The ULTIMATE Geographical Border Test for World Leaders

Zoe Samuel

Image: pixabay

About This Quiz

What is a border? Technically, it means an edge, but in geographical and geopolitical terms, it means the place that two nation states' territories meet. Sometimes borders follow a natural geographical boundary such as a river or a cliff, and many of them are found at a shoreline. Sometimes they follow a historic boundary between the estates of two long-deceased lords, or a place where two communities lived side-by-side. Some mark a departed boundary like a river that has since dried up or a wood that has been cut down. However, some are honestly pretty darn arbitrary!

Borders are an entirely human invention. If the country on either side of a border is at peace, you can usually walk that border without having any idea it's there. Other borders are marked by a little fence or perhaps just a line on the ground. Still other borders are mostly unfortified but have small checkpoints where roads or lanes cross from one nation to another. Within Europe, there are areas in which it is easy to go from country to country without knowing you did. Other borders bristle with weapons, hostility, and even no-man's zones full of landmines.

How well do you know borders? Let's find out!

Which is the longest unfortified border in the world?

The US-Canada border is over 2,000 miles and there's not a soldier in sight!

What is the most-fortified border in the world?

The Korean border is sadly very fortified and full of landmines.

How many countries share a border with China?

China's very long border enjoys 14 neighbors.

What country is the only one to share a land border with the United Kingdom?

Ireland shares a border with Northern Ireland which is part of the UK.

What country shares its southern border with Panama?

Costa Rica is just north of Panama and both are under the US security umbrella.

Two men drew most of the borders of today's Middle East. One was Francoise-George Picot. Who was the other?

The British, French and Russian Empires carved up the area they intended to take after defeating its current colonist, the Ottoman Empire, in World War One. Sykes-Picot is still cited as one of the main sources of trouble in the region today.

What type of building stands on the US-Canadian border such that you can enter through one country and walk through into the other?

This library has doors on both sides of the border, so remember what door you came in if you don't want to be arrested!

Why did Voltaire like to live near borders?

Voltaire annoyed some of the wrong people with his speech so he had to be near a border.

What country used to have a border down its middle, that it got rid of in 1989?

Germany was divided by the Iron Curtain until 1989.

If you leave Russia via its northern border and keep going in a straight line, what country do you reach first?

The Arctic only has a few nations that border it.

What country managed to change 100% of the nations on its borders without changing their location, all since 1989?

All of Poland's neighbors collapsed in that time, but Poland didn't.

What name is given to the complicated situation at the Indian/Bangladesh border?

There's a piece of India inside a piece of Bangladesh that is inside a piece of India... inside a piece of Bangladesh.

What country shares a land border with East Timor?

East Timor is one of the newest countries in the world.

What is the only country that borders Portugal?

Portugal and Spain divide the Iberian Peninsula.

What country has the longest land border?

China's land border is very wiggly, so it's the longest even though China is actually smaller than Russia.

What country has the second-longest land border?

It's Russia, of course, as it is the biggest nation.

What tradition started in the town of Naco after half of it ended up on each size of the US-Mexico border?

The residents of Naco play volleyball over the fence.

Which is the only US state that is triply landlocked (that is, it touches no ocean, the states on its borders touch no ocean, and nor do the states around them)?

Nebraska is really in the middle of the middle of the middle!

Which land border requires the biggest time change when you cross it?

China doesn't use conventional time zones so this border gets awfully confusing.

Why is Colorado not a perfect rectangle?

Surveyors made a mistake so the western border is not entirely vertical on the map.

Two countries share a land border that is thousands of miles away from either nation. One is Holland. Which is the other?

France and Holland share sovereignty of this little island.

The crossing of which border started World War Two?

Nazi Germany's invasion of Poland triggered World War Two.

Which is the only border longer than Russia-China?

India and Bangladesh have a singularly wiggly border that means it is incredibly long and complicated.

What country borders Egypt to the south?

Sudan is directly south of Egypt, sharing the benefit of the Nile.

How many countries share a border with Lesotho?

Lesotho is in the middle of South Africa.

Other than Finland, what country shares a border with Sweden??

Norway is one of the most northerly countries in Europe.

What country borders Gambia?

Gambia is surrounded by Senegal on all sides except the sea.

What country borders Ghana to the east?

Togo is between Ghana and Benin.

What landlocked country borders Vietnam?

The capital of Laos is Vientiane. It's one of the poorest countries in southeast Asia.

What country shares a land border with Brunei?

Brunei is on one of the larger islands that holds part ofIndonesia.

What country borders Argentina to the west?

Chile and Argentina share one of the longest borders in South America.

What country shares a land border with Haiti?

The island of Hispaniola contains two sovereign nations.

What country borders Mexico to the south?

Guatemala uses the US dollar and the local currency, the Quetzal.

Three countries' borders converge on Mount Roraima. Which is NOT one of them?

Paraguay is not one of the three nations who meet at this point. You can put three limbs in three countries!

What country borders Uganda to the east?

Kenya is to the east of Uganda, on the coast of the Indian Ocean.

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