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Grade 6Countries by Continent

Countries by Continent Worksheet

Eighteen questions — matching, multiple choice, fill-in, and short answer — that drill continent classification and correct common Grade 6 geography mistakes.

18 questions · Matching · Multiple choice · Fill in the blank · Short answer · Analysis

Placing a country on the right continent sounds simple until students meet Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, Turkey's Anatolian landmass, or Russia stretching from Eastern Europe to the Pacific. This worksheet pushes Grade 6 students beyond memorization by asking them to match, choose, recall, and argue. The matching section builds a foundation of accurate placement; the multiple-choice and fill-in sections target countries students frequently misplace; and the short-answer section requires the geographic reasoning the C3 Framework expects at this level — citing physical boundaries, evaluating continental classification, and distinguishing a continent as a landmass from a country as a political unit. Print one copy per student and use the short-answer questions as the starting point for a whole-class discussion about how geographers draw continental boundaries.

Countries by Continent Worksheet — Grade 6

Use your knowledge of world geography to place each country on the correct continent and explain your reasoning where asked.

Remember

  • The seven-continent model names: Africa, Antarctica, Asia, Australia, Europe, North America, and South America.
  • The Ural Mountains and Ural River mark the traditional boundary between Europe and Asia across the Eurasian landmass.
  • When a country spans two continents, geographers classify it by where most of its territory and population are found.

Part A — Match each country to its continent

Draw a line from each country in the left column to the continent it belongs to in the right column.

Choose from

  • A. Asia
  • B. South America
  • C. Europe
  • D. Africa
  • E. Australia
  1. 1.

    Brazil

  2. 2.

    Kazakhstan

  3. 3.

    Egypt

  4. 4.

    Australia

  5. 5.

    Norway

Part B — Choose the best answer for each question

Circle the letter of the best answer for each question.

  1. 6.

    Which continent contains the greatest number of sovereign countries?

    1. A.Asia
    2. B.Europe
    3. C.Africa
    4. D.South America
  2. 7.

    On which continent do geographers place Turkey's capital city, Ankara?

    1. A.Asia
    2. B.Europe
    3. C.Africa
    4. D.North America
  3. 8.

    Which of the following countries is located in Asia rather than Africa?

    1. A.Sudan
    2. B.Ethiopia
    3. C.Tanzania
    4. D.Iran
  4. 9.

    Which continent contains both the Amazon River and the Andes mountain range?

    1. A.North America
    2. B.Africa
    3. C.South America
    4. D.Asia
  5. 10.

    In the seven-continent model taught in US schools, New Zealand belongs to which continent?

    1. A.Asia
    2. B.Australia
    3. C.Africa
    4. D.Antarctica

Part C — Fill in the blank to complete each statement

Write the name of the correct continent on the blank line to complete each statement.

  1. 11.

    Japan is an island nation located off the eastern coast of the continent of ____.

  2. 12.

    Argentina, which shares the Southern Cone with Chile, lies on the continent of ____.

  3. 13.

    Mexico, which borders the United States to the north, is located on the continent of ____.

  4. 14.

    Sweden and Denmark are Scandinavian countries located on the continent of ____.

  5. 15.

    The Congo River flows through the Democratic Republic of Congo on the continent of ____.

Part D — Answer each question in two to three complete sentences

Write two to three complete sentences that use specific geographic evidence to support your answer.

  1. 16.

    Russia spans two continents. Explain what transcontinental means and name the physical boundary dividing its European and Asian parts.

  2. 17.

    Many students place Egypt in Asia. Using the Suez Canal and Egypt's physical geography, explain why Egypt is classified as an African country.

  3. 18.

    Compare North America and South America. Identify one physical feature that explains why geographers treat them as two separate continents.

Answer key

Part A — Match each country to its continent

  1. 1.South America
  2. 2.Asia
  3. 3.Africa
  4. 4.Australia
  5. 5.Europe

Part B — Choose the best answer for each question

  1. 6.Africa
  2. 7.Asia
  3. 8.Iran
  4. 9.South America
  5. 10.Australia

Part C — Fill in the blank to complete each statement

  1. 11.Asia
  2. 12.South America
  3. 13.North America
  4. 14.Europe
  5. 15.Africa

Part D — Answer each question in two to three complete sentences

  1. 16.Example: Russia is called transcontinental because it has territory on both Europe and Asia. The Ural Mountains mark the boundary between its smaller western portion in Europe and its much larger eastern portion in Asia. Because the country clearly occupies land on both continents, geographers use the term transcontinental rather than assigning it to one continent alone.
  2. 17.Example: Egypt is classified as African because nearly all of its land lies west of the Suez Canal, which marks the physical boundary between Africa and Asia. The Sinai Peninsula is the only part of Egypt located in Asia, and it makes up a small fraction of the country's total area. Because the majority of Egypt, including its capital Cairo, sits on the African continent, geographers classify Egypt as an African nation.
  3. 18.Example: North America and South America meet at the narrow Isthmus of Panama, but the narrowness of that land bridge is one reason geographers treat them as two distinct continents. North America extends from Canada and the United States through Central America and the Caribbean islands, while South America is defined by the Andes Mountains along its western edge and the Amazon River basin in its interior. Their separate landmasses and distinct physical features support classifying them as two continents rather than one.

What this sheet teaches

  • Identify the correct continent for well-known countries, including those students commonly misplace on world maps.
  • Explain why transcontinental countries such as Russia and Turkey do not belong neatly on one continent alone.
  • Compare two continents using specific geographic evidence to support a reasoned classification argument.

Notes for the adult

  • Students often place Egypt in Asia because of the Sinai Peninsula; clarify that the Suez Canal marks the Africa-Asia divide.
  • Display a physical map highlighting the Ural Mountains before students attempt the transcontinental short-answer question.
  • A student is ready to move on when they justify a country's continent using a specific geographic feature, not memorized placement.

What is on the page

Printed on one side, Countries by Continent Worksheet runs to four parts and 18 exercises. Matching, multiple-choice, fill-in-the-blank and short-answer work, in that order, so a student who has understood the material has to show it in more than one form before the page is finished.

Part A Match each country to its continent sets five items against five lettered options, one lettered option per item, which means the last pair can be reached by elimination. Part B Choose the best answer for each question asks five multiple-choice questions with four printed options each. Part C Fill in the blank to complete each statement gives five sentences with a blank each and no word bank, so the wording has to come from the student. Part D Answer each question in two to three complete sentences is three short-answer questions with nine ruled lines between them, which is the part of the sheet that takes the longest.

Nine ruled lines are printed for written answers on Countries by Continent Worksheet, which decides how long it takes more than the question count does. The answer key prints on its own page at the end, so the sheet can be handed out without it.

What it asks of the student

Countries by Continent Worksheet puts about 337 words of reading in front of the student — the fact box, the directions, every question, and every printed option. That is the number worth checking against a class before it goes out, because a sheet that is pitched right on the history and wrong on the reading fails for the same child either way. The longest single prompt on it runs to 23 words.

Writing runs the other way on Countries by Continent Worksheet: nine ruled lines for three of the 18 exercises, and the full answer key comes to 231 words. Everything else is answered in a blank, in a box, or on the map itself, which is why the sheet takes a lesson rather than a homework slot.

Where this one sits

Countries by Continent Worksheet is one of ten World Geography sheets on this site and one of 16 written for grade 6. two of them share its topic, countries by continent, which is worth knowing before printing two that overlap.

The closest things to it are Climate Zones Worksheet — Tropical, Temperate and Polar (grade 4) and Continents and Oceans Matching Worksheet (grade 1). If Countries by Continent Worksheet lands well, those are the ones to reach for next; if it lands badly, the analysis sheets a grade either side are usually the adjustment rather than a different topic altogether.

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This sheet: Grade 6, 18 questions — matching, multiple choice, fill in the blank, short answer. The same topic is also written for:

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