Name all capital cities in Africa

How this quiz works

Fifty-four capitals, the largest continent by country count and the one most people score worst on. Type capitals into the box — the country each one belongs to appears underneath as it lands — and the counter tracks how many of the 54 you have.

West Africa is where this is won and lost: Ouagadougou, Bamako, Niamey, Conakry, Bissau, Lome, Porto-Novo and Yamoussoukro are eight in a row that almost nobody has all of.

Several African states moved their capital away from their biggest city, which is the trap here. Abuja, not Lagos. Dodoma, not Dar es Salaam. Yamoussoukro, not Abidjan. Gitega, not Bujumbura.

When the clock runs out, or when you give up, every capital you missed is revealed beside its country.

Questions people ask

How many capital cities are there in Africa?

54, one for each country on the continent. This quiz uses the same country list as the “name all countries in Africa” quiz, so the two numbers match exactly — which is not something you can say about most capital lists on the internet.

Can I change the timer?

Yes. Pick 3, 5, 10 or 15 minutes before you start, or choose Count up — that mode has no limit and the clock stops the moment you get the last one, so it doubles as a speedrun timer. Your choice is remembered for next time.

Do I have to press Enter?

No. Every answer is taken the moment you finish spelling it and the box clears itself, so you can type straight through a run without touching Enter. Names that begin another name are handled too: type “niger” and Niger counts immediately, then carry on with “ia” — or just type “nigeria” in one go — and Nigeria counts as well.

Does spelling have to be exact?

Capitals, spaces, hyphens, punctuation and accents are all ignored, so “ndjamena” matches N'Djamena, “yaounde” matches Yaoundé and “lome” matches Lomé. There is no Enter to press — an answer counts the instant you finish spelling it.

What is the capital of South Africa?

South Africa has three. Pretoria is the executive capital and the answer this quiz asks for, but Cape Town (legislative) and Bloemfontein (judicial) are both accepted, because marking someone wrong for knowing more than the question assumed is a bad quiz.

Do I need an account?

No. Nothing to sign up for, nothing to install, no ads in the way of the board. Your best score is kept in your own browser and never leaves your device.

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