Capital Cities of Africa — All 54 Countries

50 inventions in Africa

Africa has 54 sovereign countries in the country list used here, and each one has a capital city with its own legal, administrative, and geographic role. Some capitals are the largest city in the country. Some are not. A few hold the constitutional title while another city carries more day-to-day government or business activity. That is why a useful page on African capitals should do more than repeat names in a simple list.

This page covers all 54 African countries and their capitals in one place, similar to World Capitals — All Capital Cities in One Place. It also explains the capital cases that readers often find confusing, such as Porto-Novo and Cotonou in Benin, Yamoussoukro and Abidjan in Côte d’Ivoire, Dodoma and Dar es Salaam in Tanzania, Mbabane and Lobamba in Eswatini, and the three-capital arrangement used in South Africa. To make the list easier to learn, the page also groups capitals by UN subregion, shows selected population data where official statistical series are available, and points out naming patterns that help readers remember them correctly.

Full List of African Countries and Capitals

The table below lists every African country in this 54-country set, its capital city, and its UN subregion.

Africa by UN Subregion

Grouping capitals by subregion makes the full list easier to read and easier to remember. In the UN country grouping used here, Africa is divided into five subregions: Northern, Western, Middle, Eastern, and Southern Africa.

Eastern Africa has the largest country count in this grouping, while Southern Africa has the smallest. Western Africa also has a large share of the continent’s population, which helps explain why its capital list appears so often in school geography, quiz sets, and exam material.

Capital Status and Government Location

Not every capital works in the same way. In some African countries, the constitutional capital and the main business city are different. In a few cases, more than one city shares national functions. This is one of the most useful things to understand if you want more than a memorized list.

Benin: Porto-Novo and Cotonou

Porto-Novo is the official capital of Benin. Cotonou is the city most people encounter first because it is the larger economic and administrative center. This difference causes frequent confusion in maps, school materials, and casual reference pages. For a country-and-capital list, Porto-Novo is the correct answer.

Côte d’Ivoire: Yamoussoukro and Abidjan

Yamoussoukro is the capital of Côte d’Ivoire. Abidjan remains the country’s leading business city and a major administrative location. Readers often assume Abidjan is still the capital because of its size and visibility, but official capital lists use Yamoussoukro.

South Africa: Pretoria, Cape Town, and Bloemfontein

South Africa uses a three-city arrangement for national functions. Pretoria is the administrative capital and is the capital city used in country-and-capital lists. Cape Town is the legislative capital, and Bloemfontein is the judicial capital. That makes South Africa the best-known special case on any African capitals page.

Eswatini: Mbabane and Lobamba

Mbabane is the administrative capital of Eswatini and is the capital used in reference lists. Lobamba is the legislative and royal seat. Because both cities hold national functions, many readers meet both names and are unsure which one belongs in a capital table. In standard country-capital lists, Mbabane is the answer.

Tanzania: Dodoma and Dar es Salaam

Dodoma is the capital of Tanzania. Dar es Salaam remains the country’s largest city and its leading port and commercial center. That gap between legal capital status and urban weight makes Tanzania one of the most common capital mistakes in Africa quizzes and school tests.

Burundi: Gitega and Bujumbura

Gitega is the capital of Burundi. Older books and websites may still show Bujumbura, which was the earlier capital. Bujumbura is still the largest city and an economic center, so outdated material can keep the older answer alive. Updated capital lists use Gitega.

Nigeria: Abuja and Lagos

Abuja is the capital of Nigeria. Lagos is the larger and more widely known urban center, which is why many people guess Lagos first. Abuja was chosen to serve as a more central federal capital. For any current list of African countries and capitals, Abuja is correct.

Technical Data on African Capitals

Capital-city population data is useful, but it needs careful reading. Official datasets do not always use the same city boundary, the same census year, or the same urban definition. A capital can be counted as a municipality, a metropolitan area, or an urban agglomeration. That means population tables help you compare scale, but they do not create a perfect one-to-one ranking across all 54 capitals.

The sample below uses official statistical series that appear in UN country data profiles. It gives a practical sense of how wide the size range is, from very large metropolitan capitals to small constitutional capitals.

What These Figures Show

The table makes one point very clear: capital status does not always follow city size. Cairo, Kinshasa, Luanda, Addis Ababa, and Nairobi are large urban capitals with broad national weight. Porto-Novo, Dodoma, Yamoussoukro, and Mbabane show the other pattern. They hold legal or administrative capital status, but they are not the country’s largest city or only center of national activity.

Why Population Comparisons Need Care

Some countries count a core city. Others count a wider metro or urban area. Some population series reflect a recent census, while others rest on an older benchmark adjusted forward. That is why a capital population table should be treated as technical context, not as a final ranking rule for every comparison.

Names, Spellings, and City Pairs

African capitals often appear in several spelling traditions because the continent includes Arabic, English, French, Portuguese, Swahili, and many other language settings. A strong capitals page should recognize official modern country names and the city names that readers actually search for.

Official Country Forms Matter

• Cabo Verde is the official country form, though many readers still search for Cape Verde.
• Côte d’Ivoire is the official form used in many formal lists, even though Ivory Coast remains common in informal English writing.
• São Tomé and Príncipe uses Portuguese diacritics, and its capital is São Tomé.
• Eswatini is the modern country name that replaced Swaziland in current usage.

City and Country Names That Look Similar

• Djibouti is both the country name and the capital city name.
• São Tomé is the capital city, while São Tomé and Príncipe is the country.
• Congo and Democratic Republic of the Congo are different countries with different capitals: Brazzaville and Kinshasa.

The Brazzaville and Kinshasa Pair

Brazzaville and Kinshasa form one of the most memorable capital pairs in the world. They stand on opposite banks of the Congo River and belong to two different sovereign states. Brazzaville is the capital of Congo, and Kinshasa is the capital of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Readers often mix up the two countries first, then mix up the two capitals. Learning them together is the easiest fix.

Diplomatic Capitals in Africa

Addis Ababa and Nairobi appear often in international material because both have strong diplomatic visibility. Addis Ababa hosts the headquarters of the African Union and has long been tied to continental diplomacy. Nairobi is home to the United Nations Office at Nairobi and also hosts the headquarters of UNEP and UN-Habitat. Neither fact changes the basic country-capital answer, but both help explain why these two capitals stand out far beyond school geography lists.

Northern Africa Capitals

Northern Africa has six sovereign countries in this list. Its capitals include some of the best-known urban centers in the Arab world and the Mediterranean basin.

Algeria — Algiers

Algiers is the capital of Algeria. It sits on the Mediterranean coast and serves as the country’s political center and largest city. In regional geography, Algiers is often remembered as a classic North African coastal capital with a major port role as well as national administrative functions.

Egypt — Cairo

Cairo is the capital of Egypt. It stands on the Nile and is one of the largest urban centers in Africa and the wider Middle East. Because of Egypt’s population size and cultural reach, Cairo is one of the most recognized capital names on the continent.

Libya — Tripoli

Tripoli is the capital of Libya. It is a Mediterranean coastal city and the country’s leading political center. On capital lists, Tripoli is one of the easier North African capitals to remember because it is also the country’s most widely known urban name.

Morocco — Rabat

Rabat is the capital of Morocco. Many readers first think of Casablanca, but Casablanca is the country’s leading economic city, not the capital. Rabat holds the capital role and anchors the administrative side of national government.

Sudan — Khartoum

Khartoum is the capital of Sudan. It is known for its location at the meeting point of the Blue Nile and the White Nile. That river geography makes Khartoum one of the easiest African capitals to place on a map.

Tunisia — Tunis

Tunis is the capital of Tunisia. The capital and country names are closely linked in sound, which makes Tunis one of the simpler capitals to memorize. It is the country’s political center and a major city near the Mediterranean coast.

Western Africa Capitals

Western Africa has 16 countries in this list, more than any other subregion except Eastern Africa. Its capitals include coastal ports, inland river cities, and capitals whose names appear often in Francophone, Anglophone, and Lusophone Africa.

Benin — Porto-Novo

Porto-Novo is the capital of Benin. It carries the constitutional capital title, even though Cotonou is more visible in trade, administration, and daily national life. This is one of the first African capital facts students often need to correct.

Burkina Faso — Ouagadougou

Ouagadougou is the capital of Burkina Faso. It is an inland capital and the country’s main political center. Its long name makes it memorable, and it appears often in world capitals quizzes for that reason alone.

Cabo Verde — Praia

Praia is the capital of Cabo Verde. The city lies on Santiago Island and serves as the political center of this Atlantic island state. Because the country is insular, Praia is also an island capital, which helps place it in memory alongside other African island capitals.

Côte d’Ivoire — Yamoussoukro

Yamoussoukro is the capital of Côte d’Ivoire. Abidjan is still the country’s leading commercial city and remains more visible in many business and travel contexts. For country-capital accuracy, Yamoussoukro is the right entry.

Gambia — Banjul

Banjul is the capital of Gambia. It stands near the mouth of the Gambia River and reflects the country’s narrow river-based geography. Readers sometimes assume the capital must be a much larger inland city, but Banjul is the correct answer.

Ghana — Accra

Accra is the capital of Ghana. It is a coastal capital on the Gulf of Guinea and one of the most widely recognized city names in West Africa. In many modern reference lists, Accra also stands out as a business, media, and diplomatic city.

Guinea — Conakry

Conakry is the capital of Guinea. It is a coastal capital on the Atlantic side of West Africa. The city is the country’s main political and port center, which makes it easier to remember as both national capital and major urban hub.

Guinea-Bissau — Bissau

Bissau is the capital of Guinea-Bissau. The capital name is shorter and easier than the full country name, but many readers still mix it up with nearby Guinea and its capital, Conakry. Keeping the two countries together in study sets helps avoid that mistake.

Liberia — Monrovia

Monrovia is the capital of Liberia. It is an Atlantic coastal city and the country’s main administrative center. Because the city is also the best-known urban name in Liberia, it is usually one of the easier West African capitals to learn.

Mali — Bamako

Bamako is the capital of Mali. It lies on the Niger River and serves as the country’s main political and urban center. Bamako appears often in African geography because it combines river location, inland setting, and national capital status in one city.

Mauritania — Nouakchott

Nouakchott is the capital of Mauritania. It is a coastal city on the Atlantic edge of the Sahara zone and functions as the country’s political center. Its name is distinctive, which helps readers separate Mauritania from neighboring Mali and Senegal.

Niger — Niamey

Niamey is the capital of Niger. It stands on the Niger River and is the country’s main political city. Niger and Nigeria are frequently confused by readers, so linking Niger with Niamey and Nigeria with Abuja is a useful memory pair.

Nigeria — Abuja

Abuja is the capital of Nigeria. The city was chosen as a federal capital in a central location rather than keeping the capital in Lagos. That makes Abuja one of the clearest examples in Africa of a purpose-built or planned national capital.

Senegal — Dakar

Dakar is the capital of Senegal. It sits on the Cap-Vert Peninsula and is one of the best-known Atlantic capitals in Africa. Dakar is also one of the easiest capitals to place on a map because of its far-west coastal position.

Sierra Leone — Freetown

Freetown is the capital of Sierra Leone. It is a coastal capital with a deep harbor and remains the country’s central administrative city. Its English name makes it highly recognizable in global geography lists.

Togo — Lomé

Lomé is the capital of Togo. It is a coastal city on the Gulf of Guinea and an active national port. Because Togo is narrow and coastal, Lomé is often remembered as a compact state’s coastal capital rather than an inland political seat.

Middle Africa Capitals

Middle Africa includes nine countries in the UN grouping used here. The subregion contains some of the continent’s best-known river capitals and one of its clearest island-capital cases.

Angola — Luanda

Luanda is the capital of Angola. It is a large Atlantic capital and one of the biggest urban centers on the African west coast. In country-capital study, Luanda is worth noting not only for its status but also for its scale.

Cameroon — Yaoundé

Yaoundé is the capital of Cameroon. Douala is the country’s larger port and business city, so Yaoundé is sometimes missed by readers who assume the largest city must be the capital. In formal country lists, the capital is Yaoundé.

Central African Republic — Bangui

Bangui is the capital of the Central African Republic. It lies on the Ubangi River and serves as the country’s main political center. Its river setting is a useful map clue for anyone learning Central African capitals.

Chad — N’Djamena

N’Djamena is the capital of Chad. It stands on the Chari River in the western part of the country. Its spelling is distinctive and easy to remember once seen a few times, which helps it stand out in any full Africa capitals list.

Congo — Brazzaville

Brazzaville is the capital of Congo. The city sits on the north bank of the Congo River directly across from Kinshasa. Because the neighboring capital pair is so unusual, Brazzaville is one of the most memorable capitals in the world.

Democratic Republic of the Congo — Kinshasa

Kinshasa is the capital of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It is one of Africa’s largest capitals and occupies the south bank of the Congo River opposite Brazzaville. Many readers shorten the country name to DRC, but the capital remains Kinshasa in every formal list.

Equatorial Guinea — Malabo

Malabo is the capital of Equatorial Guinea. The capital is located on Bioko Island, which makes it an island capital rather than a mainland one. That is a helpful fact because many readers assume the capital should be on the mainland portion of the country.

Gabon — Libreville

Libreville is the capital of Gabon. It is an Atlantic coastal capital and the country’s main political center. In many world geography lists, Libreville stands out as one of the best-known French-language capital names in Central Africa.

São Tomé and Príncipe — São Tomé

São Tomé is the capital of São Tomé and Príncipe. The city name repeats the first part of the country name, which makes it easy to remember once the full country form is clear. As an island capital, São Tomé belongs in the small but useful group of African capitals outside the mainland.

Eastern Africa Capitals

Eastern Africa has 18 countries in this list, the highest subregional count. Its capitals include highland cities, island capitals, large diplomatic hubs, and several capitals that are often confused with older or larger urban centers.

Burundi — Gitega

Gitega is the capital of Burundi. Older material may still show Bujumbura, but updated reference lists use Gitega. This is one of the clearest examples of why readers should rely on current country-capital data rather than old school charts.

Comoros — Moroni

Moroni is the capital of Comoros. It is located on Grande Comore, also known as Ngazidja, and functions as the political center of this island state in the Indian Ocean. Because Comoros is an island country, Moroni is best learned together with Victoria, Port Louis, and Praia.

Djibouti — Djibouti

Djibouti is the capital of Djibouti. The city and country share the same name, which makes it simple once remembered and easy to confuse if you are seeing it for the first time. It is also an important port city on the Horn of Africa.

Eritrea — Asmara

Asmara is the capital of Eritrea. It is a highland capital rather than a coastal one, which surprises some readers because Eritrea itself has a Red Sea coastline. Asmara stands out in African geography for its altitude and inland setting.

Ethiopia — Addis Ababa

Addis Ababa is the capital of Ethiopia. It is one of the most visible diplomatic cities in Africa because it hosts the African Union and has long served as a continental meeting point. In capital lists, Addis Ababa combines national capital status with strong regional and international presence.

Kenya — Nairobi

Nairobi is the capital of Kenya. It is a large inland city in the highlands and one of Africa’s most internationally known capitals. Nairobi also hosts major UN offices, which adds to its visibility in global news, development, and environmental work.

Madagascar — Antananarivo

Antananarivo is the capital of Madagascar. It sits in the central highlands rather than on the coast. Because Madagascar is an island but its capital is inland, Antananarivo is a good reminder that island countries do not always place the capital at the main seaport.

Malawi — Lilongwe

Lilongwe is the capital of Malawi. It serves as the administrative center, while Blantyre remains a major commercial city. This makes Malawi another example where the capital and the leading business city are not the same place.

Mauritius — Port Louis

Port Louis is the capital of Mauritius. The name itself signals its port role, and the city is the political and commercial center of the island state. Among African capitals, Port Louis is one of the easiest to place in the Indian Ocean group.

Mozambique — Maputo

Maputo is the capital of Mozambique. It lies in the far south of the country on the coast and serves as the national political center and a major port. In map study, its southern position helps separate it from inland capitals such as Lilongwe, Lusaka, and Harare.

Rwanda — Kigali

Kigali is the capital of Rwanda. It is centrally located within the country and functions as the main administrative and service hub. Kigali is often remembered for its neat geographic position and its role as the country’s primary urban center.

Seychelles — Victoria

Victoria is the capital of Seychelles. It is located on Mahé and is one of the smallest national capitals in Africa. The city is easy to remember because Seychelles is an island state and Victoria is its clear political center.

Somalia — Mogadishu

Mogadishu is the capital of Somalia. It is a coastal capital on the Indian Ocean and the country’s main port city. Its long historical visibility in maps and world affairs makes it one of the better-known capital names in the Horn of Africa.

South Sudan — Juba

Juba is the capital of South Sudan. It is located on the White Nile and functions as the country’s central administrative city. For many learners, linking Juba with South Sudan and Khartoum with Sudan helps keep the two states separate.

Tanzania — Dodoma

Dodoma is the capital of Tanzania. Dar es Salaam is the better-known urban center, so Dodoma is often missed in older or casual lists. A reliable Africa capitals page should always mark Dodoma as the capital and note why readers still encounter Dar es Salaam so often.

Uganda — Kampala

Kampala is the capital of Uganda. It lies in the country’s central region near Lake Victoria and serves as the main political and urban center. Kampala is one of the more familiar capital names in East African geography and often appears with Nairobi, Kigali, and Addis Ababa in regional study.

Zambia — Lusaka

Lusaka is the capital of Zambia. It is an inland capital on the south-central plateau and is the country’s leading administrative city. In memory work, Lusaka pairs well with nearby inland capitals such as Harare, Gaborone, and Windhoek.

Zimbabwe — Harare

Harare is the capital of Zimbabwe. It is the country’s largest city and main administrative center. Because the capital and the largest city are the same in this case, Harare is easier to learn than capitals that compete with a more visible economic city.

Southern Africa Capitals

Southern Africa has five countries in this grouping. Its capitals are especially useful for learning because they include one three-capital state, one dual-function system, and several inland capitals near national borders or central corridors.

Botswana — Gaborone

Gaborone is the capital of Botswana. It lies close to the border with South Africa and serves as the country’s political and administrative center. Among Southern African capitals, Gaborone is one of the clearest examples of a modern inland administrative city.

Eswatini — Mbabane

Mbabane is the capital used in standard lists for Eswatini because it is the administrative capital. Lobamba holds legislative and royal functions, which explains why two city names often appear together in country descriptions. For a capital table, Mbabane is the entry to use.

Lesotho — Maseru

Maseru is the capital of Lesotho. It lies near the border with South Africa and serves as the country’s main political and urban center. Since Lesotho is fully surrounded by South Africa, Maseru is often remembered together with that geographic fact.

Namibia — Windhoek

Windhoek is the capital of Namibia. It is centrally placed and functions as the main administrative hub in a large, sparsely populated country. That central location is one reason Windhoek works well as a national capital.

South Africa — Pretoria

Pretoria is the capital city used in country-and-capital lists for South Africa because it is the administrative capital. Cape Town is the legislative capital, and Bloemfontein is the judicial capital. No African capitals page feels complete unless it explains this arrangement clearly and simply.

Patterns That Make African Capitals Easier to Learn

A full list is useful, but patterns are what make it stick. African capitals become easier to remember once you sort them by geography, function, and naming style.

Coastal Capitals

Many African capitals lie on or near the coast. Examples include Algiers, Tripoli, Tunis, Rabat, Accra, Conakry, Monrovia, Dakar, Lomé, Luanda, Libreville, Djibouti, Mogadishu, Maputo, Port Louis, Victoria, and Praia. Coastal capitals often grew around ports, trade routes, or older administrative centers connected to sea access.

Inland Capitals

A large group of capitals are inland political centers rather than seaports. Abuja, Bamako, Niamey, Ouagadougou, Yaoundé, Bangui, Kigali, Kampala, Lusaka, Harare, Windhoek, Gaborone, Addis Ababa, Asmara, Antananarivo, and Dodoma all fit this pattern. Inland capitals often sit closer to the national interior or along older land routes and plateaus.

Island Capitals

African island capitals form a smaller, easy-to-review set: Praia in Cabo Verde, Moroni in Comoros, Port Louis in Mauritius, Victoria in Seychelles, Malabo in Equatorial Guinea, and São Tomé in São Tomé and Príncipe. This is one of the best memory clusters in the full Africa capitals list because the group is compact and visually distinct.

Capitals That Are Not the Largest City

Several African capitals do not dominate their country by size or business weight. Porto-Novo, Yamoussoukro, Dodoma, Gitega, Lilongwe, Yaoundé, Mbabane, and Pretoria all make more sense once readers accept that a capital city is a legal or administrative designation, not a prize for being the largest urban center.

Country Names Often Confused With Each Other

• Niger — Niamey and Nigeria — Abuja
• Congo — Brazzaville and Democratic Republic of the Congo — Kinshasa
• Guinea — Conakry and Guinea-Bissau — Bissau
• Sudan — Khartoum and South Sudan — Juba

These pairings cause many wrong answers in schoolwork and search behavior. Seeing them side by side is one of the fastest ways to fix the confusion.

Questions Readers Often Ask

How Many Countries Are in Africa?

This page uses a 54-country list of sovereign African states. That is the number readers usually expect when they search for all African countries and capitals in a single reference page.

What Is the Capital of South Africa?

In standard country-capital lists, the answer is Pretoria. South Africa also has Cape Town as the legislative capital and Bloemfontein as the judicial capital, but Pretoria is the city used as the capital entry in most general reference lists.

Is Abidjan the Capital of Côte d’Ivoire?

No. Yamoussoukro is the capital. Abidjan is the country’s leading commercial city and remains much more visible in everyday international use, which is why the mistake is so common.

Is Cotonou the Capital of Benin?

No. Porto-Novo is the official capital of Benin. Cotonou is the larger and more active economic and administrative center, so many casual lists get this wrong or leave the distinction unexplained.

What Is the Newer Capital Answer for Burundi?

Gitega is the current capital used in updated reference material. Older sources may still show Bujumbura, which is why Burundi needs extra care in school notes and published capital lists.

Are All African Capitals the Biggest City in the Country?

No. Several are not. Abuja is not Nigeria’s largest city. Dodoma is not Tanzania’s largest city. Yamoussoukro is not Côte d’Ivoire’s largest city. Porto-Novo is not Benin’s largest city. Capital status and city size often move on separate tracks.

Which African Capitals Have Strong Diplomatic Visibility?

Addis Ababa and Nairobi stand out most in this respect. Addis Ababa is tied closely to continental diplomacy through the African Union. Nairobi hosts major UN offices and is one of the most visible international cities in Africa.

Which African Capitals Are on Islands?

Praia, Moroni, Port Louis, Victoria, Malabo, and São Tomé are the clearest island-capital set in Africa. Learning them together is much easier than learning them as isolated answers.

Which Capital Pair Is the Most Unusual in Africa?

Brazzaville and Kinshasa are the pair most readers remember because the two capitals face each other across the Congo River. They belong to different countries: Congo and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.