Question 10: the correct answer is Astana. Got it right? Score 1 point.
Your round
Add up the points from the 10 answers.
The less obvious capitals catch many people out. Review the explanations and try again another day.
You got a good share right. The tricks about the largest city are the ones that confuse people most.
You know the world map well. Only the most distant capitals slipped through.
Almost everything right. Consider trying the planet Earth quiz next.
Just for fun. The bands describe how this round went, not you.
Why, on question 10: What is the capital of Kazakhstan?
The answer is Astana. Almaty, in the south, is Kazakhstan's largest city and was the capital until 1997, when the government moved to Astana, in the north of the country.
A capital that changed its name
The move was made official in December 1997. Reasons cited included its more central position, room for the city to grow, and the earthquake risk in Almaty, which lies at the foot of mountains.
The name Astana means "capital" in Kazakh. In 2019, the city was renamed Nur-Sultan, in honour of the country's first president, and in 2022 it went back to being called Astana.
One of the city's symbols is the Baiterek tower, which represents a tree with a golden egg at the top, inspired by a local legend. Astana also features among the coldest capitals in the world: in winter, the temperature can drop below -30 °C (-22 °F).
Kazakhstan is the largest landlocked country in the world and the ninth largest by area. Even with so much territory, it has about 20 million inhabitants, fewer than the metropolitan area of some major cities in the world.
What this quiz covered
The 10 capitals in this quiz have something in common: none of them is the largest city in its country. Ottawa, Canberra, Brasília, Ankara, Wellington, Rabat, Hanoi, Abuja, Islamabad and Astana all share their country with a bigger, better-known city.
Four of them were planned to be capitals: Canberra, Brasília, Abuja and Islamabad. For the others, the choice came from a political decision, such as a new republic, independence, or the search for a more central location.
If you want to keep going, you can move on to the planet Earth quiz or read the facts about the planet, using the buttons above.
Where this information comes from: Constitution of Australia (section 125); UNESCO, World Heritage List (Rideau Canal, Brasília, Rabat, Hué); official government and parliament websites; reference encyclopedias.
