Asian Capitals Quiz
Asia contains the largest concentration of purpose built and recently renamed capitals in the world, which is exactly why this set catches people who are otherwise good at geography.
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Four answers that are not the city you expect
Sri Lanka. The answer is Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte, not Colombo. Parliament moved there in 1982, and it has been the official administrative capital ever since, while Colombo remains the commercial capital, the largest city and the one every visitor flies into. It is probably the single most missed question in this entire game.
Myanmar. Naypyidaw was built from nothing and the government moved there abruptly in 2005, leaving Yangon as the largest city. It is famous for being enormous and almost empty, with multi lane highways that carry very little traffic.
Kazakhstan. Astana became the capital in 1997, replacing Almaty. It was then renamed Nur-Sultan in 2019 in honour of the departing president, and renamed back to Astana in 2022. Reference material published in that three year window says something different from reference material published either side of it.
United Arab Emirates. Abu Dhabi, not Dubai. Dubai is larger, far better known abroad and the one with the tallest building, but Abu Dhabi is the federal capital and the largest emirate by area.
Malaysia is a near miss worth knowing. Kuala Lumpur is the official capital and the answer here, but Malaysia moved most of its federal administration to the purpose built city of Putrajaya from 1999 onwards. Parliament and the royal residence stayed in Kuala Lumpur, so the capital did not formally change, which makes it the mirror image of the Tanzania situation.
Names that changed, and why your old atlas is wrong
| Country | Capital now | What changed |
|---|---|---|
| Kazakhstan | Astana | Moved from Almaty 1997; renamed twice since 2019 |
| Myanmar | Naypyidaw | Government relocated from Yangon in 2005 |
| Sri Lanka | Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte | Parliament moved from Colombo in 1982 |
| Turkey | Ankara | Replaced Istanbul in 1923 |
| India | New Delhi | The capital is New Delhi, a district within Delhi |
A note on the contested entries
A geography quiz cannot avoid the fact that a few of these are politically disputed, and pretending otherwise would be dishonest. Our rule is to name the seat of government that a country actually uses, without that implying a position on sovereignty. Israel's government sits in Jerusalem, whose status is disputed and where most countries do not maintain their embassies. Palestine's administrative seat is Ramallah. Taiwan is governed from Taipei. Where the answer is contested we say so here rather than burying it, which is the same policy set out in our note on how we research and verify every question.
The regions to learn as blocks
Central Asia is the cheapest win in the set. The five former Soviet republics, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan, give you Astana, Tashkent, Bishkek, Dushanbe and Ashgabat, and almost nobody learns them, which means they show up as the difficult question that decides a round. The Gulf is similar: Riyadh, Abu Dhabi, Doha, Kuwait City, Manama and Muscat are six answers that fit on one mental map of a single coastline.
Southeast Asia is the friendliest block, because most of the capitals are also the largest and best known cities: Bangkok, Hanoi, Manila, Jakarta, Phnom Penh, Vientiane, Kuala Lumpur and Singapore. Naypyidaw is the exception that proves the rule, and once you have been caught by it once you will never miss it again. That is how this game is supposed to work: the questions you get wrong are the ones you end up remembering.
Frequently asked questions
What is the capital of Sri Lanka?
Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte is the official administrative capital, and has been since parliament relocated there in 1982. Colombo is the commercial capital and the largest city, which is why most people answer Colombo.
Is the capital of Kazakhstan Astana or Nur-Sultan?
Astana. The city was renamed Nur-Sultan in 2019 and the name was reverted to Astana in 2022, so sources published between those dates give the other answer.
Is Dubai the capital of the United Arab Emirates?
No. Abu Dhabi is the federal capital. Dubai is the largest city by population and the better known one internationally, which is why it is the most common wrong answer in this set.
How do you handle capitals whose status is disputed?
We name the seat of government a country actually uses and say plainly on the page that the status is contested, rather than leaving it unstated. That applies to Jerusalem, Ramallah and Taipei in this set.
More Guess the Capital sets
- African capitals59 countries and territories, including the ones whose capital is not the biggest city.
- European capitals60 entries including the microstates, the four UK nations and the awkward cases.
- 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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