Geography is an exciting subject that takes you on a journey to explore places, different regions, people, and how they relate to places and nature.
Related: Best Free GeoGuessr Alternatives
You’ll love geography more if you are interested in landscapes, the environment, and societies throughout history.
But did you know you can make learning geography even more enjoyable with the right apps?
Apps do better in opening up discussions and helping you learn related topics. With fun quizzes, interactive maps, and trivia questions, apps foster collaborative interactions in and out of the classroom.
Exciting as it may be, geography is also considered one of the most complex disciplines to study. But if you can simplify it with interactive apps, then why not have one?
In this article, we shall look at some of the best geography learning apps that will be a great add-on to your studies.
Read on to learn more about these apps and how they can bring a spark of magic back to your learning.
Best Geography Learning Apps
1. Google Earth
Google Earth is a computer program for learners to explore the world from above through satellite imagery and 3D representation. The geobrowser can also access topography, geographical data, and ocean bathymetry on the internet.
Unlike normal maps, Google Earth offers students an immersive and interactive experience and a better point of reference. With Google Earth, you can zoom in anywhere, including your house, then go in for a 360° perspective using the street view.
Google Earth allows you to search for any location in the world, making it ideal for solo research, class exploration, or even group projects. The app is appropriate for all ages. Hence, younger children can quickly learn from it.
The app is rich in features that allow you to see the world from a new perspective. Voyager in Google Earth showcases interactive quizzes, guided tours (from NASA, BBC Earth, and National Geographic), and layers to educate you about locations and the world.
Google Earth has different versions as follows:
Google Earth Pro, is the desktop version. It is free to use and feature-rich. Features like movie-making, building new data, importing GPS data, and displaying third-party data are its highlights.
Google Earth for Web is the browser version, available for Firefox, Chrome, Opera, and Edge. This version offers the best accessibility but is limited in features.
Google Earth for Mobile is similar to the web version. However, the mobile version cannot build projects.
You can download Google Earth for free on your Android device from Google PlayStore or AppStore for your iOS.
2. Geo Challenge
Geo Challenge is an excellent geography learning app that lets you have fun using exciting animations and graphics to test your reflexes and geography knowledge. Geo Challenge teaches you flags, maps, and geography and is available on Android and iOS.
In addition to stunning graphics, Geo Challenge features catchy music, making it a casual fit for your free time. The app is comprised of four exciting mini-quizzes to test your geography knowledge of a country’s flags, borders, major cities, and famous landmarks.
Under the Country Flags category, the app tests you on your knowledge of 219 country flags, and yours is to choose a country that matches the right flag. Country Borders tests your knowledge of 109 country borders.
The Major Cities of the World feature test learners on their knowledge of 152 cities of the world, while your understanding of 107 famous landmarks will be tested under the Famous Landmarks of the World category.
You can complete the four quiz categories in a single challenge. Each quiz category lasts for 60 seconds. Hence you need to complete the test quickly and accurately. You are rewarded with bonus time if you consecutively get the correct answers.
The app allows you to connect and compete with friends on Facebook. Geo Challenge is appropriate for all ages, as it is designed to help kids learn about different countries and flags.
Geo Challenge is free to download and use on AppStore and Google PlayStore.
3. MapMaster – Geography Game
MapMaster is an education geography app that requires students to locate rivers, lakes, mountains, islands, states, and countries. The app helps learners grow their existing knowledge of geography through fun games.
The app features a pinpoint game where you are set on a mission to pinpoint capitals in the US states and around the world, mountains, and the world’s famous places.
Through this educative tool, you’ll be asked to locate rivers, lakes, countries, states, islands, and mountain ranges in a timed attack. The game needs accuracy and speed, and you can also compete with friends and family as you test your prowess in geography.
In a custom game, you can play with up to 10 players from a single device. MapMaster’s study mode helps you train before you start playing. I highly recommend MapMaster for students who love geography games and quizzes.
MapMaster encourages students to think faster. The app also has other game modes for educators, where they can create slower lessons that also incorporate discussions. It is an exciting game as it allows students to play with teachers.
MapMaster is available for free download on Google PlayStore.
4. GeoGuessr
GeoGuessr is one of the best geography learning apps that features multiple modes, including single and multiple-player competitions. The browser-based game and app take you on a journey from the most desolate roads in Australia to the busy streets of New York.
In this game, you are dropped somewhere in street view, and it is up to your knowledge of the surroundings to determine where you are. You’ll search for signs, flags, nature, internet top domains, language, or any clues that can help you find your location.
GeoGuessr helps you to study the world at your own pace and earn rewards through single-player mode. You can put your geography knowledge to the test against your friends or family by creating a private party and playing together.
The app gives you and other players three guesses. Yours is to select a country you think it is rather than cities or towns. The number of guesses you take and how fast you get the correct answer determines your position in the game.
GeoGuessr’s single-player mode allows you to take time to understand the location you have been placed in. Private Party mode tests your observational skills and geography knowledge against your classmates.
GeoGuessr features other game modes, including Classic mode, Battle Royale Distance, and Battle Royale Countries. GeoGuessr is a great platform to train your geographical knowledge, especially mountain items.
The app is free to download on Google PlayStore, AppStore, and the web, for access to various game modes. But if you wish to access more features for unlimited play, you must pay for a Pro account at $1.99 per month.
5. GeoBee App
GeoBee App is a fun learning platform for students of all levels. The tool is popular in the US, where kids learn and practice facts on the geography of the USA. Students also use GeoBee to improve their general knowledge or prepare for geography tests.
GeoBee uses an incredibly unique technique where students are required to memorize extensive information about US states, including the tallest mountains and longest rivers, among other geographical features.
The app’s primary focus is to help students who struggle with learning the breadth of materials without interactive visual aids and games. It can also help anyone who wishes to learn about geographical features in the USA and related facts.
Some of its key features include five rounds of competition on flags, capitals, extremes (highest and lowest points), and more than a thousand questions about the US. Initially, the app was paid for, but its founder, Anish, realized that paying for it was limiting.
Anish later increased access to the app by developing an interactive game format welcoming more participants. Anish hopes to spread access to learning materials through the app and make geography a fun subject.
The app also has a miscellaneous quiz section that features demographic-style questions.
GeoBee is free for download and use, with no adverts or in-app purchases. The app is only available on AppStore.
6. Maps of our World
Maps of our World is an entertaining, educational, reference tool for expanding geography knowledge. It is a useful reference app that is ideal for all learning ages and an excellent tool for discovering the world playfully.
With Maps of our World, you can learn about the rivers of North America, various countries and their capitals, the largest deserts in Asia, and anything else that may interest you.
If you feel confident with your geography knowledge, test your skills and win achievements from small challenges.
Maps of our World takes you on a beautiful journey worldwide on well-designed maps. The app is easy to start, and its interface allows easy navigation. However, the tool also features higher and more complex levels ideal for experts.
The first level for your first-ever achievement win on Maps of our World involves political world maps, North & South America, Africa, Asia, and Oceania.
Challenging levels involve unlocking maps for the US, UK, Germany, Canada, Australia, and Switzerland. The advantage of this app is that all these levels can be unlocked through physical versions of rivers, mountains, lakes, or more.
Maps of our World is the first geography app for iPad that offers comprehensive maps of the world’s rivers, mountains, lakes, and deserts.
Upon opening the app, you’ll get options to select achievements, where you’ll see all your past challenges. The info option features settings to a screen where you can communicate with the developer. The final option maps, and here is where the adventure starts.
Maps of our World features two types of maps, political and physical. A political map is a plain map that shows countries in clear and distinct lines, and here students can learn where countries and top cities are located.
Physical maps are the most challenging, and they feature images of the world in its natural geographical state.
Faint lines separate countries in physical maps, and it’s up to you to learn where top rivers, lakes, or mountains are found.
Maps of our World is only available on iOS for free but with in-purchases starting from $1.99.
7. Planet Geo
Planet Geo is home to fun world geography games for kids. This information app tests learners’ knowledge of countries, numerous cities, and UNESCO world heritage sites in eight languages.
You have the option to play up to six interactive games with different levels of difficulty. It is an excellent tool for making learning kids become geography masters. Planet Geo is school-tested and highly educational but is only available for iOS devices.
Planet Geo features puzzle maps for 17 continents and countries, including the US, UK, Europe, and Canada. It also has flag games, countries/continents games, and flashcards. Its content is appropriate for learners from age four, making it a game for the family.
Its free content is ad-free and is available in eight languages including German, Russian, Portuguese, and Catalan.
The best part is that you can use the app online and offline, and with continuous improvements and updates, you can only expect a better experience.
Planet Geo is free to download and use with in-app purchases.
8. Stack the Countries
Stack the Countries is highly rated as a user-friendly geography app. It is an excellent learning app with content appropriate for all ages and all learning levels. Stack the Countries does a better job of learning about the world in a more fun and interactive way.
It is a colorful and dynamic game that lets you watch countries come to life. As you learn about countries and their capitals, locations, and landmarks, you can easily touch more or drop an animated version of a country anywhere on your screen.
Keep building stacks of countries until you reach a checkered level to win a random country at every completed level. These lucky countries appear on your personalized maps on the continent. So collect all 193 countries to unlock more bonus games.
Stack the Countries gives you complete control over your experience by choosing the type of questions to be asked and countries to focus on. Focus on a specific continent or play the whole world.
The tool features over 1000 unique questions and 193 flashcards for each country. It is available in English, French, and Spanish. You can create up to six player profiles and choose your preferred country to make your avatar.
Stack the Countries’ games are powered by a realistic physics engine and fun music and sound effects to spice up your experience.
It is available for download on Google PlayStore for $2.99.
9. StudyGe
StudyGe will help you remember various countries’ locations, flags, and capitals. It trains your memory to remember all this information while molding you into a well-rounded student with an open attitude to the world.
The app is home to clear maps, top-north reporting features, and reference content. It has an easy-to-use interface where you can build and revise knowledge.
Studying the world map with this app can immensely improve your geography grade and is suitable for brain training. As a player on StudyGe, you can identify countries by their names, flags, or capitals.
You can also define a region you wish to concentrate on, build knowledge based on achievable sections, and only add a region when you feel confident of the previous one.
The app is made for people of different ages and has interactive features that make learning much more manageable and fun.
As you play the game, you’ll receive achievements to show off to your friends whenever you get correct answers to quizzes. You can also compete with others on your knowledge of maps and prove to others that you are the smartest.
You can use StudyGe as a desktop globe, as you can find a lot of information about countries on this app. The app also has a political world map showing borders and locations for various countries.
Once you are competent using the app, you can comfortably participate in its trivia games such as ‘what where when” or “who wants to become a millionaire,” among other quizzes.
StudyGe is free to download and use for Android and iOS.
10. Kahoot!
Kahoot! is an excellent digital tool that helps students learn, study, and become experts in their field, including geography. Kahoot! operates on the principle that learning isn’t all about memorizing and taking tests – it can be fun!
It is made of online interactive tools that help you consolidate class lessons and process what you have learned. Kahoot! is a collection of National Geographic Resource Library resources for exploring and sharpening your geography skills.
The app uses technology to administer discussions, quizzes, and surveys. It is a game-based tool that can be played in class in real time. Students can choose from a selection of geography games and play them independently or with classmates.
In an in-person setting, a teacher projects multiple-choice questions on a screen for students to answer on their tablet, computer, or smartphone. Kahoot! unites students in class and engages them in a positive learning environment.
This app is ideal for parents homeschooling their kids or teachers offering instruction remotely. It engages learners of different ages, and you can easily access it on your tablet or phone.
Kahoot! features a host of geography quizzes, but teachers can still create quizzes for students. Teachers can also add visuals, videos, or graphics. Students can create quizzes and test their peers, making learning geography more fun.
The platform also features an interactive display where learners can easily find the results of their geography tests.
Kahoot! is free for download and use on Google PlayStore.
11. Seterra Geography
Last on my list of the best geography learning apps is Seterra Geography. The app is home to more than 400 free map quizzes in over 40 languages.
Seterra offers easy-to-learn geography as, in no time, learners can locate all countries on the world map. The app also has a voice feature that comes in handy for learners who cannot pronounce the names of certain cities correctly.
This tool features fun quizzes to help learners familiarize themselves with countries, flags, rivers, lakes, capital cities, and notable geological features. It also features nine game modes to challenge you in various ways to help you retain information.
The app boasts over three million unique monthly visitors, which keeps growing. It is compatible with Mac, Windows, iOS, and Android devices. All quizzes are customizable, so learners can choose specific locations to be tested on.
For over 20 years, Seterra has helped learners aged eight and above master their geography skills. The tool allows learners to create a list of their favorite games for easy access, while its leaderboards indicate top scorers for every challenge.
Seterra’s geography quizzes include over 300 exercises to test learners’ knowledge of maps and are available in English, French, Spanish, German, and Swedish. Seterra allows you to challenge friends and family with a head-to-head competition.
This app allows you to retake challenges and improve your score. Its free mode is ad-free with no in-app purchases, and you can play it offline too.
You can download Seterra Geography from Google PlayStore or App Store for free.
Final words
From the above review, you’ll agree a few games, trivia, and fun quizzes make learning geography exciting and easy. This guide will help you settle on an app that will meet your study needs and style.
The best news is that most of these apps are available for free and on multiple devices, meaning you can try out as many of the apps as you like, as long as the objective of mastering geography is met.
But since geography is all about people and how they relate to places, an app like Google Earth is an excellent choice if you wish to carry out solo research with an immersive and interactive platform.