What is the capital of Nigeria?

Abuja, a purpose-built city in the centre of the country that replaced Lagos as capital in 1991. Lagos remains Nigeria's largest city and economic hub.

What is the capital of Burundi?

Gitega, which replaced Bujumbura as the political capital in 2019. Bujumbura is still the largest city and the economic capital.

Which African capital is hardest to spell?

Common contenders are Ouagadougou (Burkina Faso), Yamoussoukro (Côte d'Ivoire), Antananarivo (Madagascar) and Nouakchott (Mauritania). Learning the pronunciation first makes the spelling much easier.

Which African country has three capitals?

South Africa: Pretoria (administrative), Cape Town (legislative) and Bloemfontein (judicial), a compromise dating from the Union of South Africa in 1910.

What is the capital of Eswatini?

Eswatini (formerly Swaziland) has two: Mbabane, the administrative capital, and Lobamba, the royal and legislative capital.

Capitals of Africa: The Complete List

By region, with the moved, split and renamed capitals flagged, because those are where the points are won and lost.

The moved and renamed capitals — learn these first

Nigeria — Abuja (moved from Lagos, 1991).
Tanzania — Dodoma (official since 1996; government substantially relocated in the 2010s from Dar es Salaam).
Côte d'Ivoire — Yamoussoukro (official since 1983; government and embassies still largely in Abidjan).
Burundi — Gitega (political capital since 2019, replacing Bujumbura, which remains the largest city).
Malawi — Lilongwe (moved from Zomba, 1975).
Eswatini — Mbabane (administrative) and Lobamba (royal and legislative). The country was renamed from Swaziland in 2018.
South Africa — Pretoria (administrative), Cape Town (legislative), Bloemfontein (judicial).

North Africa

Morocco — Rabat (not Casablanca). Algeria — Algiers. Tunisia — Tunis. Libya — Tripoli. Egypt — Cairo. Sudan — Khartoum.

West Africa

Senegal — Dakar. Mauritania — Nouakchott. Mali — Bamako. Burkina Faso — Ouagadougou ("WAH-guh-DOO-goo"). Niger — Niamey. Guinea — Conakry. Guinea-Bissau — Bissau. The Gambia — Banjul. Sierra Leone — Freetown. Liberia — Monrovia. Côte d'Ivoire — Yamoussoukro. Ghana — Accra. Togo — Lomé. Benin — Porto-Novo (Cotonou is the seat of government). Nigeria — Abuja. Cabo Verde — Praia.

Central Africa

Democratic Republic of the Congo — Kinshasa. Republic of the Congo — Brazzaville. Cameroon — Yaoundé. Chad — N'Djamena. Central African Republic — Bangui. Gabon — Libreville. Equatorial Guinea — Malabo (on an island, Bioko, far from the mainland part of the country). São Tomé and Príncipe — São Tomé.

East Africa

Kenya — Nairobi. Ethiopia — Addis Ababa (headquarters of the African Union). Eritrea — Asmara. Djibouti — Djibouti. Somalia — Mogadishu. South Sudan — Juba. Uganda — Kampala. Rwanda — Kigali. Burundi — Gitega. Tanzania — Dodoma.

Southern Africa and the islands

Zambia — Lusaka. Zimbabwe — Harare. Malawi — Lilongwe. Mozambique — Maputo. Angola — Luanda. Namibia — Windhoek. Botswana — Gaborone. South Africa — Pretoria. Lesotho — Maseru. Eswatini — Mbabane. Madagascar — Antananarivo ("an-tuh-NAN-uh-REE-voh"). Mauritius — Port Louis. Seychelles — Victoria (one of the smallest capitals in the world). Comoros — Moroni.

Set the continent filter to Africa in Guess the Capital and work through the regions above, region by region.

Quiz African capitals →