The capitals of Europe
Forty-five countries, forty-five capitals — and a handful of them that catch out nine players in ten. Here is the full list, and what to know before reciting it.
Europe is the continent where capitals are oldest and most stable: Rome, Athens, Lisbon and Paris have held the role for centuries, sometimes millennia. Good news for memory — nothing has moved recently — but it also makes the exceptions all the more treacherous.
The five classic traps
Switzerland is trap number one. Not Zurich, the largest city, nor Geneva, the most international: the capital is Bern, chosen in 1848 precisely because it dominated nobody. Switzerland does not even call it a capital, but a federal city.
The Netherlands comes next. The constitution names Amsterdam as the capital, but the government, parliament, Supreme Court and the king all sit in The Hague. Both answers are defensible in conversation; in a quiz, it is Amsterdam.
Turkey does not appear on this list: in the split used here it is Asian. Its capital is still Ankara, not Istanbul — the same confusion applies to Kazakhstan, whose western part is European but which is filed under Asia.
Russia, by contrast, is counted here as European: that is where most of its population and its capital, Moscow, are.
Finally the micro-states — Vaduz for Liechtenstein, San Marino for San Marino, Andorra la Vella for Andorra, Monaco for Monaco — are the ones nobody revises and the ones that come up most. Four names to learn, and a whole category of questions is settled.
The complete list
The 45 countries of Europe and their capital, in alphabetical order.
| Country | Capital |
|---|---|
| Albania | Tirana |
| Germany | Berlin |
| Andorra | Andorra la Vella |
| Austria | Vienna |
| Belgium | Brussels |
| Belarus | Minsk |
| Bosnia and Herzegovina | Sarajevo |
| Bulgaria | Sofia |
| Cyprus | Nicosia |
| Vatican City | Vatican City |
| Croatia | Zagreb |
| Denmark | Copenhagen |
| Spain | Madrid |
| Estonia | Tallinn |
| Finland | Helsinki |
| France | Paris |
| Greece | Athens |
| Hungary | Budapest |
| Ireland | Dublin |
| Iceland | Reykjavik |
| Italy | Rome |
| Latvia | Riga |
| Liechtenstein | Vaduz |
| Lithuania | Vilnius |
| Luxembourg | Luxembourg |
| North Macedonia | Skopje |
| Malta | Valletta |
| Moldova | Chișinău |
| Monaco | Monaco |
| Montenegro | Podgorica |
| Norway | Oslo |
| Netherlands | Amsterdam |
| Poland | Warsaw |
| Portugal | Lisbon |
| Romania | Bucharest |
| United Kingdom | London |
| Russia | Moscow |
| San Marino | City of San Marino |
| Serbia | Belgrade |
| Slovakia | Bratislava |
| Slovenia | Ljubljana |
| Sweden | Stockholm |
| Switzerland | Bern |
| Czechia | Prague |
| Ukraine | Kyiv |
Frequently asked
What is the capital of Switzerland?
Amsterdam or The Hague?
How many countries are there in Europe?
Do you remember these capitals?
GeoG's Capitals mode plays continent by continent: run Europe on its own, or all 195 countries of the world.
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