Country Population Quiz
Which of these two countries has more people?
▲▼ Play Country Population Quiz
Population is one of the most commonly misjudged statistics in the world, because people reason from land area and news coverage instead of actual numbers. Canada, Australia and Russia are enormous on a map and comparatively modest in population. Bangladesh and the Philippines are the reverse.
Each round reveals one country's population and hides the other. You decide whether the hidden figure is higher or lower.
Some of the matchups genuinely surprise people: Ethiopia now outnumbers Japan, Vietnam outnumbers Germany, and the gap between Nigeria and Brazil is far narrower than most would guess. It is a good test of how current your mental map really is.
Things worth knowing
- Ethiopia now has a larger population than Japan
- Vietnam outnumbers Germany
- Canada ranks far lower than its size suggests
How it works
You are shown two items side by side. One reveals its number; the other hides it behind a question mark. Decide whether the hidden value is higher or lower, and every correct call extends your streak. One wrong guess ends the run. If the two values are equal the answer counts as correct either way, so a tie never costs you anything. The game is free, runs entirely in your browser, and needs no account.