Middle East Capitals Quiz

Pick the capital of each of 16 countries as it lights up on the map.

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Cyprus: which city does it name as its capital?

1 of 7

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Write the name of each numbered capital.Answer key

Manama
Nicosia
Cairo
Tehran
Baghdad
Jerusalem
Amman
Kuwait City
Beirut
Muscat
Doha
Riyadh
Damascus
Ankara
Abu Dhabi
Sanaa

Drawn for this site from Natural Earth 5.1.2. Licence: public domain.

Next step Next door: the 54 capitals of Africa, Egypt included Ready for harder questions? The hard geography quiz

All 16 capitals on the diagram

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Egypt, Turkey and the Levant 7

Nicosia Since the 10th century Nicosia, also called Lefkosia, has been Cyprus's capital. People have lived on the site for more than 5,500 years.
Cairo Cairo is Egypt's capital and largest city, on the Nile near the start of its delta. The city was founded in 969, near the older town of Fustat.
Jerusalem Israel's government sits in Jerusalem, and a 1980 Israeli law names it the capital. UN Security Council Resolution 478 declared that law null and void, and nearly all embassies are near Tel Aviv. Palestine names Jerusalem its capital too.
Amman Amman is Jordan's capital and its largest city. The Greeks renamed it Philadelphia in the 3rd century BC, and it was made the capital of Transjordan in 1921.
Beirut Beirut is Lebanon's capital and largest city, on a peninsula at the midpoint of the country's Mediterranean coast. People have lived there for over 5,000 years.
Damascus Damascus is Syria's capital and largest city, in the southwest, on a plateau 680 meters up. Few cities anywhere have been lived in for as long without a break.
Ankara Ankara became the capital of Turkey when the Republic was established on 29 October 1923. It sits in central Anatolia and is the second-largest city, after Istanbul.

Iraq, Iran and the Arabian Peninsula 9

Manama Manama, Bahrain's capital and largest city, is on the northeast coast of Bahrain Island. The country became independent in 1971.
Tehran Tehran is Iran's capital and largest city, at the foot of the Alborz mountains. It first became the capital in 1786.
Baghdad Baghdad is the capital and largest city of Iraq, on the banks of the Tigris. It was founded in 762 as the capital of the Abbasid Caliphate.
Kuwait City Kuwait City is Kuwait's capital and largest city, on the south shore of Kuwait Bay. It is the only capital on this page named after its country.
Muscat Muscat is Oman's capital and most populous city. It lies on the Gulf of Oman, and the Hajar Mountains dominate the view from the city.
Doha Doha, Qatar's capital and largest city, is on the east coast. It was founded in the 1820s and was declared the capital when Qatar became independent in 1971.
Riyadh Riyadh is the capital of Saudi Arabia and the largest city on the Arabian Peninsula. It sits in the east of the Najd plateau, about 600 meters above sea level.
Abu Dhabi Abu Dhabi is the capital of the United Arab Emirates, on a T-shaped island in the Persian Gulf. Only Dubai has more people among the country's cities.
Sanaa Sanaa is Yemen's capital in law and its largest city, about 2,300 meters up. During the civil war that began in 2014, the port of Aden has served as a temporary capital.

How this list was compiled: Capitals, and the notes on Jerusalem, Sanaa and Aden: 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 Western Asia list the country list starts from: 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 opening section of the city's own Wikipedia article, all checked 2026-09-19: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manama, /Nicosia, /Cairo, /Tehran, /Baghdad, /Jerusalem, /Tel_Aviv, /Amman, /Kuwait_City, /Beirut, /Muscat, /Doha, /Riyadh, /Damascus, /Ankara, /Abu_Dhabi, /Sanaa and /Aden. Jerusalem, re-read by the fixer in the raw wikitext of the same list on 2026-09-19: the Jerusalem row covers both Israel and Palestine, with Ramallah as the de facto seat for Palestine, so the Israel detail line now reports both declarations. 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 27°N 44°E. Outlines simplified; small islands are left out. Licence: public domain (Natural Earth terms of use: https://www.naturalearthdata.com/about/terms-of-use/)

How it works

This Middle East capitals quiz names a country, lights it on a map of the region and asks for its capital, such as Muscat or Amman. It asks 16 countries, from Egypt and Turkey to Iran and Yemen.

Read the full guide

Which 16 countries are asked

No official list of the Middle East exists, so this Middle East countries and capitals quiz states its own: the 16 member states of the United Nations with a shape to tap here. That is the UN's Western Asia list without Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia, plus Egypt and Iran.

Two rounds and two rings

Two sets split this Middle East capitals map quiz: Egypt, Turkey and the Levant (7 countries) and Iraq, Iran and the Arabian Peninsula (9). Bahrain and Cyprus are too small to tap, so each has a numbered ring. In Name it, pick from 4 choices or type the capital, and Sana'a counts for Sanaa.

Ankara and Abu Dhabi are the classic misses. Istanbul and Dubai are better known, and neither is a capital.
Learn the Gulf as a chain down the Arabian coast: Kuwait City, Manama on its island, Doha on its peninsula, then Abu Dhabi.

Questions and answers

Why 16 countries when the drawing has more shapes?

The quiz asks member states of the United Nations only. Two shapes on the drawing are not member states, so neither is asked or counted. Tap one in Find it and the quiz says so; it is not counted as a miss.

Why does the prompt say names as its capital?

A capital is something a state declares, and the quiz reports that. A 1980 Israeli law names Jerusalem the capital, UN Security Council Resolution 478 declared that law null and void, and Palestine, a UN observer state this page does not ask, names Jerusalem too.

Is this a Middle East cities map quiz too?

In part. All 16 cities are capitals, and the drawing marks countries, not city dots, so in Find it you tap the country a city belongs to. For a Middle East map quiz with capitals and no typing, choose Find it under More options.

Is there a Middle East and North Africa capitals quiz?

Not on one map yet. This page asks 16 capitals, Cairo among them. Algiers, Khartoum, Rabat, Tripoli and Tunis are the Northern Africa round of the Africa capitals quiz, so the two pages together cover the region.