Geography 60 flashcards ~30 min

World Countries and Capitals

About this deck

Test your knowledge of every country and its capital city with this comprehensive world countries and capitals flashcard deck. Knowing countries and capitals is the foundation of geographical literacy — it underpins your understanding of world events, international relations, trade, and culture. This deck covers all major countries across every continent, organized for efficient study. It includes commonly confused capitals, island nation capitals, and landlocked country capitals that frequently appear in geography competitions, GCSE, A-Level, and general knowledge quizzes. Based on United Nations member states and CIA World Factbook data.

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Paris. Largest city in France. Located on the River Seine. Home to the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre, and UNESCO headquarters.

Berlin. Largest city in Germany. Reunified as the capital in 1990 after German reunification. Home of the Brandenburg Gate.

Rome. Also known as the Eternal City. Capital of the ancient Roman Empire. Contains Vatican City — the world's smallest country.

Madrid. Located on the Manzanares River. Highest capital city in the European Union at 667 m above sea level.

London. Located on the River Thames. One of the world's leading financial and cultural centres. Home of the Houses of Parliament and Buckingham Palace.

Moscow. Largest city in Russia and Europe. Located on the Moskva River. Home of the Kremlin and Red Square.

Beijing. Political capital of China. Home of the Forbidden City and Tiananmen Square. Located in northeastern China. (Note: Shanghai is larger but NOT the capital.)

Tokyo. World's most populous metropolitan area. Located on Honshu island on Tokyo Bay. Former name: Edo.

New Delhi. Part of Delhi, located in northern India on the Yamuna River. (Note: Mumbai is larger but NOT the capital.)

Canberra. Built specifically as the capital — a planned city chosen as a compromise between Sydney and Melbourne. Located in the Australian Capital Territory (ACT).

Washington D.C. (District of Columbia). Named after President George Washington. Located between Virginia and Maryland. (Note: New York City is NOT the capital.)

Ottawa. Located in Ontario, on the Ottawa River. (Note: Toronto is larger but NOT the capital.)

Brasília. A planned capital city built in the 1950s and inaugurated in 1960. (Note: Rio de Janeiro was the former capital; São Paulo is the largest city.)

Buenos Aires. Located on the Río de la Plata. Largest city in Argentina and one of the largest in South America.

Mexico City. One of the largest cities in the world by population. Built on the site of the ancient Aztec capital Tenochtitlan.

Cairo. Largest city in Africa and the Arab world. Located on the Nile River, near the Pyramids of Giza.

Abuja. A planned city that replaced Lagos as capital in 1991. Located in central Nigeria. (Note: Lagos is larger but NOT the capital.)

Three capitals: Pretoria (executive/administrative), Cape Town (legislative), Bloemfontein (judicial). Pretoria is the most commonly cited capital.

Nairobi. Largest city in East Africa. Named from a Maasai phrase meaning "cool waters." Major hub for international organisations in Africa.

Riyadh. Largest city in Saudi Arabia. Located in the heart of the Arabian Peninsula. Major centre of government and finance.

Ankara. (Note: Istanbul is the largest city and the historic capital, but Ankara has been the capital since 1923 when Turkey was founded.)

Islamabad. A planned capital built in the 1960s. (Note: Karachi is larger but NOT the capital.)

Jakarta. (Note: Indonesia is moving its capital to Nusantara in Borneo — under construction as of 2026.) Jakarta is the current capital.

Wellington. Located at the southern tip of the North Island. (Note: Auckland is larger but NOT the capital.)

Amsterdam. (Note: The seat of government is The Hague/Den Haag, but Amsterdam is the constitutional capital.)

Bern. (Note: Bern is the federal city/de facto capital. Geneva and Zurich are larger.)

Stockholm. Located on 14 islands where Lake Mälaren meets the Baltic Sea. Known as the "Venice of the North."

Oslo. Located at the head of the Oslofjord. Formerly called Christiania.

Athens. One of the world's oldest cities. Birthplace of democracy, philosophy, and the Olympic Games.

Kyiv (also spelled Kiev). Located on the Dnieper River. One of the oldest cities in Eastern Europe.

Tehran. Largest city in Iran and western Asia. Located at the foot of the Alborz mountain range.

Baghdad. Located on the Tigris River. Was the largest city in the world during the Islamic Golden Age (8th century).

Pyongyang. Located on the Taedong River. One of the most isolated capital cities in the world.

Seoul. One of the world's largest metropolitan areas. Located on the Han River in northwestern South Korea.

Addis Ababa. Highest capital city in Africa (2,355 m). Headquarters of the African Union.

Astana

Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte (the legislative capital; Colombo is the commercial capital)

Naypyidaw

Sucre is the constitutional capital; La Paz is the seat of government and administrative capital

South Africa has three: Pretoria (executive), Cape Town (legislative) and Bloemfontein (judicial)

Yamoussoukro is the official capital; Abidjan is the largest city and de facto administrative centre

Yaren (no formally designated capital, but Yaren hosts the government)

Majuro

Funafuti

Ngerulmud

South Tarawa

Port Vila

Paramaribo

Georgetown

Mbabane is the administrative capital; Lobamba is the legislative and royal capital

Vaduz

City of San Marino

Andorra la Vella

Monaco (also called Monaco-Ville, the historic old town)

Dili

Bandar Seri Begawan

Thimphu

Ashgabat

Dushanbe

Bishkek