African Capitals Quiz
Africa has more sovereign countries than any other continent, and an unusual number of them keep their government somewhere other than their biggest city. That is what makes this set harder than it looks.
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Why Africa is the hardest continent to guess
Fifty four countries is a lot of capitals to hold in one head, but volume is not really the difficulty here. The difficulty is that a reliable shortcut fails more often in Africa than anywhere else. In most of the world you can guess the largest, most famous city and be right more than half the time. In this set that heuristic will cost you repeatedly, because a striking number of African states deliberately moved their seat of government away from the commercial centre, usually to somewhere more central, more neutral between regions, or simply less crowded.
Nigeria is the clearest case. Almost everyone knows Lagos, and almost nobody outside the country would volunteer Abuja, which became the capital in 1991 precisely because a purpose built federal city in the middle of the country was less politically loaded than a coastal megacity in the south west. Ivory Coast did something similar in 1983, naming Yamoussoukro, the birthplace of its first president, while Abidjan kept the population, the port and most of the day to day business of government. Tanzania designated Dodoma in 1973 and then took decades to finish the move, with the National Assembly relocating in 1996 and ministries following long after, while Dar es Salaam remained the country's commercial heart. Benin's official capital is Porto-Novo, though Cotonou is both larger and the practical seat of government.
Capitals that are not the largest city
| Country | Capital in this set | The city most people say | Why |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nigeria | Abuja | Lagos | Purpose built federal capital, adopted 1991 |
| Ivory Coast | Yamoussoukro | Abidjan | Named capital in 1983; Abidjan keeps most functions |
| Tanzania | Dodoma | Dar es Salaam | Designated 1973, parliament moved 1996 |
| Benin | Porto-Novo | Cotonou | Cotonou is the seat of government in practice |
| Burundi | Gitega | Bujumbura | Political capital moved inland in 2019 |
| South Africa | Pretoria | Cape Town or Johannesburg | Three capitals; Pretoria holds the executive |
South Africa really does have three. Pretoria is the executive capital and the seat of the presidency, Cape Town is the legislative capital where parliament sits, and Bloemfontein is the judicial capital. Quizzes have to pick one, and the executive seat is the usual convention, so the answer here is Pretoria. If you said Cape Town you were not wrong about the country, only about which of its three jobs counts.
The recent changes
Two entries in this set have moved within living memory, and one is still moving. Burundi shifted its political capital from Bujumbura to Gitega in 2019, an inland town roughly in the middle of the country. Eswatini, which changed its own name from Swaziland in 2018, splits its functions between Mbabane, the administrative capital used here, and Lobamba, where the parliament and the royal residence sit. Egypt has been constructing a large new administrative capital in the desert east of Cairo and has begun relocating ministries to it, but the change has not been formalised in the way that Nigeria's or Tanzania's were, so Cairo remains the answer in this deck. When that changes, it will be recorded on our release notes page like every other correction.
The island states almost nobody gets
Six African countries are islands or archipelagos, and their capitals are the reliable stumper at the end of a pub quiz round: Praia in Cape Verde, Moroni in Comoros, Victoria in Seychelles, Port Louis in Mauritius, Antananarivo in Madagascar and Sao Tome in Sao Tome and Principe. Victoria is one of the smallest national capitals in the world by population. This set also includes territories that are not independent states but do have their own administrative centres, among them Saint Helena, Ascension Island, Tristan da Cunha, Mayotte, Reunion and Zanzibar, which is why the count runs to 59 rather than 54.
How to actually learn these
Africa rewards grouping. Learn the Sahel belt as a run, from Nouakchott through Bamako, Ouagadougou, Niamey and N'Djamena to Khartoum, and five hard names become one line across the map. Do the same with the West African coast, Accra to Lome to Porto-Novo to Abuja, and with the East African chain of Addis Ababa, Nairobi, Kampala, Kigali, Gitega and Dodoma. Sequences are far easier to retrieve than an alphabetical list, because each item cues the next. Spelling matters less than you might fear: the quiz is multiple choice, so recognising Ouagadougou is enough, and you never have to produce it from memory.
Frequently asked questions
How many countries are there in Africa?
Fifty four countries are members of the United Nations. This set contains 59 questions because it also covers island territories and dependencies with their own administrative centres, such as Saint Helena, Mayotte, Reunion and Zanzibar.
What is the capital of South Africa?
South Africa has three. Pretoria is the executive capital, Cape Town is the legislative capital and Bloemfontein is the judicial capital. This quiz uses Pretoria, the seat of the presidency, which is the usual convention.
Why is Abuja the capital of Nigeria rather than Lagos?
Abuja was purpose built in the geographic centre of the country and became the capital in 1991. The move put the federal government on politically neutral ground rather than in Lagos, the far larger coastal city, which remains Nigeria’s commercial centre.
Is this quiz free?
Yes. There is no sign-up, no account and no limit on how many rounds you play. If you want a scored daily challenge with a streak, that is the main Guess the Capital game.
More Guess the Capital sets
- European capitals60 entries including the microstates, the four UK nations and the awkward cases.
- Asian capitals49 entries, including the purpose-built capitals and the ones that changed name recently.
- North America and the Caribbean43 entries, most of them islands, and the ones with two capitals on one island.
- Oceania and the Pacific27 island nations and territories, including a country with no official capital.
- South American capitalsAll 12 countries plus the territories, and the one country with two capitals.
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