Ask most people what Australia's capital city is and they will say Sydney. Some might say Melbourne. Almost nobody says Canberra — and yet Canberra has been Australia's capital since 1913.

Parliament House, Canberra — the seat of Australian government

The Sydney vs Melbourne Rivalry

When Australia's six colonies federated into a single nation in 1901, two cities immediately claimed the right to be the capital — Sydney and Melbourne. Sydney was the oldest and largest city. Melbourne was the wealthiest and most powerful. Neither was willing to back down.

The Compromise

Rather than choose one existing city and anger the other, the framers of the Australian Constitution decided to build an entirely new capital city from scratch. The Constitution specified that the new capital had to be in New South Wales but at least 100 miles from Sydney.

Lake Burley Griffin at the centre of Canberra

Building a Capital From Nothing

An international design competition was held for the city plan. An American architect named Walter Burley Griffin won with a design featuring a central lake and radiating boulevards. Construction began in 1913 and the first parliament was held there in 1927.

Other Countries With Surprising Capitals

• •Brazil — The capital is Brasilia, not Rio de Janeiro or São Paulo.
• •Canada — Ottawa is the capital, not Toronto or Vancouver.
• •New Zealand — Wellington is the capital, not Auckland.
• •United States — Washington D.C. is the capital, not New York City.
• •South Africa — Pretoria is the capital, not Johannesburg or Cape Town.
• •Switzerland — Bern is the capital, not Zurich or Geneva.
• •Nigeria — Abuja is the capital, not Lagos.
• •Turkey — Ankara is the capital, not Istanbul.

Test your capital cities knowledge with our Capital Cities quiz — and see whether you can name the capitals of all these countries, including the ones that always catch people off guard.