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How to play
- Choose Find it to click the country named above the map, or Type it to name the country highlighted in blue.
- Get it on the first try and it turns green. Two or three tries makes it yellow. After three misses the answer is shown in red and the quiz moves on.
- Click a wrong country and a label tells you which one you picked, which is handy for learning the neighbours.
- At the end you get your score, time and the countries you missed. Your best result is remembered on this device, so you can try to beat it.
Typed answers ignore capitals and accents, so Peru and Perú both count, and small slips like Columbia for Colombia are accepted. Central America, the Caribbean islands and the Falkland Islands appear in grey on the map but are not part of the quiz.
Tricks for learning South America
Start with Brazil
Brazil covers nearly half of the continent and touches every other South American country except Chile and Ecuador. Once Brazil is fixed in your head, everything else is a neighbour of it.
Go down the west coast
The Pacific side runs in a clean line from north to south: Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Chile. Ecuador is the small one that sits on the equator, which is also where its name comes from. Chile is the long, thin strip that runs all the way down to the southern tip. A made-up line for the order: Cold Eggs Pass Cleanly.
Then across the top
Along the Caribbean and Atlantic coast from west to east: Colombia, Venezuela, Guyana, Suriname, French Guiana. The last three are the small blocks above Brazil. Guyana is the westernmost of them, Suriname is in the middle, and French Guiana, which is part of France, is on the east.
Finish in the middle and south
- Bolivia and Paraguay are the only two landlocked countries in South America. Bolivia is the larger one, with its western half high in the Andes. Paraguay sits to its southeast.
- Argentina takes up most of the south, east of Chile.
- Uruguay is the small country wedged between Argentina and Brazil on the Atlantic coast.
Countries and capitals
| Country | Capital | Where to look |
|---|---|---|
| Argentina | Buenos Aires | Most of the south, east of Chile |
| Bolivia | Sucre and La Paz | Landlocked, west centre |
| Brazil | Brasília | The giant in the east |
| Chile | Santiago | Long Pacific strip |
| Colombia | Bogotá | Northwest corner, next to Panama |
| Ecuador | Quito | On the equator, Pacific coast |
| Guyana | Georgetown | First of the three small northern blocks |
| Paraguay | Asunción | Landlocked, southeast of Bolivia |
| Peru | Lima | Pacific coast, south of Ecuador |
| Suriname | Paramaribo | Middle of the three northern blocks |
| Uruguay | Montevideo | Small, between Argentina and Brazil |
| Venezuela | Caracas | North coast, east of Colombia |
Bolivia lists two capitals: Sucre is the constitutional capital and La Paz is the seat of government. French Guiana is not in the table because it is an overseas department of France rather than a country, but it is on the map because you need it to complete the outline of the continent.
Keep going
Ready for something bigger? The Europe map quiz has 46 countries, and the world flags quiz covers every country on Earth. Closer to home, try the provinces of Canada or the 50 states. For a word game instead, there is always Canuckle Unlimited.