Mexico Quiz
Pyramids, volcanoes, tequila and the Yucatán: 15 questions on the land and culture of Mexico.
What is the official name of the country commonly known as Mexico?
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United Mexican States
The constitution calls the country Estados Unidos Mexicanos, the United Mexican States, a federation of 31 states plus Mexico City. The name dates from the first federal constitution of 1824, modelled partly on that of the United States.
The capital, Mexico City, is slowly sinking by up to 30 centimetres a year in places because it was built on a drained lakebed.
What is the currency of Mexico?
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Peso
Mexico uses the peso, written with the same $ sign as the US dollar. The silver Mexican peso of the colonial era circulated so widely that it became the model for the US dollar and the Chinese yuan.
The $ sign itself most likely began as an abbreviation for pesos on Spanish American account books before the United States adopted it.
Chichén Itzá, with its stepped pyramid El Castillo, was built by which civilization?
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Maya
Chichén Itzá was one of the great cities of the Maya, flourishing in the Yucatán Peninsula between about AD 600 and 1200. El Castillo is a temple to the feathered serpent god Kukulcán and was voted one of the New Seven Wonders of the World in 2007.
At the spring and autumn equinoxes the pyramid's steps cast a shadow that looks like a serpent slithering down the northern staircase.
Which southern Mexican state, famous for mole sauces and mezcal, shares its name with its capital city?
Got a hunch? Pick the answer that feels right.
Oaxaca
Oaxaca is known as the land of the seven moles and produces most of the world's mezcal, and its capital, Oaxaca de Juárez, is a UNESCO World Heritage city.
Oaxaca is also home to Monte Albán, the ancient Zapotec hilltop city founded around 500 BCE.
Which spirit must be distilled from blue agave in designated regions of Mexico in order to carry its name?
Got a hunch? Pick the answer that feels right.
Tequila
Tequila can only be made from blue Weber agave and only in Jalisco and small parts of four other states, under a protected designation of origin. Mezcal is its broader cousin, made from many agave species and typically roasted in earth pits for a smoky flavour.
A blue agave plant takes around seven years to mature before its heart, the piña, can be harvested and cooked.
Mariachi music and tequila both trace their origins to which Mexican state?
Got a hunch? Pick the answer that feels right.
Jalisco
Jalisco, whose capital is Guadalajara, is the birthplace of mariachi and the home of the town of Tequila, which gave the spirit its name. The state also gave Mexico the wide brimmed charro suit and the jarabe tapatío, the so called Mexican hat dance.
UNESCO listed mariachi as intangible cultural heritage in 2011, and the agave landscape around Tequila has been a World Heritage Site since 2006.
The painter Frida Kahlo was married to which Mexican muralist?
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Diego Rivera
Frida Kahlo married Diego Rivera in 1929, divorced him in 1939 and remarried him in 1940. Rivera was the most famous of the Mexican muralists, painting vast public frescoes of Mexican history in the National Palace and the Ministry of Education in Mexico City.
Kahlo's childhood home, the Casa Azul in Coyoacán, opened as a museum in 1958 and still displays her dresses, corsets and paints.
Which Mexican state is the largest by area?
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Chihuahua
Chihuahua covers about 247,455 square kilometres (95,543 square miles), making it the biggest of Mexico's 31 states and larger than the whole of the United Kingdom. Much of it is desert and high plateau, crossed by the dramatic Copper Canyon.
The tiny Chihuahua dog takes its name from the state, where the breed was first noticed by American visitors in the nineteenth century.
Which ancient city northeast of Mexico City is famous for its Pyramid of the Sun and the Avenue of the Dead?
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Teotihuacan
Teotihuacan was the largest city in the Americas around AD 500, with perhaps 100,000 people, and its Pyramid of the Sun is about 65 metres (213 feet) high. It was abandoned centuries before the Aztecs, who gave it its name, meaning the place where gods were created.
Nobody knows what the builders of Teotihuacan called themselves or their city, since they left no deciphered writing system.
Chichén Itzá, Cancún and Mérida all lie on which Mexican peninsula?
Got a hunch? Pick the answer that feels right.
Yucatán
The Yucatán Peninsula juts into the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean and is the heartland of the Maya, with Chichén Itzá, Uxmal and Tulum among its ruins.
The peninsula sits on the rim of the Chicxulub crater, left by the asteroid impact linked to the extinction of the dinosaurs.
Cinco de Mayo commemorates a Mexican victory over French forces in 1862 at which city?
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Puebla
On 5 May 1862 General Ignacio Zaragoza's outnumbered Mexican army defeated the invading French at the Battle of Puebla. The French went on to occupy Mexico City the following year, but the battle remains a symbol of national resistance.
Cinco de Mayo is not Mexico's independence day and is a bigger party in the United States than in most of Mexico, apart from Puebla itself.
The river known in the United States as the Rio Grande goes by what name in Mexico?
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Río Bravo
Mexicans call the river the Río Bravo, or Río Bravo del Norte. It rises in Colorado and forms the Texas section of the border for about 2,000 kilometres (1,250 miles) before reaching the Gulf of Mexico.
Heavy irrigation use means the river sometimes fails to reach the sea at all, with its mouth near Brownsville silting up in dry years.
Which active volcano, whose Nahuatl name means smoking mountain, towers over Puebla about 70 kilometres (43 miles) from Mexico City?
Got a hunch? Pick the answer that feels right.
Popocatépetl
Popocatépetl, nicknamed Don Goyo, is Mexico's most active volcano and at 5,426 metres (17,802 feet) its second highest peak. It has been puffing ash and steam almost continuously since reawakening in 1994, and about 25 million people live within 100 kilometres.
Legend pairs Popocatépetl with the neighbouring Iztaccíhuatl, the sleeping woman, as a warrior keeping eternal watch over his dead lover.
Mexican independence celebrations begin each September 15 with the Grito, recalling the 1810 call to arms by which priest?
Got a hunch? Pick the answer that feels right.
Miguel Hidalgo
In the early hours of 16 September 1810 Father Miguel Hidalgo rang the church bell in Dolores and urged the townspeople to rise against Spanish rule. The President repeats the Grito from the National Palace balcony every year, ringing Hidalgo's own bell.
Hidalgo was captured and executed in 1811, and independence was not finally won until 1821 under Agustín de Iturbide.
Which body of water separates the Baja California peninsula from the Mexican mainland?
Got a hunch? Pick the answer that feels right.
Gulf of California
The Gulf of California, also called the Sea of Cortez, is the long arm of the Pacific between Baja California and the states of Sonora and Sinaloa. Jacques Cousteau called it the world's aquarium, and its islands have been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2005.
The gulf is home to the vaquita, the world's smallest and rarest porpoise, with only a handful of animals thought to survive.
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All Geography quizzes →About the Mexico Quiz
Mexico stretches from the deserts of Chihuahua to the jungles of the Yucatán, with two coastlines, a chain of volcanoes and more than 30 UNESCO World Heritage Sites. The Aztec capital Tenochtitlan once stood on an island in a lake where Mexico City now sprawls, the pyramids of Teotihuacan were already ancient when the Aztecs found them, and the country gave the world chocolate, chili and tequila.
These 15 questions start with the capital, the currency and the famous festivals, then move through Maya ruins, the painter married to Frida Kahlo, the largest state and the smoking volcano that watches over Puebla. It suits holidaymakers, Spanish learners and pub quiz regulars who want a country round with real depth.
You will find 15 multiple choice questions here, each with four options. Difficulty: Medium. Most people finish in about 6 minutes, and every answer comes with a short explanation and one extra fact worth keeping.
How to play
Read the question and pick one of the four answers. The correct answer is revealed straight away with a short explanation, then press Next question to keep going. At the end you get your score out of 15 and a full review of your round. Play again any time and the questions arrive in a fresh order. There is no timer and no account.
Good to know before you play
What is the official name of Mexico?
The United Mexican States, or Estados Unidos Mexicanos. The country is a federation of 31 states plus Mexico City, which has a special status as the capital.
What is the highest mountain in Mexico?
Pico de Orizaba, also called Citlaltépetl, a dormant volcano 5,636 metres (18,491 feet) high on the border of Puebla and Veracruz. It is the third highest peak in North America.
What is Mexico famous for eating and drinking?
Tacos al pastor, mole from Oaxaca and Puebla, tamales and tequila from Jalisco; Mexican cuisine was added to the UNESCO list of intangible cultural heritage in 2010.
Answer key: all 15 questions with explanations
- What is the official name of the country commonly known as Mexico?
United Mexican States The constitution calls the country Estados Unidos Mexicanos, the United Mexican States, a federation of 31 states plus Mexico City. The name dates from the first federal constitution of 1824, modelled partly on that of the United States. The capital, Mexico City, is slowly sinking by up to 30 centimetres a year in places because it was built on a drained lakebed. - What is the currency of Mexico?
Peso Mexico uses the peso, written with the same $ sign as the US dollar. The silver Mexican peso of the colonial era circulated so widely that it became the model for the US dollar and the Chinese yuan. The $ sign itself most likely began as an abbreviation for pesos on Spanish American account books before the United States adopted it. - Chichén Itzá, with its stepped pyramid El Castillo, was built by which civilization?
Maya Chichén Itzá was one of the great cities of the Maya, flourishing in the Yucatán Peninsula between about AD 600 and 1200. El Castillo is a temple to the feathered serpent god Kukulcán and was voted one of the New Seven Wonders of the World in 2007. At the spring and autumn equinoxes the pyramid's steps cast a shadow that looks like a serpent slithering down the northern staircase. - Which southern Mexican state, famous for mole sauces and mezcal, shares its name with its capital city?
Oaxaca Oaxaca is known as the land of the seven moles and produces most of the world's mezcal, and its capital, Oaxaca de Juárez, is a UNESCO World Heritage city. Oaxaca is also home to Monte Albán, the ancient Zapotec hilltop city founded around 500 BCE. - Which spirit must be distilled from blue agave in designated regions of Mexico in order to carry its name?
Tequila Tequila can only be made from blue Weber agave and only in Jalisco and small parts of four other states, under a protected designation of origin. Mezcal is its broader cousin, made from many agave species and typically roasted in earth pits for a smoky flavour. A blue agave plant takes around seven years to mature before its heart, the piña, can be harvested and cooked. - Mariachi music and tequila both trace their origins to which Mexican state?
Jalisco Jalisco, whose capital is Guadalajara, is the birthplace of mariachi and the home of the town of Tequila, which gave the spirit its name. The state also gave Mexico the wide brimmed charro suit and the jarabe tapatío, the so called Mexican hat dance. UNESCO listed mariachi as intangible cultural heritage in 2011, and the agave landscape around Tequila has been a World Heritage Site since 2006. - The painter Frida Kahlo was married to which Mexican muralist?
Diego Rivera Frida Kahlo married Diego Rivera in 1929, divorced him in 1939 and remarried him in 1940. Rivera was the most famous of the Mexican muralists, painting vast public frescoes of Mexican history in the National Palace and the Ministry of Education in Mexico City. Kahlo's childhood home, the Casa Azul in Coyoacán, opened as a museum in 1958 and still displays her dresses, corsets and paints. - Which Mexican state is the largest by area?
Chihuahua Chihuahua covers about 247,455 square kilometres (95,543 square miles), making it the biggest of Mexico's 31 states and larger than the whole of the United Kingdom. Much of it is desert and high plateau, crossed by the dramatic Copper Canyon. The tiny Chihuahua dog takes its name from the state, where the breed was first noticed by American visitors in the nineteenth century. - Which ancient city northeast of Mexico City is famous for its Pyramid of the Sun and the Avenue of the Dead?
Teotihuacan Teotihuacan was the largest city in the Americas around AD 500, with perhaps 100,000 people, and its Pyramid of the Sun is about 65 metres (213 feet) high. It was abandoned centuries before the Aztecs, who gave it its name, meaning the place where gods were created. Nobody knows what the builders of Teotihuacan called themselves or their city, since they left no deciphered writing system. - Chichén Itzá, Cancún and Mérida all lie on which Mexican peninsula?
Yucatán The Yucatán Peninsula juts into the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean and is the heartland of the Maya, with Chichén Itzá, Uxmal and Tulum among its ruins. The peninsula sits on the rim of the Chicxulub crater, left by the asteroid impact linked to the extinction of the dinosaurs. - Cinco de Mayo commemorates a Mexican victory over French forces in 1862 at which city?
Puebla On 5 May 1862 General Ignacio Zaragoza's outnumbered Mexican army defeated the invading French at the Battle of Puebla. The French went on to occupy Mexico City the following year, but the battle remains a symbol of national resistance. Cinco de Mayo is not Mexico's independence day and is a bigger party in the United States than in most of Mexico, apart from Puebla itself. - The river known in the United States as the Rio Grande goes by what name in Mexico?
Río Bravo Mexicans call the river the Río Bravo, or Río Bravo del Norte. It rises in Colorado and forms the Texas section of the border for about 2,000 kilometres (1,250 miles) before reaching the Gulf of Mexico. Heavy irrigation use means the river sometimes fails to reach the sea at all, with its mouth near Brownsville silting up in dry years. - Which active volcano, whose Nahuatl name means smoking mountain, towers over Puebla about 70 kilometres (43 miles) from Mexico City?
Popocatépetl Popocatépetl, nicknamed Don Goyo, is Mexico's most active volcano and at 5,426 metres (17,802 feet) its second highest peak. It has been puffing ash and steam almost continuously since reawakening in 1994, and about 25 million people live within 100 kilometres. Legend pairs Popocatépetl with the neighbouring Iztaccíhuatl, the sleeping woman, as a warrior keeping eternal watch over his dead lover. - Mexican independence celebrations begin each September 15 with the Grito, recalling the 1810 call to arms by which priest?
Miguel Hidalgo In the early hours of 16 September 1810 Father Miguel Hidalgo rang the church bell in Dolores and urged the townspeople to rise against Spanish rule. The President repeats the Grito from the National Palace balcony every year, ringing Hidalgo's own bell. Hidalgo was captured and executed in 1811, and independence was not finally won until 1821 under Agustín de Iturbide. - Which body of water separates the Baja California peninsula from the Mexican mainland?
Gulf of California The Gulf of California, also called the Sea of Cortez, is the long arm of the Pacific between Baja California and the states of Sonora and Sinaloa. Jacques Cousteau called it the world's aquarium, and its islands have been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2005. The gulf is home to the vaquita, the world's smallest and rarest porpoise, with only a handful of animals thought to survive.
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