50 Fun Facts About European Capital Cities

Which European capital is the world's northernmost capital of a sovereign state?

According to the Landnámabók, Iceland's settlement began there when Ingólfur Arnarson arrived in 874.

Which is the southernmost capital in Europe, covering just 0.61 square kilometres?

It is named after Jean Parisot de Valette, the Grand Master who held off the Ottomans in the Great Siege of Malta.

Malta's capital was built in the 16th century by which order?

The city's Royal Opera House was destroyed in the Second World War and never fully rebuilt.

Which country has no official capital, only a 'federal city' that acts as its de facto capital?

Bern is only Switzerland's fifth-largest city, behind Zurich, Geneva, Basel and Lausanne.

Bern's old town is surrounded by which river?

The Altstadt became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1983.

Which capital's name literally means 'Dam in the Amstel'?

The Dutch constitution names it as capital, but the government and parliament sit in The Hague.

Vaduz, capital of Liechtenstein, is not even the country's largest town. Which neighbouring town is bigger?

Vaduz Castle, on a hill above the town, is home to the reigning prince.

Which is the highest capital city in Europe, at 1,023 metres above sea level?

It sits high in the eastern Pyrenees and shares a border with Spain.

Budapest was formed in 1873 from Pest, the royal seat across the river, and which smaller town to the north?

Before that the towns were sometimes called 'Pest-Buda'.

Which two European capitals are the closest pair, only about 50 kilometres apart?

Bratislava is also the only national capital that borders two other sovereign states, Austria and Hungary.

Which national capital is the only one to have land borders with two other sovereign states?

It was known as Pressburg in German and Pozsony in Hungarian, and was the coronation city of Hungarian kings.

Which is the last divided capital in Europe?

The Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot communities split into south and north in 1964, and the line hardened after the 1974 Turkish invasion.

Bucharest stands on which river?

Bucharest is an enclave completely surrounded by Ilfov County.

Sofia was known by what name in antiquity, when it was conquered by the Romans in 29 BC?

The modern name comes from the Saint Sofia Church, from the Greek word for wisdom.

Chișinău, capital of Moldova, was formerly widely known by which Russian name?

The city hosts a national wine festival every October; Moldovan winemaking dates back at least 5,000 years.

Tallinn was known to most of the world by which name from the 13th century until the early 20th?

It is only 80 km south of Helsinki across the Gulf of Finland.

Which Art Nouveau-rich Baltic capital was European Capital of Culture in 2014?

Founded in 1201, it was a member of the Hanseatic League.

Which Baltic capital, the region's most populous city, lends its name to a Baroque style?

Its Old Town became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1994.

Until about 1930, Helsinki was generally known in English by which Swedish name?

It is still officially bilingual, with Finnish and Swedish as its two languages.

Oslo was called Christiania (later Kristiania) from 1624 until which year?

It had been renamed for Christian IV of Denmark, who rebuilt it after the fire of 1624; independent Norwegians thought a Danish king's name unsuitable.

Stockholm is built across how many islands?

It was founded as a city in 1252 by Birger Jarl.

Copenhagen is connected to which Swedish city by the Øresund Bridge?

The city sits mainly on Zealand, with a smaller part on the island of Amager.

Dublin stands at the mouth of which river?

After the 1800 Acts of Union it was briefly the second-largest city in the British Empire.

Warsaw became Poland's capital in 1596 when Sigismund III moved his court from which city?

Warsaw stands on the Vistula and its symbol is a mermaid.

Ljubljana's city symbol, seen on its castle tower and a famous bridge, is what creature?

In Roman times a city called Emona stood on the site.

Zagreb lies on which river?

The name Zagreb was first recorded in 1134, and it became a free royal city in 1242.

Which capital is nicknamed the 'Jerusalem of Europe' for its mosque, two churches and synagogue in one neighbourhood?

It sits along the Miljacka River, surrounded by the Dinaric Alps.

Belgrade stands at the confluence of the Danube and which other river?

Its name means 'White City'; the Celts who settled it after 279 BC called it Singidūn.

Podgorica, capital of Montenegro, was known by what name from 1946 to 1992?

It became capital of an independent Montenegro in 2006.

Skopje was founded as Scupi under which Roman emperor, then abandoned after an earthquake in 518?

It was rebuilt under Justinian I and later ruled by the Ottomans for over five centuries.

Tirana was founded in 1614 by which kind of ruler?

It is one of the sunniest cities in Europe, with about 2,544 hours of sun a year.

Which is the southernmost capital on the European mainland?

Scholars think the goddess Athena took her name from the city rather than the other way round.

Which capital is the seat of the Commonwealth of Independent States and the Eurasian Economic Union?

It stands on the Svislach and the now-underground Nyamiha rivers.

Kyiv straddles both banks of which river?

The name is said to come from Kyi, one of the city's four legendary founders.

Which is the most populous city lying entirely in Europe?

It was first documented in 1147.

Roughly what proportion of Luxembourg City's residents are foreign nationals?

It stands at the confluence of the Alzette and Pétrusse rivers.

Brussels-Capital Region forms an enclave inside which region of Belgium?

The Brussels-Capital Region comprises 19 municipalities; the City of Brussels itself is the national capital.

Monaco has the world's shortest coastline of any non-landlocked nation. How long is it?

Fewer than 10,000 of its 38,000 residents are Monégasque nationals.

The City of San Marino sits on the slopes of which mountain, the republic's highest point?

With about 4,100 people it is the fifth-least-populated national capital in the world.

Prague lies on which river?

It was the residence of Holy Roman Emperors Charles IV and Rudolf II.

Which is the second-oldest European capital city, after the Greek one?

Julius Caesar made it a municipium called Felicitas Julia.

Madrid lies on which river?

It began as a walled outpost of the Emirate of Córdoba in the 9th century.

Rome is unique among capitals for containing what within its city boundaries?

Rome is the third most populous city in the EU within its city limits.

Which capital has the highest population within its city limits of any city in the European Union?

It is also one of Germany's sixteen states, entirely surrounded by Brandenburg.

Germany's capital was built along the banks of which river?

About a third of the city is forest, parks and gardens.

Paris is divided into how many arrondissements?

Its nickname 'City of Light' owes partly to its role in the Enlightenment.

London's ancient core, founded by the Romans, was called what?

The national government sits not in the City but in the City of Westminster to its west.

Ankara officially replaced Constantinople as Turkey's capital on 13 October of which year?

Atatürk had set up his resistance headquarters in what was then Angora in 1920.

Yerevan traces its history to Erebuni, founded in 782 BC by a king of which ancient kingdom?

It has only been Armenia's capital since 1918 — the fourteenth in the country's history.

Tbilisi, capital of Georgia, was founded in the 5th century by which king?

From 1801 to 1917 it was the seat of the Russian Empire's Caucasus Viceroyalty.