrounded entirely by Italy?
- A San Marino Correct
- B Monaco
- C Andorra
- D Liechtenstein
Answer: A. San Marino
Why: San Marino claims to be the oldest surviving sovereign state, dating its foundation to the fourth century.
-
5Which country has land borders with the most other countries?
- A Russia
- B Brazil
- C Germany
- D China Correct
Answer: D. China
Why: China borders fourteen states. Russia is usually given as fourteen as well, depending on which territories are counted.
-
6Point Roberts, part of the United States, can only be reached by land through where?
- A Alaska
- B It has no land access
- C Canada Correct
- D Mexico
Answer: C. Canada
Why: The 49th parallel cut off the tip of a peninsula, leaving a small American community accessible by road only through British Columbia.
-
7Bir Tawil, between Egypt and Sudan, is unusual because what?
- A It is entirely underwater
- B Neither country claims it Correct
- C Both countries govern it jointly
- D It is the smallest country in Africa
Answer: B. Neither country claims it
Why: Each claims a different border line, and claiming Bir Tawil would mean surrendering a larger, more valuable territory elsewhere.
-
8Which country is landlocked by exactly two others, both of which are themselves landlocked?
- A Liechtenstein Correct
- B Nepal
- C Bolivia
- D Mongolia
Answer: A. Liechtenstein
Why: Bordered only by Switzerland and Austria. Uzbekistan is the only other doubly landlocked country.
-
9The 49th parallel forms much of the border between which two countries?
- A Russia and Mongolia
- B France and Spain
- C Chile and Argentina
- D Canada and the United States Correct
Answer: D. Canada and the United States
Why: It was agreed in 1818 as a convenient straight line, which is why the border ignores rivers, mountains and communities along its length.
-
10A "condominium" in international law describes territory that is what?
- A Uninhabited by treaty
- B Rented from another country
- C Governed jointly by two or more states Correct
- D Owned by a private company
Answer: C. Governed jointly by two or more states
Why: Pheasant Island in the Bidasoa river alternates between French and Spanish administration every six months under a 1659 treaty.
Read alongside this quiz
The restless Earth
The ground beneath your feet is moving, slowly but relentlessly. One idea — plate tectonics — explains earthquakes, volcanoes…
7 min readFrequently Asked Questions
How is scoring calculated for this quiz?
Each correct answer awards 10 XP. There is zero point penalty for incorrect guesses, encouraging learning through exploration.
Can I retake this quiz?
Yes! You can retake any quiz as many times as you like, or use the Practice Mistakes mode at the end to review questions you missed.
Are explanations provided for every question?
Absolutely. As soon as you select an option, QuizKite displays a detailed explanation card explaining why the answer is correct.
QuizKite Quality Guarantee
Every quiz on QuizKite is researched, written and fact-checked by hand against reliable references, with an explanation for each answer. Read our full Editorial Policy to learn more about our content standards.
Keep going
More Geography
Medium
Geography
Rivers of the World
From the Nile to the Amazon — the great rivers that shaped where we live.
Sample question
Start quiz
Which river is traditionally considered the longest in the world?
Medium
Geography
Peaks & Mountains
The roof of the world, range by range — and a few peaks that will surprise you.
Sample question
Start quiz
What is the highest mountain above sea level?
From the Journal