54 African Capitals Quiz (10s)

[B] Abuja | Rising from Nigeria’s central granite hills, a purpose-built capital whose modern domes and sweeping highways radiate from Aso Rock, the monolith that watches over a nation of two hundred tongues.

[C] Addis Ababa | Nestled on the Entoto Range, Africa’s diplomatic capital breathes the aroma of roasting coffee, its avenues lined with both imperial palaces and glass-and-steel headquarters of the African Union.

[D] Cairo | Where the Nile fans into a thousand minarets, a city thrums with 4,000 years of stories—pyramids on the horizon, traffic in the arteries, and the call to prayer echoing off medieval stone.

[A] Kinshasa | Across rolling hills beside the Congo River, a city pulsates with soukous rhythms, riverside markets, and a skyline that gleams above Africa’s second-largest urban sprawl.

[B] Dodoma | Set in the heart of Tanzania’s sun-baked central plateau, a city spreads quietly among baobabs and vineyards, a planned capital still tasting the dust of its own transformation.

[D] Pretoria, Cape Town, Bloemfontein | A three-capitals symphony plays in jacaranda-lined Pretoria’s executive offices, Cape Town’s dramatic Table Mountain parliament, and Bloemfontein’s sandstone court of appeals.

[A] Nairobi | Cool highland air mingles with the roar of matatus in a city where glass towers rise beside a national park where giraffes silhouette against a city sunset.

[C] Khartoum | At the confluence of the Blue and White Niles, a city unfurls like a sail—sand-colored domes, riverfront coffee houses, and the swirl of Nubian, Arab, and African cultures.

[B] Kampala | Spread over seven emerald hills near Lake Victoria, a city is a city of terracotta roofs, boda-boda motorcycles, and red-earth avenues that smell of fresh plantain and rain.

[A] Algiers | A dazzling amphitheater of white cascading to the Mediterranean, a city marries Ottoman casbahs with French boulevards, all watched over by the Martyrs’ Monument.

[B] Rabat | Morocco’s imperial garden city balances Atlantic breezes against the walls of an 800-year-old citadel, its palms shading avenues where Andalusian minarets meet Art-Deco facades.

[C] Luanda | Curving around a natural harbor, a city’s cranes and skyscrapers rise beside pastel Portuguese forts, the beat of kuduro drifting over seaside margarita stalls.

[D] Maputo | Jacarandas shower purple petals onto a city’s mosaic sidewalks, where colonial train stations, seafood markets, and new glass offices frame the wide bay of Delagoa.

[B] Accra | Sun-washed and sea-salted, a city hums with jollof smoke, kente cloth, and coast-side castles that have watched both sorrow and sunrise for centuries.

[A] Antananarivo | Tiered rice paddies climb the hills around a city’s red-brick royal rova, where the scent of vanilla drifts over a city built on sacred Merina heights.

[B] Abidjan | Lagoon bridges link a city’s glass skyscrapers to ebony cathedral spires, a cosmopolitan pulse still fondly called the “Paris of West Africa.”

[C] Yaoundé | Spread across seven verdant hills, a city blends French colonial villas with modern ministries, its skyline softened by towering flame trees and distant volcanic peaks.

[A] Niamey | Where the Niger River bends like a silver ribbon, a city bakes under Sahelian sun, its mud-brick Great Mosque and riverside gardens offering shade and story.

[D] Bamako | On the banks of the wide Niger, a city beats with kora strings and sand-colored boulevards, a capital where river steamers and motorbikes share the same dusty light.

[D] Ouagadougou | “Ouaga” pulses with red-earth energy, its craft markets and film festivals spilling out beneath acacia shade, a capital proudly wearing its Mossi heart on its sleeve.

[C] Lilongwe | Planned across a river’s banks, the capital’s low-rise government quarter and bustling old town are quilted by jacarandas and flamboyants that burst into fire each spring.

[B] Lusaka | Shanty suburbs and glass towers mingle under a city’s copper-colored sunsets, where jacaranda-lined roundabouts point the way to both markets and modern ambition.

[A] N'Djamena | At the edge of the Sahel, a city straddles the Chari River, its mud-brick mosques and French boulevards watching caravans turn into cafés at dusk.

[D] Mogadishu | Pearl-white Indian Ocean waves crash against a city’s ancient coral walls, where new rebuilding cranes rise alongside centuries-old Arab dhows and spice-scented bazaars.

[A] Dakar | On the Cap-Vert peninsula, a city’s mbalax rhythms spill from seaside clubs to colonial balconies, the city’s pink lake and bronze Renaissance Monument glowing against Atlantic sunsets.

[C] Harare | Jacarandas carpet a city’s avenues in purple each October, where jacarandas contrast with modern towers and the distant blue silhouette of balancing-rock kopjes.

[A] Conakry | Spread across Kaloum Peninsula, a city bustles with fishing pirogues and French-style arcades, the Atlantic breeze tempering markets fragrant with mangoes and palm oil.

[A] Porto-Novo | Lagoon breezes rustle through colonial Portuguese facades and Yoruba palaces in this quiet capital, where voodoo drums echo just beyond the royal basilica.

[D] Kigali | Immaculate hills roll like waves through a city, its clean boulevards, solar roofs, and blooming bougainvillea embodying a phoenix city risen from memory to modernity.

[A] Bujumbura | Nestled at the northern tip of Lake Tanganyika, a city mixes lakeside cafés with distant misty mountains, the scent of coffee drifting from port to hillside.

[B] Tunis | White domes and jasmine vines spill down a city’s medina hills toward the shimmering Mediterranean, where ancient Carthage mingles with glass-and-steel Tunisian pride.

[C] Juba | Young and sun-scorched, a city spreads along the White Nile’s banks, its tukuls and new ministries shaded by mango trees and watched by hopeful flags of the world’s newest nation.

[D] Lomé | Palm-lined boulevards lead to a city’s Grand Marché, where Atlantic waves and voodoo markets share the same salt air beneath red-and-white cathedral towers.

[A] Freetown | Clinging to forested hills above a natural harbor, a city’s cotton-tree and Creole cottages echo the footsteps of freed slaves who named the city itself a promise.

[B] Tripoli | Whitewashed medinas and Italianate arcades line a city’s harbor, where the scent of sea urchins and espresso drifts beneath the arches of the Red Castle and the call to prayer.

[A] Brazzaville | Across the Congo River from its twin capital, a city’s basilica crowns green hills, its riverside boulevards alive with sapeur style and Congolese rumba.

[C] Monrovia | Named for liberty, a city’s red-sand streets descend to palm-fringed piers where canoes and container ships share the Atlantic horizon under a sky of equatorial rain.

[D] Bangui | On the Ubangi River’s banks, a city’s colorful markets and French colonial balconies bake under the Central African sun, the distant forest line a green promise beyond the rapids.

[A] Nouakchott | Where the Sahara meets the Atlantic, a city’s white minarets rise above endless dunes of sand-colored streets, fishing boats and camel trains converging at the edge of two worlds.

[B] Asmara | Art-Deco cinemas and Italian cafés line a city’s cool highland avenues, its pastel buildings and jacaranda blossoms floating like a 1930s dream above Eritrea’s rugged plateau.

[A] Windhoek | Surrounded by khaki hills and wind-sculpted acacias, a city blends German castles with African craft markets, the city’s beer gardens glowing under some of the planet’s clearest skies.

[A] Banjul | At the mouth of the Gambia River, a city’s low-rise colonial grid is shaded by baobabs, its ferry horns mingling with the scent of fresh groundnuts and Atlantic salt.

[C] Libreville | Ocean waves wash against a city’s broad boulevards, where French bakeries, rainforest reserves, and vibrant masks share the same equatorial twilight.

[D] Gaborone | New glass towers rise above acacia savanna in a city, its skyline watched by distant zebra herds and the ever-present African sun blazing over the Kalahari edge.

[B] Maseru | Spread along the Caledon River beneath the Maluti Mountains, a city’s thatched rondavels and colonial storefronts breathe the crisp highland air of the Mountain Kingdom.

[B] Bissau | Mango trees shade a city’s pastel Portuguese houses, where cashew-laden boats and market drums echo against the muddy banks of the Geba River.

[A] Malabo | On volcanic Bioko Island, a city’s Spanish colonial roofs and oil-flare horizons meet the Atlantic, its port alive with cocoa scent and Creole laughter.

[C] Port Louis | Ringed by jagged mountains and turquoise lagoons, a city blends French spice markets, Indian temples, and modern waterfronts beneath the gaze of an extinct volcanic crater.

[A] Mbabane | Tucked in the Highveld’s pine-clad valleys, a city’s cool mists swirl around Swazi craft markets and red-brick government offices perched above rushing mountain streams.

[D] Djibouti | At the mouth of the Red Sea, a city’s salt-whitened port city steams with frankincense, French patisseries, and the distant silhouettes of whale sharks gliding across cobalt bays.

[D] Moroni | Volcanic Mount Karthala looms above a city’s whitewashed medina, where clove-scented breezes drift through Swahili doorways and narrow lanes tumble to the Indian Ocean.

[A] Praia | Plateau cliffs cradle a city’s pastel houses, the Atlantic horizon framing a capital where morna melodies and evening seafood grills spill onto cobblestone plazas.

[C] São Tomé | Colonial Portuguese balconies overlook palm-fringed bays in a city, the scent of cacao and salt air mingling beneath the volcanic peaks of the equatorial island.

[B] Victoria | On Mahé’s granite shores, a city is the world’s smallest capital, its spice markets and clock-tower courthouse shaded by takamaka trees that lean over the glass-clear Seychelles sea.