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Former Countries by Capital

Based on the time period and capital, can you guess these former countries and empires?
Time periods correspond to the capital city, not necessarily the country as a whole
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Quizmaster
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Last updated: December 10, 2019
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First submittedMarch 3, 2013
Times taken127,179
Average score66.7%
Rating4.45
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When
Capital
Country
1918–1992
Belgrade
Yugoslavia
1918–1992
Prague
Czechoslovakia
1922–1991
Moscow
Soviet Union
1945–1990
East Berlin
East Germany
1955–1975
Saigon
South Vietnam
1912–1951
Lhasa
Tibet
1907–1949
St. John's
Newfoundland
1453–1923
Istanbul
Ottoman Empire
1854–1902
Bloemfontein
Orange Free State
When
Capital
Country
1845–1893
Honolulu
Hawaii
1701–1871
Berlin
Prussia
1861–1865
Richmond
Confederate States
of America
1839–1846
Austin
Texas
1452–1707
Edinburgh
Scotland
1526–1648
Agra
Mughal Empire
1438–1533
Cuzco
Incan Empire
1428–1521
Tenochtitlan
Aztec Empire
330–1453
Constantinople
Byzantine Empire
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101 Recent Comments
hwes
+6
Level 89
Apr 18, 2015
Newfoundland was a self governing dominion in the same manner as Australia, New Zealand and Canada and thus independent in the same way as the above countries. During the depression, it lost its self government due to insolvency and was ruled directly by the UK and in the post war era it joined Canada.
Quizmaster
+1
Level ∞
Apr 25, 2015
Exactly!
Jerry928
+2
Level 76
Jun 9, 2019
... although it remained a dominion until 1949, when it merged with Canada.
Dimby
+4
Level 83
Nov 19, 2021
... although Canada was also technically a dominion at this time, too.
shaleemarina
+4
Level 47
May 7, 2015
Hi everyone,

I'm french and i'm great fan to this game!

In2restingFacts
+2
Level 27
May 8, 2025
rare instance of a French person enjoying something
goosegirl
+2
Level 58
Jul 29, 2015
Can you accept Southern Vietnam and Eastern Germany please? I was so confused as to why I wasn't getting them right.
Baltimorean
+5
Level 66
Jul 29, 2015
Neither "Eastern Germany" nor "Southern Vietnam" is correct. Those seemingly small details are significant: "Northern Ireland" means something different than "North Ireland," for example. Likewise "South America" and "Southern America," although Bo Diddley used to have fun with that distinction--listen to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oh8tn4JmU4g at around 1:35.
Sifhraven
+1
Level 76
Feb 3, 2019
You can give "examples" but it is basically the same thing every time. It doesnt make it clearer or explain anything.
QRU
+8
Level 77
Jun 9, 2019
In short: "eastern" or "southern" refer to topographic attributes ("being in the east of Germany"), while East Germany and South Vietnam a historic names of specific countries.
cookjp
+6
Level 53
Jul 29, 2015
Roman, Eastern Roman, or Byzantine empire should all count, specifically Roman, considering all residents of the empire considered themselves just Romans.
SupBroDude
+1
Level 56
Nov 23, 2024
yeah... but everyone knew it as the eastern Roman empire at it's founding, since there was a western Roman empire as well
epicdjyoshi
+1
Level 55
Aug 2, 2015
Didn't get them all. Put Richmond as Virginia, St John's as Antigua and Barbuda (which I know is independent) and bloemfontein as the boer republic, which was pretty close
Algernon
+1
Level 74
Jul 25, 2016
Good quiz
kleiner
+1
Level 56
Nov 9, 2016
Never knew about Newfoundland... Good to learn!
Jack154
+1
Level 52
Jan 21, 2017
Please accept Confederate.
catlover2496
+1
Level 43
Jan 21, 2017
I did not expect Tibet!!!!
WillemLAif
+1
Level 81
Sep 6, 2018
Nobody did. It wasn't even recognized. A bit like Transnistria these days, but with even less recognition. But hey, politics.
bizarre
+7
Level 73
Jun 14, 2020
Unlikely that Incan and Aztec empires had international recognition in its contemporary sense either. Surely that cannot be a criterium in a history quiz.
CardinalSin
+10
Level 82
Sep 29, 2018
I didn't expect the Spanish Inquisition!
sumguy
+4
Level 87
Jan 25, 2017
While Newfoundland did give up self rule in 1934, it didn't officially stop being the Dominion of Newfoundland until 1949. It 'de facto' ended in 1934, but 'de jure' ended in 1949.
benep79
+1
Level 46
Dec 7, 2018
Hey!

Great quiz but can you change so that DDR can be accepted as an answer to Berlin

Quizmaster
+1
Level ∞
Jun 8, 2019
Okay
Sifhraven
+1
Level 76
Dec 7, 2018
ok I so sucked at this one, I typed so many different countries...

Even though I did start with soviet union, after that I only typed excisitng countries and didnt think about old countries anymore.

Like, I typed czechia and slovakia...

And turkey, peru, mexico, ddr,westgermany, vietnam, north and south korea, south africa etc...

TheLastFish
+1
Level 71
Jun 8, 2019
Why add only Scotland as a former country? England also lost its sovereignity in 1707 and this fact would definitively confuse some quizzers. ;-)
dunkinggandalf2
+1
Level 72
Dec 12, 2023
I agree. Adding England instead of Scotland would be fun!
xyzzy
+1
Level 72
Jun 9, 2019
Yugoslavia ceased to exist in 2003.
Djilas
+2
Level 86
Jul 5, 2019
That was a different country.
OfficerDibble
+3
Level 86
Jun 10, 2019
Scotland is still a country, albeit one that is also part of a larger nation (which is the one that is considered a sovereign state). I wouldn't remove it, but I'd put a caveat in.
FolgoreCZ
+8
Level 59
Jul 22, 2020
Why? Everyone on this site exept nitpickers knows that "country" means the same as "sovereing state" but is easier and faster to write.
OfficerDibble
+2
Level 86
Nov 17, 2021
Because the nitpickers are right, and this site, quite reasonably given its nature, chooses to pander to nitpickers and pedants in most areas. But not this one.
dunkinggandalf2
+8
Level 72
Dec 12, 2023
There's a difference between "nitpicking" and being wrong. Scotland is not a country in the same way all the other ones are - and those "nitpickers" who genuinely don't know it need to learn it. Scotland is a region of the UK. The fact that the UK calls its regions "countries" is irrelevant.
dunkinggandalf2
+6
Level 72
Dec 12, 2023
By the way: Germany also calls its regions "federal countries" (Bundesländer). You don't see Germans on here arguing that Lower Saxony is a country.
In2restingFacts
+1
Level 27
May 8, 2025
give them a minute and they'll show up
IsleAuHaulte
+3
Level 92
Jun 14, 2019
As a busy industry mogul I wasted too much of my valuable time tinkering with arbitrary spelling restrictions on what you see only as the "Mughal" Empire.
gorbachor
+1
Level 46
Jul 31, 2020
I agree, I came to say that Mogul should be accepted because... That's where the word comes from.
Goofster
+1
Level 51
Feb 10, 2021
Agreed. I tried Mogul. More than once. Possibly hitting the keypad harder each time... It is a correct spelling.
NJR
+2
Level 59
Jul 1, 2019
Found St John's difficult as I couldn't get past the current capital of Antigua.
Sheriff25
+1
Level 86
Jul 1, 2019
There are different acceptable spellings for 'Mughal'.
GLE68
+3
Level 42
Jul 1, 2019
So I live in St. John's NL and I tried EVERY different permutation of Antigua & Barbuda I could think of before giving up and never getting the answer.

Shenanigans.

kalbahamut
+1
Level 79
Jul 1, 2019
Why did the points reset? I don't notice any changes from the last version.
kalbahamut
+1
Level 79
Jul 1, 2019
oh.. you must have added Agra/Mughal Empire for one thing. I had put that on my unofficial sequel before that's why it looked familiar. Was there something you took off?
TheAlternateNY
+1
Level 69
Jul 1, 2019
Typed Boer Free State, didnt work :(
steelpenguin9
+5
Level 83
Jul 1, 2019
Please allow for more spellings of Mughal. I tried Moghul and that didn't work. Thanks.
coxbury
+2
Level 57
Jul 1, 2019
Agree that you should have accepted different aspellings of Moghul/Mogul; Mughlai; etc. It is after all a change in transliteration

Hmm - Mughlai might be a type of curry? Oh well!

DW

dogmeat
+2
Level 69
Jul 1, 2019
+1
camus
+1
Level 80
Dec 4, 2019
Seconded.
TheRatmeister
+5
Level 95
Jul 1, 2019
The Byzantine Empire was not politically separate from the Eastern Roman Empire, and therefore the Roman Empire, so

"Rome" or at least "Roman Empire" should work.

Uncle2fire
+1
Level 55
Jul 1, 2019
Can you please accept German Democratic Republic? I tried DDR, and then the English translation of the name before I tried East Germany.
xyzzy
+1
Level 72
Jul 1, 2019
DDR works.
explorer
+1
Level 49
Jul 1, 2019
Tibet has never being an independent country, Tibet has been part of China for hundreds of years, but has had and still has some level of autonomy. The "state" what is probably referred here was self proclaimed independence after Qing empire collapsed 1912 until Chinese regained the control after Tibetan theocratic leaders refused to abolish serfdom, in which most Tibetans lived in the most horrific conditions without any human rights. There was no single foreign country, who recognized this "independence", therefore it was never sovereign and thus not independent.
kalbahamut
+8
Level 79
Jul 3, 2019
Sovereignty does not depend on international recognition.
JonOfKent
+1
Level 61
Jan 12, 2026
It also doesn't depend on whether the system of government is nice for its inhabitants or not.
amm14
+10
Level 68
Jul 11, 2019
How are their human rights doing now?
Dimby
+7
Level 83
Nov 19, 2021
That's only what the Chinese government wants you to think, explorer.
MysteriousUnknow
+1
Level 33
Apr 23, 2026
In addition to all of the above, Tibet was an independent country for a long time before China invaded them, controlling at points the entire Tibetan plateau, and even stretching down into Bengal.
2Guys1Cat
+1
Level 15
Jul 2, 2019
You could do a part 2 of this as well, for example Kumasi was the Capital of the Ashanti Empire.
kalbahamut
+1
Level 79
Jul 4, 2019
I made a part 2, linked above.
pollypops
+2
Level 67
Oct 15, 2019
Scotland is still a country!
Quizmaster
+2
Level ∞
Oct 15, 2019
Not an independent one as I'm sure you are aware.
Bubblegum
+4
Level 69
Jan 4, 2020
I believe, neither the title (it just says “former countries”) and nor the caveat give any hint to that. In contrast to Tibet (for example), which is regarded as an autonomous region of the People’s Republic of China, Scotland is still considered a country (although not a sovereign state) which is a part of the United Kingdom of England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland. This is probably because the latter, unlike Tibet, never lost its independence on account of an annexation, but through a political union that created the Great Britain and subsequently the United Kingdom.
Sifhraven
+2
Level 76
Jan 31, 2020
Agreed, it simply says former country, not former independent country.
dunkinggandalf2
+1
Level 72
Dec 12, 2023
Scotland is not a country - it's at best a "constituent country", which is a completely different thing. I'm all for Scottish independence, but Scots actually need to get this done - don't believe English propaganda that tries to tell you you're essentially already there.
JonOfKent
+2
Level 61
Jan 12, 2026
I can only assume you've never been to Scotland... what do you think Scots call Scotland, if not a country??
svelte
+1
Level 50
Jan 31, 2020
Can you accept Mogul for Mughal?
JackintheBox
+1
Level 82
Dec 28, 2020
Yes please!
Yeoryios
+2
Level 71
Nov 9, 2020
It was called Yugoslavia even until the 2000s, though was just Serbia and Montenegro. The hint is still wrong, though.

Istanbul was officially called Constantinople in the Ottoman Empire.

And allow Rome/Roman Empire for Byzantine.

MysteriousUnknow
+1
Level 33
Apr 23, 2026
Both Istanbul and Kostantiniyye were used for the city within the Ottoman Empire.
Myloufa
+1
Level 65
Nov 17, 2021
I don't know where that 1934 date for Newfoundland came from... The existed until 1949 when they became a canadian province. 1949 is the correct date.
Dimby
+1
Level 83
Nov 19, 2021
You are wrong. I mean, Google it before putting up a correction. Anyway, the reason you are confused is that Newfoundland was independent, went bankrupt, and asked Great Britain for help. Britain took over Newfoundland's government and it became a British dependency. Once WWII ended, the debate raged for four years whether to join the USA, Canada, or to become independent again. Of course, they decided to join Canada in 1949.
goofycritter
+2
Level 29
Nov 17, 2021
the CSA was never a country
Quizmaster
+3
Level ∞
Dec 16, 2025
Funny considering they had a constitution, a President, legislature, an army, and controlled an area the size of Mexico.
WFGLFG
+1
Level 81
Nov 17, 2021
Can you accept Triple Alliance instead of Aztec? Most scholars today consider what we know as the Aztec empire, as the Triple Alliance since the area was the joined forces of the Texoco, Tlacopan, and Aztec people.
thegoatisgoaty
+1
Level 75
Nov 17, 2021
Maybe add some other countries like one of the Arab Caliphs or other more ancient countries
jjjjjjjjj
+3
Level 61
Nov 17, 2021
Hi! Well, by 1857 revolt Delhi had been for a while the capital of the Moghul state again. While the first Mughals did govern from Agra, Aurangzeb shifted all the court to Delhi by 1658, where it would continue amidst all the trouble and decandence of the dynasty until the exile of Bahadur Shah in 1857.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agra#Mughal_era

Regards!

IceCold
+1
Level 60
Nov 20, 2021
+1. And if the Mughal empire is seen as just the latter years of the Delhi Sultanate, one can say that Agra was only a temporary capital for a few years in between
In2restingFacts
+1
Level 27
May 8, 2025
i support this correction
SpartanLlama
+1
Level 79
Nov 20, 2021
Got Mughal
b97
+3
Level 52
Nov 23, 2021
The capital of the Ottoman Empire was Konstantiniye, not Istanbul.
stalintime
+3
Level 81
Feb 12, 2022
Prussia stopped existing with the founding of the North German Confederation in 1867, not with that of the Empire in 71.
ChrisCross69
+1
Level 44
Jan 3, 2023
SCOTLAND IS STILL A COUNTRY
HueMann
+2
Level 52
Dec 12, 2023
a country within a country
GeographyNerd000
+1
Level 55
Oct 23, 2023
I guess Constantinople/Istanbul has an insane history, as the capital of Byzantium/Eastern Roman Empire/Byzantine Empire and the capital of the Ottoman Empire.
arjaygee
+1
Level 76
Dec 12, 2023
Constantinople was renamed to Istanbul in 1930, after the Republic of Turkey was created. It was not a generally recognized name for the city while the Ottoman Empire still existed.
elcampeador
+1
Level 77
Dec 14, 2023
It was officially renamed in 1930. The Turks had long called it Istanbul, including during the reign of the Ottomans.
tales
+3
Level 82
Dec 12, 2023
Confederate States of America never was a country and shouldn't be part of this list.
itsthebarg
+3
Level 68
Dec 12, 2023
Define "country" in a coherent way that excludes the CSA but doesn't also cut out things that are obviously countries, like North Korea. I understand and support getting rid of statues and ending the hero worship of Confederate figures and such, but to claim they weren't a country is silly.
In2restingFacts
+1
Level 27
May 8, 2025
they were, regrettably obviously, but they were
MovieQuizGuy
+1
Level 64
Jan 12, 2026
I came here to say this. The Confederacy was absolutely never a country. They thought they were, but they were part of the United States in rebellion. You cannot secede from the Union, which, besides slavery, was largely the point of the war. That was Lincoln's position from day one.
MysteriousUnknow
+1
Level 33
Apr 23, 2026
Tell that to the Philippines. They gained independence from the United States, and they are recognized as a country, are they not? Just because it was short lived doesn't mean it wasn't a country. Tibet, which is also on this quiz, was in a similar position to the CSA. Also, the point of the war was states right, not slavery or secession.
MindWax
+2
Level 87
Jan 3, 2024
I wish one of the US states would officially change the name of its subdivisions from counties to countRies so that a herd of Americans could flood every comment section with whining that "Elk Country, Pennsylvania is a country!!!!1!".

Watch the smug Brits' heads explode as they have to face the fact that simply calling your subdivisions countries does not make them so.

chaostess
+1
Level 68
Mar 13, 2025
I believe the capital of the Confederate States of America was Montgomery, Alabama, Correct? Or was it not that at the end.
In2restingFacts
+2
Level 27
May 8, 2025
what the freak is the Orange Free State
flysta
+1
Level 51
May 9, 2025
I assume "orange" in this case refers to the Netherlands and their royal family and not the fruit.
In2restingFacts
+1
Level 27
May 11, 2025
petition to create the Annoying Orange Free State
MysteriousUnknow
+1
Level 33
Apr 23, 2026
It was one of two independent Boer republics nominally a part of British South Africa, the other being Transvaal. It came from Dutch settlers mingling with the native African populations. Then the Brits came in and yada yada yada.
EcceHomo
+1
Level 85
Nov 10, 2025
I went for Confederation and it was wrong.
AdamH1996
+1
Level 57
Jan 12, 2026
Should allow Republic of Vietnam, for South Vietnam
JetPunker180
+1
Level 54
Jan 12, 2026
Overall nice quiz but timeline for agra is completely wrong. Beside the fact that Capital used to shift between agra and Delhi, sher shah Suri ruled agra from 1540 to 1555. And also on many other ocassions, it shifted between Lahore, Delhi, fatehpur sekri and Agra.

In conclusion, I want to say that it should be changed (maybe with Damascus for Umayyad empire) or the hints should be corrected.

SirPhilippines
+2
Level 73
Jan 12, 2026
Is this the top quiz today as Ciudad de La Paz was officially changed to be the capital of Equatorial Guinea?
madmadda
+1
Level 70
Jan 13, 2026
I'm surprised no one mentioned it but I think you should accept the native spelling jugoslavia too
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