How to play Map Quiz
Pick a map, then a round. We name a place and you tap it on the blank map. Every place on the map comes up once, in a random order.
You get three tries for each place. A wrong tap tells you which place you tapped. After the third miss the right place is shown in red and the next one comes up. Skip counts as a miss.
- Find the states or Find the countries: we name the place.
- Capitals: we name a capital city, and you tap its state or country.
- Explore: no score. Tap around to see each place’s name and capital, to learn before a round.
Scoring
A place found on the first try scores 3 points, on the second 2 and on the third 1; a miss scores nothing. Your score is the share of the most you could get, so 100% means every place first time. Your best score and time for each map and round are saved.
Small places
Drag to move around the map, and zoom with the + and − buttons, a scroll wheel or a pinch. Places too small to tap, like Luxembourg, Rhode Island or the Caribbean islands, have a round marker you can tap instead.
Tips
- Play Explore once before a new map. Then do a capitals round once you know the places.
- Learn the big places first; the small ones fit in around them.
- A wrong tap still teaches you something: it names the place you tapped.
Questions
Which countries are on each map? Independent countries, by the continent Natural Earth puts them in. Russia, Turkey and Cyprus are on both Europe and Asia. Territories like Greenland or Puerto Rico are drawn in grey but not asked.
Which capital do you use? The one most atlases name. Some countries split the job: Bolivia’s government sits in La Paz (we ask Sucre), South Africa’s parliament in Cape Town (we ask Pretoria) and the Netherlands’ in The Hague (we ask Amsterdam). Israel and Palestine aren’t in the capitals rounds, since their capitals are disputed.
Where do the maps come from? Natural Earth and the US Census Bureau, both public domain. Borders follow Natural Earth’s usual view; they aren’t a statement about any dispute.
Want a daily geography game? Duck Atlas gives you a new country outline every day.