Is Washington, D.C. further north than Madrid?
No. Washington, D.C., at 38.9° N, lies about 170 km further south than Madrid, at 40.4° N.
The duel opens first in a practice round of ten; practice never changes your daily streak.
Why it surprises
Madrid is the capital of a sunny southern European country, and Washington, D.C. is on the east coast of the United States, level with other big cities of the north-east in many people’s minds. So Washington seems the obvious northern choice. It is not. Washington’s centre lies at 38.9° N and Madrid’s at 40.4° N: Madrid is about 170 km further north, almost exactly level with New York City and Pittsburgh. Washington lines up with Lisbon. Studies of mental maps used this very pair to show how we reason from regions instead of positions. We file Spain under “southern Europe” and the US capital under “north-eastern US”, and we picture Europe and North America as sitting directly side by side, so the labels end up deciding the answer.
Sources for this explanation
- Cognitive Psychology (Academic Press): tc.columbia.edu, checked 25 October 2026
- Psychonomic Society: link.springer.com, checked 25 October 2026
Where the numbers come from
Each city is placed by Wikidata’s coordinate for its centre, cross-checked with Natural Earth’s populated places. Details: Washington, D.C. and Madrid.
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