Geography quiz
Secret country: find it by distance and direction
A country of the world is hidden. Guess any country: it is filled in on the map by how close it is, with the distance between the two borders and the direction to head in.
- Format
- Secret country
- Items
- 197 countries
- Limit
- None
- Level
- Medium
- Checked
- 2026.10.03
Each guess is filled in on the map.
- In play
- 197 countries
- Each guess
- Distance, direction, warmth
- Scoring
- 10 for a first guess find, one fewer per extra guess
- Clock
- None to beat
- Distances run border to border: a neighbour of the secret country is 0 km away and is told it shares a border.
- The arrow points from your guess towards the secret country.
- Press Enter to make a guess. A name that is not in the round costs nothing.
- Pause whenever you like (Esc). The board hides while the clock is stopped.
Guess a country. Each guess shows the distance to the secret country and the way to go.
- 1Burningunder 100 km
- 2Hot100 to 500 km
- 3Warm500 to 1,000 km
- 4Cool1,000 to 2,000 km
- 5Cold2,000 to 3,500 km
- 6Freezing3,500 km or more
Drawing the map
About this quiz
Ribbia counts 197 countries: the 193 members of the United Nations plus Vatican City, Palestine, Kosovo and Taiwan. Any of them can be the secret country. Distances run from border to border, so two neighbours are 0 km apart however large they are.
- The distance is the shortest gap between the two countries' outlines, islands included, rounded to 10 km. A guess that shares a border with the secret country says so.
- The arrow points from the middle of your guess's largest landmass to the middle of the secret country's, as the direction reads on a map with north at the top.
- The six warmth bands are: under 100 km, under 500 km, under 1000 km, under 2000 km, under 3500 km, and anything farther. Each has a number, a name and a pattern as well as a colour.
- A first guess find scores 10. Every extra guess costs a point, and a find is always worth at least 1. There is no clock to beat: the time is only kept to split ties with your own best.
- The first round of each day hides the same country for everyone. Play again for a fresh one.
- France and the Netherlands are measured from their land in Europe, so French Guiana does not make France a neighbour of Brazil.
Sources
- [1]United Nations. Member States.
- [2]United Nations. Non-member States.
- [3]United Nations Statistics Division. Standard country or area codes for statistical use (M49).
Last checked October 3, 2026
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | Blind secret country: no map One of 197 countries is hidden and there is no map. Every guess tells you how far away it is, in km, and which way to go. Find it in few guesses. Geography / Secret country / 197 countries | Geography | Secret country | 197 | 2026.10.03 |
| 02 | Secret country of Europe One of the 47 countries of Europe is hidden. Every guess tells you how far away it is, in km, and which way to go. Find it in few guesses. Geography / Secret country / 47 countries | Geography | Secret country | 47 | 2026.10.03 |
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