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Countries Closest to Canada

We made a list of the 20 countries that are geographically closest to Canada. How many can you name?
Numbers with a blue background indicate an external territory or autonomous region
Quiz by TenThousand
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Last updated: May 27, 2019
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First submittedAugust 10, 2014
Times taken155,136
Average score75.0%
Rating4.92
3:00
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km
Country
miles
0
United States
0
0
Denmark (Greenland)
0
8
France (St Pierre and Miquelon)
5
1232
United Kingdom (Bermuda)
765
1238
Russia
769
1638
Iceland
1018
1657
Bahamas
1030
1809
Mexico
1124
1928
Portugal (Azores)
1198
2065
Cuba
1283
km
Country
miles
2200
Norway
1367
2342
Finland
1455
2352
Sweden
1461
2582
Haiti
1604
2625
Jamaica
1631
2642
Belize
1642
2644
Dominican Republic
1643
2733
Guatemala
1698
2823
Honduras
1754
2832
Netherlands (Sint Maarten)
1760
+7
Level 59
Oct 31, 2014
I have never heard of St Pierre and Miquelon. Man, that 5 miles one stumped me completely!
+9
Level 88
Apr 23, 2019
Beautiful country. The whole Gulf of St. Lawrence, Newfoundland and Labrador area is very wild.
+32
Level 75
Aug 30, 2019
Ah, if ever in doubt on a geography quiz, type 'France'.

(Perhaps not for Countries Closest to France!)

+5
Level 75
Apr 22, 2020
In the preamble it mentions 'territories and autonomous regions' - ergo type all the usual suspects just in case!
+1
Level 35
Jun 15, 2021
Canada's best kept secret ;-)
+1
Level 26
Mar 15, 2024
when i saw that overseas territories were involved I quickly typed all the European countries with expansive tendencies and got it lol
+7
Level 30
Oct 31, 2014
This list is not correct! Portugal is 2 625 km away from Canada. The islands of Azores belong to Portugal and are on the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. Look it up and please fix it.
+14
Level 76
Oct 31, 2014
Nice spotting! In fact, the distance from the Azores of Portugal to Newfoundland is even less than you said. Quiz is being updated.
+6
Level 30
Nov 4, 2014
Good job!
+3
Level 54
Feb 16, 2022
Azores is an integral part of portugal with the same status as any other district within the continental portugal, so it shouldn't be in red (unlike some others that are overseas territories or independently governing bodies).
+1
Level 50
Oct 31, 2014
Finland, but not Portugal or Ireland? Even Poland is closest to Canada than Finland, and Germany is closest than Sweden.
+31
Level 57
Oct 31, 2014
Across the North Pole, the distance to the Nordic Countries becomes much shorter =)
+2
Level 72
Nov 2, 2016
Ahhhhhh, I couldn't figure out why Finland was closer than Ireland, especially as the UK was accepted. I knew there must be a reason. Now I know what it is.
+5
Level 66
Dec 17, 2018
Ofcourse! They allways tell you to think laterally... (good joke with english not being my language, if I do say so myself :D made myself proud haha)
+2
Level 63
Jul 20, 2019
We have a world globe that I reposition (maybe Antarctica on top, maybe the equator. Just to make us think.
+4
Level 42
Oct 31, 2014
Surely Ireland should be there
+4
Level 76
Oct 31, 2014
Surprisingly, it isn't. With Mercator projection (which most maps of the world use) distances closer to the equator are further apart than they appear, compared with distances further north or south - using a globe will confirm this. The shortest distance to Ireland is 2945 km/1830 mi, from Labrador.
+1
Level 38
Oct 31, 2014
One of the rooms in the parliament buildings belongs to the Netherlands, that's why we have the Princess Margaret hospital. Technically that makes the Netherlands closer than even the States.
+1
Level 82
Oct 31, 2014
The US has an embassy in Ottawa.
+8
Level 44
Jul 20, 2019
Embassies are not a sovereign piece of territory
+13
Level 82
Jul 20, 2019
neither are rooms in Parliament or the Princess Margaret Hospital.
+2
Level 76
Apr 2, 2020
Oh, and by the way, I drew a picture of South Africa when I was in Canada, so it should be 0 mi as well. ;)
+4
Level 37
Feb 15, 2017
It's Margriet, not Margaret.
+1
Level 57
May 22, 2015
Tricky quiz, liked a lot
+3
Level 20
Apr 3, 2016
Got netherlands but not mexico *facepalm*
+2
Level 70
Apr 7, 2016
Turks and Caicos? (British overseas territory)
+4
Level 71
Jun 26, 2016
Probably not as close as Bermuda, which is already on there.
+1
Level 70
Dec 25, 2016
Right. Just noticed the pattern here.
+3
Level 61
Aug 19, 2016
Canada was a good choice for this quiz - you have to recenter your mental picture of the globe, otherwise you wouldn't think about crossing the north pole to reach scandinavia!
+1
Level 66
Dec 17, 2018
yea just did usa, thought well, this is a bad chouce, would hardly differ... but there is a good twist :)
+1
Level 39
Oct 22, 2016
if haiti is in the answer then el salvador should be there
+1
Level 65
Nov 2, 2016
Haiti is further north than El Salvador, they're not on the latitude so one being an answer on here does not support the other.
+1
Level 76
Nov 2, 2016
El Salvador is 3105 km / 1929 mi away.
+2
Level 57
Nov 2, 2016
I'm certain Cayman Islands, Turks & Caicos Islands, Faroe Islands must all be closer than some of these. But maybe you only allow ONE overseas territory per parent country? If that is the case, suggest you make it clear in instructions.
+1
Level 82
Nov 7, 2016
It says "countries" in the title
+1
Level 50
May 26, 2019
Yes, agreed, I was confused by this as well. It would be good to make this clear.
+3
Level 76
Oct 6, 2019
Fair point; the countries come first now, with the territory in brackets.
+1
Level 65
Nov 2, 2016
thanks for an interesting quiz.got it with 2 sec to spare
+1
Level 15
Nov 2, 2016
Finished with 0:48 left
+1
Level 38
Nov 2, 2016
got all except dominican republic lol
+1
Level 74
Dec 24, 2016
1. how is finland closer to canada than sweden?

2. how did those two countries make the list and the uk as well, but not ireland?

+6
Level 76
Dec 25, 2016
Because the closest distance to Sweden and Finland is across the Arctic - you can confirm this by using a piece of string on a globe. That route also means that Ireland doesn't make the list of 20 nearest countries.
+1
Level 68
Apr 24, 2020
Also, Finland's northernmost point is further north than Sweden's
+1
Level 37
Feb 15, 2017
Honduras is in Central America, and Sint Maarten is in the Leeward Islands, how could they possibly be six (6) miles apart?
+3
Level 76
May 1, 2017
They're not, despite each being a similar distance from Canada. Think of the points of an equilateral triangle.
+2
Level 69
May 3, 2017
Also, Canada is a huge country so the point of reference would be from the closest point in southern Canada which would be the bottom tip of the Niagara peninsula or from southern Vancouver Island.
+1
Level 81
Aug 21, 2021
Perhaps Middle Island - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Middle_Island_(Lake_Erie)
+1
Level 37
May 1, 2017
No Ireland? - Tell me, how do you get to the Netherlands w/o passing Ireland? - No Saint Kitts or Saint Barts? Get real!
+6
Level 76
May 1, 2017
I am. France is already closest at St Pierre, so St Barts doesn't get a mention. St Kitts is too far away. Netherlands is closer at Sint Maarten than the country of Netherlands in Europe.
+8
Level 66
Jul 20, 2019
Really... just read (instructons + all the comnents) before coming out here with an attitude.

the same thing, read first, would obviously also be the advice if you had put it in a nice question, but it would ve been less of an issue

+8
Level 62
Oct 6, 2019
Dont complain at inaccuracies when it's your own geographical knowledge that is faulty
+3
Level 69
May 3, 2017
Adding in the territories really makes you think. Guessed on Portugal because I ran out of colonial powers.
+1
Level 37
May 3, 2017
Question: Canada is to the North of the United States, thus farther way from Central America and the Caribbean Islands. And, while I

am happy to finally see Sint Maarten included in a quiz, how can

St. Maarten (Netherlands) appear on a closest to Canada quiz,

but NOT on a closest to the USA quiz?

+3
Level 76
May 3, 2017
Simple answer: I didn't author the closest-to-usa quiz. If I had, I would have!
+2
Level 37
Jun 13, 2017
Thank you for the explanation. And I do thank you for this quiz which I contend is more accurate than some of the other "closest to" quizzes.
+2
Level 55
Dec 4, 2017
Shouldn't Norway be closer from Jan Mayen
+1
Level 54
Feb 16, 2022
Agree. Please fix!
+1
Level 39
Jul 30, 2018
Ireland?
+1
Level 76
Jul 30, 2018
Just outside: 2943 km / 1829 miles.
+1
Level 66
Dec 17, 2018
wow didnt expect notway sweden finland, and thus didnt get those. Did get all the red ones. pretty easy because there are only a few countries that use to have a lot of colonies
+1
Level 34
Jan 29, 2019
Don't understand why UK was not accepted - does it have to be spelt out?
+1
Level 76
Jan 29, 2019
UK has always worked - wanna try again?
+1
Level 48
Jan 29, 2019
No fair, Denmark isn't on... oh wait.
+1
Level 88
Apr 23, 2019
So very many so close to the cutoff. This must've taken a while to do.

+1
Level 57
Jul 20, 2019
How about Belize? How can Honduras be closer than Belize?
+1
Level 76
Jul 20, 2019
It isn't. They both already appear as answers.
+1
Level 44
Jul 20, 2019
Great quiz! It was still very much a challenge, and kept me going right up until the end. Only missed one, which was Iceland (I really kicked myself when I saw that answer). Mercator projections really helped make this a constant guessing game.
+1
Level 41
Jul 21, 2019
I have to say I'm surprised that Sweden and Norway are closer to Canada than Ireland
+1
Level 47
Jul 21, 2019
Dammit I always forget Belize when going through Central America!
+2
Level 40
Feb 14, 2020
somehow didnt get iceland
+4
Level 52
Mar 16, 2020
Distance to Norway seems to be incorrect - distance between Ellesmere island and Svalbard is just under 1200 km, just over half of 2200 stated in current (of 16.03.2020) version of the quiz.
+3
Level 76
Apr 2, 2020
Yeah, I'm getting measures of about 740 miles/1190 kilometers. If you are including overseas territories, you should include Svalbard as well.
+1
Level 43
Sep 5, 2020
What about Kiribati? It's not that far away from Canada...
+1
Level 76
Sep 6, 2020
5930 km / 3685 miles
+3
Level 55
Mar 23, 2021
Goes to show how big the pacific is.
+1
Level 45
Nov 17, 2020
got jamiaca with 4 seconds left
+1
Level 58
Dec 3, 2020
I got them all but the three Nordic? Scandinavian? chilly ones? anyways I got all of them but got stumped on Norway, Finland, and Sweden but got them with 15 secs left :)
+1
Level 63
Feb 25, 2021
Do you by chance remember the source you used for this quiz? I’m trying to create a quiz but can’t find any good source material
+2
Level 75
Jun 15, 2021
Google Maps - distance measurement tool
+1
Level 52
May 18, 2021
2 seconds left, let's go! thanks for your comments :)
+3
Level 54
Jun 15, 2021
Not that it really matters, but I think Norway is a lot closer to Canada than 2200km if you include Svalbard. I reckon you can get it to about 1,222km: https://www.google.com/maps/@77.5854607,-43.3825994,3z I don't know if Svalbard should be counted as 100% bona fide Norway but given that overseas territories are inculded it seems like it should be!
+1
Level 48
Jun 15, 2021
st pierre gets me again
+1
Level 58
Jun 15, 2021
I refuse to believe that sweden can be on here, and yet dominica isnt
+1
Level 76
Jun 16, 2021
It's true: Dominica is 3112 km / 1934 miles away.
+1
Level 62
Jan 9, 2022
Got the last one with eight seconds to go!
+1
Level 37
Jan 29, 2022
Almost missed the bahamas
+1
Level 25
May 14, 2022
Even though there is Finland there is no Ireland?
+1
Level 44
May 18, 2022
got 100% and i am canadian
+1
Level 55
Jun 16, 2022
You might need to update the numbers for Denmark!
+1
Level 21
Jun 17, 2022
Denmark is now touching borders with Canada, In an island
+2
Level 34
Jun 26, 2022
Now with the Hans Islands land dispute over and done with, Canada now borders Denmark so that's a minor fix to make
+1
Level 76
Jun 29, 2022
This border is yet to be ratified by the countries involved.
+1
Level 51
Jul 14, 2022
2022: Canada has now a boundary with Denmark !
+1
Level 76
Jul 15, 2022
Still awaiting ratification by the four parliaments involved.
+5
Level 65
Jul 20, 2022
Denmark and canada officially share a border on hans island
+2
Level 34
Jul 22, 2022
Was about to comment this as well. Denmark should be changed to 0km
+2
Level 76
Jul 23, 2022
Still awaiting ratification by the four parliaments involved.
+1
Level 64
Oct 18, 2022
I think it's been ratified now?
+1
Level 43
Dec 1, 2022
Based on the country quiz, Bermuda, Sint Maarten and St Pierre aren't countries, even the Caribbean test doesn't even count Bermuda, theirs US and UK virgin islands.

Crazy if Norway/Finland/Sweden are closer to Canada than even Nicaragua/Costa Rica/Panama.

+2
Level 84
Apr 23, 2023
Not that crazy if you go north instead of east.
+1
Level 34
Apr 12, 2023
Nice quiz! (Thanks for getting me to level 22!)
+1
Level 49
Jan 20, 2024
Didn't expect Azores. I was choosing either Faroe Islands (Denmark) or Svalbard (Norway) or Cayman Islands (UK) or perhaps Anguilla (UK) which I thought were closer to Canada than Azores. Heck I thought either Puerto Rico or the Virgin Islands were much closer to Canada.
+1
Level 39
Jan 29, 2024
Norway is no more than 1300 km from Canada because of Svalbard.
+1
Level 66
Jan 30, 2024
Norway is a lot closer with Svalbard/Jan Mayen !