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Countries with the Most Species

Name the countries which harbour the highest numbers of recorded species of mammals, birds, amphibians, reptiles and vascular plants.
According to the UN World Conservation Monitoring Centre, 2004 via mongabay.com
Quiz by PsychoGunnar
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Last updated: January 27, 2016
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First submittedApril 13, 2014
Times taken76,649
Average score80.0%
Rating4.99
4:00
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# Species
Country
59,851
Brazil
54,649
Colombia
34,687
China
32,680
Indonesia
28,836
Mexico
25,052
South Africa
23,429
Venezuela
# Species
Country
22,065
Ecuador
21,474
United States
21,020
India
20,081
Peru
19,561
Bolivia
17,974
Australia
17,171
Malaysia
# Species
Country
13,630
Costa Rica
13,340
Thailand
13,115
Papua New Guinea
13,107
Dem. Rep. of the Congo
12,468
Russia
12,034
Vietnam
+19
Level 82
May 19, 2014
This is basically the same as that "Mega Diverse" countries quiz featured a while back, except I think this one is longer, allowing Russia and Vietnam to show up which I don't think were on the other list, Costa Rica is ranked higher, and I think New Guinea is ranked lower..
+13
Level ∞
May 19, 2014
Haha. You caught me.
+8
Level 82
May 19, 2014
sometimes my memory works
+1
Level 69
Apr 17, 2015
I'm kicking myself now; I just did the megadiverse quiz about half an hour ago, knew that it would be much the same, and yet I missed a country on it when doing this
+4
Level 72
Jul 15, 2019
I made a slightly different quiz about endemic species (species that only live in a particular country). here
+2
Level 59
Sep 25, 2020
Thats a different thing. I like it.
+2
Level 69
May 19, 2014
Expected to see Costa Rica ranked higher on the list...
+17
Level 51
May 19, 2014
Costa Rica is minuscule compared to the other listed countries. It might be much higher if they were ranked by species per square mile, or something.
+14
Level 82
May 20, 2014
yes. The fact it shows up at all is very impressive.
+23
Level 28
Jun 7, 2014
I guess it has to do with the Smithsonian research station that they have there - it is probably not very different from other Central American countries, but with more researchers to look for the species you will get a longer list...
+2
Level 69
Feb 6, 2021
species per area would make an interesting quiz.
+1
Level 71
May 19, 2021
Yeah, that a country so small shows up so high on this list (ahead of the DRC!) is pretty amazing. I didn't think of it at all until the last 2 seconds. Alas, by that point it was too late for me to type it in.
+1
Level 55
Sep 8, 2022
Or Russia, sometimes known as the largest country on Earth.
+1
Level 75
Nov 21, 2022
I'm thinking along the same lines as psychogunnar. Is South Africa that much more diverse than other southern African countries, for example, or does it simply have more attention paid to its biodiversity?
+3
Level 66
May 20, 2014
Only forgot Papua New Guinea.
+1
Level 68
Sep 17, 2016
Only forgot Congo.
+4
Level 39
Jun 2, 2017
I forgot just both of those.
+2
Level 44
May 19, 2021
I forgot what quiz I was taking.
+1
Level 61
May 21, 2014
would've had 100% but I spelt 'papua new guinea' wrong...
+4
Level 72
Jul 31, 2018
For future reference, typing PNG also works.
+1
Level 66
Jul 4, 2019
And new guinea
+2
Level 67
Apr 30, 2021
the type-in png wasnt accepted when the comment was typed
+2
Level 72
Jun 3, 2021
I did mention it was for future reference, not past...
+1
Level 51
Sep 25, 2014
100% with 1:43 to spare! :)
+1
Level 65
Jan 26, 2016
Why aren't the names PRC or PNG accepted?
+1
Level ∞
Jan 27, 2016
Those will work now
+1
Level 63
Feb 15, 2016
100% with only 10 seconds to spare!
+2
Level 66
Mar 11, 2016
I was just thinking Jungle and lagre land areas. So i missed South Africa, because I forgot there is alot of forrest in South Africa. I was just thinking is was too dry.. im stupid some times
+1
Level 75
Sep 19, 2016
I guess that makes me stupid, too. It was the only one i missed for the same reason.
+6
Level 69
May 19, 2021
Actually there is almost no forest in South Africa, less than 3% of the country is forested. Its high biodiversity is largely thanks to the fynbos, one of the six floral kingdoms and the only one to lie within one country. To give you an idea there are more plant species on Table Mountain than there are in the entire British Isles.
+1
Level 60
Apr 12, 2023
I thought I already put it and was trying to think what the last country could be… I feel like I tried every other country in Africa bigger than Uganda but I didn’t “retry” South Africa lol
+1
Level 82
Aug 16, 2016
Kinda surprised to see Russia on this list, notwithstanding its size. Especially when you consider the DRC with the bulk of the Congo rain forest (and while nowhere near Russia-sized, not a small country) is immediately above it. For those surprised about Costa Rica standing alone amongst Central American nations, my (not at all researched) understanding was that Costa Rica had considerably more jungle than other Central American countries and this quiz would seem to confirm that. I might actually go away now and read up on it. My other observation is that South America does particularly well here - less than 10% of the world's countries, but almost a third of this list.
+1
Level 48
Sep 17, 2016
Expected the DRC higher up there indeed, interesting.
+3
Level 56
Jul 13, 2019
DRC's ecosystems are probably less mapped (vascular plants in particular).
+1
Level 52
Jul 13, 2019
Costa Rica has 11 different eco systems.
+18
Level 67
Sep 19, 2016
Surprised there is no Madagascar...
+2
Level 71
Feb 26, 2018
Agreed, seems hard to believe.
+1
Level 75
Nov 15, 2018
Yeah
+3
Level 44
Jul 13, 2019
You can't rely on cartoons for correct info on world biology
+6
Level 78
Jul 13, 2019
Madagascar would probably rank high on a "Countries with Most Unique Species" Quiz, but this one is a tad different.
+1
Level 25
Jun 22, 2020
Madagascar was my first try. In the end I only missed Vietnam and Malaysia.
+1
Level 74
Sep 20, 2016
Cracking effort from Ecuador, PNG and Costa Rica
+1
Level 83
Apr 30, 2022
Ecuador includes the Galápagos Islands which “are known for their large number of endemic species” (Wikipedia).
+3
Level 71
Feb 26, 2018
I'm surprised not to see Panama and Madagascar on here.
+1
Level 75
Nov 15, 2018
22 seconds left
+1
Level 67
Jul 13, 2019
15, hmmm.
+1
Level 79
May 19, 2021
My country is here, nice
+6
Level 75
May 19, 2021
More than half the population of the world can say that...
+1
Level 79
May 23, 2021
Or over 57% of the world's population, to be precise..
+1
Level 79
May 23, 2021
However, only a tenth of the world's countries are on here ;)
+3
Level 54
May 19, 2021
Really surprised Madagascar isn't on the list.
+2
Level 38
May 19, 2021
no wonder there so many diversity in Brazil, because they take everyone from around the world there!
+1
Level 50
Oct 15, 2021
I got 19/20, then I just guessed Thailand and did not expect it to be here. I also thought Madagascar would be on here
+1
Level 29
Oct 20, 2021
great quiz!

.

+2
Level 25
Nov 5, 2022
I thought somehow the philippines was here. I thought they're one of the most biodiverse.
+1
Level 67
Nov 21, 2022
I expected the Congo to have more species than South Africa
+2
Level 49
Nov 21, 2022
France and UK?

With their territories around the world?

+1
Level 70
Nov 21, 2022
I think oversea territories and regions aren't included.
+1
Level 82
Dec 19, 2023
Overseas departments should count though, just like Hawaii.
+1
Level 55
Mar 9, 2023
I wrote Panama and Nicaragua and declined to do Costa Rica and it was the only one left for me lol
+1
Level 67
Jul 2, 2023
Didn't get anything for at least a minute and then got Costa Rica to get 100%
+1
Level 72
Dec 6, 2023
SOUTH AFRICA'S NUMBER IS A PALINDROME
+1
Level 20
Feb 4, 2024
I thought Philippines was on the list hehe, but great quiz, missed Costa Rica, DRC and PNG hehe