How to play
- Press Start. You have 3 minutes for all 50 countries.
- Type a country’s name. It counts as soon as it matches and turns green on the map; a country from another continent clears the box, with a note saying where it is.
- Pause whenever you like. When the time is up, the lists below the map show what you named and what you missed.
About the countries of Asia
Asia covers about a third of the world’s land and is home to well over half its people. Its countries range from giants spanning several time zones to island nations only a few metres above the sea. Seven answers end in -stan, the Persian word for land, and one of the world’s only two doubly landlocked countries, whose neighbours are all landlocked too, is in Central Asia.
To work through it, split it up: the Middle East and the Arabian Peninsula, the Caucasus between the Black and Caspian Seas, Central Asia, the Indian subcontinent, East Asia, and Southeast Asia, where the mainland gives way to thousands of islands.
More about the countries of Asia (names some answers)
Russia counts here as well as in Europe, and is the largest answer by far; the largest country entirely in Asia is China. India has had the most people since 2023. The smallest is the Maldives, a chain of coral atolls in the Indian Ocean, marked with a circle on the map. Timor-Leste, independent since 2002, is the newest country. Taiwan and Palestine are answers, as in Countries of the World; Hong Kong and Macao are not, as they are part of China. The doubly landlocked country is Uzbekistan.
Which countries count
Asia here follows the UN’s grouping of countries, plus the countries that span Asia and Europe, which count in both continents’ quizzes. Territories and dependencies aren’t answers, and land outside the quiz is shown in a lighter shade.
The countries in both Asia and Europe: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Cyprus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Russia and Türkiye.
Spelling: capitals, accents, spaces and punctuation don’t matter, and well-known alternative names count.
The accepted alternative names appear here when your quiz ends, so they don’t give any answers away.
| Country | Also accepted |
|---|---|
| Brunei | Brunei Darussalam |
| China | People's Republic of China |
| Kyrgyzstan | Kyrgyz Republic |
| Laos | Lao PDR |
| Myanmar | Burma |
| North Korea | DPRK, Democratic People's Republic of Korea |
| Palestine | State of Palestine |
| Russia | Russian Federation |
| South Korea | Republic of Korea |
| Timor-Leste | East Timor |
| Türkiye | Turkey |
| United Arab Emirates | UAE, Emirates |
| Vietnam | Viet Nam |
Questions
Why are some countries in both Asia and Europe?
A handful of countries straddle the usual line between the two continents, along the Urals, the Caucasus and the straits at Istanbul, or are grouped with Asia by the UN but often thought of as European. Rather than pick one, they count in both quizzes, and your score for each is kept separately.
Is the Middle East in Asia?
Yes. Apart from the part of Egypt east of the Suez Canal, which counts with Africa, the Middle East lies in Asia, and so do its countries here.
More geography
- Capitals of Asia: the same countries, naming their capitals
- Countries of the World: all 197 at once
- Other continents: Countries of Africa, Countries of Europe, Countries of North America, Countries of South America, Countries of Oceania
More to play
- Countries of the World: Type every country you can before the clock runs out.
- Capitals of the World: Name the capital of every country before the clock runs out.
- Periodic Table: Name every chemical element before the clock runs out.
- Flags of the World: Name the country from its flag.
- All quizzes
- El Trivia home