Latin America Map Quiz: Find the 20 Countries of Latin America

How to play the Latin America map quiz

The map covers the Americas from the US–Mexico border to Cape Horn. The 20 Latin American countries are white and clickable; the United States, Belize, Guyana, Suriname, French Guiana and the English- and Dutch-speaking Caribbean islands are gray.

• Click the map. The quiz names a country ("Click Ecuador") and you click it.
• Type the name. One country is highlighted; type its name. Accents are optional, so "Mexico" and "México" both work.
• Multiple choice. Pick the highlighted country from four names. The wrong answers are neighbors, which is great practice for Central America.
• Drag labels. Drag all 20 names onto the map, or tap a name and then the country.

Practice is untimed and brings misses back later, the Quiz is timed with three tries per country, and Challenge gives you 60 seconds to build a streak.

What is Latin America?

Latin America is a cultural region, not a continent. The name, first popular in the 1800s, refers to the countries of the Americas where the main language comes from Latin: Spanish, Portuguese or French. These countries were colonized by Spain, Portugal or France and gained independence mostly in the 1800s; Cuba won independence from Spain in 1902 after US occupation, and Haiti became the first independent country in Latin America in 1804, after a revolution led by formerly enslaved people.

By language, the 20 countries break down like this:

Many Latin Americans also speak Indigenous languages. Paraguay lists Guaraní as an official language, Bolivia recognizes dozens of Indigenous languages, and millions of people in Mexico, Guatemala, Peru and Ecuador speak languages such as Nahuatl, Maya languages, Quechua and Aymara.

The three parts of Latin America

Latin America spans two continents and the Caribbean Sea. Splitting it into three parts makes the map easier:

• Mexico and Central America (7 countries): Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Panama. Belize, the eighth country on the isthmus, is English-speaking.
• The Caribbean (3 countries): Cuba, the Dominican Republic and Haiti. The Dominican Republic and Haiti share the island of Hispaniola. Puerto Rico, a US territory, is often included culturally.
• South America (10 countries): every South American country except Guyana and Suriname.

Land features that tie Latin America together

A few big features run through many Latin American countries, and they're worth finding on the map before you start the quiz:

• The Sierra Madre and the Andes. Mountain chains run down the whole western side of the Americas. In Mexico they are the Sierra Madre ranges; in South America they become the Andes, the longest mountain range above sea level in the world, running through seven countries from Venezuela to Argentina.
• The Isthmus of Panama. This narrow strip of land joins North and South America. The Panama Canal, opened in 1914, cuts across it so ships can travel between the Atlantic and Pacific without going around South America.
• The Amazon rainforest. The world's largest tropical rainforest covers much of Brazil and parts of Peru, Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador and Bolivia.
• The Caribbean Sea. Cuba, Hispaniola and the coasts of Mexico, Central America, Colombia and Venezuela all face this warm sea, which is why hurricanes matter so much in the region.
• The Ring of Fire. Mexico, Central America and the Andean countries sit along the edge of the Pacific, where many volcanoes and earthquakes occur. Guatemala, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Ecuador and Chile all have active volcanoes.

Size and population

Brazil is the largest Latin American country by area and population, about 212 million people. Mexico is next with about 131 million, followed by Colombia and Argentina. Together, Latin America has about 650 million people. The smallest countries by area are El Salvador, Haiti and the Dominican Republic; El Salvador is the only Central American country without a Caribbean coast.

Capitals of Latin America

Five capitals share their country's name or nearly so: Guatemala City, Mexico City, Panama City, San Salvador (El Salvador) and, by sound, Brasília (Brazil). That's a handy start for younger kids.

Tips to memorize Latin America

1. Learn the two big anchors. Mexico in the north and Brazil in the south take up most of the land. Everything else fits around them.
2. Walk down Central America. From Mexico going southeast: Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras, then Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Panama. One memory line: "Go Easy, Hug Nice Cats Please."
3. Remember the islands. Only three Caribbean countries are in Latin America: Cuba (the long island), and Haiti and the Dominican Republic on Hispaniola. Haiti is the western third.
4. Use the west coast of South America. Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Chile run from north to south along the Pacific.
5. Practice Spanish names. Say the country name in Spanish when you click it, such as México, Perú and Panamá. It helps with both the map and the language.
6. Finish on paper. The blank map of South America covers ten of the 20 countries with a word bank.

Keep learning

The South America map quiz, Central America map quiz and Caribbean map quiz each zoom in on one part of the region, and the Americas flags quiz adds every flag in the hemisphere. Many families learn Latin American geography alongside Spanish; language apps and courses like the ones below are common picks, and many scholarship and ESA-style programs on Edulist may cover them.