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Former national capitals

Name a city that used to be its country's capital. Hopdown accepts 160 answers here. Common answers keep your bunny near the surface; rare ones dig deeper.

Most common answers

• IstanbulExtremely commonFormer capital of Turkey (Ottoman Empire, until 1923).
• Rio de JaneiroExtremely commonFormer capital of Brazil (until 1960).
• KyotoUncommonFormer capital of Japan (794 to 1869).
• Ho Chi Minh CityUncommonFormer capital of South Vietnam.
• PhiladelphiaUncommonFormer capital of the United States (1790 to 1800).
• Saint PetersburgUncommonFormer capital of Russia (1712 to 1918).
• TurinUncommonFormer capital of Italy (1861 to 1865).
• KrakówUncommonFormer capital of Poland (until 1596).
• BonnUncommonFormer capital of West Germany (1949 to 1990).
• New York CityUncommonFormer capital of the United States (1785 to 1790).
• AlexandriaUncommonFormer capital of Egypt (Ptolemaic and Roman eras).
• Dar Es SalaamUncommonFormer capital of Tanzania.
• FlorenceUncommonFormer capital of Italy (1865 to 1871).
• CuscoUncommonFormer capital of the Inca Empire (Peru).
• KolkataUncommonFormer capital of British India (until 1911).

Rare answers

• WinchesterRareFormer capital of England (Wessex era).
• KingstonRareFormer capital of the Province of Canada (1841 to 1844). Also Jamaica's capital today.
• VersaillesRareFormer seat of the French royal government.
• PrincetonRareFormer capital of the United States (1783).
• NafplioRareFormer capital of Greece (1829 to 1834).
• Spanish TownRareFormer capital of Jamaica (until 1872).
• MashhadRareFormer capital of Persia (Iran) under Nader Shah.
• KandaharVery rareFormer capital of Afghanistan (Durrani Empire).
• ShenyangVery rareFormer capital of the early Qing dynasty (China).
• MombasaVery rareFormer capital of British East Africa (Kenya).
• Cap-HaïtienVery rareFormer capital of colonial Saint-Domingue (Haiti).
• PolonnaruwaVery rareFormer capital of medieval Sri Lanka.
• KragujevacVery rareFormer capital of Serbia (1818 to 1841).
• KyzylordaVery rareFormer capital of the Kazakh ASSR (Kazakhstan), 1925 to 1929.
• MalolosVery rareFormer capital of the First Philippine Republic.

Deep cuts

The answers almost nobody gives.

• BomaDeep cutFormer capital of the Congo Free State (DR Congo), until the 1920s.
• BueaDeep cutFormer capital of German Kamerun (Cameroon).
• Cidade VelhaDeep cutFormer capital of colonial Cape Verde.
• AeginaDeep cutFormer temporary capital of Greece (1828 to 1829).
• BolamaDeep cutFormer capital of Portuguese Guinea (Guinea-Bissau), until 1941.
• TârgovișteDeep cutFormer capital of Wallachia (Romania).
• SalernoDeep cutFormer temporary capital of Italy (1944).
• OudongDeep cutFormer royal capital of Cambodia (until 1866).
• PreslavDeep cutFormer capital of the First Bulgarian Empire.
• BrindisiDeep cutFormer temporary capital of Italy (1943 to 1944).

Plus 120 more answers you'll have to find yourself.

More in Capitals

• National capitals of the world
• Capitals of EU member states
• Capitals of NATO members
• Capitals of Eurozone members
• Capitals that aren't the largest city
• State and provincial capitals of the world