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Catholic Countries Quiz

Try to name the countries where the majority of people are Roman Catholics.
Not necessarily practicing Catholics
Color-coded by continent
Quiz by Quizmaster
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Last updated: March 16, 2025
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First submittedSeptember 20, 2010
Times taken183,660
Average score61.7%
Rating4.77
6:00
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 / 47 guessed
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%
Country
100
Vatican City
98
East Timor
94
San Marino
89
Paraguay
88
Andorra
83
Croatia
83
Malta
82
Monaco
81
Equatorial Guinea
80
Portugal
79
Philippines
77
Cape Verde
%
Country
77
Lithuania
77
Mexico
76
Ecuador
76
Italy
76
Seychelles
75
Peru
74
Colombia
74
São Tomé and
Príncipe
73
Bolivia
71
Poland
70
Slovenia
70
Liechtenstein
%
Country
69
Ireland
69
Venezuela
65
Luxembourg
64
Spain
63
Panama
62
Burundi
61
Argentina
61
St. Lucia
60
Brazil
59
Costa Rica
58
Dominica
57
Kiribati
%
Country
56
Cuba
56
Haiti
56
Slovakia
54
Chile
54
F.S. Micronesia
53
Angola
53
Dominican Republic
53
France
51
Austria
51
Belgium
50
Gabon
95 Comments
+7
Level 57
Jun 5, 2014
For some strange reason, I always miss Costa Rica. It just doesn't pop in my head. :P
+1
Level 76
Jun 19, 2015
Here are quizzes for the 20 Least Catholic Countries and 20 Countries With Most Catholics.
+4
Level 64
Sep 29, 2017
Only three from Central America. Surprising. Maybe not Belize.
+2
Level 45
Jan 18, 2018
EAST TIMOR?!?!?!??!?!
+5
Level 81
May 6, 2018
East Timor was a Dutch-speaking Catholic enclave previously of Muslim Malay/Indonesian Indonesia. International recognition of its independence had a lot to do with the ongoing sectarian genocide there, and Islamist terrorists have used Western efforts to stymie said genocide as justification for terrorist attacks.
+37
Level 77
May 6, 2018
East Timor was a Portuguese colony. When the wars of independence in Guinea-Bissau, Angola, and Mozambique caused the Portuguese government to fall, independence was in the cards for East Timor. Suharto ended that with an invasion and "pacification" that lasted about three years and ultimately ended up with the death of about a third of the population. (The Carter regime supplied Indonesia with weapons while the genocide heated up.)

Colonization programs brought Sumatran and Javanese settlers to East Timor, supported by the Indonesian military occupation. In 1998, with Suharto's regime reeling due to Indonesia being the hardest hit during the Southeast Asian economic crash, East Timorese again planned for independence. The next year, the colonists and military attempted to undermine the process, but after the completely avoidable deaths and destruction, independence came. Throughout, the Portuguese language and Catholic religion were seen as signs of resistance to Indonesia.

+8
Level 81
Sep 24, 2019
my mistake. Portuguese-speaking.
+7
Level 91
Mar 11, 2020
Don't feel bad. I got every former Spanish colony and forgot Spain.
+4
Level 45
Jan 18, 2018
LITHUANIA!?!??!?!??!?! but thats all orthodox over there..............ugh
+4
Level 22
Feb 2, 2018
lithuanian pagans were brought to the faith in the teutonic wars. I admit I did miss out lithania myself. ;)
+9
Level 72
Feb 14, 2018
Next door to Poland - and previously united with it.
+4
Level 59
Nov 22, 2020
it's really not orthodox though
+6
Level 76
Oct 21, 2014
Also known as: name all of the Central/South American countries you can!
+9
Level 76
May 27, 2015
Quite a lot of countries from elsewhere on the list too, also not all the Central/South American countries are there. So I'd say your alternative name fails.
+14
Level 81
Jun 4, 2015
I was actually surprised at how many Central and South American countries did not make the cut... and most of these countries are from Europe, Africa, the Caribbean and Pacific Island nations so what are you talking about?
+19
Level 71
Aug 26, 2019
I was also shocked by the lack of El Salvador, Nicaragua, Uruguay, Guatemala, and other major Latin American countries.

Uruguay the case seems to be that they're a very secular country and El Salvador and Guatemala seem to have Catholic pluralities but not majorities, as Protestantism is also common. However, if Quizmaster could look at Nicaragua again, that might be a good idea. The Wikipedia page for "Religion in Nicaragua" says 55% of the population is Catholic

+1
Level 63
Nov 5, 2014
Ugh, how could I have missed Paraguay and Austria?!
+6
Level 91
Jun 28, 2018
Or better, how could you miss the Vatican?
+2
Level 65
Nov 6, 2021
I thought Austria was mostly Protestant.
+2
Level 72
Jun 19, 2015
Wait, why is Cuba on this list? There was just a story on radiolab recently about how people would go throw eggs at the churches to show how they were good communists now, and not religious anymore.
+9
Level 56
Jun 19, 2015
Apparently, more than half of Cubans don't give up traditions and religion in their private life just to please the regime (where even Castro has considered returning to Catholicism).
+14
Level 82
Sep 29, 2017
But you said the key word, "good" communists. If they were bad communists they'd be throwing Molotov cocktails instead of eggs.
+1
Level 45
Jan 18, 2018
HAHAHAHHAHAHHA
+1
Level 47
Feb 9, 2019
Fake news?
+2
Level 68
Jun 20, 2015
Honestly surprised Spain was so low.
+2
Level 81
Jun 2, 2016
This time I think I missed Micronesia because unlike most quizzes it doesn't seem to accept FSM.
+1
Level 68
Jul 22, 2016
I missed... Italy. Wow. And I got 91%.
+1
Level 72
Jun 13, 2023
Same, and I got 45/47 (96%).
+1
Level 33
Oct 4, 2016
I was expecting Switzerland also
+3
Level 36
Feb 3, 2017
I'm really surprised at Belgium. Given the relationship between the Netherlands and Belgium and the bitter experience the Netherlands had with Spain, I expected Belgium to be majority Protestant, as is

the Netherlands..

+3
Level 36
Mar 2, 2017
Same here.
+1
Level 53
Jul 21, 2020
Same here
+1
Level 69
Feb 22, 2024
Same here.
+10
Level 77
Aug 24, 2021
Did you just reply 'same here' to your own comment???
+1
Level 78
Oct 21, 2022
Perhaps they just forgot they posted that?
+7
Level 58
Mar 24, 2017
The historic line in Europe separating Catholics from Protestants ran within southern Netherlands - the south of the Netherland is predominantly Catholic while the rest of the country is/was Protestant. As a result, all of Belgium is mostly Catholic.
+2
Level 36
Apr 13, 2017
Thank you for clearing the matter up! - It was truly perplexing!
+2
Level 73
Jun 29, 2020
The dividing line between catholic and protestants is not the belgian border but about 1/3 into the Netherlands. Noord-brabant and Limburg are predominantly catholic.

The number of religious people have been rapidly declining, less fast among catholics though (protestantism has been declining since 1880, catholicism didn't really start declining untill about 1970, be it very slowly), meaning that catholicism has been the dominant religion for a few decades again now, since about 1970.

if you look at actual believers and people actively practising, the numbers would be even lower. (because many people are just catholic or protestant etc in name, because their parents were, or for the sense of community). I can't say how that would influence the catholic/protestant ratio though, I can make a case for different scenario's.

+1
Level 86
Aug 16, 2017
After the 80 years' war the southern providences (Belgium) remained Spanish while the northern once became independent (Netherlands). Most protestants subsequently fled the south in favor of the north.
+3
Level 72
Feb 14, 2018
Belgium threw off Dutch rule in 1830 precisely because they were Catholics and the Dutch were (mostly) Protestant.
+1
Level 65
Nov 6, 2021
The same for Luxembourg. I thought it was, like the Netherlands, a Protestant majority.
+1
Level 43
Mar 11, 2017
I basically missed all of the obscure island countries
+1
Level 44
Aug 23, 2017
Uk isn't Hmmm nah ireland isn't. quiz Finished. WHAAA?Ireland is here omg...
+8
Level 81
Sep 29, 2017
Ireland stayed Catholic during the Protestant Reformation precisely because England did not.
+3
Level 70
Sep 9, 2018
Look at a religious map of Ireland (island) and you‘ll know why this island has been split
+3
Level 91
Aug 23, 2017
Estonia? No. Latvia? No. I guess I won't bother typing Lithuania....

*FACE PALM*

+8
Level 51
Nov 25, 2018
Also, Estonia is one of the least religious countries in the world,

while Lithuania has been close buddies with the uber-catholic Poland.

+1
Level 64
Sep 29, 2017
Got Burundi but missed France and Belgium >.>
+2
Level 47
Sep 29, 2017
They know hats in Burundi
+2
Level 76
Sep 29, 2017
Appropriate to have this as a featured quiz on Michaelmas.
+1
Level 91
Aug 17, 2018
Is there a Thomasmas?
+1
Level 92
Jun 27, 2020
3rd July!
+1
Level 44
Sep 29, 2017
Ok am I the only one surprised by East Timor?? I would have NEVER guessed!
+8
Level 81
Nov 8, 2017
Any time there's a little breakaway country somewhere there's a good chance these days that they profess a different religion than the people in the country they broke away from. Those "coexist" t-shirts haven't really caught on most places.
+1
Level 48
Oct 26, 2020
Not really. East Timor was colonized by Portugal. When Indonesia took control of it, they were already an independent nation and a catholic people.
+2
Level 81
May 16, 2022
So Indonesia is majority Catholic? Cool. Didn't know that.
+1
Level 86
Nov 15, 2023
Did you even read the comment you're replying to?
+2
Level 22
Sep 30, 2017
Ugh I was going to put East Timor and then I got distracted by the TV and forgot and it turned out to be the most Catholic country after the Vatican??
+1
Level 12
Oct 2, 2017
30/67...
+2
Level 73
Oct 3, 2017
Austria - If you've ever watched "Sound of Music", think of Maria in the abbey. And I got Belgium, thanks to Agatha Christie's detective, Hercule Poirot. ;)
+1
Level 91
Aug 17, 2018
Or just think why they never joined Germany.
+1
Level 82
Dec 30, 2021
Who never joined Germany???
+1
Level 65
Nov 6, 2021
Was Poirot a Catholic?
+1
Level 60
Oct 4, 2017
Got Kiribati, missed Ireland.
+1
Level 42
Jul 20, 2020
same here. Ireland was the only country I missed outside of Africa
+3
Level 70
Feb 2, 2018
6% of quiz takers didn't get the Vatican
+1
Level 52
May 6, 2018
Hungary?
+4
Level 43
May 6, 2018
Eat, then.
+1
Level 74
May 16, 2020
Austria got Hungary and took a slice of turkey with a bit of Greece on it
+3
Level 91
Aug 17, 2018
Austria was Hungary and it took a piece of Turkey.
+1
Level 73
Oct 23, 2018
No Ireland?
+1
Level 80
Nov 13, 2019
I can't believe I got them all! (first try)
+1
Level 33
Feb 12, 2020
you missed Honduras at 51.4% catholic
+1
Level 74
Jun 27, 2020
The scoring for this quiz is not working properly. I missed quite a few countries and scored embarrassingly low and still got 5 points.
+1
Level ∞
Jun 27, 2020
Maybe you were one of the first ones to take it. 95th percentile is still eligible for 5 points.
+3
Level 97
Jun 29, 2020
Shocked to see France on here, maybe I shouldn't be, but I am.
+1
Level 67
Jul 19, 2020
Did you want to see it 100% sunni islam?
+1
Level 83
Feb 6, 2022
I was surprised by France rather because I thought it was a pretty irreligious country
+2
Level 65
Oct 27, 2022
By all means, it is. However, the definition of Catholic for the purposes of this quiz includes people who nominally identify as Catholic but never actually practice the faith.
+2
Level 66
Jul 19, 2020
Odd that St Kitts and St Vincent are not here.
+1
Level 67
Feb 17, 2022
St Kitts is very Anglican, Not Catholic
+1
Level 75
Jul 20, 2020
I missed six, all in Africa.
+1
Level 55
Nov 22, 2020
El salvador has literally the perfect name for this
+1
Level 73
Dec 14, 2020
Love the colour coding! Helped me get a few more.
+1
Level 74
Jan 28, 2021
Got Burundi, missed Italy.
+1
Level 65
Nov 6, 2021
I thought Uruguay, El Salvador and Romania would be on the list. Astonished. And be surprised by Lithuania's presence.
+1
Level 34
Mar 29, 2022
*Gets vatican city and san marino

*Also doesn't get Italy

+1
Level 61
Jun 12, 2022
yes but Vatican City is the most obvious one...
+1
Level 85
Mar 10, 2023
Loved the color coding but without a key. This way the hint was a puzzle.
+1
Level 56
Jun 20, 2023
Before I took the quiz, I was annoyed there wasn't a key, but as I took the quiz, I enjoyed this part of the mystery, too
+1
Level 63
Oct 7, 2024
vatican - 100%? doubt that lol
+1
Level 54
Nov 14, 2024
Forgot Italy :)
+1
Level 77
Dec 28, 2024
This quiz needs to be updated. Census 2022 Ireland results-69.1% Catholic.
+1
Level 57
Mar 1, 2025
I DIDN'T WRITE ITALY...
+1
Level 72
Apr 13, 2025
YOU JUST WROTE ITALY
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