Remembering that Ottawa is the capital of Canada is easier when you also know it sits on a river facing Quebec. A bare name fades; a name pinned to a picture of the map sticks.
Each slice of the wheel holds a country. After the spin, the description gives the capital and a landmark to place it: the river that runs through it, the coast it faces, or the reason it is not the country’s best-known city. The Europe variant works as a starting point; the World variant gathers the capitals people most often get wrong, such as Canberra, Ankara and Abuja.
How to use it
- Pick the Europe or World variant depending on the level.
- Spin the wheel and give the player five seconds to name the capital.
- Read the answer and landmark, then point to the city on a map or globe.
- In a group, score a point per correct answer and a bonus for finding the capital on the map unaided.
All the options
- Portugal
- Lisbon, on the estuary of the Tagus. It is the westernmost capital of mainland Europe, facing the Atlantic Ocean.
- Ireland
- Dublin, at the mouth of the River Liffey on the east coast, facing the Irish Sea.
- Norway
- Oslo, at the head of the Oslofjord, a long inlet reaching into the south of the country.
- Sweden
- Stockholm, built across a group of islands where Lake Mälaren meets the Baltic Sea.
- Finland
- Helsinki, on the Gulf of Finland, directly across the water from Tallinn, the capital of Estonia.
- Iceland
- Reykjavík, on the south-west coast. It is the northernmost capital of a sovereign state in the world.
- Hungary
- Budapest, split by the Danube: hilly Buda on the west bank and flat Pest on the east bank.
- Poland
- Warsaw, on the Vistula, the country’s longest river, in east-central Poland.
- Czechia
- Prague, on the Vltava, a tributary of the Elbe, in the heart of Bohemia.
- Greece
- Athens, overlooked by the Acropolis hill, a few kilometres from its port, Piraeus, on the Aegean Sea.
- Croatia
- Zagreb, inland on the River Sava. It is not on the Adriatic coast, unlike Split or Dubrovnik.
- Romania
- Bucharest, on the Wallachian Plain in the south, between the Carpathians and the Danube.
- Switzerland
- Bern, seat of the federal government and parliament. The constitution names no capital: Bern is officially the “federal city”.
- The Netherlands
- Amsterdam is the capital named in the constitution, but the government and parliament sit in The Hague.
- Malta
- Valletta, built on a peninsula between two natural harbours. It is the smallest capital in the European Union by area.
Frequently asked questions
What is the capital of Switzerland?
Bern. The Swiss constitution does not name a capital, but Bern hosts the federal government and parliament and is known as the “federal city”. Zurich and Geneva are both larger.
Why is Sydney not the capital of Australia?
When Australia federated, Sydney and Melbourne both claimed the title. The compromise was to build a new city between them: Canberra, in its own federal territory.
Which countries have more than one capital?
South Africa splits its institutions between Pretoria (government), Cape Town (parliament) and Bloemfontein (judiciary). In Bolivia, Sucre is the constitutional capital and La Paz the seat of government. In the Netherlands, Amsterdam is the capital but power sits in The Hague.
What is the best way to memorise capitals?
Learn them region by region rather than alphabetically, always with a map in front of you. Focus on the traps (a capital that is not the largest city) and quiz yourself out loud instead of rereading a list.