• 64 features
  • Checked October 2026

North America Physical Map Quiz

Tap the mountain range, river, lake or bay each question names.

North America Physical Map Quiz

Name Date

Tap this on the map: Pacific Ocean

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More options

Write the name of each numbered feature.Answer key

  1. Rocky Mountains
  2. Pacific Ocean
  3. Atlantic Ocean
  4. Gulf of Mexico
  5. Mississippi River
  6. Hudson Bay
  7. Appalachian Mountains
  8. Great Plains
  9. Caribbean Sea
  10. Arctic Ocean
  11. Lake Superior
  12. Lake Michigan
  13. Lake Huron
  14. Lake Erie
  15. Lake Ontario
  16. Canadian Shield
  17. Missouri River
  18. Rio Grande
  19. Colorado River
  20. Yucatán Peninsula
  21. Baja California Peninsula
  22. Florida Peninsula
  23. Sierra Nevada
  24. Great Basin
  25. Gulf of California
  26. Gulf of Alaska
  27. Labrador Peninsula
  28. Mexican Plateau
  29. Sierra Madre Occidental
  30. Ohio River
  31. Columbia River
  32. Yukon River
  33. Mackenzie River
  34. St. Lawrence River
  35. Great Salt Lake
  36. Great Bear Lake
  37. Great Slave Lake
  38. Lake Winnipeg
  39. Cascade Range
  40. Alaska Range
  41. Brooks Range
  42. Alaska Peninsula
  43. Bering Sea
  44. Chukchi Sea
  45. Sonoran Desert
  46. Baffin Island
  47. Newfoundland
  48. Vancouver Island
  49. Coast Mountains
  50. Mackenzie Mountains
  51. Lake Athabasca
  52. Labrador Sea
  53. Baffin Bay
  54. Davis Strait
  55. Hudson Strait
  56. James Bay
  57. Gulf of St. Lawrence
  58. Beaufort Sea
  59. Sierra Madre Oriental
  60. Chihuahuan Desert
  61. Bay of Campeche
  62. Greater Antilles
  63. Lake Nicaragua
  64. Sargasso Sea

Drawn for this site from Natural Earth 5.1.2. Licence: public domain.

Each feature is a button. Use the arrow keys to move between them and Enter to choose. Names are read out in Study, and once a feature is answered.

Next step Put the borders back: countries of North AmericaKeep going south: the landforms of Latin America

All 64 features on the diagram

Show the list

United States 30

  1. Rocky Mountains North America's largest mountain system, from Canada to New Mexico.
  2. Pacific Ocean The largest and deepest ocean. It lies west of the Americas.
  3. Atlantic Ocean The second-largest ocean, on the continent's eastern side.
  4. Gulf of Mexico An Atlantic marginal sea, mostly surrounded by North America.
  5. Mississippi River The main river of the largest U.S. drainage basin.
  6. Appalachian Mountains A range in eastern North America, from Alabama to Newfoundland.
  7. Great Plains A broad expanse of flatland east of the Rocky Mountains.
  8. Lake Superior By surface area, the world's largest freshwater lake.
  9. Lake Michigan A Great Lake joined to Lake Huron at the Straits of Mackinac.
  10. Lake Huron A Great Lake shared by Ontario and the state of Michigan.
  11. Lake Erie The southernmost and shallowest of the five Great Lakes.
  12. Lake Ontario A Great Lake between Ontario and the state of New York.
  13. Missouri River The longest U.S. river; it joins the Mississippi.
  14. Rio Grande It flows from southern Colorado to the Gulf of Mexico.
  15. Colorado River A river from the Rockies through the Grand Canyon toward Mexico.
  16. Florida Peninsula A peninsula dividing the Gulf of Mexico from the Atlantic.
  17. Sierra Nevada A range between California's Central Valley and the Great Basin.
  18. Great Basin North America's largest area with no outlet to the ocean.
  19. Gulf of Alaska An arm of the Pacific along the southern coast of Alaska.
  20. Ohio River The largest tributary of the Mississippi by volume.
  21. Columbia River The Pacific Northwest's largest river, rising in British Columbia.
  22. Yukon River A river across Yukon and Alaska to the Bering Sea.
  23. Great Salt Lake The Western Hemisphere's largest saltwater lake, in northern Utah.
  24. Cascade Range A range from southern British Columbia to Northern California, with volcanoes.
  25. Alaska Range A narrow range across southcentral Alaska, reaching into Yukon.
  26. Brooks Range A range running west to east over northern Alaska into Yukon.
  27. Alaska Peninsula A peninsula reaching southwest from mainland Alaska toward the Aleutian Islands.
  28. Bering Sea A marginal sea in the northern Pacific, between Eurasia and the Americas.
  29. Chukchi Sea An Arctic Ocean marginal sea, north of the Bering Strait.
  30. Sonoran Desert A hot desert of northwestern Mexico, Arizona and California.

Canada 22

  1. Hudson Bay A large saltwater body in northeastern Canada.
  2. Arctic Ocean The smallest, shallowest and coldest of the world's five oceans.
  3. Canadian Shield A vast area of ancient exposed rock in eastern and central Canada.
  4. Labrador Peninsula A large peninsula of eastern Canada, east of Hudson Bay.
  5. Mackenzie River A river flowing north from Great Slave Lake to the Arctic Ocean.
  6. St. Lawrence River The river that links the Great Lakes to the North Atlantic.
  7. Great Bear Lake The biggest lake wholly in Canada, on the Arctic Circle.
  8. Great Slave Lake North America's deepest lake, in the Northwest Territories.
  9. Lake Winnipeg A large lake in Manitoba, a Canadian province.
  10. Baffin Island The largest island in Canada, in the territory of Nunavut.
  11. Newfoundland A large island off the North American mainland's east coast.
  12. Vancouver Island A northeastern Pacific island, part of British Columbia.
  13. Coast Mountains A range along the coast of British Columbia, north into Yukon.
  14. Mackenzie Mountains A range on the boundary of Yukon and the Northwest Territories.
  15. Lake Athabasca A lake in the northern corners of Saskatchewan and Alberta.
  16. Labrador Sea A North Atlantic arm between Labrador and Greenland.
  17. Baffin Bay A sea between Greenland's west coast and Baffin Island.
  18. Davis Strait A strait between Greenland and Baffin Island, north of the Labrador Sea.
  19. Hudson Strait A strait linking Hudson Bay with Labrador Sea and Atlantic.
  20. James Bay A bay at Hudson Bay's southern end.
  21. Gulf of St. Lawrence The gulf where the St. Lawrence River meets the Atlantic.
  22. Beaufort Sea A marginal sea on the Arctic Ocean, north of Yukon and Alaska.

Mexico, Central America, Caribbean 12

  1. Caribbean Sea A tropical sea of the Atlantic, south of the Greater Antilles.
  2. Yucatán Peninsula A peninsula separating the Gulf of Mexico from the Caribbean Sea.
  3. Baja California Peninsula A peninsula separating the Gulf of California from the Pacific Ocean.
  4. Gulf of California A sea separating Baja California's peninsula and the Mexican mainland.
  5. Mexican Plateau A large dry plateau between Mexico's two Sierra Madre ranges.
  6. Sierra Madre Occidental A major range through northwestern and western Mexico.
  7. Sierra Madre Oriental A mountain range in northeastern Mexico.
  8. Chihuahuan Desert A desert across parts of the southwestern United States and northern Mexico.
  9. Bay of Campeche A bight in the southern Gulf of Mexico.
  10. Greater Antilles The larger islands of the Caribbean: Cuba, Hispaniola, Puerto Rico and Jamaica.
  11. Lake Nicaragua The largest freshwater lake in Central America.
  12. Sargasso Sea A region of the Atlantic bounded by four currents, with no shores.

How this list was compiled: The 64 features, their names and their outlines come from Natural Earth 5.1.2, the map data credited under the drawing. Each name was compared with the English Wikipedia article for the feature, and every detail line was read in the opening of that article and checked 2026-10-01. Rivers are listed as rivers (Ohio River) where Natural Earth prints the bare name, and the bare name is accepted as a typed answer. Licence: own work

The drawing: Drawn for this site from Natural Earth 5.1.2, ne_50m_geography_regions_polys (scale 1:50,000,000), https://raw.githubusercontent.com/nvkelso/natural-earth-vector/v5.1.2/geojson/ne_50m_geography_regions_polys.geojson, downloaded 2026-09-19; from Natural Earth 5.1.2, ne_50m_geography_marine_polys (scale 1:50,000,000), https://raw.githubusercontent.com/nvkelso/natural-earth-vector/v5.1.2/geojson/ne_50m_geography_marine_polys.geojson, downloaded 2026-09-19; from Natural Earth 5.1.2, ne_50m_lakes (scale 1:50,000,000), https://raw.githubusercontent.com/nvkelso/natural-earth-vector/v5.1.2/geojson/ne_50m_lakes.geojson, downloaded 2026-09-19; from Natural Earth 5.1.2, ne_50m_rivers_lake_centerlines (scale 1:50,000,000), https://raw.githubusercontent.com/nvkelso/natural-earth-vector/v5.1.2/geojson/ne_50m_rivers_lake_centerlines.geojson, downloaded 2026-09-19. Surrounding land from Natural Earth 5.1.2, ne_50m_admin_0_countries_lakes (scale 1:50,000,000), https://raw.githubusercontent.com/nvkelso/natural-earth-vector/v5.1.2/geojson/ne_50m_admin_0_countries_lakes.geojson, downloaded 2026-09-19. Lambert azimuthal equal-area projection centred on 45°N 100°W. Outlines simplified; small islands are left out. Licence: public domain (Natural Earth terms of use: https://www.naturalearthdata.com/about/terms-of-use/)

How it works

This North America physical map quiz asks 64 features on a map with no borders, from the Brooks Range to Lake Nicaragua: mountain ranges, plains and peninsulas as shaded areas, 9 rivers as lines, and lakes, bays, gulfs and seas.

Read the full guide

Four sets on one map of North America

The quiz opens on the big features, 38 of them in short rounds: the Rocky Mountains, the Great Lakes, Hudson Bay, the Mississippi River. Start from lists three more sets, each zoomed to its part of the continent: United States, Canada, and Mexico, Central America, Caribbean. Play the first two in turn for a US and Canada physical map quiz.

Where shapes overlap

Rivers cross the Great Plains, and the Great Lakes sit on the Canadian Shield. A tap counts for the shape on top, so for the plains tap between the rivers. The St. Lawrence River, Vancouver Island and the smaller lakes are answered at a ring beside them.

  • The Great Lakes from west to east: Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie, Ontario.
  • Two Sierra Madres frame the Mexican Plateau: Occidental on the west, Oriental on the east.
  • Davis Strait leads north from the Labrador Sea into Baffin Bay.

Questions and answers

What are the main physical features of North America?

The Rocky Mountains, the largest mountain system on the continent, and the Appalachian Mountains, with the Great Plains and the Mississippi River between them. To the north lie the Canadian Shield, Hudson Bay and the Great Lakes; to the south, the Mexican Plateau.

Can I print a blank physical map of North America?

Yes. Before you answer the first question, open More options. The blank print numbers every feature and leaves a line for each name. The labeled print adds the answer key: every number with its name.

Which Great Lake is entirely in the United States?

Lake Michigan. The other four, Superior, Huron, Erie and Ontario, are shared between the United States and Canada.

Where is the highest mountain in North America?

Denali, in the Alaska Range. The quiz asks the range and not the peak: the map draws ranges as shaded areas and has no peaks on it.

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