MinskMinsk, Belarus's capital and largest city, is on the Svislach River. Its first mention dates from 1067.
SofiaSofia is Bulgaria's capital and largest city, in the west of the country, at the foot of Vitosha mountain. In ancient times it was known as Serdica.
PraguePrague is the Czech Republic's capital and largest city, on the Vltava River. It is the historical capital of Bohemia and was home to several Holy Roman Emperors.
BudapestBudapest on the Danube is Hungary's capital and most populous city. It was formed on 17 November 1873, when Buda, Pest and Óbuda were united.
ChișinăuMoldova's capital and its largest city, Chișinău stands near the center of the country on the Bîc, a small river that feeds the Dniester.
WarsawWarsaw is Poland's capital and most populous city, on the river Vistula, in the east-central part of the country.
BucharestBucharest is Romania's capital and largest city, on the River Dâmbovița, in the southeast of the country.
MoscowMoscow is Russia's capital and largest city, on the Moskva River, and among the world's largest cities.
BratislavaBratislava is Slovakia's capital and largest city, on both banks of the Danube, in the southwest. It is the only national capital with land borders with two other sovereign states, Austria and Hungary.
KyivKyiv, also spelled Kiev, is Ukraine's capital and most populous city, in the north-central part of the country, on both banks of the Dnieper River.
Northern Europe 3
TallinnTallinn is Estonia's capital and largest city, on a bay on the north coast, on the Gulf of Finland. Helsinki is 80 kilometers away across the water.
RigaRiga is Latvia's capital and largest city, where the Daugava River meets the Gulf of Riga. About a third of the country's people live there.
VilniusVilnius is Lithuania's capital and largest city, and the Baltic states' most populous city. Its Old Town, one of the largest and best preserved in Europe, became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1994.
Southern Europe 7
TiranaTirana, Albania's capital and largest city, is in the center of the country, ringed by mountains and hills. It was founded in 1614.
SarajevoSarajevo is Bosnia and Herzegovina's capital and largest city, on the Miljacka River, surrounded by the Dinaric Alps.
ZagrebZagreb is Croatia's capital and largest city, in the north of the country, on the Sava River, below the southern slopes of Medvednica mountain.
PodgoricaPodgorica is Montenegro's capital and largest city, where the Ribnica and Morača rivers meet. It was renamed Titograd in 1946. The president's seat is Cetinje, the Old Royal Capital.
SkopjeSkopje is North Macedonia's capital and largest city, in a northern valley along the Vardar River.
BelgradeBelgrade is the capital of Serbia, where the Sava River meets the Danube and the Pannonian Plain meets the Balkan Peninsula.
LjubljanaSlovenia's capital and largest city. The Romans had a city here called Emona, and the first written mention of Ljubljana dates from the first half of the 12th century.
How this list was compiled: Capitals, and the notes on Amsterdam and The Hague, Bern, Podgorica and Cetinje, and Monaco: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_national_capitals, checked 2026-09-19. Which states are members of the United Nations: https://www.un.org/en/about-us/member-states, checked 2026-09-19. The five groups are those of the United Nations Statistics Division, Standard country or area codes for statistical use (M49), https://unstats.un.org/unsd/methodology/m49/overview/, checked 2026-09-19. The detail line of each capital comes from the city's own Wikipedia article, all checked 2026-09-19: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tirana, /Andorra_la_Vella, /Yerevan, /Vienna, /Baku, /Minsk, /City_of_Brussels, /Sarajevo, /Sofia, /Zagreb, /Nicosia, /Prague, /Copenhagen, /Tallinn, /Helsinki, /Paris, /Tbilisi, /Berlin, /Athens, /Budapest, /Reykjav%C3%ADk, /Dublin, /Rome, /Riga, /Vaduz, /Vilnius, /Luxembourg_City, /Valletta, /Chi%C8%99in%C4%83u, /Monaco, /Podgorica, /Amsterdam, /Skopje, /Oslo, /Warsaw, /Lisbon, /Bucharest, /Moscow, /City_of_San_Marino, /Belgrade, /Bratislava, /Ljubljana, /Madrid, /Stockholm, /Bern, /Ankara, /Kyiv and /London. Licence: own work
The drawing: Drawn for this site from Natural Earth 5.1.2, ne_50m_admin_0_countries_lakes (scale 1:50,000,000), https://raw.githubusercontent.com/nvkelso/natural-earth-vector/v5.1.2/geojson/ne_50m_admin_0_countries_lakes.geojson, downloaded 2026-09-19. Lambert azimuthal equal-area projection centred on 53°N 15°E. Outlines simplified; small islands are left out. 6 places are too small to draw at this scale and shown as a dot. Licence: public domain (Natural Earth terms of use: https://www.naturalearthdata.com/about/terms-of-use/)
How it works
Eastern Europe has no agreed edge, so this Eastern Europe capitals quiz states its list: the United Nations' 10, the 3 Baltic states, the 6 former Yugoslav republics and Albania. A country is named and lit, and you pick its capital.
Read the full guide
Which 20 countries count as Eastern Europe here
The United Nations list has 10: Belarus, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Moldova, Poland, Romania, Russia, Slovakia and Ukraine. Class lists often run longer, so this page adds Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, which the UN files under Northern Europe, and Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia and Slovenia, filed under Southern Europe.
Russia, Kaliningrad and the small shapes
No country here needs a ring, though Montenegro and North Macedonia are small, so pinch to zoom on a phone. Russia runs off the right edge of the frame, and the small shape between Poland and Lithuania is Kaliningrad, part of Russia.
Bucharest and Budapest are the classic swap. Bucharest is Romania's. Budapest is Hungary's, formed in 1873 when Buda, Pest and Óbuda were united.
Slovakia and Slovenia trade places too: Slovakia has Bratislava, on the Danube, and Slovenia, beside Italy, has Ljubljana.
The Baltic states run north to south in alphabetical order, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and their capitals follow: Tallinn, Riga, Vilnius.
Questions and answers
Why 20 countries when the United Nations lists 10?
No single definition of Eastern Europe exists, and the UN's statistical list is only one. School lists often add the Baltic states and the Balkans, so this page asks them too, 20 in all.
Which shapes in the frame are never asked?
Countries outside this page's list, such as Greece and Austria, are quiet background; the Europe capitals quiz asks them. Kosovo is drawn and is not a member state of the United Nations, so it is never asked or counted. Tapping one is not a miss.
Is it Kyiv or Kiev?
The label reads Kyiv, and a typed Kiev counts as well. Local names count too: Praha, Warszawa, Moskva, Beograd and Bucuresti. Accents never matter, so Chisinau is fine without its marks, and one slip in a longer name is forgiven.