North American and Caribbean Capitals Quiz
Three countries and forty territories. Almost all of the difficulty in this set is in the Caribbean, where a very large number of small places each have their own seat of government.
Loading the quiz…
The mainland takes about twenty seconds
Ottawa, Washington D.C. and Mexico City are the three that everybody knows, and Central America adds seven more that follow a comfortable pattern: Guatemala City, Belmopan, San Salvador, Tegucigalpa, Managua, San Jose and Panama City. Four of those seven are simply the country's name with City attached, which is a quirk of Spanish colonial naming rather than a coincidence. After that the set becomes an archipelago, and the archipelago is where scores separate.
Belize moved its capital because of a hurricane. Belize City was devastated by Hurricane Hattie in 1961. The government responded by founding an entirely new inland capital, Belmopan, about 80 kilometres away and safely above sea level, which formally took over in 1970. It is the only capital in this set that exists because of a storm.
One island, two capitals
Saint Martin is divided between France and the Netherlands, and both halves are in this set with their own capitals: Marigot in the French north and Philipsburg in Dutch Sint Maarten to the south. It is a genuinely useful thing to know, because a quiz that lists both looks at first glance like a duplicate and is not.
The other repeat worth noticing is Oranjestad, which is both the capital of Aruba and the main settlement of Sint Eustatius, more than 800 kilometres apart. Both are Dutch, and the name simply means orange town, after the House of Orange. If you see Oranjestad as an option twice in a round, you have not made a mistake.
Sorting out the Dutch Caribbean
| Territory | Capital | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Aruba | Oranjestad | Constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands |
| Curacao | Willemstad | Constituent country |
| Sint Maarten | Philipsburg | Constituent country |
| Bonaire | Kralendijk | Special municipality of the Netherlands |
| Saba | The Bottom | Special municipality |
| Sint Eustatius | Oranjestad | Special municipality |
The three constituent countries govern themselves within the Kingdom of the Netherlands. The three special municipalities are, constitutionally, part of the Netherlands proper, in the same way that a Dutch town is. That distinction is why all six appear here as separate answers rather than being folded into one entry for the Netherlands.
The rest of the Caribbean, in one pass
The English speaking Caribbean is the largest block: Nassau, Bridgetown, Kingston in Jamaica, Kingstown in Saint Vincent, Castries, Roseau, St. George's, St. John's, Basseterre and Port of Spain. Two of those, Kingston and Kingstown, differ by one letter and belong to different countries, which is the sort of thing quiz writers enjoy and players do not. The French territories give Basse-Terre in Guadeloupe, Fort-de-France in Martinique and Gustavia in Saint Barthelemy. The British overseas territories give Road Town, George Town, Cockburn Town, The Valley, Brades and Hamilton in Bermuda, which is not in the Caribbean at all but is grouped with North America by convention.
Two outliers close the set. Nuuk is the capital of Greenland, an autonomous territory of Denmark that sits on the North American plate, and Saint-Pierre is the capital of Saint Pierre and Miquelon, the last remnant of New France and still an overseas collectivity of France today, a few kilometres off the coast of Newfoundland.
Frequently asked questions
What is the capital of the United States?
Washington D.C. The District of Columbia is deliberately not part of any state, an arrangement written into the Constitution so that no single state would host the federal government.
Why do two places in this quiz have the capital Oranjestad?
Aruba and Sint Eustatius both have a main settlement called Oranjestad, named after the Dutch House of Orange. They are separate territories more than 800 kilometres apart, so both appear.
Why is Belmopan the capital of Belize?
Hurricane Hattie destroyed much of Belize City in 1961. The government built a new capital inland at Belmopan, which took over in 1970. Belize City remains the largest city.
Is Bermuda in the Caribbean?
No, Bermuda is in the North Atlantic, roughly a thousand kilometres from the nearest Caribbean island. It is grouped with North America by convention, which is why Hamilton appears 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.
- Asian capitals49 entries, including the purpose-built capitals and the ones that changed name recently.
- 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.
Guess the Capital Trivia guides How we source our answers All games