Tap or click each shape it names: 12 countries and one French territory.
South America Countries Quiz
Name Date
Tap Brazil
1 of 12
More options
Write the name of each numbered country or territory.Answer key
Argentina
Bolivia
Brazil
Chile
Colombia
Ecuador
French Guiana
Guyana
Paraguay
Peru
Suriname
Uruguay
Venezuela
Drawn for this site from Natural Earth 5.1.2. Licence: public domain.
Each country or territory is a button. Use the arrow keys to move between them and Enter to choose. Names are read out in Study, and once a country or territory is answered.
ArgentinaCapital: Buenos Aires. Aconcagua is the Americas' highest mountain. It stands in Argentina's Mendoza Province. Joined the United Nations in 1945.
BoliviaCapitals: Sucre, the constitutional capital, and La Paz, the seat of government. One of the two landlocked countries of South America. Joined the United Nations in 1945.
BrazilCapital: Brasília. The one country of the Americas where Portuguese is official. It touches every country and territory on this map except Ecuador and Chile. Joined the United Nations in 1945.
ChileCapital: Santiago. The legislature meets in Valparaíso. More than 4,300 km from north to south and about 175 km wide on average, with Peru, Bolivia and Argentina on its land side. Joined the United Nations in 1945.
ColombiaCapital: Bogotá. It touches five countries: Panama, Venezuela, Brazil, Peru and Ecuador. The Caribbean Sea is to its north and the Pacific Ocean to its west. Joined the United Nations in 1945.
EcuadorCapital: Quito, the capital nearest the equator. Colombia is to the north and Peru to the east and south. The Galápagos Islands, about 1,000 km out in the Pacific, belong to it. Joined the United Nations in 1945.
GuyanaCapital: Georgetown. The only mainland South American country where English is official. Joined the United Nations in 1966.
ParaguayCapital: Asunción. Landlocked, between Bolivia, Brazil and Argentina. Guarani is an official language alongside Spanish. Joined the United Nations in 1945.
PeruCapital: Lima. The third largest country in South America. It touches Ecuador, Colombia, Brazil, Bolivia and Chile. Quechua and Aymara are official alongside Spanish where they are most spoken. Joined the United Nations in 1945.
SurinameCapital: Paramaribo. The smallest country in South America, on the north coast. Smallest by both area and population. Independent from the Netherlands since 1975, with Dutch as the official language. Joined the United Nations in 1975.
UruguayCapital: Montevideo. The second smallest country in South America, after Suriname. Argentina is to the west and Brazil to the north. The Río de la Plata lies to its south. Joined the United Nations in 1945.
VenezuelaCapital: Caracas. The mainland is on the north coast of the continent. Colombia is to the west and Brazil to the south. The country has islands of its own in the Caribbean Sea. Joined the United Nations in 1945.
Other 1
French GuianaCapital: Cayenne. Not a country. An overseas department and region of France. Also a European Union outermost region. French is the official language. It is not counted among the 12 countries.
How this list was compiled: The 12 countries are the sovereign states of South America, every one a member of the United Nations: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_sovereign_states_and_dependent_territories_in_South_America and https://www.un.org/en/about-us/member-states (the years of joining are from the second), checked 2026-09-19. The capitals, the two capitals of Bolivia, the legislature of Chile in Valparaíso, and the status and capital of French Guiana are from the first of those pages, checked 2026-09-19. The list of the region was compared with the United Nations geoscheme at https://unstats.un.org/unsd/methodology/m49/, checked 2026-09-19. Landlocked countries: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Landlocked_country. Languages: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Languages_of_South_America. Single facts in the detail lines: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brazil, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ecuador, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colombia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suriname, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uruguay, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venezuela, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chile and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aconcagua, all checked 2026-09-19. The drawing also shows the Falkland Islands (Malvinas), as the United Nations lists them; they are drawn and never asked. Positions and sizes in the hints were read off the drawing, which is equal-area. Hints and detail lines written for this site. Neighbors: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_and_territories_by_number_of_land_borders, checked 2026-09-19. Quito as the capital nearest the equator, which crosses the north of its metropolitan area: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quito, checked 2026-09-19. The length and width of Chile: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chile; English in Guyana: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guyana; Suriname as the smallest country by area and population: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suriname; Peru as the third largest: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peru; all checked 2026-09-19. No detail line lists the neighbors of Guyana, Suriname or Venezuela in full, because the points file flags lines between them. Licence: own work
The drawing: Drawn for this site 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 21°S 60°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 South America countries quiz is a blank map of the continent with 13 shapes to find: the 12 countries, and French Guiana, which belongs to France. Each answer adds the capital and one fact.
Read the full guide
What the map asks and what it leaves out
Pick The 12 countries under Start from and French Guiana drops out. It is in the full round because learners ask about that shape on the north coast, and its detail line says what it is: an overseas department of France. The Falkland Islands (Malvinas), as the United Nations lists them, are drawn and never asked.
Thirteen outlines that are easy to tell apart
With 13 shapes and no rings, this map suits Name it. To guess the country South America lights up, look at the outline: Chile is a strip more than 4,300 km long and about 175 km wide on average. Typing forgives one wrong letter in a longer name, so Brasil with an s counts. Miss two, and Practise the 2 you missed asks both again.
The three small shapes on the north coast, west to east: Guyana, Suriname, French Guiana. Only the first two are countries.
Two countries have no coast, and they touch: Bolivia in the middle, and Paraguay, the smaller shape under it.
Brazil touches every other part of this map except Ecuador and Chile, both on the Pacific side.
Questions and answers
How many countries are in South America?
Twelve: Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname, Uruguay and Venezuela. All 12 are members of the United Nations. French Guiana is an overseas department of France, so it is not counted. This page asks it as a thirteenth part.
Is the capital of Bolivia Sucre or La Paz?
Both count. Sucre is the constitutional capital and La Paz is the seat of government. It is the kind of fact a South American geography quiz asks once the names are learned, and the South America capitals quiz takes either city.
Which are the largest and smallest countries in South America?
Brazil is the largest, and the world's fifth largest country. Argentina is second and Peru third. Suriname is the smallest by both area and population, and Uruguay is the second smallest.