Towns and Cities: Rest of the World

i.e. not including the UK, Europe, Asia, USA or Canada. Essentially Africa, Central and South America, and Australasia.

The world's closest capital cities (excluding Rome and the Vatican, Nicosia and Northern Nicosia):

Kinshasa

Brazzaville

These two cities lie opposite each other, on either side of the Congo River. According to the Distance Calculator website, their centres are 5 miles (8 kilometres) apart as the crow flies. Across the river itself (i.e. from bank to bank) the distance is only about 2 miles (3.2 kilometres).

La Quebrada – a cliff where divers plunge 80 feet into the sea (Mexican seaport and coastal resort)		Acapulco
Headquarters of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU)		Addis Ababa
Named after the consort of William IV (Australian city)		Adelaide
Egypt's second largest city: founded in 331 BC, and capital of Egypt for the next thousand years; site of the Pharos (lighthouse – one of the seven wonders of the ancient world), and the largest library in the ancient world; a new library was opened in 2002 to celebrate and build on this historical legacy		Alexandria
Known to its inhabitants as El Djazair		Algiers
Capital of Central Australia, 1926–31		Alice Springs
New Zealand's largest city, and former capital – replaced by Wellington 1865		Auckland
African capital city whose name is an anagram of the river on which it stands		Bangui
Equatorial Guinea's largest city and seaport – where the final of the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations (football) was held		Bata
Libya's second largest city		Benghazi
Capital of South Africa's Free State province; also the judicial capital of the country		Bloemfontein
Founded 1960 to serve as its country's capital; laid out to look like an aeroplane from the air		Brasilia
Woolongabba, famous for its cricket ground which is informally known as "the Gabba", is a suburb of		Brisbane
City of northern Queensland, used as a base for excursions to the Great Barrier Reef		Cairns
Africa's most populous city; known to its inhabitants as Al Qahirah		Cairo
Verdi's Aida was first performed (in 1871) in
Al–Azhar mosque (commissioned in AD 970, and the seat of the world's second oldest university) is the oldest mosque in
Morocco's largest city, and its chief port (2024 population estimate 3,950,408)		Casablanca
Largest city on New Zealand's South Island		Christchurch
City of the Plains, The Garden City
Has a cardboard cathedral, opened in 2013 to replace one that suffered serious damage in an earthquake in 2011
Port at the Atlantic end of the Panama Canal		Colon
Ancient capital of the Inca Empire; now the nearest city to Machu Picchu		Cuzco
Situated on the Cap–Vert peninsula – the westernmost point of mainland Africa (national capital city)		Dakar
Capital of Tanzania, 1964–73 – still its largest and richest city and administrative centre		Dar es Salaam
Seventh largest city in New Zealand, and second largest on the South Island; historically one of its four major cities (along with Wellington, Auckland and Christchurch); name is an anglicised version of the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh		Dunedin
Major port and meat packing and canning centre in Uruguay, from which the Anglo company began exporting corned beef in 1899; named after a reclusive priest		Fray Bentos
Major port on the Madeira islands		Funchal
The only city in (mainland) South America where Test cricket is played		Georgetown (Guyana)
Australia's sixth most populous city, and the largest that isn't a state capital		Gold Coast
La Malecón (the Jetty), Tropicana (nightclub)		Havana
Home of the Buena Vista Social Club (musical ensemble)
South Africa's largest city		Johannesburg
Blue Nile and White Nile meet at		Khartoum
The world's highest capital city (above sea level); home of the world's highest golf course; full name means "Our Lady of Peace"		La Paz (Bolivia)
In Natal, named after the wife of a colonial administrator (Sir Henry Smith); besieged (by Boers) November 1889 – February 1890		Ladysmith
Africa's second most populous city; capital of Nigeria, 1914–91 – replaced by the purpose–built city of Abuja		Lagos
Tasmania's second largest city, after Hobart – named after a market town in Cornwall (Australians pronounce the middle syllable!)		Launceston
Founded in 1535 by Francisco Pizarro; originally known as Ciudad de los Reyes (City of the Kings), because it was founded on 6 January (Epiphany)		Lima
Modern (Egyptian) city built on the site of Thebes		Luxor
Built on a site chosen by John Batman; named after Queen Victoria's first prime minister		Melbourne
De facto capital of Australia, 1901–27 (interim seat of the parliament and government, before they moved to Canberra)
Has the world's second largest Greek population, after Athens
Stands on the site of the Aztec capital, Tenochtitlan. Devastated by an earthquake, 1985 – between 5,000 and 20,000 fatalities, up to 90,000 left homeless		Mexico City
Second largest city, and largest port, in Kenya		Mombasa
African capital city, named after a US president		Monrovia
South America's most southerly capital city		Montevideo
New Zealand city with a unique concentration of 1930s Art Deco architecture, built after much of the city was destroyed in the 1931 Hawke's Bay earthquake		Napier
The second oldest city in Australia, and the second largest in New South Wales (after Sydney in both cases): situated at the mouth of the Hunter River, it exports more coal than any other port in the world		Newcastle
Fremantle is the port of (Australian city)		Perth
Capital of the Nigerian secessionist state of Biafra (1967–70); now (as then) an important port and centre for the country's oil industry)		Port Harcourt
Egypt: city at the Northern end of the Suez Canal (Suez is at the Southern end)		Port Said
Capital of the Falkland Islands		Port Stanley
The World's southernmost city (Magallanes region, Chile)		Punta Arenas
Nearest capital city to the equator		Quito (Ecuador)
Capital of Brazil from 1763 to 1960, and of 'pluricontinental' Portugal from 1808 to 1822		Rio de Janeiro
Lies on the western shore of Guanabara bay – the country's second largest bay
A carioca or cariocan is a native of
Copacabana and Ipanema are suburbs of
The world's largest football stadium – the Maracana
Overlooked by the Sugar Loaf mountain and the statue Christ of Corcovado
Founded by the Portuguese in 1549 as the capital of Brazil: replaced by Rio de Janeiro in 1763		Salvador
Universidad Bernardo O'Higgins is a private university in		Santiago
The oldest continuously–inhabited European–established settlement in the Americas – including the Cathedral of Santa María la Menor – the oldest cathedral in the Americas		Santo Domingo (Dominican Republic)
Brazil's most populous city: most populous in either the Western or Southern hemispheres, and the world's most populous Portuguese–speaking city		São Paulo
Elected a rhinoceros called Cacareco to the City Council in 1959
Major city of the Crimea		Sevastopol
China's most populous city		Shanghai
Circular Quay, Taronga Zoo, Randwick Racecourse; Botany, Bondi, Bronte and Manly are suburbs of		Sydney
Historic trading post between Arab and West African cultures – also a religious and educational centre – fabled in the West as a metaphor for exotic, distant lands; now in Mali. Home of the Djingareyber, Sankore and Sidi Yahya mosques		Timbuktu
North African city, name derived from the Greek for "three cities"		Tripoli
Seaport that serves Mexico City		Veracruz
The largest inland city in New South Wales: situated on the railway line exactly half way between Sydney and Melbourne, its name means "many crows" in the local (aboriginal) language		Wagga Wagga
The world's southernmost and easternmost capital city – furthest away from any other capital city, and furthest from London		Wellington
Port Nicholson is the former name for its harbour
Lies near the south–western extremity of New Zealand's North Island, and its closest point to the South Island

© Haydn Thompson 2017–24