World capitals quiz
One country, four cities: which one is its capital?
Area
Questions
How to play
- Pick an area (the whole world or one continent) and a number of questions.
- Pick the right answer out of four. A miss shows the correct answer.
- At the end, replay your mistakes: it is the fastest way to remember them. Your best score is kept in your browser.
A few countries have several capitals. The game uses the official capital and explains it on the country page: Sucre rather than La Paz for Bolivia, Pretoria for South Africa, Amsterdam for the Netherlands.
The wrong options are real cities from the same continent, often the country’s largest city: that is the most common trap. Every right answer adds the capital stamp to your passport.
Play by continent
Trick capitals: not the largest city
| Country | Capital | Largest city |
|---|---|---|
| Australia | Canberra | Sydney |
| Canada | Ottawa | Toronto |
| Brazil | Brasília | São Paulo |
| Türkiye | Ankara | Istanbul |
| Nigeria | Abuja | Lagos |
| New Zealand | Wellington | Auckland |
| United States | Washington D.C. | New York |
| Switzerland | Bern | Zurich |
| Morocco | Rabat | Casablanca |
| South Africa | Pretoria | Johannesburg |
| Pakistan | Islamabad | Karachi |
| Myanmar | Naypyidaw | Yangon |
| Tanzania | Dodoma | Dar es Salaam |
| Côte d’Ivoire | Yamoussoukro | Abidjan |
| Kazakhstan | Astana | Almaty |
| Vietnam | Hanoi | Ho Chi Minh City |
| China | Beijing | Shanghai |
| Bolivia | Sucre | Santa Cruz de la Sierra |
Capitals that have changed
- 2026 · Equatorial Guinea : Ciudad de la Paz replaces Malabo, on Bioko island.
- 2019 · Burundi : Gitega replaces Bujumbura.
- 2022 · Kazakhstan : Astana gets its name back after three years as Nur-Sultan.
- 2005 · Myanmar : Naypyidaw replaces Yangon.
- 1991 · Nigeria : Abuja replaces Lagos.
- 1960 · Brazil : Brasília replaces Rio de Janeiro.
Frequently asked questions
- How many capitals are there in the world?
- One per country, so 195 for the UN list, but some countries have several: South Africa has three (Pretoria, Cape Town, Bloemfontein), Bolivia two (Sucre and La Paz).
- Is the capital always the largest city?
- No, and that is the classic trap: Canberra not Sydney, Ottawa not Toronto, Ankara not Istanbul. The full list is below.
- Why are Israel and Palestine not in the quiz?
- Both claim Jerusalem, whose status is not recognised by the UN. Their country pages explain the situation.
Fancy something else? Try the daily challenge, the other quizzes (flags, shapes, map) or browse the fact files of all 195 countries.