Capitals / Challenge
Several capitals and special cases
Countries that split their capital between cities, plus Switzerland and Nauru, where the answer needs a note.
A round asks about ten of these 12, in a new order, each with four choices.
The 12 capitals
| Country | Capital | Population |
|---|---|---|
| Benin | Porto-Novo (official capital, legislative capital (parliament)) Cotonou (seat of government) Porto-Novo is the official capital (National Assembly); the government sits in Cotonou. | 14.8 million (2025) |
| Bolivia | Sucre (constitutional capital, judicial capital) La Paz (seat of government, executive capital, legislative capital (parliament)) Constitution of Bolivia (2009) art. 6: Sucre is the capital; the executive and legislature sit in La Paz. | 12.6 million (2025) |
| Burundi | Gitega (official capital, seat of government) Gitega became the political capital in 2019 (law of 2019 transferring the capital); Bujumbura remains the economic capital. | 14.4 million (2025) |
| Côte d’Ivoire | Yamoussoukro (official capital) Abidjan (economic capital, de facto capital) Yamoussoukro has been the official capital since 1983; most institutions and embassies remain in Abidjan. | 32.7 million (2025) |
| Eswatini | Mbabane (administrative capital, executive capital) Lobamba (royal capital, legislative capital (parliament)) Mbabane is the administrative (executive) capital; Lobamba is the royal and legislative capital. | 1.3 million (2025) |
| Malaysia | Kuala Lumpur (official capital, legislative capital (parliament), royal capital) Putrajaya (administrative capital, judicial capital) Kuala Lumpur is the official capital and seat of parliament and the king; the federal administration and judiciary moved to Putrajaya. | 36.0 million (2025) |
| Nauru | Yaren District (de facto capital, seat of government) Nauru has no official capital; Yaren district is the seat of government. | 12,025 (2025) |
| Netherlands | Amsterdam (constitutional capital) The Hague (seat of government) Constitution art. 32: Amsterdam is the capital; government, parliament and supreme court sit in The Hague. | 18.1 million (2025) |
| South Africa | Pretoria (executive capital) Cape Town (legislative capital (parliament)) Bloemfontein (judicial capital) Three branch capitals: executive Pretoria, legislative Cape Town, judicial Bloemfontein (Supreme Court of Appeal). | 64.7 million (2025) |
| Sri Lanka | Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte (legislative capital (parliament), official capital) Colombo (executive capital, judicial capital) Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte is the legislative capital (parliament); Colombo is the executive and judicial capital. | 21.8 million (2025) |
| Switzerland | Bern (de facto capital, seat of government) Switzerland has no de jure capital; Bern is the "federal city" and seat of the federal authorities. | 9.1 million (2025) |
| Yemen | Sanaa (constitutional capital) Aden (seat of government, de facto capital) Sanaa is the constitutional capital (controlled by the Houthi movement since 2014-2015); the internationally recognised government declared Aden the temporary capital in 2015. | 41.8 million (2025) |
Population and area: The World Bank, World Development Indicators (CC BY 4.0). Capitals: Wikidata (CC0), checked against Natural Earth.
Other capitals packs
Northern and Western EuropeSouthern and Eastern EuropeNorth and West AfricaEast AfricaCentral and Southern AfricaWestern AsiaCentral and South AsiaEast and South-East AsiaNorth and Central America and the CaribbeanSouth AmericaOceaniaWell-known countriesFurther afieldExpertNot the biggest citySound-alikes