Capital City Quiz
Name the country from its capital city. Test your knowledge of world capitals.
This quiz has 20 multiple-choice questions. Each question shows four options — pick the right one and track your score. Countries with populations above 500,000 are included.
Tips & Strategy
Look for linguistic patterns such as suffixes that indicate specific regions, like 'ville' in Francophone Africa or 'abad' in Central and South Asia. Memorizing smaller island nations by grouping them by ocean basins helps distinguish between the diverse administrative centers found across the Caribbean and Oceania.
Fun Facts
- La Paz in Bolivia sits at an elevation of over 3,600 meters, making it the highest administrative capital on the planet.
- The capitals of the Republic of the Congo and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Brazzaville and Kinshasa, are the two closest capital cities in the world.
- Ngerulmud in Palau is frequently cited as the least populous national capital, reflecting the small size of many Pacific island nations.
- Canberra was selected as the capital of Australia as a strategic compromise between the rival cities of Sydney and Melbourne.
- South Africa is the only nation globally to maintain three official capital cities to house its different branches of government.
- Mount Kyllini in Greece is associated with mythology, but Athens remains the historic heart and capital of the nation since antiquity.
Frequently Asked Questions
Each round has 20 questions drawn randomly from 173+ countries. Restart to get a fresh set.
The quiz includes countries and territories with populations above 500,000 from our REST Countries database — around 173 in total.
You earn one point for each correct answer. Your running score is shown at the top. At the end of 20 questions you see your final result and can restart.
Damascus, the capital of Syria, is widely considered one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world. Archaeological evidence suggests human habitation dating back several millennia, as the city has served as a vital cultural and commercial hub for numerous empires throughout recorded history.
A natural capital grows organically over centuries as a center of commerce, like London or Paris. In contrast, a planned capital such as Brasilia or Naypyidaw is specifically designed and constructed by a government to serve as an administrative seat, often to encourage development in a specific region.
Multiple capitals are often established to distribute power across different branches of government or to balance regional interests. By separating administrative, legislative, and judicial functions into different cities, a nation can prevent a single metropolitan area from becoming overly dominant while addressing historical and political tensions.