About
About Hookito
Hookito is a free website for discovering the world and its cultures on an interactive 3D globe: countries, music, videos, books, art, languages and geography quizzes.
The idea
Some of the best discoveries are the ones you weren’t looking for. Hookito starts with a random cube instead of a search box: spin it and the globe turns to a country you may never have looked up.
From there, follow whatever catches your interest: an album from that country, a novel set there, a painting, a word in its language or a playlist of videos. Then spin again. The idea fits in four words: find something new today.
Live now
What you can try today
These sections are free and work in your browser, with no account.
- Interactive 3D globe. Turn Earth in your browser, lit by the sun as it is right now. Click or tap a country to open its page, or spin the random cube and the globe turns to one.
- Random country generator. Pick a country at random, reveal its capital and keep a short list of your recent picks.
- Countries. All 208 countries and territories on one page, grouped by continent, with flags and outlines. Pick two to compare them side by side.
- Country pages. One page per country with key facts, the largest cities, a satellite map and links to its music, videos, books and art, plus a Learn it in 5 minutes walk-through. Germany is one example.
- Geography quizzes. Eight quizzes: guess the flag, the capital, the country by its outline or a painting’s country, work out what connects three countries, pick the higher of two countries, guess a language from one word, and find the daily mystery country from eight hints.
- Audio. Ranked lists of essential albums from 101 countries. Press play to listen with a two-click Spotify player or Apple Music.
- Hookito TV. 27 worldwide YouTube playlists by theme and place, plus videos for many countries. Nothing loads from YouTube until you allow it.
- Books. Novels and non-fiction from 197 countries, each with a short description and a note from Professor Kogi.
- Art. 831 public domain paintings from 51 countries.
- Languages. A word of the day and 81 everyday words compared across 176 languages.
- Maps. World maps of geography, people, travel and culture, free to reuse with credit.
- Daily feed. An Atom feed with one entry per day: the mystery country quiz, a book, a painting and a word of the day.
Still in development
This site is a preview of the full Hookito app, which is still being built. Radio, live TV, language lessons, more geography games and the wider discovery experience are in development. There is no launch date yet; new sections appear here when they are ready to use.
The characters
Kito and Professor Kogi
Who makes Hookito
Hookito builds this site alongside the full Hookito app. The legal details are in the imprint, and the privacy policy explains what happens with your data, including how YouTube videos only load after you allow them.
To get in touch, write to hello@hookito.com. Spotted a mistake, or know a book, album or painting that belongs here? Send corrections and suggestions to submissions@hookito.com.
Press kit
For press and bloggers
Hookito is a free website for discovering the world and its cultures on an interactive 3D globe: countries, music, videos, books, art, languages and geography quizzes.
Live now and free, with no account: the 3D globe and random cube, pages for 208 countries and territories, geography quizzes, album lists, video playlists, books, paintings and words in many languages. Radio, live TV, lessons and the full Hookito app are still in development, with no launch date yet.
- Logo: SVG for dark backgrounds · SVG for light backgrounds · PNG for light backgrounds · square icon, PNG 512×512
- Screenshot: the 3D globe at night, PNG 832×737
- Professor Kogi: portrait, JPEG 256×256
- Maps: world maps of geography and culture, SVG, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0
- Daily feed: Today in the World (Atom): the daily mystery country number, book, painting and word of the day
Daily links
These addresses stay the same. What they show changes every day at 00:00 UTC, and the picks are the same for everyone. Every item on /today has its own share text, and the feed works in any feed reader.
- hookito.com/today: Daily number, book, painting and word of the day
- hookito.com/quiz/daily: the daily mystery country quiz
- hookito.com/feed.xml: Atom feed, one entry per day
- hookito.com/countries/compare-two-countries?compare=DE,JP: compare two countries (swap the codes; fixed, not daily)
Rankings pages have their own share cards: hookito.com/rankings.
How to credit: Hookito (hookito.com). For questions or interviews, write to hello@hookito.com.
Sources and credits
Where the data comes from
- Country facts: Hookito’s country data, largely based on Wikidata. City populations from GeoNames.
- Country borders and outlines: © EuroGeographics for the administrative boundaries (Eurostat GISCO).
- Globe and maps: Earth textures from NASA Blue Marble (day) and Black Marble, Earth at Night (night), courtesy of NASA Earth Observatory. The country maps are Hookito’s own, based on NASA Blue Marble satellite imagery.
- Paintings: public domain works from Wikimedia Commons; titles, artists and years from Wikidata. Each painting links to its file page with the full licence.
- Albums: lists curated by Hookito. Music plays through Spotify or Apple Music; Hookito doesn’t host it.
- Videos: YouTube playlists picked by Hookito. The videos belong to their creators and are hosted on YouTube.
- Words: Hookito’s language data, largely based on Wikidata.
- Flags: flag-icons (MIT licence).
Quick answers
What is Hookito?
Hookito is a free website for discovering the world and its cultures on an interactive 3D globe: countries, music, videos, books, art, languages and geography quizzes.
Is Hookito free?
Yes. Everything on hookito.com is free to use, with no account and no download. Pricing for the full Hookito app has not been announced.
Is there a Hookito app?
Not yet. The full app, with radio, live TV, lessons and more ways to discover, is still in development. Everything listed on this page works in your browser today.
Where does the information come from?
Country facts are largely based on Wikidata, city populations come from GeoNames, borders from Eurostat GISCO, Earth imagery from NASA and paintings from Wikimedia Commons. Album lists and video playlists are picked by Hookito.
