Countries word search

A trip around the world in one grid: more than seventy well-known countries from every inhabited continent, from Canada and Brazil to Kenya, India, Japan and Fiji. Country names keep their capital letters in the list, and in the grid they look like every other word.

A few geography facts to go with it: Russia is the largest country by area, Canada has the longest coastline of any country, and India has the most people, having passed China in 2023 according to United Nations estimates. Madagascar, a large island off the southeast coast of Africa, is home to wildlife found nowhere else on Earth, including its famous lemurs.

Geography teachers can keep a map or a globe next to the puzzle: each time a student finds a country, they point to it on the map as well. The list is also a good spelling check, since names like PHILIPPINES (one L, two Ps) and COLOMBIA (with an O where many people write a U) are easy to get wrong.

Play tip: names of two words, like UNITED STATES, SOUTH AFRICA or NEW ZEALAND, appear without the space. UNITED KINGDOM has 13 letters, so it is hidden only on expert, while short names like PERU, CUBA, IRAN and FIJI are the trickiest finds in a big grid.