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Every Country's Biggest Non Capital City with a Map

There are 196 nations on Earth. Can you name their biggest 'city' that isn't their capital?
Not all of these are (strictly speaking) 'cities'
Vatican and Singapore are omitted because they have no other cities or towns.
City population.de is the source I used for the vast majority of the cities, Wikipedia as a backup source.
If a 'city' is part of a wider metropolitan area within the capital city, it is NOT ELIGIBLE
Quiz by
nichster
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Last updated: January 12, 2026
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First submittedMarch 8, 2020
Times taken3,558
Average score35.1%
Rating4.61
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Europe
Albania
Durres
Andorra
Escaldes-Engordany
Austria
Graz
Belarus
Gomel
Belgium
Antwerp
Bosnia &
Herzegovina
Banja Luka
Bulgaria
Plovdiv
Croatia
Split
Czech Republic
Brno
Denmark
Aarhus
Estonia
Tartu
Finland
Tampere
France
Marseille
Germany
Hamburg
Greece
Thessaloniki
Hungary
Debrecen
Iceland
Akureyri
Ireland
Cork
Italy
Milan
Kosovo
Prizren
Latvia
Daugavpils
Liechtenstein
Schaan
Lithuania
Kaunas
Luxembourg
Esch-sur-Alzette
Malta
Saint Paul's Bay
Moldova
Bălţi
Monaco
Monte Carlo
Montenegro
Niksic
Netherlands
Rotterdam
North Macedonia
Kumanovo
Norway
Bergen
Poland
Krakow
Portugal
Porto
Romania
Cluj-Napoca
Russia
Saint Petersburg
San Marino
Dogana
Serbia
Novi Sad
Slovakia
Kosice
Slovenia
Maribor
Spain
Barcelona
Sweden
Gothenburg
Switzerland
Zurich
Ukraine
Kharkiv
United Kingdom
Birmingham
 
 
North America
Antigua &
Barbuda
All Saints
Bahamas
Freeport
Barbados
Speightstown
Belize
Belize City
Canada
Toronto
Costa Rica
Heredia
Cuba
Santiago de Cuba
Dominica
Portsmouth
Dominican
Republic
Santiago de los Caballeros
El Salvador
Soyapango
Grenada
Gouyave
Guatemala
Mixco
Haiti
Carrefour
Honduras
San Pedro Sula
Jamaica
Portmore
Mexico
Guadalajara
Nicaragua
Leon
Panama
La Chorrera
St. Kitts & Nevis
Fig Tree
St. Lucia
Laborie
St. Vincent & the
Grenadines
Georgetown
Trinidad &
Tobago
Chaguanas
United States
New York City
Asia
Afghanistan
Herat
Armenia
Gyumri
Azerbaijan
Sumgait
Bahrain
Muharraq
Bangladesh
Chittagong
Bhutan
Phuentsholing
Brunei
Kuala Belait
Cambodia
Siem Reap
China
Guangzhou
Cyprus
Limassol
East Timor
Baucau
Georgia
Batumi
India
Mumbai
Indonesia
Surabaya
Iran
Mashhad
Iraq
Mosul
Israel
Tel Aviv
Japan
Osaka
Jordan
Zarqa
Kazakhstan
Almaty
Kuwait
Hawally
Kyrgyzstan
Osh
Laos
Savannakhet
Lebanon
Tripoli
Malaysia
George Town
Maldives
Hulhumale
Mongolia
Erdenet
Myanmar
Yangon
Nepal
Pokhara
North Korea
Hamhung
Oman
Seeb
Pakistan
Karachi
Philippines
Davao City
Qatar
Al Rayyan
Saudi Arabia
Jeddah
South Korea
Busan
Sri Lanka
Colombo
Syria
Aleppo
Taiwan
Taichung
Tajikistan
Khujand
Thailand
Chiang Mai
Turkey
Istanbul
Turkmenistan
Turkmenabat
United Arab
Emirates
Dubai
Uzbekistan
Namangan
Vietnam
Ho Chi Minh City
Yemen
Aden
 
 
Oceania
Australia
Melbourne
Fiji
Lautoka
Kiribati
Betio
Marshall Islands
Kwajalein
Micronesia
(Fed. States)
Weno
Nauru
Denigomodu
New Zealand
Auckland
Palau
Koror
Papua New
Guinea
Lae
Samoa
Vaitele
Solomon Islands
Malango
Tonga
Neiafu
Tuvalu
Vaitupu
Vanuatu
Luganville
South America
Argentina
Cordoba
Bolivia
Santa Cruz
Brazil
Sao Paulo
Chile
Valparaiso
Colombia
Medellin
Ecuador
Guayaquil
Guyana
Linden
Paraguay
Ciudad del Este
Peru
Arequipa
Suriname
Koewarasan
Uruguay
Salto
Venezuela
Maracaibo
 
 
Africa
Algeria
Oran
Angola
Lubango
Benin
Cotonou
Botswana
Francistown
Burkina Faso
Bobo-Dioulasso
Burundi
Bujumbura
Cameroon
Douala
Cape Verde
Mindelo
Central African
Republic
Bimbo
Chad
Moundou
Comoros
Mutsamudu
Congo
(Dem. Rep.)
Lubumbashi
Congo
(Rep. of.)
Pointe Noire
Djibouti
Ali-Sabieh
Egypt
Alexandria
Equatorial
Guinea
Malabo
Eritrea
Keren
Eswatini
Manzini
Ethiopia
Mekelle
Gabon
Port-Gentil
Gambia
Brikama
Ghana
Kumasi
Guinea
Nzerekore
Guinea-Bissau
Gabu
Ivory Coast
Abidjan
Kenya
Mombasa
Lesotho
Maputsoe
Liberia
Gbarnga
Libya
Benghazi
Madagascar
Toamasina
Malawi
Blantyre
Mali
Sikasso
Mauritania
Nouadhibou
Mauritius
Vacoas-Phoenix
Morocco
Casablanca
Mozambique
Matola
Namibia
Rundu
Niger
Maradi
Nigeria
Lagos
Rwanda
Gisenyi
São Tomé &
Principe
Trindade
Senegal
Touba
Seychelles
Cascade
Sierra Leone
Kenema
Somalia
Hargeisa
South Africa
Johannesburg
South Sudan
Bor
Sudan
Omdurman
Tanzania
Dar es Salaam
Togo
Kara
Tunisia
Sfax
Uganda
Nansana
Zambia
Kitwe
Zimbabwe
Bulawayo
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34 Comments
+1
Level 57
Jul 5, 2025
🚨Major rework recently done to this quiz🚨

I recently updated the quiz to allow for changes in population since last update, a good few countries have changed. I try to keep my sources consistent, but with smaller nations and limited data this is a challenge. If anyone belongs to a smaller nation (like, really small) then please leave a comment if there are any discrepancies.

Thanks to whomever gave the spotlight, you motivated me to update this quiz.

+1
Level 57
Jan 12, 2026
Updated for Equatorial Guinea's change!
+2
Level 75
Mar 8, 2020
Sorry to moan, but that's not how you spell AuCkland.
+7
Level 88
Mar 8, 2020
Awesome work!! Not moaning I hope but couple of queries... shouldn't Canada be Toronto and Tanzania be Dar es Salaam? Not capitals, and thought they were the biggest cities. Unless it's a city proper/metro area thing. Anyway, great quiz :)
+2
Level 82
Mar 8, 2020
No, you're right, overtired. Dar and Toronto are correct.
+4
Level 78
Mar 8, 2020
Not moaning, but there are some spelling mistakes: it should be Daugavpils and Serravalle.
+7
Level 79
Mar 8, 2020
Belmopan is the capital of Belize. Largest city would be Belize City. As others have said, Dar and Toronto should be the answers for their respective countries. Rangoon changed its name to Yangon in the 90s. You also seem to be inconsistent with your use of metro/urban area vs city proper; Espoo is considered part of the Helsinki metro area, and the answer for Finland should be either Turku or Oulu, not sure which (if you are not using city proper, that is), while Guangzhou is only the largest in China using urban area, otherwise it would be Shanghai.
+1
Level 79
Mar 8, 2020
I would also change Johannesburg to Durban as Johannesburg does include the Pretoria metro area, but that's just a matter of opinion.
+1
Level 58
Aug 1, 2020
I think the answer for Finland should be Tampere.
+1
Level 70
Mar 9, 2020
Dar es Salaam's dot is in Mwanza. Toronto is bigger than Montreal. Gitega is now the capital of Burundi.
+3
Level 65
Apr 25, 2020
Great quiz!

Lubumbashi is misspelled. That said, I didn't realize it was the biggest city in DRC outside of Kinshasa. Learned some things today.

+1
Level 61
May 21, 2020
Hey man really cool quiz! I don't know why but Dar es Salaam's dot didn't turn green when I wrote it. You got yourself a nomination though
+1
Level 82
Oct 29, 2022
Yes, that's still an issue now. I typed it but later saw the dot wasn't green and wasted time re-typing it several times.
+3
Level 55
Aug 2, 2020
According to me, everyone else, the source you used, every other source you could possibly use, and basic knowledge, Toronto is more populous than Montreal.
+1
Level 88
Aug 12, 2020
Some minor things, the dot of Dar es Salam does not change colour, I'd suggest changing the box colour for Vatican and Singapore to grey so it becomes more obvious you don't expect an answer and maybe Cotonou for Benin is debatable. Even though Porto-Novo is named capital the parliament is in Cotonou and both are accepted answers in most of the capital cities quizzes on Jetpunk.

But great quiz!

+3
Level 51
Dec 5, 2020
Toronto does not appear when you hover over it.
+2
Level 62
Jan 17, 2022
Could you accept "SamarQand"? And it's "DaugavpILs", not "pLIs".
+1
Level 54
Mar 17, 2023
almaty is the biggest city in kazkhstan not samarqand
+1
Level 54
Mar 17, 2023
hamburg is the biggest noncapital city in germany

kandahar the biggest noncapital city in afghanistan

quezon city is the biggest city in philipines

colon is the biggest noncapital city in panama

and nonthaburi is the biggest noncapital in thailand

also kwajalein is an atoll NOT a city. ebeye is the biggest noncapital city in marshall islands

same with kiribati. betio is the largest noncapital city in kiribati

bisee is the largest noncapital city in saint lucia

montago bay is the largest nc city in jamaica

addu city and kulhudhuffhushi city are bigger than fuvahmulah (maldives)

+1
Level 62
May 21, 2023
Can you fix the spelling of Phuentsholing? In the quiz it's spelled "Phuntsholing".
+1
Level 72
Jul 19, 2023
Both spellings are correct (Wikipedia uses Phuntsholing).
+1
Level 72
Jul 19, 2023
It's a good quiz, although there are inconsistencies in the way the population is counted (most use city proper population metrics while a number of cities like Katowice use large urban area figures).
+1
Level 10
Sep 2, 2024
Katowice isn't the bigger than Kraków in Poland
+1
Level 22
Sep 3, 2024
Sorry, Katowice isn't number two in Poland. Kraków or Łódź.
+1
Level 73
Jul 5, 2025
Mostly great quiz but I have some minor issues with it.

First of all, Monte Carlo isn't its own city, it's a ward. Monaco is a city state with only one city.

Additionally, it would be nice if you'd accept Escaldes for Escaldes-Engordany, Esch for Esch Sur Alzette and Santiago for Santiago de Cuba and Santiago de Los Caballeros.

Finally, there are many inconsistencies between city proper and urban areas.

+1
Level 78
Jul 5, 2025
Please accept Sumqayit as a type-in for Sumgait.
+1
Level 79
Jul 7, 2025
could you add some auto-filled text in the boxes for Vatican City and Singapore, or just remove them entirely? it's confusing to see an answer box for them, even if you've read the caveats
+1
Level 89
Jul 7, 2025
A little frustrating that "Santiago" gives you some answers (e.g.: Santiago de los Caballeros in DR) but not others (e.g.: Santiago de Cuba in Cuba).

When I started typing and it gave me the one but not the other, I assumed that Santiago de Cuba was just not the correct answer by whatever metric this quiz is using and didn't bother trying the whole thing again.

+1
Level 61
Jul 7, 2025
Monte Carlo is a city in Monaco? Wow - I didn't realize there were cities there, outside Monaco. I only knew it as a casino.
+1
Level 61
Jul 7, 2025
Thank you Togo for having an answer whose name starts off just like "Karachi". Got a freebie there I didn't know!
+1
Level 81
Jul 7, 2025
You have a misspelling. The city in Paraguay is Ciudad del Este, not "Cuidad".
+1
Level 18
Nov 14, 2025
Is it just me or is Córdoba mapped incorrectly
+1
Level 57
Mar 7, 2026
"If a 'city' is part of a wider metropolitan area within the capital city, it is NOT ELIGIBLE." Isn't Mixco or Soyapango or Portmore or Carrefour or Heredia exactly this kind of city?
+1
Level 89
Apr 4, 2026
Yeah, I was struggling with this quite a bit, because a lot of these cities are located within the metro area of the the capital. There doesn't seem to be a clear delineation here. Following that rule, Bimbo, Omdurman, Monte Carlo (which isn't even a city), Hawally, Matola, and Nansana certainly shouldn't be included, and there are several others that are debatable then.

If you have specific cities that you don't want to include, just but them specifically in the caveat rather than a broad, iffy statement.