City and geography trivia questions can be a fun and engaging way to test your knowledge of the world and its many different locations. From major metropolitan areas to small towns and rural areas, there is a wide variety of interesting facts and information to learn about the places where people live and work.
Some examples of city and geography trivia questions might include questions about the population, history, and landmarks of a particular city or region. For example, you might be asked about the population of New York City, the history of the Great Wall of China, or the location of the Grand Canyon. Other questions might focus on more general concepts, such as the different types of climates found around the world or the major rivers and mountain ranges that shape the landscape.
Whether you're a student studying geography in school, a traveler planning your next trip, or just someone who is curious about the world around you, city and geography trivia questions can be a fun and educational way to learn more about the places and spaces that make up our planet. So why not give it a try and see how much you know about the world and its many different locations?
94 City & Geography Trivia Questions Ranked From Easiest to Hardest (Updated for 2024)
- Lódz, Wroclaw, and Poznan are the third, fourth, and fifth most populous cities (respectively) in what European nation?
Answer: Poland
- Used in ancient times by the poet Tibullus, "The Eternal City" is a nickname given to what European capital?
Answer: Rome
- Located on the south of Honshu and the northern shore of Osaka Bay, what K-word Japanese city gave its name to a type of beef and a famous Los Angeles Laker?
Answer: Kobe, Japan
- Established on November 11, 1926 and stretching 2,448 miles across the United States, what famous highway is also known as the Will Rogers Memorial Highway?
Answer: Route 66
- D.C. is considered a "planned city" which makes some sense considering the avenues radiating out from rectangles that make up the core of the city. The architect and city planner was commissioned in 1791 by President Washington and was a man from what country?
Answer: France
- Lake Como and Lake Garda are both located in which Southern European country?
Answer: Italy
- Notable for its striking rounded arches designed by architect Toyo Ito, the Tama Art University Library can be found in what world capital city?
Answer: Tokyo
- "This Wall Is A Designated Graffiti Area" reads part of the graffiti in the rear of London's Cargo Club, unofficially designated by what anonymous, irrepressible street artist?
Answer: Banksy
- Boxing made its official debut at the 1904 Summer Olympics, which was held in what U.S. city that is home to the “Gateway To The West”?
Answer: St. Louis
- Cheong Wa Dae, also known as the Blue House, formerly served as the executive office and official residence of the president of South Korea. Earlier this year, the complex was transitioned into a public park. What city is home to The Blue House?
Answer: Seoul
- What capital of Western Australia is over 1,300 miles from Adelaide, its nearest sizeable neighbor, making it one of the most isolated major cities in the world?
Answer: Perth
- Tegucigalpa is the capital city of what Central American country, which borders Guatemala, El Salvador, and Nicaragua?
Answer: Honduras
- The largest county in Texas by population, Harris, contains what major Texas city?
Answer: Houston
- Costa Rica is bordered by two countries: Nicaragua and what Central American country whose largest cities include San Miguelito and Las Cumbres?
Answer: Panama
- A former Malaysian state was expelled in 1965 and is now often considered the only modern country to date to gain independence unwillingly. What is this sovereign city-state nation?
Answer: Singapore
- In what country would you find the capital city of Caracas? Officially, the name of the city is Santiago de León de Caracas.
Answer: Venezuela
- Technically speaking, Norway's coastline is about 18,000 miles long, but only 1,600 miles if you omit what crinkly inlets?
Answer: Fjords
- Israel and which other country border the Dead Sea? This country’s name comes from the river which defines most of its north-western border.
Answer: Jordan
- Washington DC modifies its street addresses by adding a suffix denoting the fact that the city divides itself into what term referring to four regions?
Answer: Quadrants
- What major world capital sits on the site of an ancient body of water named Lake Texcoco, which was almost entirely drained in by Spanish colonists the 17th century?
Answer: Mexico City
- Once home to the Sultans of the Ottoman Empire and now a museum, Topkapi Palace is located in which Anatolian city?
Answer: Istanbul
- The namesake of a Paul McCartney oratorio and home to The Reds F.C., what British city was removed from the UNESCO list of World Heritage sites in 2021 due to concerns surrounding planned developments in this city?
Answer: Liverpool
- What Pacific Northwest inlet of the Pacific Ocean is technically part of the Salish Sea and is considered an estuary?
Answer: Puget Sound
- What “V” coastal Italian city is located roughly due east of Padua?
Answer: Venice, Italy
- The Kowloon peninsula constitutes the mainland portion of which territory of China?
Answer: Hong Kong
- Towering Sugarloaf Mountain and its neighbor,Morro da Urca loom over what city of 7 million people?
Answer: Rio de Janeiro
- What historical two-word city on Israel’s Mediterranean coast is home to Bauhaus buildings from the 1930s, as well as the Eretz Israel Museum and its excavations from 12 Century B.C. ruins?
Answer: Tel Aviv
- Described by Muammar Gaddafi as "the Eighth Wonder of the World," the Great Man-Made River delivers 6.5 million cubic metres of water daily to Tripoli, Benghazi, and other cities in what northern African country?
Answer: Libya
- Located at the junction of the Bay of Bengal and the Andaman Sea, the Andaman and Nicobar Islands are an administrative division of which country?
Answer: India
- First designed by Antoni Gaudí and set to be finished around 2026, what is the name of the Barcelonian building that has been under slow construction since 1882?
Answer: Sagrada Família
- According to an urban legend, what type of animal caused the Great Chicago Fire of 1871 by knocking over a lantern?
Answer: Cow
- El Prat airport is located in which city on the Mediterranean Sea, which held the 1992 Summer Olympics?
Answer: Barcelona
- Designed by starchitect Renzo Piano, The Shard is a 72-story skyscraper known for its needle-like shape, in what world capital city?
Answer: London
- The paper currency in Botswana is named "pula" which translates to what natural phenomenon? This is a reference to the value of this phenomenon as much of the country is within the Kalahari Desert.
Answer: Rain
- Rome's Cloaca Maxima was an early example of what infrastructure project that makes cities a whole lot more livable?
Answer: Sewer system
- What Asian country changed its capital in 1868 to its current capital city? Both the pre- and post- 1868 capitals are anagrams of one another. In case you've forgotten over the years, anagrams are words that contain all the same letters but in a different order. And we're looking for the country, not the cities.
Answer: Japan (Kyoto and Tokyo)
- Marrakech in Morocco is known as the 'red city' for the many buildings and features adorned with that color. What picturesque city in northwest Morocco has the title of the 'blue city?'
Answer: Chefchaouen
- What “N” island to the north of New Zealand, which self-governs while in free association with New Zealand, has its capital at Alofi?
Answer: Niue
- Busan, formerly called Pusan, is the second most populous city in which Asian country? War resulted in Busan temporarily becoming this country’s capital city in the 1950s.
Answer: South Korea
- Khartoum, a metropolitan city on the confluence of the White Nile, is the capital city of what African nation on continent’s east coast?
Answer: Sudan
- The name of the capital city of which country in West Africa was added to this country’s name in the 1970s to avoid confusion with another county in West Africa with a similar name?
Answer: Guinea-Bissau
- The depth of the ocean (or perhaps a very big lake) is measured using ____. The term is also the study of the floor of a body of water (though it sounds more like it’s the study of your tub).
Answer: Bathymetry
- Which mountain in Ecuador is not as tall as Mt. Everest but is actually closer to the Moon thanks to the boost it gets from the bulging shape of the Earth at the equator?
Answer: Mount Chimborazo
- While it probably makes you think of sky-high activities like space launches and theme park rides, which southern state is actually the flattest?
Answer: Florida
- Seattle is one of two major U.S. cities located on an isthmus, a narrow piece of land between two bodies of water. What state capital, which boasts a free weekly newspaper called the Isthmus, is the other?
Answer: Madison, Wisconsin
- What Russian city of 300,000 people, which lies only 67 kilometers from the country's border with Norway, is by far the largest city in the world that lies above the Arctic Circle?
Answer: Murmansk
- In what nation can you find the Coober Pedy, an opal mining town where summers are so hot, most of the town is built underground?
Answer: Australia
- Resembling an inverted triangle or a flower with a stem on maps, the Nile River Delta is located just north of which African capital city?
Answer: Cairo
- The city Hot Springs in New Mexico was renamed in 1950 after a radio show originally hosted by Ralph Edwards. By what name is this city now known?
Answer: Truth or Consequences
- New York City and Oklahoma City are the most populous cities in their respective states. Indianapolis is the most populous in Indiana. There is one other state whose most populous city contains the name of the state? What state is it?
Answer: Virginia
- There are only three countries that are landlocked by just one country. Two are in Italy—Vatican City and San Marino. The third is Lesotho, which is in which country?
Answer: South Africa
- 2004's Annan Plan tried and failed to resolve the contentious Greek-Turkish divide of what Mediterranean island?
Answer: Cyprus
- The African country with the most total miles of coastline is what nation with the capital city Antananarivo?
Answer: Madgascar
- In what European capital city would you find the landmark known as the Spanish Steps?
Answer: Rome
- Although Yamoussoukro was designated the official administrative capital in 1983, Abidjan remains the "economic capital" and the largest city of what West African nation?
Answer: Côte d'Ivoire (Ivory Coast)
- What Asian country – whose national flag features a blue 24-spoke Ashoka Chakra wheel in its center – is the world’s largest producer of milk?
Answer: India
- There was a nickname for the city of Phoenix that references its frequent solar beams that was first introduced in the 1930s as an advertising slogan to boost tourism. What is this nickname?
Answer: Valley of the Sun
- Although the vast majority of the Amazon River is located in Brazil, the headwaters of the waterway are found in what other South American country?
Answer: Peru
- I-90, the longest interstate highway in the United States, has its termini in Boston and what west coast city (which is NOT its state's capital)?
Answer: Seattle
- With a population under 40,000, the largest city in Northwest Georgia isn't all that large, but the name of the city itself is very well-known because it shares its name with a European capital. What is this city?
Answer: Rome
- A specific war in U.S. history is largely credited as cutting off the supply of British goods and thus stimulating American industry in Pittsburgh. Only a few years later, the city was producing large amounts of iron, brass, tin, and glass. What is this war with inadvertent benefits for Pittsburgh's manufacturing?
Answer: War of 1812
- Which Indian city on banks of Yamuna River in state of Uttar Pradesh is the location of the Taj Mahal?
Answer: Agra
- The world’s largest hemispherical building, the Avicii Arena, previously called the Ericsson Globe, is located in which European capital city?
Answer: Stockholm
- What tiny, independent principality located between France and Spain has its own name in its capital city, ______ la Vella? The principality is known as a "tax-haven" with duty-free shopping.
Answer: Andorra
- The third-largest city in India is also the capital of the state of Karnataka. What is this city in south India? As a hint, the city shares the same first four letters with the 8th most populous country in the world.
Answer: Bangalore
- The city of Aachen, known for Aachener Printen (a type of gingerbread) and for being the location of the coronation of 31 Holy Roman Emperors, is situated in the west of which country?
Answer: Germany
- In 2022, what country announced that the name of its new capital, planned for the region of East Kalimantan on the island of Borneo, would be named "Nusantara?" The new city will be much more centrally located than its current capital, the largest city in Southeast Asia.
Answer: Indonesia
- Only one of the seven countries that borders India has a population with less than one million people. This country famously measures "gross national happiness" and has Thimphu as its capital city. What is this country?
Answer: Bhutan
- An Algonquin or Ojibwe word meaning "where the river narrows" became the name of what province where the Saint Lawrence does actually narrow?
Answer: Québec
- If you had tickets to Game 5 of the NBA Finals on June 11, 1997, you would witness Michael Jordan's iconic "flu game" in what city?
Answer: Salt Lake City
- With its capitals in what is now northern Sudan, what ancient Nubian kingdom shares its name with a variety of Cannabis indica?
Answer: Kush
- What Texas city contains a replica of the Eiffel Tower, less than one tenth the scale of the original?
Answer: Paris
- The second-smallest Australian state by area, the capital of the Seychelles and the capital of the Canadian province of British Columbia share what name?
Answer: Victoria
- What Asian country is the only one in the world whose national flag is not a quadrilateral?
Answer: Nepal
- A large sculpture known as The Fist in Detroit's Hart Plaza honors what boxer, nicknamed The Brown Bomber, who defeated German boxer Max Schmeling in a highly-publicized fight in 1938?
Answer: Joe Louis
- Machu Picchu was never plundered by the Spanish because the conquistadors never found this ancient site from the height of the Inca Empire. The lack of discovery was especially unlikely because the site is only 50 miles from what Inca capital city?
Answer: Cusco
- There is only one U.S. state with four syllables in its name that borders zero other states with exactly four syllables. What is this state?
Answer: Indiana
- Which city is the largest in Pakistan and also the capital of Sindh?
Answer: Karachi
- Prior to 2016, what capital city in the Americas was technically referred to as a “District Federal” in its native language?
Answer: Mexico City
- Which national capital city is geographically closest to India's New Delhi?
Answer: Islamabad
- What is the "T" name that was the more common name for what is now known as Singapore back in the 14th century? The land was a trading port that was influenced by both the Majapahit Empire and Siamese kingdoms at the time.
Answer: Temasek
- "Hand of the Desert" is a giant sculpture of a hand reaching out of the sand, standing more than 35 feet tall in the Chilean portion of what desert?
Answer: Atacama
- What is the only country in South America whose official language is Dutch?
Answer: Suriname
- Given that its pyramids are so famous, you might assume that Egypt is home to the majority of them. However, with over 200 of them, which African country actually has the most pyramids?
Answer: Sudan
- The District of Columbia Organic Act of 1871 was an act of Congress that repealed the individual charters for the cities of Washington what other city? It also established a new territorial government for the whole District of Columbia.
Answer: Georgetown
- Admitted to the U.S. on February 14, 1912, The Valentine State is a nickname of what state where you could take a date to the abandoned Lisa Frank factory?
Answer: Arizona
- Plovdiv is the second largest city and cultural capital of which country bordered by the Black Sea?
Answer: Bulgaria
- What city, planned and built throughout the 1980s, became the capital of Nigeria in 1991, replacing the longtime capital of Lagos?
Answer: Abuja
- Located on the Yucatan Peninsula, what Mexican state sounds like it might contain Australian mammals but is actually named for a lawyer who fought for Mexican independence?
Answer: Quintana Roo
- What lake, which is actually three connected bodies of water, is situated where Germany, Switzerland, and Austria meet, and is fed by the Rhine River? (You may give its German name or English name.)
Answer: Lake Constance
- The Battle of Bunker Hill in Boston was one of the turning points of the American Revolutionary War. Today, you can visit the monument as well as climb the 221-foot granite obelisk which honors the fallen soldiers. Within 20 steps, how many steps does it take to climb to the top?
Answer: 294 (274 - 314 accepted)
- What “T” capital city of Albania, whose name comes from an old Greek word meaning “dairy”, is home to Skanderbeg Square?
Answer: Tirana
- How many U.S. state capitals lie west of Los Angeles?
Answer: Six
- An emirate is a territory ruled by an emir. Qatar and which other independent state are emirates? This independent state’s capital shares its name with the state.
Answer: Kuwait
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About the Author
Eli Robinson is the Chief Trivia Officer at Water Cooler Trivia. He was once in a Bruce Springsteen cover band called F Street Band.
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