Ask a friend for the capital of Australia and there is a good chance they will say Sydney. It is the most famous city, the largest, the one on the postcards, and it is wrong. The capital is Canberra. The same trap waits in dozens of countries, and the Capitals quiz loves it. This guide explains why capitals so often are not the biggest city, and gives you a mental list of the classic cases.
Why the capital is often somewhere else
There are four recurring reasons.
A compromise between rivals. When two cities are too proud to accept the other as capital, a third place wins. Australia built Canberra between Sydney and Melbourne after the colonies federated; parliament moved there in 1927. In Canada, Ottawa was chosen in 1857, partly because it sat between English-speaking Toronto and French-speaking Montreal. Toronto is now far larger.
A brand-new city in the middle of the country. Some governments built a capital from scratch to develop the interior or to escape a crowded coast. Brazil inaugurated Brasília in 1960, replacing Rio de Janeiro; São Paulo is the giant. Nigeria moved from Lagos to Abuja in 1991. Pakistan built Islamabad in the 1960s to replace Karachi. Kazakhstan moved from Almaty to Astana in 1997, and Myanmar from Yangon to Naypyidaw in the mid-2000s.
A political new start. When Atatürk founded the republic of Türkiye in 1923, he chose Ankara in the heart of Anatolia over Istanbul, the old imperial capital. Istanbul remains by far the biggest city.
The port that outgrew the capital. Trade often makes a coastal city boom while the government stays put. In Morocco, Rabat is the capital but Casablanca is the economic giant. In the United Arab Emirates, Abu Dhabi is the capital while Dubai is the largest city. Vietnam governs from Hanoi, but Ho Chi Minh City in the south is bigger.
The classic list
Read these out loud a few times. Capital first, then the city people usually guess:
- Australia: Canberra, not Sydney or Melbourne
- Canada: Ottawa, not Toronto
- United States: Washington, D.C., not New York
- Brazil: Brasília, not São Paulo or Rio de Janeiro
- Türkiye: Ankara, not Istanbul
- Morocco: Rabat, not Casablanca
- Nigeria: Abuja, not Lagos
- Pakistan: Islamabad, not Karachi
- New Zealand: Wellington, not Auckland
- Switzerland: Bern, not Zurich or Geneva
- Tanzania: Dodoma, not Dar es Salaam
- Côte d'Ivoire: Yamoussoukro, not Abidjan
- Kazakhstan: Astana, not Almaty
- Myanmar: Naypyidaw, not Yangon
- United Arab Emirates: Abu Dhabi, not Dubai
- Vietnam: Hanoi, not Ho Chi Minh City
Australia
Canada
United States
Brazil
Türkiye
Morocco
Nigeria
Pakistan
New Zealand
Switzerland
Tanzania
Côte d'Ivoire
Kazakhstan
Myanmar
United Arab Emirates
Vietnam
Countries with more than one capital
A few countries split the job between cities, and the quiz accepts the official capital while the fact card lists the others.
South Africa has three: Pretoria hosts the government, Cape Town the parliament and Bloemfontein the Supreme Court of Appeal. None of them is the largest city, which is Johannesburg.
Bolivia names Sucre as its constitutional capital, while the government sits in La Paz. The biggest city is Santa Cruz de la Sierra.
In the Netherlands the constitution names Amsterdam as capital, but the government, parliament and king work in The Hague. Here, at least, the capital is also the largest city.
Benin has Porto-Novo as its official capital, while most government business happens in Cotonou, the largest city. And in Sri Lanka, parliament sits in Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte, a suburb of Colombo, the commercial capital.
Where the capital is the giant
Do not overcorrect. In most countries the capital is still the biggest city: Cairo, Riyadh, Baghdad, Tehran, Paris, London, Tokyo, Mexico City, Buenos Aires, Lima, Nairobi and Bangkok all lead their countries in both roles. A good rule is to ask yourself whether the country is a federation, has moved its capital in the last century, or has a famous port. If none of these applies, the obvious answer is usually right.
How the Capitals quiz plays with this
In the Capitals quiz you will see a country and four cities, or, in about three rounds out of ten, a capital and four countries. On Hard difficulty, the wrong options come from neighbours and countries with similar names, so Canberra may sit next to Wellington. We never ask reverse questions where the capital's name gives the country away, such as Kuwait City, and disputed capitals are left out entirely.
After each answer the fact card shows the capital in both Arabic and English, along with any other seats of government. That is the moment to fix the pair in your memory. Try a round now and see whether Sydney still tempts you.