Can You Name the Countries That Start With E? I Only Knew Egypt and It Showed

i have a confession to make. my geography knowledge has a hole in it, and that hole is shaped like the letter E. ask me about countries starting with B or C and i will talk your ear off. but E? i knew Egypt and then my mind went completely blank.

it happened at a trivia night. the question was simple: name three countries that start with E. i said Egypt, Ecuador and… silence. my teammate stared at me. the other team got Estonia, Ethiopia and El Salvador like it was nothing.

so i did what any normal person would do. i went home, learned all nine E countries properly, and turned them into this quiz. now it is your turn to see how you do.

What Is This Quiz About?

this quiz covers the nine countries in the world that start with the letter E. each question gives you a clue, like a capital city or a famous landmark, and you type in the name of the country.

you will meet the pyramids of Egypt, the coffee fields of Ethiopia, the digital wonderland of Estonia and the tiny island nation of Timor-Leste. nine countries, nine little stories.

no timer, hints on every question, and a fun fact after each answer. it is short, friendly and you will definitely learn something.

How To Play This Quiz

you know the drill by now, but here it is anyway:

1. Read the clue. capitals and famous places are the biggest hints.
2. Type the country name into the answer box. do not stress about spelling.
3. Submit your answer and read the explanation for a bonus fact.
4. Try to get all 9. only nine, you can do this.

takes about three minutes. perfect for a coffee break.

The Complete List: All 9 Countries That Start With E

here are all nine answers. quiz first, answers second. i trust you.

Country	Capital / Famous For
Timor-Leste	Also called East Timor – became independent in 2002
Ecuador	Famous for the Galapagos Islands
Egypt	Famous for the pyramids of Giza and the Nile River
El Salvador	San Salvador – the smallest country in Central America
Equatorial Guinea	Small oil rich country on Africa’s west coast
Eritrea	Asmara – famous for its Italian style buildings
Estonia	Tallinn – Baltic country famous for digital services
Eswatini	Small African kingdom, formerly called Swaziland
Ethiopia	Known as the birthplace of coffee, never colonized

Fun Facts And Stats

nine countries, but they punch way above their weight:

• Only 9 out of 195 countries start with E. that is less than 5 percent, making E one of the rarest starting letters.
• The pyramids of Giza in Egypt are around 4,500 years old. they were already ancient when the Roman Empire began.
• The Nile River runs about 6,650 kilometres, making it one of the longest rivers on Earth.
• Ethiopia has more than 120 million people, making it the second most populous country in Africa. it is also the only African country that was never colonized.
• Legend says coffee was discovered in Ethiopia by a goat herder named Kaldi, whose goats started dancing after eating coffee cherries.
• Estonia has only about 1.3 million people but is one of the most digital countries in the world. Estonians have been voting online since 2005.
• Ecuador is named after the equator, which runs right through the country. the Galapagos Islands sit about 1,000 kilometres off its coast.
• El Salvador is the smallest country in Central America at around 21,000 square kilometres. in 2021 it became the first country to adopt Bitcoin as legal tender.
• Equatorial Guinea is the only country in Africa where Spanish is an official language.
• Eritrea’s capital Asmara is a UNESCO World Heritage site because of its beautiful modernist Italian era buildings.

Eswatini, Timor-Leste And The Name Changes

two of the E countries changed their names not that long ago, which is why so many people get confused.

Eswatini used to be called Swaziland. the king renamed it in 2018 because he was tired of people confusing it with Switzerland. fair enough, honestly.

Timor-Leste is the official name for what many people still call East Timor. it became an independent country in 2002, which makes it one of the youngest nations in the world. Timor-Leste is Portuguese for East Timor, so both names mean the same thing.

the quiz accepts the old names too, so if you type Swaziland or East Timor, you still get the point.

Why Is E Such A Rare Letter For Countries?

nine countries is tiny. compare that to S with more than 30, or M and B with 17 each. E sits near the bottom of the list with only F and a few others below it.

nobody planned it this way. country names grew out of local languages over thousands of years, and the E sound just did not land at the beginning of many surviving place names. the upside is that nine is a very learnable number. you can master every E country in a single evening.

Practical Tips For Teachers, Parents And Quiz Lovers Studying Countries That Start With E

teachers, nine questions makes this quiz ideal for a starter activity. it is short enough to fit into the first five minutes of class and the name change facts always spark good questions.

parents, the Ethiopia coffee story is a great hook for kids. tell them about Kaldi and his dancing goats, and suddenly Ethiopia is the one country they will never forget.

here is how i finally memorized all nine: the African group is Egypt, Eritrea, Equatorial Guinea, Eswatini and Ethiopia. that is five. then the rest are Ecuador and El Salvador in the Americas, Estonia in Europe, and Timor-Leste in Asia. five plus four equals nine. easy.

Conclusion

so, how many did you get? if you got all nine, you are officially better at E countries than i was at that trivia night, which honestly is not a high bar, but still.

if Egypt was the only one you knew, welcome. you were exactly where i was last month. play the quiz again, remember the dancing goats, and come back stronger.

Frequently Asked Questions

How many countries start with the letter E?

There are 9: Timor-Leste, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Estonia, Eswatini and Ethiopia.

What is the biggest country that starts with E?

Ethiopia is the biggest by population with over 120 million people. Egypt is also very large, with around 112 million people.

Which E country is the newest?

Timor-Leste, which became independent in 2002. it is one of the youngest countries in the world.

Which African country was never colonized?

Ethiopia. it is the only African country that was never formally colonized by a European power.

Is this quiz good for kids?

Yes. simple clues, hints on every question, and fun stories like the dancing goats that kids actually remember.

Can i retake the quiz?

Yes, as many times as you like. most people get a perfect score on their second try.