All 48 Asian Capitals – With a Memory Trick for Each One

Most people get Tokyo, Beijing and Bangkok right, then hit a wall somewhere around the Central Asian "-stans" and the Gulf. This guide goes through all 48 Asian countries in the Asia capitals quiz, region by region, with a hook for the ones that tend to slip and the traps that cost the most points. Read it once, play the quiz, and come back to the regions you missed.

A note on the count: lists of Asian countries differ. This site's Asia quiz has 48 – it includes Taiwan, Palestine and Turkey, and leaves out Cyprus, Russia and Egypt, which appear in the European, Middle East or African quizzes instead.

The traps: famous city, wrong answer

These are where most wrong answers come from. In each country the city everyone knows is not the capital.

Turkey – Ankara, not Istanbul. Atatürk made Ankara the capital in 1923, partly because it sits safely in the middle of Anatolia.
Vietnam – Hanoi, not Ho Chi Minh City. Hanoi is in the north; Ho Chi Minh City (formerly Saigon) is the bigger city in the south.
United Arab Emirates – Abu Dhabi, not Dubai.
Pakistan – Islamabad, not Karachi or Lahore. Islamabad was built from scratch in the 1960s next to Rawalpindi.
Myanmar – Naypyidaw, not Yangon. The government moved there in 2005 and declared it the capital in 2006. The name means "abode of kings".
Kazakhstan – Astana, not Almaty. Astana took over in 1997, was called Nur-Sultan from 2019 to 2022, and is Astana again. The word simply means "capital".
Sri Lanka – Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte, not Colombo. Parliament moved to Kotte in 1982; Colombo, about 8 km away, is still the commercial capital.
Malaysia – Kuala Lumpur is the capital, but most government offices are in Putrajaya. Quizzes, including this one, want Kuala Lumpur.
Indonesia – Jakarta. A new capital, Nusantara, is being built on Borneo, but the move needs a presidential decree that has not been issued, and Indonesia's Constitutional Court confirmed in May 2026 that Jakarta is still the capital.

Hook: if the answer comes to you instantly and it's a famous business city, stop and check.

East Asia (6)

China – Beijing. Bei means north, jing means capital: "northern capital". Nanjing is the "southern capital".
Japan – Tokyo, "eastern capital". It got the name when the emperor moved there from Kyoto in 1868.
Taiwan – Taipei. Same root as Beijing: pei/bei is north, so Taipei is roughly "northern Taiwan" – and it sits at the island's northern tip.
South Korea – Seoul, only about 50 km from the border with the North.
North Korea – Pyongyang. Hook: the P-country is the "People's" one – its official name is the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
Mongolia – Ulaanbaatar, "Red Hero", named in 1924. It is usually called the coldest national capital in the world.

Southeast Asia (11)

Thailand – Bangkok.
Cambodia – Phnom Penh. Phnom means hill, and the city is named after the hill temple of a woman called Penh. Say it "p'nom pen".
Laos – Vientiane, on the Mekong River, looking straight across at Thailand.
Vietnam – Hanoi. The name means "inside the rivers" – it sits in a bend of the Red River.
Myanmar – Naypyidaw.
Malaysia – Kuala Lumpur, Malay for "muddy confluence": it grew where two rivers meet.
Singapore – Singapore. A city-state, so city and country share a name.
Indonesia – Jakarta, on Java. Hook: Jakarta, Java – two J's on the same island.
Philippines – Manila. Quezon City, next door, was the official capital from 1948 to 1976, which is why old books sometimes say otherwise.
Brunei – Bandar Seri Begawan. Bandar means port or town (as in Bandar Abbas in Iran). Hook: one of the smallest countries in Asia has the longest capital name.
Timor-Leste – Dili. Hook: the youngest country in the region (independent 2002) has its shortest capital name.

South Asia (8)

India – New Delhi, the part of Delhi built by the British as the seat of government. Quizzes accept New Delhi; plain "Delhi" is the wider city.
Pakistan – Islamabad, "city of Islam".
Bangladesh – Dhaka.
Nepal – Kathmandu. The name comes from Kasthamandap, a wooden temple – kath is wood. Hook: Kathmandu is built around a wooden temple.
Bhutan – Thimphu. Hook: Bhutan and Thimphu both have "h" as their second letter.
Sri Lanka – Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte. Hook: Sri Lanka, Sri Jaya… – the capital starts with the same word.
Maldives – Malé. Hook: Mal-dives, Mal-é.
Afghanistan – Kabul.

Central Asia – the five "-stans"

This is the region where scores collapse, because the names are unfamiliar and easy to swap. Learn each capital with one fact that ties it to its own country.

Kazakhstan – Astana. The biggest of the five gets the plainest name: "capital".
Uzbekistan – Tashkent, usually explained as "stone city". With about 3 million people it is the largest city in Central Asia.
Turkmenistan – Ashgabat, about 30 km from the Iranian border at the foot of the Kopet Dag mountains. Hook: Turkmenistan is the -stan next to Iran, and Ashgabat almost touches it.
Kyrgyzstan – Bishkek. It was called Frunze in Soviet times, after a Red Army commander born there.
Tajikistan – Dushanbe, which means "Monday" in Tajik – the city grew from a Monday market. Hook: start the week in Tajikistan.

The classic mix-up is Tashkent and Tajikistan: both start with "Ta", but Tashkent belongs to Uzbekistan. The other is Bishkek and Dushanbe – Kyrgyzstan is the northern of the two mountain countries, Tajikistan the southern one, next to Afghanistan.

The Caucasus (3)

Three small countries between the Black Sea and the Caspian.

Georgia – Tbilisi. The name comes from the Georgian word for "warm", after the hot springs the city was built around.
Armenia – Yerevan. On a clear day you can see Mount Ararat, just across the border in Turkey.
Azerbaijan – Baku, on the Caspian coast. At about 28 metres below sea level it is the lowest national capital in the world.

Hook: warm Tbilisi, mountain-view Yerevan, below-sea Baku.

The Middle East (15)

Turkey – Ankara.
Syria – Damascus, one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world.
Lebanon – Beirut, on the coast.
Israel – Jerusalem. Its status is disputed and most countries keep their embassies in Tel Aviv, but Jerusalem is the answer the quiz uses.
Palestine – Ramallah is the administrative seat and the answer in this quiz. Palestine claims East Jerusalem as its capital.
Jordan – Amman, on the high ground east of the Jordan River.
Iraq – Baghdad, on the Tigris.
Iran – Tehran, below the Alborz mountains. Hook: Iran and Tehran both end in "-an".
Saudi Arabia – Riyadh, in the middle of the peninsula rather than on either coast.
Kuwait – Kuwait City. Same name as the country.
Bahrain – Manama.
Qatar – Doha.
United Arab Emirates – Abu Dhabi.
Oman – Muscat, on the Gulf of Oman.
Yemen – Sana'a. The Houthi movement has held Sana'a since 2014, and the internationally recognised government works from Aden, but Sana'a is still listed as the capital.

Pairs that get confused

Iran / Iraq – Tehran / Baghdad. Use the "-an" hook: Iran ↔ Tehran. Iran is also the larger, eastern one.
Qatar / Bahrain – Doha / Manama. Qatar is the peninsula sticking out of Saudi Arabia; Bahrain is the small island just west of it.
Kyrgyzstan / Tajikistan – Bishkek / Dushanbe. North and south.
Uzbekistan / Tajikistan – Tashkent / Dushanbe. Don't let the "Ta" fool you.
North / South Korea – Pyongyang / Seoul. P for People's.

Practise it

Play Asia – capitals once without studying to get a baseline.
Drill the regions you missed: Middle East – capitals, Central & South Asia – capitals, Southeast Asia – capitals or East Asia – capitals.
When you can get 48/48, move on to Whole World – capitals.

Tip: play again the next day rather than straight away. Every capital you miss goes into your Mistake Bank, and the flashcards bring it back after a short gap, then a longer one – which is when it actually sticks.

FAQ

How many capitals are there in Asia?

It depends on which countries you count. This site's Asia quiz has 48, including Taiwan and Palestine; lists that only use UN members, or that count Cyprus, Russia or Egypt as Asian, give slightly different numbers.

What is the capital of Kazakhstan – Almaty or Astana?

Astana. It replaced Almaty as the capital in 1997 and was called Nur-Sultan from 2019 to 2022. Almaty is still the largest city.

Is Jakarta still the capital of Indonesia?

Yes. Nusantara on Borneo is planned as the new capital, but the move only takes effect with a presidential decree, and Indonesia's Constitutional Court confirmed in May 2026 that Jakarta remains the capital until then.

Which Asian capital is below sea level?

Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan, at about 28 metres below sea level on the Caspian coast. It is the lowest-lying national capital in the world.