Africa's Capitals: Complete Guide
All 54 African capitals by region — the continent with the most capitals, the most recent relocations, and the answers quiz players miss most.
Africa's Capitals: A Complete Reference
With 54 countries, Africa has more capitals than any other continent — and for most quiz players it is by far the hardest round. The names are less familiar, several countries have more than one capital, and a surprising number moved their seat of government recently, one of them as late as 2019. Work through it region by region and it becomes much more manageable.
North Africa
| Country | Capital | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|
| Egypt | Cairo | A new administrative capital is being built nearby |
| Algeria | Algiers | — |
| Morocco | Rabat | Not Casablanca or Marrakesh |
| Tunisia | Tunis | — |
| Libya | Tripoli | — |
| Sudan | Khartoum | Sits where the Blue and White Nile meet |
Rabat catches people out constantly — Casablanca is Morocco's largest city and Marrakesh is the most famous tourist destination, but the government sits in Rabat. Khartoum stands at the confluence of the Blue Nile and the White Nile, which join there to form the Nile proper.
West Africa
| Country | Capital | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|
| Nigeria | Abuja | Not Lagos; Abuja took over in 1991 |
| Ivory Coast | Yamoussoukro | Abidjan is the largest city and economic hub |
| Ghana | Accra | — |
| Senegal | Dakar | — |
| Mali | Bamako | — |
| Burkina Faso | Ouagadougou | Frequently misspelled |
| Niger | Niamey | Don't confuse with Nigeria |
| Benin | Porto-Novo | Cotonou is the seat of government |
| Togo | Lomé | — |
| Guinea | Conakry | — |
| Guinea-Bissau | Bissau | Country and capital share a name |
| Sierra Leone | Freetown | — |
| Liberia | Monrovia | Named after US president James Monroe |
| Mauritania | Nouakchott | Frequently misspelled |
| Gambia | Banjul | — |
| Cabo Verde | Praia | Also known as Cape Verde |
Yamoussoukro is one of the most-missed answers in the entire quiz. Ivory Coast moved its political capital there in 1983 — it was the birthplace of the country's first president — but Abidjan remains the largest city and the economic centre, and most embassies never moved. Abuja is a similar story: purpose-built in the centre of Nigeria and made capital in 1991, replacing the coastal megacity of Lagos.
Central Africa
| Country | Capital | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|
| DR Congo | Kinshasa | Not to be confused with Congo-Brazzaville |
| Republic of the Congo | Brazzaville | Faces Kinshasa across the river |
| Cameroon | Yaoundé | Douala is the largest city |
| Chad | N'Djamena | Note the apostrophe |
| Central African Republic | Bangui | — |
| Gabon | Libreville | — |
| Equatorial Guinea | Malabo | On an island, not the mainland |
| São Tomé and Príncipe | São Tomé | — |
| Angola | Luanda | — |
Kinshasa and Brazzaville are the closest pair of capital cities in the world after Rome and Vatican City — they sit directly opposite each other on the Congo River, close enough to see across. The two countries are commonly distinguished as Congo-Kinshasa (DR Congo) and Congo-Brazzaville. Malabo is unusual too: Equatorial Guinea's capital is on the island of Bioko, well offshore from the country's mainland territory.
East Africa
| Country | Capital | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|
| Ethiopia | Addis Ababa | Headquarters of the African Union |
| Kenya | Nairobi | — |
| Tanzania | Dodoma | Not Dar es Salaam, which is far larger |
| Uganda | Kampala | — |
| Rwanda | Kigali | — |
| Burundi | Gitega | Replaced Bujumbura in 2019 |
| Somalia | Mogadishu | — |
| Djibouti | Djibouti | Country and capital share a name |
| Eritrea | Asmara | UNESCO site for its modernist architecture |
| South Sudan | Juba | World's newest country, independent 2011 |
| Madagascar | Antananarivo | Often shortened to "Tana" |
| Malawi | Lilongwe | Not Blantyre |
| Mauritius | Port Louis | — |
| Seychelles | Victoria | One of the world's smallest capitals |
| Comoros | Moroni | — |
Gitega is the most recent capital change on this list: Burundi formally moved its political capital there from Bujumbura in 2019, so older quizzes and textbooks still give the old answer. Dodoma is a similar trap — Tanzania designated it capital in 1974, but Dar es Salaam stayed the largest city and commercial centre, and the transfer of government functions took decades.
Southern Africa
| Country | Capital | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|
| South Africa | Pretoria | Three capitals — see below |
| Zimbabwe | Harare | Called Salisbury until 1982 |
| Zambia | Lusaka | — |
| Mozambique | Maputo | — |
| Botswana | Gaborone | — |
| Namibia | Windhoek | — |
| Lesotho | Maseru | Entirely surrounded by South Africa |
| Eswatini | Lobamba | Mbabane is the administrative capital |
South Africa is the classic multi-capital case: Pretoria is the executive capital, Cape Town the legislative one, and Bloemfontein the judicial one. Most sources give Pretoria as the default answer. Eswatini — renamed from Swaziland in 2018 — splits its functions too, with Lobamba as the royal and legislative capital and Mbabane as the administrative one.
The Ones Most People Miss
If you only memorise five African capitals before playing, make them these: Yamoussoukro (Ivory Coast), Dodoma (Tanzania), Gitega (Burundi), Porto-Novo (Benin) and Abuja (Nigeria). Every one of them is a case where the capital is not the country's best-known or largest city — which is exactly why they trip people up. There is a whole guide on that pattern in Capitals That Aren't the Biggest City.
Test Your African Capitals
Use the Africa filter in the quiz to play through only African countries — with or without flag hints.