European Countries Trivia

Europe packs an enormous amount of variety into a relatively small landmass — a country you could walk across in an afternoon sits a short flight from one so vast it spans two continents. This quiz covers the capitals, borders, and quirks that make each European country distinct, from the world's tiniest nation to its largest.

Some of these are gimmes. A few might make you second-guess a country you thought you knew well.

The Extremes: Smallest and Largest

Vatican City is so small you could walk its entire border in under an hour, while Russia is so large it spans eleven time zones and touches both the Baltic Sea and the Pacific Ocean. Between those two extremes sits every other country in this quiz, each with its own claim to fame.

Countries Defined by Their Borders

Geography has made some European countries into natural crossroads. Germany borders more countries than any other nation on the continent, and Switzerland sits at the meeting point of several major cultures and languages, wedged between France, Germany, Italy, and Austria in the shadow of the Alps.

Quirks Worth Knowing

Not every fact here is about size or borders. Iceland gets by without a standing army, the Netherlands holds back the sea with an elaborate network of dikes, and the Netherlands' government actually operates out of The Hague rather than its official capital, Amsterdam.