South Africa Biggest Cities Quiz — Rules & What Counts
South Africa counts its big cities as metropolitan municipalities, so Johannesburg, Cape Town, Durban and Pretoria each include their whole urban region.
The map shows South Africa alone, in detail. Each dot sits at the exact position of the city centre.
How to play
Each city is a red dot on the map from the start. The dots show where the cities are, not which one is which.
A numbered list on the left shows the ranks 1 to 10. Type the city names in any order.
You can start to type right away. You do not need to click the answer box first.
A correct name turns the dot and its rank green and shows the name and the population.
Local names, old names and English names count. Accents are not required.
A timer tracks your run. The quiz saves your best score and best time.
If you are stuck, use the give up button. The map then shows the cities you missed.
What counts in this quiz
Exactly 10 cities, ranked by population of the city with its municipality.
The figures are from 2022 census and are rounded.
Johannesburg is the biggest city with about 5.6M people.
What's not included — and why
Ekurhuleni, the East Rand metro of about four million people, is not an answer. It has no city of that name; Germiston and Benoni are its main towns.
Soweto is part of the City of Johannesburg and does not count on its own.
Good to know
South Africa has three capitals: Pretoria (executive), Cape Town (legislative) and Bloemfontein (judicial). All three are on the list.
Gqeberha was called Port Elizabeth until 2021. Both names count.
Johannesburg is the biggest city in the world that is not on a river, a lake or a coast.