The world is a highly interesting place, with a crazy amount to explore and learn. But isn’t it nice to know that no matter how much you discover there’ll always be more? Life will never get boring! That said, we all enjoy pitting our skills against a quiz in the hopes of discovering that we do in fact know a fair bit, so here are 20 questions for testing your world knowledge, from rivers and castles to national birds and local beliefs…

LET’S START WITH SOME WARM-UP QUESTIONS

1. Name one other country apart from India that has the rupee as its currency.
2. What country/land/state is essentially South Africa’s antipode?
3. Give the name of the deepest lake in the world …
4. What two independent states lie within Italy?
5. What is the name of Zambia’s international airport closest to Victoria Falls?
6. Not counting Antarctica, which desert is the world’s largest?
7. In what mountain range did downhill skiing originate?

NOW IT’S LUNGING TIME – YOU MIGHT HAVE TO REACH FOR THOSE ANSWERS

8. What is the capital of Uzbekistan?
9. Which of these castles is NOT in Germany? Neuschwanstein, Sanssouci, Schönbrunn, Drachenberg, Wernigerode.
10. What is the longest river in Asia?
11. In what time zone is Nairobi, Kenya?
12. Name 5 of the 7 states of Australia.
13. Pho is a popular noodle soup that originated in which Asian country?
14. The world’s four highest commercial airports are all in one country – what country?

OKAY, TIME TO BREAK OUT INTO A REAL SWEAT!

15. What is the largest country in the world with no rivers?
16. In what country does a large portion of the population believe in Huldufolk (‘Hidden Folk’, i.e. elves and fairies)?
17. The Akihabara Shopping Area can be found in which country?
18. What is the national bird of Namibia?
19. Name the only country in the world to have built nuclear weapons and then voluntarily dismantled them, thereby ending its nuclear programme?
20. Which South American country does this flag belong to?

THE ANSWERS

1. Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Mauritius, Seychelles, Maldives
2. Hawaii
3. Lake Baikal, Russia
4. San Marino, Vatican City
5. Livingstone International Airport
6. The Sahara
7. The Alps
8. Tashkent
9. Schönbrunn
10. Yangtze River, China
11. GMT +3 hours
12. New South Wales, Tasmania, Queensland, Northern Territory, Western Australia, South Australia, Victoria
13. Vietnam
14. China
15. Saudi Arabia
16. Iceland
17. Japan
18. African Fish Eagle
19. South Africa
20. Chile

HOW DID YOU DO?

0 – 4 answers right: Ahem, well, this is awkward …
5 – 9 answers right: Meh – you did okay.
10 – 14 answers right: Well done – you held your own.
15 – 19 answers right: Impressive, impressive. You deserve a solid slap on the back.
All 20 answers right: Why, hello, Egghead!