Guess the country by its shape
Only the outline of the country is shown, with no map around it. Work out which country it is.
How to play
- Pick an area (the whole world or one continent) and a number of questions.
- Pick the right answer out of four. A miss shows the correct answer.
- At the end, replay your mistakes: it is the fastest way to remember them. Your best score is kept in your browser.
The outlines are drawn from Natural Earth borders, in a projection centred on each country so its shape is not distorted.
With no neighbours or sea around it, even a well-known country gets hard: everyone knows Italy’s boot, but who can spot Zambia? Every right answer adds the country’s shape stamp to your passport.
Play by continent
Six shapes that are easy to remember
- Chile
About 4,300 km from north to south, under 180 km wide on average.
- Italy
The “boot”, with Sicily at the toe and Sardinia to the west.
- Vietnam
A long “S” along the sea, barely 50 km wide at its narrowest.
- Gambia
A strip on both banks of the Gambia River, surrounded by Senegal except at the coast.
- Lesotho
A round shape entirely surrounded by South Africa.
- Norway
A coastline cut by fjords, stretching far beyond the Arctic Circle.
Frequently asked questions
- Why are some countries missing?
- States under 20,000 km² (Monaco, Malta, most Pacific islands) are left out: at this scale their shape cannot be recognised.
- Are islands included?
- Yes, the outline covers the whole territory: Alaska and Hawaii for the United States, French Guiana for France.
- Which shape is the easiest?
- Chile and Italy are recognised by almost everyone. Central African countries, with their straight borders, are the hardest.
Fancy something else? Try the daily challenge, the other quizzes (flags, capitals, map) or browse the fact files of all 195 countries.