A question came up on a gameshow: What is the capital of Brazil.
I said to myself: “It’s either Sau-Paulo, or Rio-De-Janeiro. I think it’s Rio”
The answer is ‘Brasilia’. I’VE NEVER EVEN HEARD OF IT! I thought I was world-smart, that I knew more than most around me about world Geography. How could I have never even heard of the city that is the capital of a well known country??
Did it use to be called Brazil City? That is what my answer to the question would have been.
Strange innit, the gaps in our knowledge? I might have gotten it right b/c I like to look at maps…or I might have gone the way you did.
Weird one: there’s a country in South America that has two capitals.
- Name the country. 2) Name the capitals.
1) Bolivia; 2) Sucre & La Paz
How about one in Africa with three?
South Africa: Pretoria, Bloemfontein, Cape Town
I only found out the capital of Australia was Canberra when I visited there. :eek:
@Gorilla, glee: man, I’ve got to start looking at maps again!
OMG, I woulda guessed Sydney, Melbourne, or Perth. 
Nobody I’ve asked has ever even heard of the Isle of Man.
I call this the Albany effect: where the largest/most famous city in a country or state is not the capital even though it would be very easy to assume so, a la New York City/Albany.
Look at a map and try and get your head around this one! Which American state is closest to Africa?
Maine. Google Earth will make it a bit clearer!
You didn’t ask, but I’ve heard of it.
(Ever heard of a Manx cat? The ones with no tail? That’s where they’re from.)
I’m actually more surprised when the largest/most famous city is the capital, such as Boston. Brasilia’s recognition problem is compounded by the fact it’s a planned city, and as such doesn’t really have any character or distinguishing features (compared to others.) I’m sure Washington DC was much the same way for its first 100 years.
Just looking at the 50 US states, in most cases the capital is not the leading city. And despite the explosion in size of the US Federal gov’t, Washington is still far from the biggest or most prominent city in the US.
In Europe, the national capitals are more mixed. Mayber half are, or were, the most prominent city.
Holy crap! That made no sense until I looked at a map.
I think it’s because Africa extends much further north than I expected, and Maine is much further east than I thought. Veddy interesting.
Brasilia was only built in the 1950s. Rio was the capital till 1960. I believe the idea was to have the capital closer to the geographical centre of the country instead of on the coast.
Quite a few African countries have done this too, e.g. the official capital of Tanzania is no longer Dar es Salaam, but Dodoma in the middle of the country, and Nigeria moved its capital from Lagos to Abuja, also dead centre on the map.
I am proud of myself for figuring this out without peeking! The way I got it was this:
Having spent a lot of summers on a beach in Long Island, I was familiar with the factoid that if you go east from Long Island you’re heading toward Spain/Portugal. Spain is right next to Africa. So the answer had to be the easternmost state in New England. Ergo Maine. Most people probably guess Florida; that was my first guess until I remembered that the Eastern seaboard runs NE-SW, not N-S.
Or Pennsylvania/Harrisburg. Centrally located, but Philly, Pittsburgh, hell even Erie would make more sense.
Harrisburg is only the 11th biggest city in Pennsylvania (pop. 48K), though the tall buildings downtown make it seem larger than it really is, at least to my eyes.
Still, Harrisburg seems like a big city compared to the least populous U.S. capital. Montpelier, Vermont has a population of only 8,035!
Nitpick: are you sure it isn’t Paraiba or Ceara? They’re both in America, but not the United States of America.
Wasn’t there a Trivial Pursuit question like, “If you travel directly south from Detroit, which first non-US country will you reach?”
Canada. Windsor Ontario, in fact.