Capital Cities Quiz
Pick the correct capital city for each country. 10 questions per round.
About this quiz
Each round asks 10 random multiple-choice questions: you see a country and pick its capital from four options. Watch out for tricky ones — Australia's capital is Canberra (not Sydney), Brazil's is Brasília (not Rio) and Türkiye's is Ankara (not Istanbul). Questions are drawn from 120 countries across every continent. Pick a difficulty first: Easy uses the 50 best-known countries, Medium 100, and All the full 120. No country repeats within a round, and your choice is remembered for next time.
Why the wrong capitals feel right
Most capital-city mistakes come from the same source: the largest or most famous city in a country is often not the seat of government. When a country needs a capital that no region dominates, it builds or promotes a smaller one instead — and the city everyone has heard of keeps the fame while a quieter place keeps the parliament.
Canberra exists because Sydney and Melbourne could not agree, and a site between them was chosen. Brasília was built inland in the 1950s to pull development away from the coast. Ankara replaced Istanbul when the Turkish republic was founded. Washington, Ottawa, Wellington and Bern all follow the same compromise logic.
Capitals that break the usual rule
- South Africa has three: Pretoria for the executive, Cape Town for the legislature and Bloemfontein for the judiciary.
- Bolivia has two: Sucre is the constitutional capital, while the government sits in La Paz.
- Switzerland officially has none. Bern is the seat of government but the constitution names no capital at all.
- Myanmar moved its capital from Yangon to the purpose-built Naypyidaw in 2006, and many maps took years to catch up.
- Tanzania designated Dodoma in 1974, though Dar es Salaam remained the working centre for decades afterwards.
Learning them so they stay learned
Learn by region rather than alphabetically. Countries that border each other share history, and their capitals often sit in a line along a river, a coast or a trade route — which gives you a mental map to hang the names on instead of a list to recite.
Attach one fact to each capital you keep forgetting — what it is on, what it was called before, why it was chosen. A name with a reason attached survives far longer than a name on its own, and the reason is usually more interesting than the name.
Frequently asked questions
How many countries are in the quiz?
120 countries from every continent — 32 in Europe, 30 in Africa, 29 in Asia, 22 in the Americas and 7 in Oceania. Three difficulty levels set the pool: Easy uses the 50 best-known countries, Medium 100, and All the full 120. Within a round no country repeats, so each of the 10 questions asks about a different capital.
Which capital cities trick people the most?
Common surprises are Canberra (Australia, not Sydney), Brasília (Brazil, not Rio), Ankara (Turkey, not Istanbul), Bern (Switzerland) and Pretoria (South Africa).
Is this a good way to learn geography?
Yes. Multiple-choice repetition with instant feedback helps capitals stick, and the score and streak keep you motivated to play another round.
Which countries have more than one capital?
South Africa has three (Pretoria, Cape Town, Bloemfontein — one per branch of government). Bolivia splits duties between La Paz and Sucre, the Netherlands has Amsterdam as capital but government in The Hague, and Malaysia pairs Kuala Lumpur with Putrajaya.
Which countries moved their capital city?
Quite a few: Brazil built Brasília in 1960, Kazakhstan moved to Astana in 1997, and Myanmar to Naypyidaw in 2005. Egypt and Indonesia are currently building brand-new capitals — quiz answers can literally change over time.
What is the fastest way to memorize world capitals?
Learn by region (start with a continent you half-know), link each capital to an image or story, and test yourself in short rounds with instant feedback — exactly what this quiz does. Reviewing right after a wrong answer is when the memory sticks best.
Why isn't the biggest city always the capital?
Capitals are often chosen for politics rather than size: as a compromise between rival cities (Canberra between Sydney and Melbourne, Washington D.C. between north and south), to develop the interior (Brasília), or for historical reasons (Ankara over Istanbul). That's why 'largest city = capital' is the single most common quiz mistake.
What is the least populous capital city in the world?
Among sovereign states it's usually Ngerulmud, the purpose-built capital of Palau, home to only a few hundred people — the government moved there from Koror in 2006. Vatican City, itself a city-state of under a thousand residents, is the smallest capital by area. Both make great quiz trivia.