How to learn all the countries of the world

The order to learn them in

Start where there are few countries and clear shapes, and leave the crowded parts until you have the habit.

• South America (12). The best first continent. Brazil in the middle touches almost everything; go round it.
• North America (23). Three large countries, seven in Central America in a line, then the Caribbean islands. The North America guide has the order.
• Europe (45). Many and small, but they group well. The Europe guide has the groups.
• Asia (49). Six regions. The Asia guide takes them in turn.
• Africa (54). The most countries, in bands from north to south. The Africa guide has the bands and the name families.
• Oceania (14). Australia, New Zealand and Papua New Guinea, then the island states of the Pacific, which are the hardest dots on the map and fine to leave for last. The Oceania guide sorts them into three groups.

How to study

• Ten at a time. A group of neighbours you can see at once. Do not add the next group until this one is easy.
• Learn positions, not lists. For each country, notice what it touches and which coast it is on. Neighbours are what you will remember it by.
• Both directions. Naming a country that lights up is the easy direction. Finding it from the name alone is the real test. Do both.
• A little, often. Ten minutes a day beats an hour on Sunday. What you got wrong should come back the next day, and what you got right a few days later; Review does that scheduling for you.

The names that trip everyone up

A few dozen countries cause most of the mistakes, because their names come in look-alike sets. Learn each set together:

• Niger and Nigeria. Zambia, Zimbabwe and the Gambia. Mali and Malawi. Mauritania and Mauritius.
• Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Equatorial Guinea, and Papua New Guinea on the other side of the world.
• The two Congos, the two Koreas, the two Sudans.
• Slovakia and Slovenia. Latvia and Lithuania. Austria and Australia.
• Iran and Iraq. The seven countries that end in -stan.
• Paraguay and Uruguay: Uruguay is the one on the coast. Guyana and Suriname: Guyana is on the left.
• Dominica and the Dominican Republic.

Practise it

• Continent by continent: South America, North America, Europe, Asia, Africa, Oceania.
• Countries of the world: all 197, when the continents are done.
• Then capitals and flags, which go quickly once every country has a place.