Capitals of East and Southeast Asia
Every capital of East and Southeast Asia beyond the essentials: a chapter of the Capitals of the World Book, with the traps and the stories behind them.
10 cards · Geography
Each Zap teaches up to 5 new cards, so you learn the chapter a few at a time.
Checked by the Brain Zap team · reviewed 27 Oct 2026
Sources: List of national capitals (Wikipedia), The World Factbook (CIA)
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Capital of Mongolia
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Ulaanbaatar
Learn more: Its name means "red hero". With winter nights below −40 °C, it is the coldest national capital.
Capital of North Korea
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Pyongyang
Learn more: Rebuilt after the Korean War with wide avenues and huge monuments.
Capital of Brunei
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Bandar Seri Begawan
Learn more: Beside it lies Kampong Ayer, a village of houses on stilts over the river, home to thousands.
Capital of Cambodia
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Phnom Penh
Learn more: Its name means "Penh's hill", after a woman who, legend says, found Buddha statues in the river.
Capital of Indonesia
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Jakarta
Learn more: It is crowded and sinking, so Indonesia is building a new capital, Nusantara, on Borneo.
About this topic
This chapter covers the capitals of East and Southeast Asia that the essentials chapter left out, from Ulaanbaatar, the coldest capital in the world, to Dili on the island of Timor. Myanmar built a new capital, Naypyidaw, in the 2000s, and Indonesia is building one on Borneo to replace sinking Jakarta. Singapore is a city-state, so country and capital are one, and Brunei's capital has a whole village on stilts over the river.
This is a chapter of the Capitals of the World Book. Each card asks one question, with a hint before you answer and a short reason after. Once you know most of this chapter, the next one starts arriving in your Daily Zap.
All 10 cards
Capital of Mongolia
Ulaanbaatar
Learn more: Its name means "red hero". With winter nights below −40 °C, it is the coldest national capital.
Capital of North Korea
Pyongyang
Learn more: Rebuilt after the Korean War with wide avenues and huge monuments.
Capital of Brunei
Bandar Seri Begawan
Learn more: Beside it lies Kampong Ayer, a village of houses on stilts over the river, home to thousands.
Capital of Cambodia
Phnom Penh
Learn more: Its name means "Penh's hill", after a woman who, legend says, found Buddha statues in the river.
Capital of Indonesia
Jakarta
Learn more: It is crowded and sinking, so Indonesia is building a new capital, Nusantara, on Borneo.
Capital of Laos
Vientiane
Learn more: One of the calmest capitals in Asia, with its golden Buddhist stupa, That Luang.
Capital of Malaysia
Kuala Lumpur
Learn more: Its name means "muddy river mouth". Most government offices have moved to nearby Putrajaya.
Capital of Myanmar
Naypyidaw
Learn more: Built from scratch and made the capital in 2006; its highways are famously wide and empty.
Capital of Singapore
Singapore
Learn more: Singapore is a city-state: the country and its capital are the same.
Capital of Timor-Leste
Dili
Learn more: A 27 m statue of Christ stands on a cape above its bay.
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