Capital City Climate Quiz

The climate quiz compares the year-round average temperature of capital cities. Khartoum and Djibouti both average around 30°C, with Singapore not far behind. Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia's capital, averages just -0.4°C — the coldest capital city in the world.

Climate surprises

Reykjavík is milder than people expect thanks to the Gulf Stream — its winters are about as cold as New York City's. Doha is shockingly hot — over 36°C in July. Quito, on the equator at 2,800m elevation, has an eternal spring climate with virtually no seasonal variation. Wellington is one of the windiest capitals on Earth. Nairobi, despite sitting almost on the equator, is mild because of its 1,795m elevation.

Did you know?

• Singapore sits less than 1° north of the equator and varies by only a few degrees between its hottest and coldest months.
• Ulaanbaatar, the capital of Mongolia, is the coldest national capital in the world — winter averages below -20°C.
• Reykjavík, despite its name (literally "smoky bay"), has milder winters than New York thanks to the Gulf Stream.
• Doha can hit 50°C in summer, but its capital infrastructure is largely climate-controlled year-round.
• Quito sits at 2,850m on the equator — the only capital where day length is 12 hours every day of the year.
• Yerevan, Armenia, has the largest temperature range of any European capital — over 40°C between winter and summer.
• La Paz, Bolivia, is the highest capital in the world at 3,640m and stays cool year-round despite its tropical latitude.
• Bangkok consistently ranks as the hottest capital city by average temperature globally.
• Helsinki has nearly 19 hours of daylight in midsummer and barely 6 hours in winter.
• Lima, Peru, gets less than 10mm of rainfall a year — almost desert-dry despite its coastal location.
• Wellington is one of the windiest cities in the world due to the Cook Strait funneling winds through it.
• Astana is the second-coldest capital in the world after Ulaanbaatar.
• Stockholm experiences round-the-clock twilight during midsummer and almost no daylight at all in late December.
• Caracas sits in a high mountain valley and stays mild year-round despite being in the tropics.
• Moscow's average winter temperatures hover well below freezing despite being further south than Anchorage, Alaska.

Read more

Why capital cities are colder than you think — Ulaanbaatar averages below freezing, Reykjavík is milder than Astana, and the warmest capitals aren't the ones on the equator.

Where the data comes from

Every figure in this category is drawn from Average annual temperature. Data is refreshed quarterly; if a number looks wrong, tell us and we will check the source.