This European capitals quiz goes beyond Paris and Rome to test how well you really know the continent's seats of power. You'll meet a capital built after a famous siege, one that borders two countries, a city that changed its name and another guarded by dragons. Each answer comes with a quick story to bring the city to life.
Europe packs dozens of countries into a fairly compact space, so its capitals sit closer together than most Americans expect. Many have been capitals for centuries, while others gained the role more recently as borders and governments changed. Germany is a good example: after reunification, the national parliament moved from Bonn back to Berlin and held its first session in the restored Reichstag building in 1999.
A few patterns make the map easier. Many capitals grew up on major rivers or coastlines, since water meant trade and defense. Local names can also throw you off: Czechs call their capital Praha, and Danes call theirs København. In the Baltic states, a handy trick is that Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania run north to south in alphabetical order, and their capitals follow the same line.
Europe also has some true oddities. Vatican City, the world's smallest sovereign state at roughly 109 acres (44 hectares), sits entirely inside the city of Rome. Quirks like that are what make capitals so fun to quiz on, because every city comes with a story about how it earned its title.