The Where's Next? Geography Quiz

Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. If you were to start off in Canada and travel due south along the 90 degrees west line of longitude through the USA and Mexico, where is the next country you would enter?

Answer: Guatemala

El Salvador follows Guatemala. The population of the four countries we were looking for totalled around 509 million in 2020.

Canada and the USA are two of the largest countries in the world in terms of area, ranking second and fourth respectively. Mexico was 14th on that list and Guatemala 105th.

The methodology in this quiz is to say X degrees line of longitude or latitude, specifying the compass direction. Thus "the 90 degrees west line of longitude" in this question can also be seen stated in sources as "45th parallel west".

2. The Greenwich meridian is at zero degrees on our maps and globes. Starting in England and travelling due south along that line through France and Spain, where is the next country you would enter?

Answer: Algeria

The Greenwich meridian is a line that passes through the Royal Observatory, Greenwich, in London. Although the British used the line from about 1721, it was not until 1884 that it was internationally accepted. It is the line against which time is measured, hence the reference to 'Greenwich Mean Time' (GMT).

The populations of the four countries we were looking for was just under 224m in 2020. Mali, Burkina Farso, Togo and Ghana are the other countries the line runs through.

3. Starting off in Japan on the 45 degrees north line of latitude and travelling due west along that line through Russia and China, where is the next country you would enter?

Answer: Mongolia

The three wrong answers are all also on the 45th meridian.

The populations of the four countries on our list in 2020 was about 1.44bn

4. G'day, quiz player. Starting off in Australia and travelling due west along the 15 degrees south line of latitude through Madagascar and Mozambique, where is the next country you would enter?

Answer: Malawi

Malawi is a landlocked country surrounded by Mozambique.

The populations of the four countries on our list in 2020 was about 103.58m. Size wise, while Australia is the largest by far of the four countries in area - 7.69m square kilometres - both Madagascar and Mozambique are larger by population. Madagascar is the second largest island nation in the world. Australia is considered to be a continent.

5. From the wide expanses of Russia, if you were to travel due south along the 90 degrees east line of longitude through Mongolia and China, where is the next country you would enter?

Answer: Bhutan

The combined populations of the four countries on our list in 2020 was just under 1.6bn

In terms of area, Russia is the largest in the world, with India at number seven on the list. Mongolia is at number 28.

China was the world's most populous country in 2020, with Russia at number nine.

6. Phew, it is hot on the equator. If in your air-conditioned luxury coach you were to start off on the zero degrees line of latitude in Gabon, and travel through the Republic of the Congo, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where is the next country you would enter?

Answer: Uganda

The combined populations of the four countries we were looking for in 2020 was 143m.

Like many countries in Africa, the age profile of these four nations is relatively young. The median population age in Uganda and DR Congo in 2020 was just 17. Only one country, Malawi, had a younger median age: 16.

7. Stepping out in snowy Norway and travelling due east along the 60 degrees north line of latitude and travelling through Sweden and Finland, where is the next country you would enter?

Answer: Russia

These are all very cold countries in winter. The total populations of the four countries add up to about 167m.

All of which bring me to a very old story about the farmer who was approached by the authorities at the end of the Second World War and told a new border was being drawn up that would go directly through his farmhouse. It was up to him to have it moved a bit: did he want to live in Poland or Russia. "Poland, please," he replied. "I couldn't stand another Russian winter."

8. Starting off at South Africa's Northern Cape and travelling due west along the 30 degrees south meridian through Brazil and Argentina, where is the next country you would enter?

Answer: Chile

Of course there is a large expanse of water between South Africa and Brazil.

The total populations of our countries in 2020 was about 333.26m. By population, South Africa is the largest of any nation entirely in the Southern Hemisphere. (The equator runs through Brazil, leaving a little piece of territory to the north.)

Meanwhile, of all the countries in South America, Bolivia is the only one never to have been invaded or settled at some time by Great Britain. In the book "All the Countries We've Ever Invaded: And the Few We Never Got Round To" (2013), Stuart Laycock pointed out that all but 22 of the world's almost 200 countries had been invaded by Britain at one time or another.

9. Leaving France and travelling east along the 45 degrees north line of latitude through Italy and Croatia, where is the next country you would enter?

Answer: Bosnia and Herzegovina

The total populations of the four countries in 2020 was about 133m, France being the largest.

The country now known as Bosnia and Herzegovina has been a troubled place through history. It was the setting for a bloody civil war in the latter part of the 20th Century.

10. Putting your best foot forward in Yemen and travelling due south along the 45 degrees east line of longitude through Somalia and Ethiopia, where is the next country you would enter?

Answer: Madagascar

You would of course re-enter Somalia after Ethiopia. If you miss Madagascar, it is a long way to the next solid land, Antarctica.

The total populations of the four countries in 2020 was about 188m, Ethiopia being the largest.

The three countries in continental Africa have historically been subjected to famine, disease and civil strife. In 2020, Somalia was listed as one of the poorest countries in Africa in terms of Gross Domestic Product. It had a GDP of $500 per capita.

Source: Author darksplash

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor agony before going online.
Any errors found in FunTrivia content are routinely corrected through our feedback system.

To help us get around our world, it has been marked up in lines of latitude and longitude. Travel along some of these lines through three specified country and tell me where is next on that list.

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