How to remember capitals

Learn in regions, not alphabetically

An alphabetical list puts Bhutan next to Bolivia, which helps nobody remember anything. Learn the capitals the way they lie on the map: the countries around the Baltic Sea, the Andes from north to south, the Gulf states. A capital then has a place to live in your memory, next to the capitals of its neighbours.

Small regions also give quick wins. The twelve capitals of South America fit into one evening; Africa with its fifty-four is better split into the north, the west, the centre, the east and the south.

Start with the free points

Several capitals simply repeat the country’s name or add the word for city: Mexico City, Guatemala City, Panama City, Kuwait City, Luxembourg, Djibouti, San Marino. Collect these first. They cost no effort and give you a base of correct answers to build on.

Then mark the traps you are most likely to fall into: capitals that are smaller than the biggest city of the same country. Canberra rather than Sydney, Ottawa rather than Toronto, Ankara rather than Istanbul, Brasília rather than São Paulo, Abuja rather than Lagos. A short list of such pairs prevents the most common mistakes.

Train both directions

Knowing that the capital of Mongolia is Ulaanbaatar does not mean you will place Ulaanbaatar when you see it on its own. Switch the capitals quiz to Capital → country for a few rounds, or keep it on Both ways. Recall from both sides makes a pair much harder to lose.

Say the pair aloud or write it once on paper. It sounds old-fashioned, but producing a word yourself fixes it better than recognising it among four.

Little and often

Ten questions a day beat a hundred once a week. The quiz of the day mixes capitals with maps and flags and changes every day, which is close to ideal spaced practice. Add one regional round of the capitals quiz on the days you feel like it.

Look at the list of mistakes at the end of each round. The names you got wrong today are exactly the ones worth one more look before you close the page.

Link the city to its place

After a capitals round, open the country page of the capitals you missed. The small map shows where the country lies and which neighbours surround it. Seeing the country, its flag and its capital together on one page ties three separate facts into one picture.