Grouped by region and built around the tricky capitals that trip up even confident students — starting close to home with Pakistan's neighbours.
This is the third topic in our World Geography strand, following Continents & Oceans. With the basic map in place, it's time to fill in the detail: the countries themselves, and the cities that govern them. Rather than an exhausting list of all 195, this article groups the countries that come up most often in GK tests and Olympiads, with special attention on the capitals that are most commonly guessed wrong.
The most common answer is 195 — made up of the 193 member states of the United Nations, plus two UN "observer states" that aren't full members but are widely recognised: the Holy See (Vatican City) and the State of Palestine. A handful of other territories claim independence but aren't broadly recognised internationally, which is why you'll sometimes see slightly different totals in different sources.
These are the countries of South Asia, most of which belong to SAARC (the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation) — the region most relevant to start memorising first.
| Country | Capital |
|---|---|
| Pakistan | Islamabad |
| India | New Delhi |
| Bangladesh | Dhaka |
| Afghanistan | Kabul |
| Nepal | Kathmandu |
| Bhutan | Thimphu |
| Sri Lanka | Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte (official) / Colombo (commercial) |
| Maldives | Malé |
Sri Lanka is a great early example of a "tricky" capital: Colombo is the country's largest city and commercial hub, but the official administrative capital is Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte, a suburb of Colombo.
| Country | Capital | Region |
|---|---|---|
| China | Beijing | East Asia |
| Japan | Tokyo | East Asia |
| South Korea | Seoul | East Asia |
| North Korea | Pyongyang | East Asia |
| Indonesia | Jakarta | Southeast Asia |
| Thailand | Bangkok | Southeast Asia |
| Vietnam | Hanoi | Southeast Asia |
| Philippines | Manila | Southeast Asia |
| Malaysia | Kuala Lumpur | Southeast Asia |
| Singapore | Singapore | Southeast Asia |
| Saudi Arabia | Riyadh | Middle East |
| United Arab Emirates | Abu Dhabi | Middle East |
| Iran | Tehran | Middle East |
| Iraq | Baghdad | Middle East |
| Turkey | Ankara | Middle East / Europe border |
| Jordan | Amman | Middle East |
| Qatar | Doha | Middle East |
| Kazakhstan | Astana | Central Asia |
| Uzbekistan | Tashkent | Central Asia |
Indonesia's official capital is still Jakarta, though the government has been building a new capital, Nusantara, on the island of Borneo since 2022, currently planned to take over as the country's "political capital" around 2028. This kind of long-term capital relocation is worth watching, since it can eventually change the "correct" textbook answer.
| Country | Capital |
|---|---|
| Egypt | Cairo |
| Nigeria | Abuja |
| South Africa | Pretoria / Cape Town / Bloemfontein (three capitals) |
| Kenya | Nairobi |
| Morocco | Rabat |
| Ethiopia | Addis Ababa |
| Ghana | Accra |
| Algeria | Algiers |
| Libya | Tripoli |
| Tanzania | Dodoma (official) / Dar es Salaam (largest city) |
Nigeria is a classic "tricky" capital: Lagos was the capital until 1991, when it was officially moved to the purpose-built city of Abuja — but Lagos remains far larger and better known internationally, so students often guess it by mistake.
| Country | Capital |
|---|---|
| United Kingdom | London |
| France | Paris |
| Germany | Berlin |
| Italy | Rome |
| Spain | Madrid |
| Russia | Moscow |
| Netherlands | Amsterdam (official) / The Hague (seat of government) |
| Switzerland | Bern |
| Greece | Athens |
| Portugal | Lisbon |
| Sweden | Stockholm |
| Norway | Oslo |
| Poland | Warsaw |
| Ukraine | Kyiv |
| Country | Capital |
|---|---|
| United States | Washington, D.C. |
| Canada | Ottawa |
| Mexico | Mexico City |
| Cuba | Havana |
| Jamaica | Kingston |
| Brazil | Brasília |
| Argentina | Buenos Aires |
| Chile | Santiago |
| Peru | Lima |
| Colombia | Bogotá |
| Venezuela | Caracas |
| Bolivia | Sucre (constitutional) / La Paz (seat of government) |
Brazil is one of the most commonly missed capitals in the world: it's Brasília, a planned city purpose-built and made the capital in 1960 — not Rio de Janeiro, which was the capital until then and is still far more famous internationally.
| Country | Capital |
|---|---|
| Australia | Canberra |
| New Zealand | Wellington |
| Fiji | Suva |
| Papua New Guinea | Port Moresby |
Two more classic exam traps: Australia's capital is Canberra, not Sydney, and New Zealand's capital is Wellington, not Auckland. In both cases, the more famous, larger city is not the seat of government.
These city/capital mix-ups come up constantly in GK quizzes and Olympiads — worth memorising as a set, since they're exactly the kind of question test-writers love to include as a trap.
| Country | NOT the capital | Actual capital |
|---|---|---|
| Turkey | Istanbul | Ankara |
| Australia | Sydney | Canberra |
| Brazil | Rio de Janeiro | Brasília |
| Nigeria | Lagos | Abuja |
| New Zealand | Auckland | Wellington |
| Canada | Toronto | Ottawa |
| United States | New York City | Washington, D.C. |
This is one of the most common assumptions students carry into GK tests.
The fix: Many countries deliberately chose a smaller, purpose-built, or more central city as their capital — often to avoid favouring one region, to reduce congestion in the biggest city, or as a fresh political start. Brazil, Nigeria, Australia, and New Zealand are the clearest examples, but this pattern repeats worldwide, so it's safer to memorise capitals directly rather than guess based on fame.
Tap any country below for quick facts you can use to check your memory.
Tap a country above to see its key facts.
A handful of countries formally split capital functions across two or three cities — usually dividing executive, legislative, and judicial roles.
| Country | Capitals | How the Split Works |
|---|---|---|
| South Africa | Pretoria, Cape Town, Bloemfontein | Executive, Legislative, Judicial |
| Bolivia | Sucre, La Paz | Constitutional/Judicial, Seat of Government |
| Netherlands | Amsterdam, The Hague | Official capital, Seat of government & royal residence |
| Malaysia | Kuala Lumpur, Putrajaya | Official capital, Administrative centre |
| Eswatini | Mbabane, Lobamba | Administrative, Royal & Legislative |
| Sri Lanka | Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte, Colombo | Official/administrative, Commercial |
| By Area | By Population | |
|---|---|---|
| Largest | Russia (~17.1 million km²) | India (~1.46 billion) |
| Smallest | Vatican City (~0.49 km²) | Vatican City (~800 people) |
India overtook China as the world's most populous country around 2023, ending decades of China holding that position. Russia, by contrast, is so large by area that it spans 11 time zones — more than any other country.
Pakistan shares land borders with four countries — India, China, Afghanistan, and Iran — plus a maritime border with Oman across the Arabian Sea. Knowing your own country's direct neighbours cold is one of the most practically useful pieces of GK you can hold onto, and it's exactly the kind of question that appears first in most South Asian GK tests.
Vatican City is so small that it's roughly the size of a large city park — you could walk across the entire country in about 20 minutes — yet it's a fully independent nation with its own postal system, currency, and even its own army, the Swiss Guard.
Tap the correct answer for each question. Your score is tracked as you go, and your best score is saved on this device.
Countries and capitals form the backbone of almost every GK test, quiz, and competitive exam you'll ever encounter — from school Olympiads to job-seeker aptitude tests later in life. Beyond passing a quiz, knowing this map well makes news, history, and current affairs make sense: when you hear about a summit, a treaty, or a conflict, knowing exactly where it's happening — and what borders it — turns an abstract headline into something you can actually picture.
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