North America Map Quiz

Click each North American and Caribbean country on the map.

Place the countries of North America on a blank map — three big ones, seven in Central America and thirteen Caribbean islands.

The three zones

The mainland north — Canada, the United States and Mexico, which almost everyone can place already.

The Central American isthmus — a narrow chain running northwest to southeast between Mexico and South America.

The Caribbean arc — an arc of islands curving from Cuba down toward Venezuela.

Almost all the difficulty is in the last two.

Central America in order

From Mexico southward the order is: Guatemala, Belize, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama.

Two details that decide most questions:

Belize is on the Caribbean coast, north of Guatemala, tucked under Mexico's Yucatán.
El Salvador is the only Central American country with no Caribbean coastline — it faces the Pacific only. That makes it identifiable by position alone.

Panama is the southernmost and connects to Colombia, which is where North America meets South America.

The Caribbean arc

The Greater Antilles are the large islands at the top: Cuba (the largest by far), Hispaniola (shared by Haiti to the west and the Dominican Republic to the east), Jamaica (south of Cuba) and Puerto Rico (a US territory).

The Lesser Antilles are the small islands forming the eastern arc curving south: Antigua and Barbuda, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Dominica, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Grenada, Barbados, Trinidad and Tobago.

Barbados sits slightly east of the arc rather than on it, which is its identifying feature.

Trinidad and Tobago is at the southern end, close to Venezuela.

The Bahamas sits north of Cuba, not in the arc at all — a common misplacement.

The order on Hispaniola

Haiti is west, the Dominican Republic is east. Getting this the wrong way round is one of the most common errors on this map.

Where to go next

North American Capitals covers the same countries, and its Caribbean half is considerably harder than placing the islands.

Frequently asked questions

How many countries are on a North America map quiz?

Twenty-three sovereign states, because Central America and the Caribbean are part of North America. Most people expect three, which is the single biggest source of surprise in this quiz.

Which countries share the island of Hispaniola?

Haiti in the west and the Dominican Republic in the east. It is the only Caribbean island divided between two sovereign states, and getting the two the wrong way round is a very common map error.

Which Central American country has no Caribbean coast?

El Salvador, which faces only the Pacific. That makes it identifiable by position alone on a blank map, since every other Central American country touches the Caribbean.

Where are the Bahamas?

North of Cuba, not part of the eastern Caribbean arc. They are frequently misplaced into the Lesser Antilles chain, when in fact they sit well to the northwest, close to Florida.

Get the free Mind Skills Arcade app

Brain games for memory, logic, math and focus from the makers of North America Map Quiz, free and offline: Get it on Google Play · Download on the App Store