Capitals are where geography quizzes get mean. The famous ones are easy, and then there are the countries whose capital is a planned city nobody has heard of, chosen precisely because it was not the big one. Here is the complete list by continent, with the traps up front.
The capitals that are not the biggest city
Australia: Canberra, not Sydney
Canada: Ottawa, not Toronto
Türkiye: Ankara, not Istanbul
Brazil: Brasília, not São Paulo
Nigeria: Abuja, not Lagos
Switzerland: Bern, not Zürich
New Zealand: Wellington, not Auckland
Morocco: Rabat, not Casablanca
Kazakhstan: Astana, not Almaty
Myanmar: Naypyidaw, not Yangon
Tanzania: Dodoma, not Dar es Salaam
Ivory Coast: Yamoussoukro, not AbidjanAll capitals by continent
Tap a continent to expand it.
Europe 46
| Country | Capital |
|---|---|
 Albania | Tirana |
 Andorra | Andorra la Vella |
 Austria | Vienna |
 Belarus | Minsk |
 Belgium | Brussels |
 Bosnia and Herzegovina | Sarajevo |
 Bulgaria | Sofia |
 Croatia | Zagreb |
 Cyprus | Nicosia |
 Czechia | Prague |
 Denmark | Copenhagen |
 Estonia | Tallinn |
 Finland | Helsinki |
 France | Paris |
 Germany | Berlin |
 Greece | Athens |
 Hungary | Budapest |
 Iceland | Reykjavik |
 Ireland | Dublin |
 Italy | Rome |
 Kosovo | Pristina |
 Latvia | Riga |
 Liechtenstein | Vaduz |
 Lithuania | Vilnius |
 Luxembourg | Luxembourg |
 Malta | Valletta |
 Moldova | Chișinău |
 Monaco | Monaco |
 Montenegro | Podgorica |
 Netherlands | Amsterdam |
 North Macedonia | Skopje |
 Norway | Oslo |
 Poland | Warsaw |
 Portugal | Lisbon |
 Romania | Bucharest |
 Russia | Moscow |
 San Marino | City of San Marino |
 Serbia | Belgrade |
 Slovakia | Bratislava |
 Slovenia | Ljubljana |
 Spain | Madrid |
 Sweden | Stockholm |
| Switzerland | Bern |
 Ukraine | Kyiv |
 United Kingdom | London |
 Vatican City | Vatican City |
Asia 47
| Country | Capital |
|---|---|
 Afghanistan | Kabul |
 Armenia | Yerevan |
 Azerbaijan | Baku |
 Bahrain | Manama |
 Bangladesh | Dhaka |
 Bhutan | Thimphu |
 Brunei | Bandar Seri Begawan |
 Cambodia | Phnom Penh |
 China | Beijing |
 Georgia | Tbilisi |
 India | New Delhi |
 Indonesia | Jakarta |
 Iran | Tehran |
 Iraq | Baghdad |
 Japan | Tokyo |
 Jordan | Amman |
| Kazakhstan | Astana |
 Kuwait | Kuwait City |
 Kyrgyzstan | Bishkek |
 Laos | Vientiane |
 Lebanon | Beirut |
 Malaysia | Kuala Lumpur |
 Maldives | Malé |
 Mongolia | Ulan Bator |
| Myanmar | Naypyidaw |
 Nepal | Kathmandu |
 North Korea | Pyongyang |
 Oman | Muscat |
 Pakistan | Islamabad |
 Palestine | Ramallah |
 Philippines | Manila |
 Qatar | Doha |
 Saudi Arabia | Riyadh |
 Singapore | Singapore |
 South Korea | Seoul |
 Sri Lanka | Colombo |
 Syria | Damascus |
 Taiwan | Taipei |
 Tajikistan | Dushanbe |
 Thailand | Bangkok |
 Timor-Leste | Dili |
 Turkmenistan | Ashgabat |
| Türkiye | Ankara |
 United Arab Emirates | Abu Dhabi |
 Uzbekistan | Tashkent |
 Vietnam | Hanoi |
 Yemen | Sana'a |
Africa 54
| Country | Capital |
|---|---|
 Algeria | Algiers |
 Angola | Luanda |
 Benin | Porto-Novo |
 Botswana | Gaborone |
 Burkina Faso | Ouagadougou |
 Burundi | Gitega |
 Cameroon | Yaoundé |
 Cape Verde | Praia |
 Central African Republic | Bangui |
 Chad | N'Djamena |
 Comoros | Moroni |
 Djibouti | Djibouti |
 DR Congo | Kinshasa |
 Egypt | Cairo |
 Equatorial Guinea | Malabo |
 Eritrea | Asmara |
 Eswatini | Lobamba |
 Ethiopia | Addis Ababa |
 Gabon | Libreville |
 Gambia | Banjul |
 Ghana | Accra |
 Guinea | Conakry |
 Guinea-Bissau | Bissau |
| Ivory Coast | Yamoussoukro |
 Kenya | Nairobi |
 Lesotho | Maseru |
 Liberia | Monrovia |
 Libya | Tripoli |
 Madagascar | Antananarivo |
 Malawi | Lilongwe |
 Mali | Bamako |
 Mauritania | Nouakchott |
 Mauritius | Port Louis |
| Morocco | Rabat |
 Mozambique | Maputo |
 Namibia | Windhoek |
 Niger | Niamey |
| Nigeria | Abuja |
 Republic of the Congo | Brazzaville |
 Rwanda | Kigali |
 Senegal | Dakar |
 Seychelles | Victoria |
 Sierra Leone | Freetown |
 Somalia | Mogadishu |
 South Africa | Pretoria |
 South Sudan | Juba |
 Sudan | Khartoum |
 São Tomé and Príncipe | São Tomé |
| Tanzania | Dodoma |
 Togo | Lomé |
 Tunisia | Tunis |
 Uganda | Kampala |
 Zambia | Lusaka |
 Zimbabwe | Harare |
The Americas 35
| Country | Capital |
|---|---|
 Antigua and Barbuda | Saint John's |
 Argentina | Buenos Aires |
 Bahamas | Nassau |
 Barbados | Bridgetown |
 Belize | Belmopan |
 Bolivia | Sucre |
| Brazil | Brasília |
| Canada | Ottawa |
 Chile | Santiago |
 Colombia | Bogotá |
 Costa Rica | San José |
 Cuba | Havana |
 Dominica | Roseau |
 Dominican Republic | Santo Domingo |
 Ecuador | Quito |
 El Salvador | San Salvador |
 Grenada | St. George's |
 Guatemala | Guatemala City |
 Guyana | Georgetown |
 Haiti | Port-au-Prince |
 Honduras | Tegucigalpa |
 Jamaica | Kingston |
 Mexico | Mexico City |
 Nicaragua | Managua |
 Panama | Panama City |
 Paraguay | Asunción |
 Peru | Lima |
 Saint Kitts and Nevis | Basseterre |
 Saint Lucia | Castries |
 Saint Vincent and the Grenadines | Kingstown |
 Suriname | Paramaribo |
 Trinidad and Tobago | Port of Spain |
 United States | Washington D.C. |
 Uruguay | Montevideo |
 Venezuela | Caracas |
Oceania 14
| Country | Capital |
|---|---|
| Australia | Canberra |
 Fiji | Suva |
 Kiribati | South Tarawa |
 Marshall Islands | Majuro |
 Micronesia | Palikir |
 Nauru | Yaren |
| New Zealand | Wellington |
 Palau | Ngerulmud |
 Papua New Guinea | Port Moresby |
 Samoa | Apia |
 Solomon Islands | Honiara |
 Tonga | Nuku'alofa |
 Tuvalu | Funafuti |
 Vanuatu | Port Vila |
Frequently asked questions
Which capitals are not the largest city?
More than people think. Canberra, not Sydney. Ottawa, not Toronto. Ankara, not Istanbul. Brasília, not São Paulo. Abuja, not Lagos. Bern, not Zürich. Wellington, not Auckland. Rabat, not Casablanca. Astana, not Almaty. Naypyidaw, not Yangon.
Which countries have more than one capital?
South Africa has three: Pretoria for the executive, Cape Town for parliament and Bloemfontein for the courts. Bolivia has Sucre as the constitutional capital and La Paz as the seat of government. Quiz apps, MapZap included, usually pick one.
How does the MapZap capitals quiz work?
Learn mode asks you to pick the capital of a country by continent. Blitz gives you three lives and gets harder with every question. The campaign then asks you to find the capital on the map.
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