Ask a quiz table for the capital of Nigeria and someone will say Lagos straight away. It's Nigeria's biggest city, and it was the capital until December 1991, when the government formally moved to Abuja, a planned city near the middle of the country. Africa's capital list is full of traps like that: a famous city that isn't the capital, or a capital that shares the job with somewhere bigger.
Africa has 54 countries that are members of the United Nations, too many for one deck. This deck covers the 22 in the UN's Northern Africa and Western Africa regions. Part 2 covers the other 32, in central, eastern and southern Africa, so the two decks together go round the whole continent without repeating a card.
North Africa
Six countries, and the capitals mostly sit on the coast:
- Rabat (Morocco), not Casablanca, which is the bigger and better-known city.
- Algiers (Algeria). Algeria is the largest country in Africa by area.
- Tunis (Tunisia). Country and capital share a root, which makes this one easy.
- Tripoli (Libya). Libya has had rival governments, one based in Tripoli and one in the east, for much of the time since 2014; Tripoli is the capital on the card.
- Cairo (Egypt). Egypt has built a new capital city east of Cairo (the New Administrative Capital, officially renamed The New Capital in 2025), and ministries have moved there, but the constitution still names Cairo as the official capital.
- Khartoum (Sudan), where the Blue Nile and the White Nile meet. During the war that began in 2023, much of the government's work moved to Port Sudan on the Red Sea; the government returned to Khartoum in January 2026.
West Africa: the coast
Going round the bulge of West Africa from north to east, the coastal countries come almost in order (Yamoussoukro and Abuja sit inland):
- Nouakchott (Mauritania), which grew from a small settlement into a capital around independence in 1960.
- Dakar (Senegal), on the Cap-Vert peninsula, the westernmost point of mainland Africa.
- Banjul (The Gambia), on an island at the mouth of the Gambia River. The Gambia is almost entirely surrounded by Senegal.
- Bissau (Guinea-Bissau) and Conakry (Guinea).
- Freetown (Sierra Leone), founded as a settlement for formerly enslaved people.
- Monrovia (Liberia), named after the US president James Monroe.
- Yamoussoukro and Abidjan (Côte d'Ivoire), then Accra (Ghana), Lomé (Togo), Porto-Novo (Benin) and Abuja (Nigeria).
Offshore in the Atlantic, Praia is the capital of Cabo Verde, an island country. In 2013 its government asked for the Portuguese name Cabo Verde to be used instead of Cape Verde.
West Africa: the Sahel and inland
Three landlocked countries sit inland: Bamako (Mali), Ouagadougou (Burkina Faso, a country called Upper Volta until 1984) and Niamey (Niger). Both Niger and Nigeria are named after the Niger River.
Capitals with a catch
- Côte d'Ivoire has two answers. Yamoussoukro became the capital in 1983, but Abidjan is the biggest city and the economic capital, and many government offices and embassies are still there. The country asks for its French name, Côte d'Ivoire, to be used in English too.
- Benin splits the job. The constitution names Porto-Novo as capital, but the government works mostly from Cotonou, the largest city.
- Western Sahara is disputed. Morocco controls most of the territory and regards it as part of Morocco. The Polisario Front proclaimed the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic in 1976, which the African Union counts as a member. The UN lists Western Sahara as a non-self-governing territory. It isn't on the cards.
Easy ones to mix up
- Rabat and Casablanca. Capital first, biggest city second.
- Abuja and Lagos. Same pattern, Nigeria's version.
- Niger and Nigeria. Niamey for Niger, Abuja for Nigeria.
- Guinea and Guinea-Bissau. Conakry for Guinea, Bissau for Guinea-Bissau. Equatorial Guinea is in part 2.
- Banjul and Bamako. Both start with "Ba"; Banjul is on the coast, Bamako inland.
Frequently asked questions
What is the capital of Morocco?
Rabat. Casablanca, the usual wrong guess, is Morocco's largest city.
Is Lagos the capital of Nigeria?
Not any more. Abuja replaced Lagos as Nigeria's capital in 1991, though Lagos is still the largest city.
How many countries are in Africa?
54 are UN members. The African Union has 55 members because it also counts the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic.
What is the capital of Ivory Coast?
Yamoussoukro is the capital, while Abidjan is the largest city and economic centre.
Try it
Cover the answers and say each capital before you flip, then run the coastal countries' capitals from Nouakchott to Abuja in order. Where in the world is the country almost entirely surrounded by Senegal?