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Chapter 4 of 7

Capitals of the World

Europe hosts an especially dense concentration of capital cities. Western Europe includes London (United Kingdom), Paris (France), Dublin (Ireland), Amsterdam (the Netherlands, with The Hague as the seat of government), Brussels (Belgium), Lisbon (Portugal), Madrid (Spain), Bern (Switzerland), and Rome (Italy). Central and Eastern Europe include Berlin (Germany), Vienna (Austria), Budapest (Hungary), Prague (Czechia), Warsaw (Poland), Bratislava (Slovakia), Ljubljana (Slovenia), Zagreb (Croatia), Belgrade (Serbia), Sarajevo (Bosnia and Herzegovina), Podgorica (Montenegro), Skopje (North Macedonia), Tirana (Albania), Bucharest (Romania), Sofia (Bulgaria), Athens (Greece), Ankara (Turkey), and Kyiv (Ukraine), along with Minsk (Belarus), Chișinău (Moldova), Moscow (Russia), and the Baltic capitals of Vilnius (Lithuania), Riga (Latvia), and Tallinn (Estonia). Northern Europe adds Oslo (Norway), Stockholm (Sweden), Helsinki (Finland), Copenhagen (Denmark), and Reykjavík (Iceland). Mediterranean island states have Nicosia (Cyprus) and Valletta (Malta), while Pristina serves as the capital of Kosovo, and Tbilisi (Georgia), Yerevan (Armenia), and Baku (Azerbaijan) anchor the Caucasus.

Asia's capitals span vast distances and diverse cultures. East Asia includes Beijing (China), Tokyo (Japan), Seoul (South Korea), Pyongyang (North Korea), and Ulaanbaatar (Mongolia). South Asia features New Delhi (India), Islamabad (Pakistan), Dhaka (Bangladesh), Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte (Sri Lanka's administrative capital, with Colombo as the commercial center), Kathmandu (Nepal), and Thimphu (Bhutan). Southeast Asia includes Hanoi (Vietnam), Bangkok (Thailand), Phnom Penh (Cambodia), Vientiane (Laos), Naypyidaw (Myanmar), Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia), Singapore (a city-state), Jakarta (Indonesia, with Nusantara under development as a new capital), and Manila (the Philippines). In the Middle East, capitals include Tehran (Iran), Baghdad (Iraq), Jerusalem (Israel, claimed and partly recognized; Tel Aviv hosts many embassies), Amman (Jordan), Beirut (Lebanon), Damascus (Syria), Riyadh (Saudi Arabia), Abu Dhabi (United Arab Emirates), Doha (Qatar), Kuwait City (Kuwait), Muscat (Oman), and Sana'a (Yemen's de jure capital, with Aden as a de facto seat). Central Asia brings Astana (Kazakhstan), Tashkent (Uzbekistan), and Kabul (Afghanistan).

Africa's capitals reflect the continent's colonial and postcolonial history, as well as its sheer size and population. Algeria is the continent's largest country by area, with Algiers as its capital, while Nigeria is the most populous African nation, anchored by Abuja. North Africa also includes Rabat (Morocco), Tunis (Tunisia), Cairo (Egypt), and Tripoli (Libya). West Africa includes Accra (Ghana) and Dakar (Senegal). East Africa features Nairobi (Kenya), Dodoma (Tanzania's official capital, although Dar es Salaam is the largest city), Kampala (Uganda), Addis Ababa (Ethiopia), and the Horn of Africa capitals, with Khartoum (Sudan) and Juba (South Sudan) in the northeast. Southern Africa brings Harare (Zimbabwe), Lusaka (Zambia), Maputo (Mozambique), Antananarivo (Madagascar), and Pretoria (South Africa's executive capital, while the country has three capitals in total).

The Americas feature both ancient and modern capitals. North America includes Mexico City (Mexico), Ottawa (Canada), Havana (Cuba), Kingston (Jamaica), and Santo Domingo (Dominican Republic). In South America, Brasília is the capital of Brazil, the largest country on the continent, while other capitals include Buenos Aires (Argentina), Santiago (Chile), Lima (Peru), Bogotá (Colombia), Caracas (Venezuela), Quito (Ecuador), Sucre (Bolivia's constitutional capital, with La Paz as the seat of government), Asunción (Paraguay), and Montevideo (Uruguay). In Oceania, Canberra is the capital of Australia and Wellington serves New Zealand, with the broader region encompassing a vast Pacific realm of island nations.

All chapters
  1. 1Earth's Extremes
  2. 2Geological Forces and Boundaries
  3. 3Lines, Maps, and Coordinates
  4. 4Capitals of the World
  5. 5Landscapes and Named Regions
  6. 6Climate, Weather, and Biomes
  7. 7Human Geography and Modern Connections

Drill it

Reading is not remembering. These come from the World Geography Atlas deck:

Q

What is the largest continent by area?

Asia, about 44.5 million km².

Q

What is the smallest continent by area?

Australia (Oceania), about 8.6 million km².

Q

Which is the longest river in the world?

The Nile, at roughly 6,650 km (some sources put the Amazon longer).

Q

Which is the largest river by discharge volume?

The Amazon.