About this quiz

Capital cities trip up even keen travellers, because a country's biggest or most famous city often isn't where its government sits. This quiz covers twenty countries where that catches people out, from Australia and Canada to Nigeria and Myanmar.

Several of these capitals were built from scratch or moved in the last hundred years, often as a compromise between rival cities. Each answer comes with a short fact explaining the story behind it.

Answers explained

Show the answers (spoilers)

  1. What is the capital of Australia?

    Canberra. Canberra was purpose-built as a compromise between rivals Sydney and Melbourne.

  2. What is the capital of Canada?

    Ottawa. Ottawa sits on the river that divides English-speaking Ontario from French-speaking Quebec.

  3. What is the capital of Turkey?

    Ankara. Istanbul is the biggest city, but Ankara has been the capital since 1923.

  4. What is the capital of Brazil?

    Brasília. Brasília was built almost from scratch and opened as the capital in 1960.

  5. What is the capital of New Zealand?

    Wellington. Wellington is the southernmost capital city of any country.

  6. Which city is home to Switzerland’s government?

    Bern. Switzerland officially calls Bern its “federal city” rather than its capital.

  7. What is the capital of Morocco?

    Rabat. Casablanca is far bigger, but the royal palace and parliament are in Rabat.

  8. What is the capital of Vietnam?

    Hanoi. Huế was the imperial capital under Vietnam’s last ruling dynasty.

  9. What is the capital of Nigeria?

    Abuja. Abuja officially replaced Lagos as the capital in 1991.

  10. What is the capital of Myanmar?

    Naypyidaw. The government moved from Yangon to the newly built Naypyidaw in the mid-2000s.

  11. What is the capital of the United States?

    Washington, D.C.. Philadelphia and New York both served as the capital before Washington took over in 1800.

  12. What is the capital of Scotland?

    Edinburgh. Glasgow is bigger, but Edinburgh is home to the Scottish Parliament.

  13. What is the capital of India?

    New Delhi. Kolkata, then called Calcutta, was the capital of British India until 1911.

  14. What is the capital of Pakistan?

    Islamabad. Islamabad was built in the 1960s to replace Karachi as the capital.

  15. What is the capital of Kazakhstan?

    Astana. Astana took over from Almaty in 1997 and has changed its name more than once since.

  16. What is the capital of Tanzania?

    Dodoma. Dodoma is the official capital, though many government offices stayed in Dar es Salaam for decades.

  17. What is the capital of Côte d’Ivoire (Ivory Coast)?

    Yamoussoukro. Yamoussoukro became the official capital in 1983, but Abidjan is still the country’s main city.

  18. What is the capital of Belize?

    Belmopan. Belmopan was built inland after a 1961 hurricane badly damaged Belize City.

  19. What is the official capital of Sri Lanka?

    Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte. Kotte is the official capital and sits right next to Colombo, the biggest city.

  20. What is the capital of Malta?

    Valletta. Valletta is the smallest capital city in the European Union by area.