About this puzzle
Rather than cramming in as many tiny nations as possible, this puzzle picks countries most students have heard of, 12 on Easy and 32 on Hard, and spreads them across six continents: North and South America, Europe, Africa, Asia, and Australia, which is a country and a continent at once. Every name is the common English one, so you will find Ireland rather than its official Irish name, Éire.
This countries word search works as a warm-up for a geography lesson, an International Night activity, or a travel-themed party. The notes under the grid give one memorable fact per country, such as which nation has the longest coastline or which country sits inside another, so solvers come away knowing a bit more about the world than when they started.
The 32 words in this puzzle
Every word, with a short note. Handy for teaching the vocabulary before or after solving.
In every version (12)
- Australia
- Australia is the only country that is also a continent. The Great Barrier Reef, off its northeast coast, is the world's largest coral reef system.
- Brazil
- The largest country in South America, Brazil contains most of the Amazon rainforest. Its official language is Portuguese.
- Canada
- The second-largest country in the world by area, Canada also has the longest coastline of any country, bordering three oceans.
- China
- The Great Wall of China stretches thousands of miles. Even though China is very wide, the whole country officially uses a single time zone.
- Egypt
- The Great Pyramid of Giza is the only one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World still standing. The Nile River runs the length of Egypt.
- France
- The Eiffel Tower in Paris was built for the World's Fair of 1889 and was meant to be temporary, but it became France's best-known landmark.
- Germany
- Germany was divided into East and West after World War II. The Berlin Wall fell in 1989, and the country reunited in 1990.
- India
- India is home to the Taj Mahal, a white marble tomb built by the emperor Shah Jahan in memory of his wife, Mumtaz Mahal.
- Italy
- Shaped like a boot, Italy completely surrounds two independent countries: Vatican City and San Marino.
- Japan
- Japan is made up of four main islands and thousands of smaller ones. Mount Fuji, a volcano, is its highest peak.
- Mexico
- Mexico City is built on the site of Tenochtitlan, the island capital of the Aztec Empire, which once stood in the middle of a lake.
- Spain
- Spain shares the Iberian Peninsula with Portugal. Spanish, its main language, is one of the most widely spoken languages in the world.
Added in Medium and Hard (8)
- Argentina
- Aconcagua, the highest mountain in the Americas, rises in Argentina's Andes, and the tango dance grew up in the neighborhoods of Buenos Aires.
- Greece
- The ancient Olympic Games began at Olympia in Greece, and Athens hosted the first modern Olympics in 1896.
- Ireland
- Nicknamed the Emerald Isle for its green countryside, Ireland has two official languages, Irish and English.
- Kenya
- Kenya's capital is Nairobi. Each year huge herds of wildebeest and zebras cross into Kenya's Maasai Mara in the Great Migration.
- New Zealand
- New Zealand has two main islands, the North Island and the South Island. In 1893 it became the first self-governing country to give women the right to vote.
- Peru
- Peru is home to Machu Picchu, a fifteenth-century Inca stone city built high on a ridge in the Andes Mountains.
- Russia
- Russia's Lake Baikal, in Siberia, is the deepest lake in the world and holds about one-fifth of all the unfrozen fresh water on Earth's surface.
- United States
- The United States declared independence in 1776 and now has 50 states. Its capital, Washington, DC, is not part of any state.
Added in Hard (12)
- Chile
- Chile is a long, narrow country that stretches about 2,600 miles down the west coast of South America. Its Atacama Desert is one of the driest places on Earth.
- Ethiopia
- Ethiopia is where coffee is believed to have first been discovered. The country also uses its own calendar, which has 13 months.
- Ghana
- In 1957 Ghana became one of the first African countries south of the Sahara to gain independence from colonial rule. It is famous for colorful kente cloth.
- Iceland
- Iceland's parliament, the Althing, was founded in the year 930 and is one of the oldest parliaments in the world.
- Jamaica
- An island in the Caribbean Sea, Jamaica is the birthplace of reggae music. Sprinter Usain Bolt, who set the 100-meter world record in 2009, is Jamaican.
- Morocco
- At the Strait of Gibraltar, Morocco is separated from Spain by less than nine miles of water, the narrow gap between Africa and Europe.
- Nigeria
- Nigeria has more people than any other country in Africa. Its largest city, Lagos, is one of the biggest cities on the continent.
- Norway
- Norway's coast is lined with fjords, narrow sea inlets carved by glaciers. The Nobel Peace Prize is awarded each year in its capital, Oslo.
- Portugal
- Portuguese sailors led the Age of Exploration. In 1498 Vasco da Gama became the first European to reach India by sailing around Africa.
- South Korea
- Korea's alphabet, Hangul, was created in the 1400s under King Sejong the Great. Seoul, the capital of South Korea, hosted the Summer Olympics in 1988.
- Thailand
- Thailand was known as Siam until 1939. It is the only country in Southeast Asia that was never colonized by a European power.
- Vietnam
- A long, S-shaped country in Southeast Asia, Vietnam is famous for Ha Long Bay, where limestone islands rise from emerald water. Its capital is Hanoi.
A few facts to share while you solve
- Russia is the largest country in the world by area and stretches across 11 time zones.
- Vatican City, the smallest country in the world, covers less than one-fifth of a square mile inside the city of Rome.
- Nepal's flag is the only national flag that is not a rectangle. It is shaped like two stacked triangles.
Four versions of this puzzle
Pick a version with the buttons above the grid. Each one has its own grid and answer key, and your progress on each is saved separately in this browser.
| Version | Words | Grid | Directions |
|---|---|---|---|
| Easy | 12 | 11 × 11 | The 12 most familiar words, reading forward across and down. |
| Medium | 20 | 14 × 14 | Twenty words across, down and diagonally. No backwards words. |
| Hard | 32 | 17 × 17 | Every word, in all eight directions including backwards, with look-alike filler letters. |
| Large print | 12 | 10 × 10 | The 12 most familiar words on a small grid with big letters. No backwards words. |
Hard and large print versions
Hard countries word search: all 32 words on a 17 × 17 grid, hidden forward, backward, up, down and along both diagonals, with filler letters borrowed from the word list. Print it without the word list for an extra challenge. Play the hard version, or see all hard word searches.
Large print countries word search: the 12 most familiar words on a 10 × 10 grid, printed with big letters and a big word list, and no backwards words. Play the large print version, or see all large print word searches.
Printing this word search
Press Print / PDF above the puzzle. You get a clean one-page sheet with the title, the grid, a word list with tick boxes, and optional name and date lines. The answer key prints on a second page. Prefer a file? Download it as a PDF or an image to print later or drop into a worksheet. Whatever version is showing on screen is the one that prints, and the large print version prints with bigger letters.
How to play online
- Find a word from the list in the grid. Scanning for its first letter is the quickest way.
- Drag across the word from its first letter to its last. On a phone, you can also tap the first letter, then the last.
- Found words get highlighted and crossed off. Stuck? Hint circles the first letter of a word you haven’t found.
Read the full guide to solving word searches, with tips that make big grids much faster.
Questions and answers
How many countries are in this word search?
Easy uses 12 of the best-known countries, Medium adds 8 more, and Hard includes all 32, chosen from six continents so that students recognize most of them. Each one has a short note with a geography or history fact, which makes the puzzle useful as a quick review before a map quiz.
Why aren't countries like Niger or Oman included?
Some country names are spelled inside others. Niger is hidden in Nigeria, and Oman is hidden in Romania, so including both would make one word appear twice. The list avoids those pairs so every word you find counts once.
What grade level is this countries word search for?
It suits roughly third grade through middle school, and adults enjoy it as a travel-themed break. Younger students can stick to easy mode and use a world map to find each country after circling it.
Is there an answer key for this countries word search?
Yes. Choose Print / PDF above the puzzle and keep “Add an answer key page” ticked. The key prints on its own page, with every word highlighted. While playing online, Show answers outlines any words you haven’t found yet.
Can I print copies for my class or group?
Yes. Every puzzle on BetterWordSearch is free to print for personal, classroom, library and homeschool use. Print as many copies as you need. To change the words or make several different versions of the grid, use the word search maker.
What changes between Easy, Medium, Hard and Large print?
Easy hides the 12 most familiar words, reading left to right and top to bottom. Medium uses 20 words and adds diagonals. Hard hides all 32 words in every direction, including backwards, with look-alike filler letters. Large print uses the same words as Easy on a small grid and prints with big letters.
