Test Your American Capitals Knowledge
Brasília or Rio? La Paz or Sucre? A country lights up on the globe, you pick its capital. Free, browser-based, designed to expose the famous traps.
Play nowTry this without thinking too hard: what is the capital of Brazil? If your answer is Rio de Janeiro, you have just lost a point. The capital moved to Brasília in 1960, a brand-new city carved out of the cerrado for the explicit purpose of replacing the coastal one. Bolivia is even trickier — Sucre is the constitutional capital, but the government actually meets in La Paz, and most quizzes accept either. This mode highlights one country at a time on the 3D globe and asks you to click its capital from a short list of three to five candidates. The trap city is always there. Expect Ottawa, Washington D.C., Mexico City, Bogotá, Lima, Buenos Aires, and Santiago in the rotation, plus less-obvious answers like Belmopan, Paramaribo, and Asunción.
The 36 countries — Americas
Antigua and Barbuda
Saint John's
Argentina
Buenos Aires
Barbados
Bridgetown
Belize
Belmopan
Bolivia
Sucre
Brazil
Brasília
Canada
Ottawa
Chile
Santiago
Colombia
Bogotá
Costa Rica
San José
Cuba
Havana
Dominica
Roseau
Dominican Republic
Santo Domingo
Ecuador
Quito
El Salvador
San Salvador
Falkland Islands
Stanley
Grenada
St. George's
Guatemala
Guatemala City
Guyana
Georgetown
Haiti
Port-au-Prince
Honduras
Tegucigalpa
Jamaica
Kingston
Mexico
Mexico City
Nicaragua
Managua
Panama
Panama City
Paraguay
Asunción
Peru
Lima
Saint Kitts and Nevis
Basseterre
Saint Lucia
Castries
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
Kingstown
Suriname
Paramaribo
The Bahamas
Nassau
Trinidad and Tobago
Port of Spain
United States
Washington D.C.
Uruguay
Montevideo
Venezuela
Caracas
Tips to play better
Brazil and Argentina, two opposite cases
Brazil's capital is Brasília, not the coastal Rio de Janeiro or São Paulo. Argentina's capital is Buenos Aires, which is also the largest city — no trap there. Knowing which countries did relocate and which did not is half the battle in this region.
Bolivia has two answers
Sucre is the constitutional capital where the supreme court still sits. La Paz hosts the executive and legislative branches, making it the de facto seat of government. Most international references accept both. The quiz uses Sucre as the primary answer with La Paz as an accepted alternative.
Central America is a vertical line
From north to south: Belmopan, Guatemala City, San Salvador, Tegucigalpa, Managua, San José, Panama City. Seven small countries, seven capitals, all roughly stacked between Mexico and Colombia. Memorise the order once and the region stops being confusing.
Caribbean capitals are scattered
Havana sits on Cuba's north coast, Kingston on Jamaica's south, Santo Domingo on the southern coast of Hispaniola, Port-au-Prince on the western half of the same island. Nassau is in the Bahamas, Bridgetown in Barbados, Port of Spain in Trinidad. Each is the only city of size on its country.
Guianas are easy to mix up
Guyana's capital is Georgetown, Suriname's is Paramaribo, French Guiana is not a country (it is a French region with prefecture Cayenne). Three small territories, three different colonial heritages, three short capitals — easy points if you keep them straight.
Frequently asked questions
Why is Brasília the capital instead of Rio?
Brazil moved its capital in 1960 to break the coastal concentration of power and develop the interior. Brasília was designed from scratch by Lúcio Costa and Oscar Niemeyer on previously empty land. Rio remained the cultural and tourist hub but lost its political role over sixty years ago.
Is Washington D.C. the same as Washington State?
No, and the trap is real. Washington State is in the northwest near Seattle. Washington D.C., the capital of the United States, sits on the east coast between Maryland and Virginia. The D.C. stands for District of Columbia, a federal district outside any state.
Why does Bolivia have two capitals?
After the 1899 civil war between conservatives in Sucre and liberals in La Paz, the executive and legislature moved to La Paz while the judiciary stayed in Sucre. The 2009 constitution still names Sucre as the capital, which is why both answers are valid depending on the source.
Which capital in the Americas is the highest?
La Paz in Bolivia, at about 3,640 metres. Quito in Ecuador comes second at 2,850 metres, and Bogotá in Colombia third at 2,640 metres. The Andes account for the three highest capitals in the western hemisphere, all over 2.5 kilometres above sea level.
Ready to test your knowledge?
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