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Countries & Capitals: fun facts and quiz
The essentials in 7 ideas, with fun facts, an illustrated story and a quiz to see how much you know.
The essentials
European Capitals
A capital is usually where a country’s government sits. In Europe some are easy, like Paris, Rome and Madrid, and some trip people up.
Key fact
Switzerland’s government sits in Bern, not Zurich or Geneva.
Tricky Capitals
The biggest city isn’t always the capital. Australia’s is Canberra, Canada’s is Ottawa, and Turkey’s is Ankara, not Istanbul.
Key fact
Canberra was built as a compromise between Sydney and Melbourne.
Countries & Continents
There are about 195 countries: 193 United Nations members plus two observer states, Vatican City and Palestine.
Key fact
Africa has 54 countries, more than any other continent.
Biggest & Smallest
Russia is the largest country by area and spans 11 time zones. The smallest is Vatican City, at under half a square kilometre.
Key fact
Russia has more surface area than the dwarf planet Pluto.
Most Populous Countries
India overtook China in 2023 as the most populous country. Each has over 1.4 billion people, together more than a third of humanity.
Key fact
India and China each have over 1.4 billion people.
Landlocked Countries
About 44 countries have no coastline at all. Kazakhstan is the biggest, and Bolivia and Paraguay are the only ones in South America.
Key fact
Liechtenstein and Uzbekistan are doubly landlocked.
Record-Breaking Capitals
Some capitals hold records. La Paz, Bolivia’s seat of government, sits about 3,600 m up, and Reykjavík is the northernmost national capital.
Key fact
Bolivia’s constitutional capital is Sucre; its government sits in La Paz.
Fun facts
Vatican City is a whole country, yet it is smaller than New York’s Central Park.
Brazil built its capital, Brasília, almost from scratch in about four years. It took over from Rio de Janeiro in 1960.
Kazakhstan is the world’s largest landlocked country, about five times the size of France.
Canada has the longest coastline of any country, over 200,000 km including its islands.
About one person in six alive today lives in India.
Bolivia lost its coast in a war in the 1880s, yet it still has a navy, which trains on Lake Titicaca.
Ulaanbaatar, in Mongolia, is often called the coldest national capital in the world.
Story: A Capital From Scratch
A Capital From Scratch
1901. Australia’s new federation needs a capital, but Sydney and Melbourne each refuse to let the other have it. A site is picked between them.
In 1912, a worldwide contest to design it is won by two Chicago architects, Walter Burley Griffin and Marion Mahony Griffin, whose drawings dazzle the judges.
Their plan of circles, avenues and a central lake became Canberra. The lake, finally filled in 1964, bears Walter’s name.
True or false?
Tap your answer to see if you got it, and why.
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Question 1 of 10
Bern is the seat of Switzerland’s government.
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True. Bern is the “federal city”, even though Zurich and Geneva are bigger.
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Question 2 of 10
Sydney is the capital of Australia.
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False. Canberra is. Sydney is the largest city.
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Question 3 of 10
Africa has more countries than any other continent.
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True. It has 54, ahead of Europe and Asia.
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Question 4 of 10
Canada is the second-largest country by area.
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True. Only Russia is bigger.
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Question 5 of 10
India has more people than China.
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True. India passed China in 2023, according to the UN.
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Question 6 of 10
Switzerland has a coastline.
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False. Switzerland is landlocked, surrounded by five countries.
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Question 7 of 10
Reykjavík is the northernmost capital of a country.
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True. Iceland’s capital sits just south of the Arctic Circle.
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Question 8 of 10
The capital of Portugal is Porto.
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False. It’s Lisbon. Porto is Portugal’s second city.
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Question 9 of 10
Ottawa is Canada’s capital.
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True. Ottawa, in Ontario, not Toronto or Montreal.
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Question 10 of 10
There are fewer than 100 countries in the world.
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False. There are about 195.
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Sources
- United Nations — Member States
- CIA World Factbook — country profiles
- UN DESA — World Population Prospects 2024
- Encyclopaedia Britannica — capitals and countries
- National Geographic — landlocked countries
- Encyclopaedia Britannica — South Sudan, Abuja, Eswatini, South Africa
- United Nations — Member states and country names
