World Map with Countries and Capitals
A world map with capitals marked on it: every capital city is pinned on the map below and listed A–Z underneath with its country and continent.
Capital cities of the world
Each pin is a capital city. Select one to open its country’s map and facts.
The live map loads the moment you reach it—keeping the page fast. Tap below if it hasn’t started.
Map tiles & data © OpenStreetMap contributors.
What counts as a capital city
A capital is the seat of a country’s government—where the legislature sits, or where the head of state and the ministries are based. It is not always the largest city, and it is not always the best known one: plenty of countries deliberately govern from a smaller or more central place than their commercial hub. A few countries split the role between two or three cities, giving the legislature, the executive and the judiciary separate homes, and one or two have no single official capital at all. Where that happens, every recognised capital appears in the list below.
Because the seat of government moves far less often than borders do, capitals are one of the most stable things you can put on a world map—which is what makes them a good anchor for learning where countries are.
All 200 capital cities, A to Z
Every capital of the world’s 197 countries, with the country and continent it belongs to. Select a country to open its map.
Learning countries and capitals together
Capitals and countries are easiest to learn as pairs, and easiest of all one region at a time. Start with a single continent map—an Africa map with countries and capitals, or the same for Europe or Asia—and work through its list before moving on. Each continent page here gives every country with its capital, so a region makes a self-contained set to memorise.
Once the pairs are familiar, test them without the labels on the blank map of the world, or check a specific border or name on the political map of the world. If it is the country names you are after rather than the capitals, the world map with country names lists all 197 of them. Every country page on this site also shows the local time in its capital, which is a quick way to remember roughly where in the world it sits.
Countries and capitals by continent
Open a continent for its countries and capitals on one page.