The Andes split into three ranges in Colombia. Which river's valley separates the Cordillera Central from the Cordillera Oriental?Answer: The Magdalena. Source: Wikipedia: Geography of Colombia
Caño Cristales, a river in Meta Department, is commonly called the River of how many colors?Answer: Five. Source: Wikipedia: Caño Cristales
Colombia can be divided into six natural regions: Andean, Caribbean, Pacific, Orinoquía, Amazon and which other, made up of islands?Answer: The Insular Region. Source: Wikipedia: Natural regions of Colombia
Colombia takes its name from the last name of which navigator?Answer: Christopher Columbus. Source: Wikipedia: Colombia
Colombia's mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea on the north. Which ocean borders it on the west?Answer: The Pacific. Source: Wikipedia: Colombia
Leticia, the southernmost city in Colombia, is a port on which river?Answer: The Amazon. Source: Wikipedia: Leticia, Amazonas
The Magdalena, the main river of Colombia, reaches the Caribbean Sea at which city?Answer: Barranquilla. Source: Wikipedia: Magdalena River
Pico Cristóbal Colón and which other peak, almost equal in elevation, are the two highest in Colombia?Answer: Pico Simón Bolívar. Source: Wikipedia: Pico Cristóbal Colón
Punta Gallinas, a headland in La Guajira, is the northernmost point of what?Answer: The mainland of South America. Source: Wikipedia: Punta Gallinas
The Tatacoa Desert, in the north of Huila, is not a barren desert at all. What is it?Answer: A tropical dry forest. Source: Wikipedia: Tatacoa Desert
What are the Llanos, which Colombia shares with Venezuela to the east of the Andes?Answer: Grassland plains. Source: Wikipedia: Llanos
Which isolated range in northern Colombia, separate from the Andes, is the highest coastal range in the tropics?Answer: The Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta. Source: Wikipedia: Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta
Show all 60 questions (48 more)
Wildlife, gems and the flag 11
A Jesuit priest left the oldest written record of which crop in Colombia, in a book of 1730?Answer: Coffee. Source: Wikipedia: Coffee production in Colombia
Cattleya trianae was named Colombia's national flower in 1936. To which plant family does it belong?Answer: The orchid family. Source: Wikipedia: Cattleya trianae
Chiribiquete, the largest national park in Colombia, holds tens of thousands of what on the walls of its rock shelters?Answer: Paintings and carvings. Source: Wikipedia: Chiribiquete National Park
The cotton-top tamarin, one of the smallest primates, lives in the forests of northwestern Colombia. What is it easily recognized by?Answer: A long white crest of hair. Source: Wikipedia: Cotton-top tamarin
Frailejones, plants of the high páramo, have a Spanish name with which meaning?Answer: Big monks. Source: Wikipedia: Espeletia
The golden poison frog is endemic to humid forests in which part of Colombia?Answer: The Pacific coast. Source: Wikipedia: Golden poison frog
Half the height of Colombia's flag is one broad band at the top. What color is that band?Answer: Yellow. Source: Wikipedia: Flag of Colombia
The mines of Muzo are the largest in Colombia for which green gemstone?Answer: Emerald. Source: Wikipedia: Colombian emeralds
The valley in Quindío where the wax palms chiefly grow is named for a Quimbayan princess. What is it called?Answer: The Cocora Valley. Source: Wikipedia: Cocora Valley
Which bird perches on top of the shield in Colombia's coat of arms?Answer: The Andean condor. Source: Wikipedia: Coat of arms of Colombia
Which tree, the tallest recorded monocot in the world, is the national tree of Colombia?Answer: The Quindío wax palm. Source: Wikipedia: Ceroxylon quindiuense
Gold, conquest and colony 12
Cartagena, founded by Pedro de Heredia on June 1, 1533, was named after a port in which country?Answer: Spain. Source: Wikipedia: Cartagena, Colombia
Ciudad Perdida, the Lost City in the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, was built by which people?Answer: The Tairona. Source: Wikipedia: Ciudad Perdida
In which Bogotá museum is the Muisca raft, a gold offering piece discovered in 1969, on show?Answer: The Gold Museum. Source: Wikipedia: Muisca raft
José Celestino Mutis, a Spanish priest and botanist, headed which expedition that King Charles III approved in 1783?Answer: The Royal Botanical Expedition. Source: Wikipedia: Royal Botanical Expedition to New Granada
The legend of El Dorado began with Spanish accounts of a ruler who was said to cover himself in what?Answer: Gold dust. Source: Wikipedia: El Dorado
Palenque, as in San Basilio de Palenque near Cartagena, is a Spanish word for what?Answer: A palisade. Source: Wikipedia: San Basilio de Palenque
The Revolt of the Comuneros, which ran from March through October 1781, was a reaction to an increase in what?Answer: Taxes. Source: Wikipedia: Revolt of the Comuneros (New Granada)
San Agustín Archaeological Park, in Huila, holds the largest collection in Latin America of what?Answer: Megalithic sculptures. Source: Wikipedia: San Agustín Archaeological Park
The Viceroyalty of New Granada, created in 1717, covered modern Colombia, Ecuador, Panama and which other country?Answer: Venezuela. Source: Wikipedia: Viceroyalty of New Granada
Which city on the Caribbean coast did Rodrigo de Bastidas found on July 29, 1525?Answer: Santa Marta. Source: Wikipedia: Santa Marta
Which conquistador founded Bogotá on August 6, 1538, after a harsh expedition into the Andes?Answer: Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada. Source: Wikipedia: Bogotá
Which lake northeast of Bogotá is famous as the inspiration for the legend of El Dorado?Answer: Lake Guatavita. Source: Wikipedia: Lake Guatavita
Independence and the republic 12
Antonio Nariño published the first translation into Spanish, in Spain's American colonies, of which French text?Answer: The Declaration of the Rights of Man. Source: Wikipedia: Antonio Nariño
The civil war fought in Colombia from October 1899 to November 1902 is named for its length. What is it called?Answer: The Thousand Days' War. Source: Wikipedia: Thousand Days' War
From 1863 until 1886 Colombia went by which name?Answer: The United States of Colombia. Source: Wikipedia: United States of Colombia
Gran Colombia, which lasted from 1819 to 1831, took in present-day Colombia, Panama, Venezuela and the mainland of which other country?Answer: Ecuador. Source: Wikipedia: Gran Colombia
In the decisive battle of 1819, Simón Bolívar's army joined Venezuelan and New Granadan troops with a legion of volunteers from which country?Answer: Britain. Source: Wikipedia: Battle of Boyacá
Libertad y Orden, the motto on the scroll of Colombia's coat of arms, means what?Answer: Liberty and Order. Source: Wikipedia: Coat of arms of Colombia
Near which Colombian city did Simón Bolívar die on December 17, 1830?Answer: Santa Marta. Source: Wikipedia: Simón Bolívar
Oreste Síndici composed the music of Colombia's national anthem. In which country was he born?Answer: Italy. Source: Wikipedia: National Anthem of Colombia
Policarpa Salavarrieta, a seamstress who spied for the independence forces, is remembered by which nickname?Answer: La Pola. Source: Wikipedia: Policarpa Salavarrieta
Which battle of 1819, fought at a bridge, was the decisive victory of Simón Bolívar's campaign to free New Granada?Answer: The Battle of Boyacá. Source: Wikipedia: Battle of Boyacá
Which general and vice president is known in Colombia as the Man of the Laws?Answer: Francisco de Paula Santander. Source: Wikipedia: Francisco de Paula Santander
Which household object gave its name to the incident of July 20, 1810, that Colombians take as the start of the struggle for independence?Answer: A flower vase. Source: Wikipedia: Colombian War of Independence
Music, festivals and the table 13
The arepa, eaten in northern South America since before Columbus, is a flatbread made from what?Answer: Ground maize dough. Source: Wikipedia: Arepa
At Medellín's Festival of the Flowers, what do the silleteros carry on their backs in the parade?Answer: Flower arrangements. Source: Wikipedia: Festival of the Flowers
Bandeja paisa is one of the most representative meals of Colombian cooking. What does bandeja mean?Answer: Platter. Source: Wikipedia: Bandeja paisa
The Barranquilla Carnival opens on the Saturday before Ash Wednesday with which parade?Answer: The Battle of the Flowers. Source: Wikipedia: Barranquilla Carnival
The Blacks and Whites' Carnival, held every year from January 2 to 7, began in which city of southern Colombia?Answer: Pasto. Source: Wikipedia: Blacks and Whites' Carnival
In rural Colombia, what is a chiva, a word that is Spanish for goat?Answer: A colorfully painted bus. Source: Wikipedia: Chiva bus
In tejo, a traditional Colombian throwing sport, what do players throw at a board covered with clay?Answer: A metal disc. Source: Wikipedia: Tejo (sport)
Panela, sold in hard blocks, is an unrefined form of what?Answer: Cane sugar. Source: Wikipedia: Panela
The sombrero vueltiao, a hat that has become a symbol of Colombia, comes from which Indigenous people?Answer: The Zenú. Source: Wikipedia: Sombrero vueltiao
Three varieties of which vegetable go into ajiaco, the chicken soup of Bogotá flavored with the herb guascas?Answer: Potatoes. Source: Wikipedia: Ajiaco
Vallenato, a folk music of Colombia's Caribbean region, has a name that literally means what?Answer: Born in the valley. Source: Wikipedia: Vallenato
The Wayuu people of the Guajira Peninsula are known for making which woven item?Answer: Mochila bags. Source: Wikipedia: Wayuu people
Which Colombian city is known as the Salsa Capital?Answer: Cali. Source: Wikipedia: Cali
How this list was compiled: Written for this site; nothing was copied from another list. Every answer was read on October 15, 2026 in the English Wikipedia article linked beside its question (text under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license): Colombia, Geography of Colombia, Muisca raft, Gran Colombia and 53 more on the rivers, peaks, animals, towns, people, festivals and dishes asked about; the questions, wrong choices and explanations are in our own words. Left out on purpose: population figures, current office-holders and living people, parties and present-day politics, the conflicts of recent decades, the tolls of wars, any border or island that two governments claim today, religious teaching, teams and leagues, companies and brands, and alcohol. Levels are our estimate: easy is fair for any table, medium suits people who know the country, hard will stump most tables. Licence: own work
How it works
This Colombia trivia stays with one country for all five rounds. The Latin America and South America packs ask the whole continent and give Colombia only a few questions each.
Read the full guide
Two coasts, three ranges and a river of five colors
The name and the map asks which river divides two ranges of the Andes and what the Tatacoa Desert really is. Wildlife, gems and the flag has the wax palms of the Cocora Valley, the emeralds of Muzo and the plants called big monks. Gold, conquest and colony goes from the gold dust of El Dorado to the tax revolt of 1781.
For a Colombian dinner, a Spanish class or July 20
Independence and the republic keeps to dated facts: the flower vase of July 20, 1810, the bridge at Boyacá in 1819 and the name the country carried from 1863. Music, festivals and the table is the lightest round: vallenato, the Battle of the Flowers, ajiaco and panela.
Questions and answers
What are some easy Colombia trivia questions?
What color is the broad band at the top of the flag? What is a chiva in rural Colombia? Which city is known as the Salsa Capital? The answers are yellow, a colorfully painted bus and Cali.
What is Colombia known for?
Among the things asked here: coffee, the emeralds of Muzo, the legend of El Dorado, the Barranquilla Carnival, vallenato and the arepa. Colombia is also one of the world's seventeen megadiverse countries.
Why is Colombia called Colombia?
The name comes from the last name of Christopher Columbus. It was first conceived as a name for the whole New World, and the republic of 1819 later adopted it.
What is the national bird of Colombia?
The Andean condor. It perches on top of the shield in the coat of arms, where it stands for freedom and holds an olive crown.
How were the answers checked?
Each was read on October 15, 2026 in the Wikipedia article linked under its question: Colombia, Geography of Colombia, Muisca raft, Gran Colombia and 53 more. Left out: population figures, living people, present-day politics, the conflicts of recent decades and disputed borders.