Printable World Capitals Chart — All Countries and Their Capital Cities
All 195 countries and their capitals, grouped by continent and alphabetical inside each one. Hit Print or Download PDF for the whole list on one page — no signup. Pin it beside the US states and capitals chart for the geography half of a social studies unit.
Prints on one US Letter page in portrait. Set margins to "None" for the sharpest result. Landscape re-flows the same list into five columns.
World Capitals — All 195 Countries
Grouped by continent, alphabetical within each — 193 UN member states plus Vatican City and Palestine
Africa
54 countries| Algeria | Algiers |
| Angola | Luanda |
| Benin* | Porto-Novo |
| Botswana | Gaborone |
| Burkina Faso | Ouagadougou |
| Burundi* | Gitega |
| Cabo Verde | Praia |
| Cameroon | Yaoundé |
| Central African Rep. | Bangui |
| Chad | N'Djamena |
| Comoros | Moroni |
| Congo (Dem. Rep.) | Kinshasa |
| Congo (Rep.) | Brazzaville |
| Côte d'Ivoire* | Yamoussoukro |
| Djibouti | Djibouti |
| Egypt | Cairo |
| Equatorial Guinea | Malabo |
| Eritrea | Asmara |
| Eswatini* | Mbabane |
| Ethiopia | Addis Ababa |
| Gabon | Libreville |
| Gambia | Banjul |
| Ghana | Accra |
| Guinea | Conakry |
| Guinea-Bissau | Bissau |
| Kenya | Nairobi |
| Lesotho | Maseru |
| Liberia | Monrovia |
| Libya | Tripoli |
| Madagascar | Antananarivo |
| Malawi | Lilongwe |
| Mali | Bamako |
| Mauritania | Nouakchott |
| Mauritius | Port Louis |
| Morocco | Rabat |
| Mozambique | Maputo |
| Namibia | Windhoek |
| Niger | Niamey |
| Nigeria | Abuja |
| Rwanda | Kigali |
| São Tomé & Príncipe | São Tomé |
| Senegal | Dakar |
| Seychelles | Victoria |
| Sierra Leone | Freetown |
| Somalia | Mogadishu |
| South Africa* | Pretoria |
| South Sudan | Juba |
| Sudan | Khartoum |
| Tanzania* | Dodoma |
| Togo | Lomé |
| Tunisia | Tunis |
| Uganda | Kampala |
| Zambia | Lusaka |
| Zimbabwe | Harare |
Asia
48 countries| Afghanistan | Kabul |
| Armenia | Yerevan |
| Azerbaijan | Baku |
| Bahrain | Manama |
| Bangladesh | Dhaka |
| Bhutan | Thimphu |
| Brunei | Bandar Seri Begawan |
| Cambodia | Phnom Penh |
| China | Beijing |
| Cyprus | Nicosia |
| Georgia | Tbilisi |
| India | New Delhi |
| Indonesia* | Jakarta |
| Iran | Tehran |
| Iraq | Baghdad |
| Israel* | Jerusalem |
| Japan | Tokyo |
| Jordan | Amman |
| Kazakhstan | Astana |
| Kuwait | Kuwait City |
| Kyrgyzstan | Bishkek |
| Laos | Vientiane |
| Lebanon | Beirut |
| Malaysia* | Kuala Lumpur |
| Maldives | Malé |
| Mongolia | Ulaanbaatar |
| Myanmar | Naypyidaw |
| Nepal | Kathmandu |
| North Korea | Pyongyang |
| Oman | Muscat |
| Pakistan | Islamabad |
| Palestine* | Ramallah |
| Philippines | Manila |
| Qatar | Doha |
| Saudi Arabia | Riyadh |
| Singapore | Singapore |
| South Korea | Seoul |
| Sri Lanka* | Colombo |
| Syria | Damascus |
| Tajikistan | Dushanbe |
| Thailand | Bangkok |
| Timor-Leste | Dili |
| Turkey | Ankara |
| Turkmenistan | Ashgabat |
| United Arab Emirates | Abu Dhabi |
| Uzbekistan | Tashkent |
| Vietnam | Hanoi |
| Yemen | Sana'a |
Europe
44 countries| Albania | Tirana |
| Andorra | Andorra la Vella |
| Austria | Vienna |
| Belarus | Minsk |
| Belgium | Brussels |
| Bosnia & Herzegovina | Sarajevo |
| Bulgaria | Sofia |
| Croatia | Zagreb |
| Czechia | Prague |
| Denmark | Copenhagen |
| Estonia | Tallinn |
| Finland | Helsinki |
| France | Paris |
| Germany | Berlin |
| Greece | Athens |
| Hungary | Budapest |
| Iceland | Reykjavík |
| Ireland | Dublin |
| Italy | Rome |
| Latvia | Riga |
| Liechtenstein | Vaduz |
| Lithuania | Vilnius |
| Luxembourg | Luxembourg |
| Malta | Valletta |
| Moldova | Chișinău |
| Monaco | Monaco |
| Montenegro | Podgorica |
| Netherlands* | Amsterdam |
| North Macedonia | Skopje |
| Norway | Oslo |
| Poland | Warsaw |
| Portugal | Lisbon |
| Romania | Bucharest |
| Russia | Moscow |
| San Marino | San Marino |
| Serbia | Belgrade |
| Slovakia | Bratislava |
| Slovenia | Ljubljana |
| Spain | Madrid |
| Sweden | Stockholm |
| Switzerland | Bern |
| Ukraine | Kyiv |
| United Kingdom | London |
| Vatican City | Vatican City |
North America
23 countries| Antigua & Barbuda | St. John's |
| Bahamas | Nassau |
| Barbados | Bridgetown |
| Belize | Belmopan |
| Canada | Ottawa |
| Costa Rica | San José |
| Cuba | Havana |
| Dominica | Roseau |
| Dominican Republic | Santo Domingo |
| El Salvador | San Salvador |
| Grenada | St. George's |
| Guatemala | Guatemala City |
| Haiti | Port-au-Prince |
| Honduras | Tegucigalpa |
| Jamaica | Kingston |
| Mexico | Mexico City |
| Nicaragua | Managua |
| Panama | Panama City |
| St. Kitts & Nevis | Basseterre |
| St. Lucia | Castries |
| St. Vincent & Gren. | Kingstown |
| Trinidad & Tobago | Port of Spain |
| United States | Washington, D.C. |
South America
12 countries| Argentina | Buenos Aires |
| Bolivia* | Sucre |
| Brazil | Brasília |
| Chile* | Santiago |
| Colombia | Bogotá |
| Ecuador | Quito |
| Guyana | Georgetown |
| Paraguay | Asunción |
| Peru | Lima |
| Suriname | Paramaribo |
| Uruguay | Montevideo |
| Venezuela | Caracas |
Oceania
14 countries| Australia | Canberra |
| Fiji | Suva |
| Kiribati | South Tarawa |
| Marshall Islands | Majuro |
| Micronesia | Palikir |
| Nauru* | Yaren |
| New Zealand | Wellington |
| Palau | Ngerulmud |
| Papua New Guinea | Port Moresby |
| Samoa | Apia |
| Solomon Islands | Honiara |
| Tonga | Nuku'alofa |
| Tuvalu | Funafuti |
| Vanuatu | Port Vila |
* More than one capital, or a special case:Benin — Porto-Novo official, Cotonou seat of government · Bolivia — Sucre constitutional, La Paz seat of government · Burundi — Gitega political, Bujumbura economic · Chile — Santiago, but Congress meets in Valparaíso · Côte d'Ivoire — Yamoussoukro official, Abidjan seat of most institutions · Eswatini — Mbabane administrative, Lobamba royal and legislative · Indonesia — Jakarta, with a new capital, Nusantara, under construction · Israel — Jerusalem is the seat of government; recognition is divided and a number of countries keep their embassies in Tel Aviv · Malaysia — Kuala Lumpur official, Putrajaya administrative · Nauru — no official capital, Yaren is the seat of government · Netherlands — Amsterdam constitutional, The Hague seat of government · Palestine — Ramallah administrative seat, Jerusalem declared · South Africa — Pretoria executive, Cape Town legislative, Bloemfontein judicial · Sri Lanka — Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte official, Colombo commercial · Tanzania — Dodoma official, Dar es Salaam largest city. Continents follow the UN grouping, which places Russia in Europe and Turkey, Cyprus, Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan in Asia.
printablepolly.com/world-capitals
How to Use the World Capitals Chart
1. Study one continent, not one alphabet
The chart is grouped by continent for a reason: a capital learned next to its neighbours sticks, and one learned between two unrelated countries does not. Start with Oceania (14) and South America (12) for a fast first win, then North America (23), Europe (44), Asia (48) and Africa (54). Cover the right-hand column of a block with a strip of paper and read the countries down the page, then swap and go the other way — country to capital, capital to country.
2. Watch for the capital that is not the famous city
Most wrong answers on a capitals quiz are a country's largest or best-known city rather than its capital. The ones worth drilling: Canberra (not Sydney), Ottawa (not Toronto), Brasília (not Rio or São Paulo), Abuja (not Lagos), Ankara (not Istanbul), Wellington (not Auckland), Bern (not Zurich), Washington, D.C. (not New York) and Astana (not Almaty). Several were built or chosen precisely so no existing city would dominate the government.
3. Read the asterisks — they are the interesting part
Fifteen countries on this chart do not have one simple capital, and the legend under the tables says why. South Africa splits the executive, legislature and courts between three cities. Bolivia, the Netherlands and Eswatini each name one capital in law and run the government from another. Indonesia is in the middle of building a new one. Asking a child why a country would want its parliament in a different city from its president is a better geography lesson than another twenty pairs memorized.
4. Pair it with a map and with the other reference charts
A list of names is only half a geography unit — the other half is where those places are. Print this chart next to a wall map or a globe and mark each capital as it is learned. For the US half of the same unit, the states and capitals chart and the presidents list use the same one-page layout, so a binder of all three matches.
Printable PDF
The chart above is the whole thing — all 195 countries and capitals on one US Letter page, black-and-white friendly, with the multi-capital legend at the bottom. Print as many copies as you need for a classroom or a binder. No signup, no watermark.
Best Globe & Atlas to Go With the Chart
As an Amazon Associate, Printable Polly earns from qualifying purchases. Prices are approximate and set by Amazon.
- Best globe
Illuminated World Globe with Stand
A lit globe doubles as a night light, which is why it stays out on the desk instead of going in a closet — and a child who can spin to a country finds its capital on this chart far faster than one hunting a flat map. Look for a 10–12 inch globe with up-to-date country borders.
- Best atlas
National Geographic Kids World Atlas
The chart gives you the country and the capital; an atlas gives you where it is, what borders it and what the terrain looks like. This is the standard school-age reference and its continent spreads line up with how this chart is grouped.
- Wall map
Laminated World Map Wall Poster
Pin the map next to the printed chart and the pair works as one study wall — read a capital off the list, find the dot on the map. Laminated versions take dry-erase marker, so a child can mark off each continent as it is learned.
- Budget pick
Inflatable Globe Beach Ball
For younger children and for the toss-and-name game — whoever catches it names the country under their right thumb, then the capital. Deflates flat into a backpack, and costs a fraction of a desk globe.
More Printable Reference Charts
FAQ
How many countries and capitals are on this chart?
195 — the 193 United Nations member states plus the two permanent observer states, Vatican City (the Holy See) and Palestine. That is the count most textbooks and quiz bowls use when they say "how many countries are there."
Why aren't Taiwan, Kosovo, Hong Kong or Puerto Rico on the list?
None of them is a UN member or observer state. Taiwan (Taipei) and Kosovo (Pristina) are recognized by some countries but not seated at the UN. Hong Kong and Macau are special administrative regions of China, and Puerto Rico is a US territory — territories are governed by another country, so they are not counted as sovereign states.
Is a country's capital always its biggest city?
No, and that is the mistake that costs the most points on a test. Washington, D.C. is far smaller than New York; Canberra is smaller than Sydney; Brasília is smaller than São Paulo; Abuja is smaller than Lagos; Ankara is smaller than Istanbul; Ottawa is smaller than Toronto. Several of these capitals were built or chosen on purpose so that no existing city would dominate the government.
Which countries have more than one capital?
About a dozen split the job between cities. South Africa has three — Pretoria (executive), Cape Town (legislative) and Bloemfontein (judicial). Bolivia has Sucre as the constitutional capital and La Paz as the seat of government. The Netherlands names Amsterdam in its constitution while the government sits in The Hague. Malaysia, Eswatini, Benin, Côte d'Ivoire, Sri Lanka, Tanzania and Chile are the other common cases. Each one is marked with an asterisk on the chart and explained in the legend.
Which world capitals have changed recently?
Enough that an old chart will be wrong. Kazakhstan's capital was renamed Nur-Sultan in 2019 and changed back to Astana in 2022. Burundi moved its political capital from Bujumbura to Gitega in 2019. Myanmar moved from Yangon to Naypyidaw in 2006, and Tanzania's move from Dar es Salaam to Dodoma finished in the 1990s. Indonesia has passed a law moving its capital from Jakarta to Nusantara, a city still under construction — Jakarta remains the working capital in the meantime.
What is the best order to learn world capitals in?
One continent at a time, in the order they appear on this chart. Africa and Asia are the two long ones, so a common plan is Oceania and South America first for a quick win (26 countries between them), then North America, then Europe, then Asia, then Africa. Learning 195 pairs alphabetically in one list, with no geography attached, is what makes them fall out of memory a week later.
Is this world capitals chart free to print?
Yes. Click Print or Download PDF and all 195 country/capital pairs come out on one US Letter page — no signup, no watermark, and no limit on how many copies you run off for a classroom or a homework binder.