One Capital per Letter (A–Z)

An alphabet lap around the world's capitals: name one capital city for each letter, A to Z. Naming any capital starting with the current letter lights up every country whose capital shares that initial.

It's the friendliest capitals mode — around two dozen answers instead of every capital on Earth — but a handful of letters will still catch you out. Everyone gets A (Abuja, Amman, Athens…); the run tends to stall on U, X, or Y.

How to play

• Type any capital city beginning with the shown letter — one valid answer clears the letter and lights up every country whose capital starts with it.
• The alphabet advances in order; the timer counts up, so a clean run is all about not blanking on the rare letters.
• Give up at any time to see which letters you missed.

What counts in this quiz

• Only sovereign-country capitals count — the same capitals used in the Name All Capital Cities mode.
• Micronations are left out, and any capital with the right initial counts; you never need a specific one.

What's not included — and why

• Territories and dependencies — Greenland belongs to the Kingdom of Denmark, Puerto Rico is a US territory, and Hong Kong is a special administrative region of China, so none of them are answers.
• Constituent countries — Curaçao is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, and England, Scotland, and Wales are parts of the United Kingdom, not sovereign states. Typing England or Scotland is credited to the United Kingdom.
• Unrecognized claimants beyond Taiwan and Kosovo — places like Somaliland or Transnistria lack broad international recognition, so they are not counted.

Good to know

• Vatican City is the smallest country in the world at about 0.44 square kilometers — the entire nation is smaller than many golf courses.
• South Sudan is the newest widely recognized country, gaining independence from Sudan in 2011.
• Kiribati is the only country that sits in all four hemispheres — it straddles both the equator and the 180th meridian.