Stop 1 · Iceland
Reykjavík
Its name means "smoky bay", after the geothermal steam early settlers saw. Nearly all its heat and power still come from that same volcanic plumbing.
Capitals of island nations
Five capitals, five countries entirely surrounded by sea — from the North Atlantic to the South Pacific.
The five stops
Stop 2 · Malta
Valletta
At 0.8 km² it is the European Union's smallest capital — you can walk across the whole city in fifteen minutes.
Stop 3 · Maldives
Malé
Around 200,000 people live on roughly 8 km² of reclaimed coral. The airport occupies a separate island, reached by ferry in ten minutes.
Stop 4 · Mauritius
Port Louis
Founded by the French in 1735 as a stopover on the route to India, it remained the island's capital through British rule and independence in 1968.
Stop 5 · Fiji
Suva
It became the capital in 1882 after the previous one, squeezed between the sea and steep cliffs, ran out of room to grow. The international date line kinks eastward to keep the whole country on one date.
Advertisement
Think you'd have found them? Play today's expedition, or replay this one from the archive.