This quiz asks for the 10 countries with the most deaths in World War II. The counts include soldiers and civilians. Historians give ranges, so every number in this quiz is approximate.
The top of the list is well known. The bottom half surprises most players, because several countries with famous war histories are not in the top 10 at all.
How to play
The map shows no pins at the start. A numbered 1–10 rail lists the ranks you have not named yet.
Type a country name in the box at the bottom of the screen. The quiz accepts the name as soon as it matches.
A correct name puts the country on the map and shows its death toll.
You can name the countries in any order. Rank order does not matter.
The clock runs until you name all 10 countries, or until you give up.
What counts in this quiz
The quiz uses the countries as they existed during the war. The Soviet Union, the Dutch East Indies and French Indochina are answers, not Russia, Indonesia and Vietnam.
Modern names still count as spellings. "Russia" is accepted for the Soviet Union, "Indonesia" for the Dutch East Indies, and "Vietnam" for French Indochina.
The counts include war-related famine and genocide victims inside each country. That is why the Dutch East Indies and British India rank so high.
The quiz ranks countries by total deaths, not by deaths as a share of population.
What's not included — and why
The United States, the United Kingdom and France are not in the top 10. Each lost fewer than one million people.
Estimates differ between sources, most of all for China and for the occupied territories. The quiz uses midpoints of the ranges that reference works give most often.
Good to know
World War II caused an estimated 70 to 85 million deaths — about 3% of the world's population in 1940.
More than half of all the deaths were civilians.
Poland lost a larger share of its population than any other country — about 17%.
The Soviet Union lost more people than every Western Allied country combined, many times over.