Do You Know All Of The Capitals To These Obscure Countries?

WORLD

By: Torrance Grey

5 Min Quiz

Image: shutterstock

About This Quiz

How many stamps do you have in your passport? Or are you more of an armchair traveler/geography buff? Either way, you'll need a good memory to ace this quiz on the capitals of lesser-known nations. 

Of course, obscurity is relative -- some people are very familiar with the nations of South America, Asia, and Africa. But, let's face it -- many of us aren't that familiar with the globe outside our own western, first-world part of it. We might have heard of countries like Oman and Surinam, but finding them on a map is going to take a while -- not to mention coming up with the names of their capital cities. Even Europe has some "microstates" that many Westerners aren't familiar with (we're looking at you, Andorra). 

Among the countries that might give you trouble on this quiz are the "enclaved" states, like San Marino, city-states, like Singapore, and the many countries that are made up of island chains, like little-known Comoros. Other countries might be more familiar on the surface: Morocco, for example. But do you remember the name of its capital? (Hint: It's not Casablanca). 

OK, class, it's time to begin! Put your maps and atlases away, and tackle our 35-question quiz. Even if you don't do well, it might inspire you to plan a trip to the farther corners of the globe in the future!

Slovenia:

Slovenia is better known, now that Slovenian model Melania Trump is the First Lady of the U.S. However, its capital is still very hard to spell and pronounce.

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Georgia:

We're sorry if you fell for "Atlanta" -- but that's in the *state* of Georgia, USA. Georgia, the nation, is a former republic of the USSR, on the other side of the globe.

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Somalia:

Somalia has long been an important crossroads in international trade. Near the equator, it has a hot, semi-arid climate.

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Nepal:

You might be familiar with Kathmandu if you saw the Marvel movie, "Doctor Strange." It's the large city where Stephen Strange finds the training facility of Kamar-Taj and meets the Ancient One.

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Andorra:

This name literally means "Andorra the Old." The country of Andorra, located between France and Spain, is known for its brandy.

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Morocco:

Though the cities of Marrakesh and Casablanca are more famous, Rabat is the capital. Morocco overall is home to some of the world's most amazing cuisine, much of it cooked in Moroccan clay tagines.

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Algeria:

Algeria is a northern African nation, near Egypt. For a long time, it was part of France's colonial empire.

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Uruguay:

Uruguay is the second-smallest nation in South America. Don't confuse it with Paraguay, also in South America.

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San Marino:

San Marino is a tiny state completely surrounded by Italy. It has a population of fewer than 40,000 people, most of​ who live in the City of San Marino. The government claims it is the smallest sovereign state still in existence.

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Tunisia:

The great city of Carthage, known for its wars with Rome, was located in modern-day Tunisia. But the present capital of Tunisia is simply called "Tunis."

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Papua New Guinea:

This country occupies half of a large island northeast of Australia. The other half of the island is part of Indonesia. This arrangement is similar to Haiti and the Dominican Republic, which share the island of Hispaniola.

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Angola:

Angola is the seventh-largest country in Africa. For a long time, it was under Portuguese rule.

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Montenegro:

Montenegro was part of the former Yugoslavia. Its neighbors are Croatia, Serbia, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Kosovo.

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Comoros:

You might know "Moroni" better as the angel who is central to Mormon theology. But it's also the capital of this island nation in the Indian Ocean.

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Mozambique:

Mozambique is a nation in southeast Africa. The large island of Madagascar is off its eastern coast.

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Malaysia:

Malaysia is a developing nation in Southeast Asia -- but developing quickly. Its GDP has been growing at about 6 percent per year for decades.

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Zambia:

Zambia is a nation in southern Africa. It is one of the places visited by famous Scottish explorer David Livingstone.

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Malawi:

Malawi, an African country, was once a Nysasland, a British protectorate. It is one of the world's least-developed countries, though it has made great strides in establishing a multi-party democracy since gaining independence in 1964.

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Azerbijan:

Azerbijan, like some other countries you'll see in this quiz, is a former Soviet republic. It re-gained its independence when the USSR broke up in 1991.

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Latvia:

Latvia lies on the shore of the Baltic Sea. It is heavily forested, and has a strong tradition of environmentalism.

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Belize:

Belize was formerly British Honduras, which is why English is one of its official languages. It's a Central American country, with a relatively low population of about 388,000 people.

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Bhutan:

Bhutan is a small nation bordering Tibet, China and India. It's known to Westerners for creating the concept of "gross national happiness," or happiness as a governmental concern.

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Cyprus:

Cyprus is an island nation in the Mediterranean. It was part of the Byzantine Empire after the schism in the Roman Empire, and later was part of the Ottoman Empire.

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Surinam:

Don't be fooled by the name's similarity to "Vietnam." Surinam is in South America -- its smallest country, in fact, with a population of fewer than 1 million people.

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Bahrain:

Bahrain is an island chain that is also an independent, monarchic state. It used to be renowned for its pearls, harvested in the waters off the islands.

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South Sudan:

South Sudan gained its independence from the rest of Sudan in 2011. This makes it the world's newest nation (at the time of the writing of this quiz).

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Ivory Coast:

The Ivory Coast, sometimes known by its French name, Cote d'Ivoire, is in West Africa. Its largest city in terms of population is Abidjan, which is, incidentally, much easier to spell.

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Singapore:

Singapore is a city-state, so the capital's name and the country's name are the same. A tiny nation that has had to reclaim land from the ocean and import water, it is also an economic powerhouse, with the highest housing costs in the world.

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Lesotho:

Lesotho is one of those odd nations completely surrounded by another country. Or, if you want to use the technical term, it's an "enclaved" country.

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Oman:

Muscat is an important port city, lying on the Gulf of Oman. Many petroleum ships pass through that part of the Arabian Sea.

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Qatar:

Qatar is an Arab nation with the world's highest GDP, thanks to its oil and natural gas reserves. It's also home to the Al Jazeera News network.

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Chad:

This name reminds us of a sexy Star Trek character. Maybe the capital's name is making up for the plainness of the country's name?

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Dijbouti:

Dijbouti is a nation on the Horn of Africa, the part extending into the Indian Ocean on the upper east coast. Dijbouti City is situated on the Gulf of Tadjoura, a body of water that extends sharply into the country's land mass.

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Dominican Republic:

The Dominican Republic occupies half of the Caribbean island of Hispaniola. The capital's name refers to Saint Dominic, for whom the country overall is named.

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Swaziland:

Swaziland is a small nation in Southern Africa. Mbabane is its official and executive capital. But its legislative capital is the city of Lobamba, where the Parliament is situated.

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