How to play
- Press Start. You have 6 minutes for all 50 states, grouped by Census region with their capitals blank.
- Type a capital. It counts as soon as it matches and fills in next to its state, which turns green on the map with a dot on the city.
- Typing a state’s own name, or a big city that isn’t a capital, clears the box with a note, so you know to try again.
- When the time is up, the list shows the capitals you missed and the map shows their states in red.
About the state capitals
Most state capitals are not their state’s biggest or best-known city. Only 17 of the 50 are also the largest city in their state; in the others, the seat of government is a smaller city, often chosen in the 1700s or 1800s because it was near the middle of the state, on a river, or a compromise between rival towns. That is exactly what makes this quiz harder than it looks: the city you think of first is very often wrong.
The classic mix-ups are the famous cities of the big coastal states, where the capital is a smaller place upriver or inland. Several capitals share their name with a president, and a few city names are used by more than one state, only one of which made it the capital. One capital can’t be reached by road from the rest of the country at all.
Show the examples (gives some answers away)
New York’s capital is Albany, not New York City; California’s is Sacramento, not Los Angeles; Illinois’s is Springfield, not Chicago; Pennsylvania’s is Harrisburg, not Philadelphia; Florida’s is Tallahassee, not Miami; Texas’s is Austin, not Houston; and Washington’s is Olympia, not Seattle. Capitals named after presidents include Jackson, Jefferson City, Lincoln and Madison. Alaska’s capital, Juneau, has no road link to the rest of the state.
What counts
The capital of each of the 50 states. Capitals, accents and punctuation don’t matter, and “St” works for “Saint”. Where the word City can be dropped without any doubt about which city is meant, it’s optional, except where the rest of the name is the state’s own name.
Show the accepted alternative names (gives some answers away)
| State | Capital | Also accepted |
|---|---|---|
| Missouri | Jefferson City | Jefferson |
| Nevada | Carson City | Carson |
| Utah | Salt Lake City | Salt Lake |
Questions
Is the national capital a state capital?
No. The District of Columbia is a federal district, not a state, so it has no place in this list. Typing it tells you so and costs nothing.
Why doesn’t a state’s name count when its capital is named after it?
Because you would get the answer just by typing the state. Type the whole name of the city, including City.
Why is the largest state so small on the map?
To fit it in: it is shown in a box in the lower left at a reduced scale, with the island state in the box next to it.
Where are my scores kept?
Only in this browser. Nothing is sent anywhere, and clearing your browser’s site data removes them.
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