Pick the Right Capital for Each African Country
A 3D globe highlights an African country, you click its capital from a short list. Free, browser-based, with the famous traps included.
Play nowAfrica is home to four of the ten youngest official capitals in the world. Yamoussoukro replaced Abidjan as the political capital of Côte d'Ivoire in 1983, Abuja replaced Lagos in Nigeria in 1991, and Dodoma was confirmed over Dar es Salaam in Tanzania only in 1996. South Africa goes further by splitting executive, legislative, and judicial functions across Pretoria, Cape Town, and Bloemfontein. This mode highlights one country at a time on the 3D globe and asks you to choose its capital from three to five plausible options. The shortlist is built so the obvious-but-wrong city — the largest one, usually — is always present. Expect Cairo, Nairobi, Dakar, Accra, Kinshasa, and Antananarivo to come up early.
The 57 countries — Africa
Algeria
Algiers
Angola
Luanda
Benin
Porto-Novo
Botswana
Gaborone
Burkina Faso
Ouagadougou
Burundi
Gitega
Cameroon
Yaoundé
Cape Verde
Praia
Central African Republic
Bangui
Chad
N'Djamena
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COI
COI
Comoros
Moroni
Democratic Republic of the Congo
Kinshasa
Djibouti
Djibouti
Egypt
Cairo
Equatorial Guinea
Malabo
Eritrea
Asmara
Eswatini
Mbabane
Ethiopia
Addis Ababa
Gabon
Libreville
Ghana
Accra
Guinea
Conakry
Guinea-Bissau
Bissau
Ivory Coast
Yamoussoukro
Kenya
Nairobi
Lesotho
Maseru
Liberia
Monrovia
Libya
Tripoli
Madagascar
Antananarivo
Malawi
Lilongwe
Mali
Bamako
Mauritania
Nouakchott
Mauritius
Port Louis
Morocco
Rabat
Mozambique
Maputo
Namibia
Windhoek
Niger
Niamey
Nigeria
Abuja
Republic of the Congo
Brazzaville
Rwanda
Kigali
São Tomé and Príncipe
São Tomé
Senegal
Dakar
Seychelles
Victoria
Sierra Leone
Freetown
Somalia
Mogadishu
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Somaliland
Hargeisa
South Africa
Pretoria
South Sudan
Juba
Sudan
Khartoum
Tanzania
Dodoma
The Gambia
Banjul
Togo
Lomé
Tunisia
Tunis
Uganda
Kampala
Western Sahara
El Aaiún
Zambia
Lusaka
Zimbabwe
Harare
Tips to play better
Memorise the relocations
Nigeria moved its capital from Lagos to Abuja, Tanzania from Dar es Salaam to Dodoma, and Côte d'Ivoire from Abidjan to Yamoussoukro. The biggest city is rarely the political capital in these three countries, and the shortlist will tempt you with the wrong one.
South Africa has three
Pretoria is the executive capital, Cape Town the legislative, Bloemfontein the judicial. The quiz accepts Pretoria as the primary answer because that is where the presidency sits. Eswatini follows the same logic with Mbabane administrative and Lobamba royal.
Group the Sahel quickly
Dakar, Bamako, Ouagadougou, Niamey, N'Djamena and Khartoum line up west to east across the Sahel. Pairing each capital with its country in that order gives you a mental row that comes back fast under timer pressure.
Don't trust the coast
Many African capitals are coastal — Dakar, Accra, Lomé, Cotonou, Mogadishu, Maputo — but several big inland ones break the pattern: Addis Ababa at 2,355 metres altitude, Harare, Lusaka, Kampala. Coastal-by-default is a heuristic, not a rule.
Frequently asked questions
Which African capital is the highest in altitude?
Addis Ababa in Ethiopia, at roughly 2,355 metres. It is the third-highest capital city in the world after La Paz and Quito. The altitude is why the climate stays mild despite the equatorial latitude, and why visiting athletes often train there.
Why is Pretoria the answer for South Africa and not Johannesburg?
Johannesburg is the largest city and economic centre but not a capital. South Africa splits its capital functions: Pretoria houses the executive, Cape Town the parliament, Bloemfontein the supreme court of appeal. The quiz uses Pretoria because that is the standard answer in international references.
Are there countries where the capital changed recently?
Yes. Equatorial Guinea announced Ciudad de la Paz, also called Oyala, as a future capital but Malabo is still the seat of government in 2026. The quiz tracks current functioning capitals rather than planned relocations until the move is effective.
What about Western Sahara?
Western Sahara is not included as a separate answer because its sovereignty is contested and its administration is split between Morocco and the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic. The 54 African Union member states are the reference list for this quiz.
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