The de facto capital of the smallest republic on Earth: an airstrip, a parliament and the moonscape left by a century of phosphate mining.
Tanzania's official capital since 1974, in the middle of the country and the middle of its wine region; parliament sits here, the embassies stayed in Dar es Salaam.
A capital of a few government buildings in the Pohnpei jungle, twenty minutes from the basalt city of Nan Madol.
A Portuguese colonial capital on the equator, pastel and peeling, with cocoa plantations in the hills behind it.
A Georgian port town around the Berkeley Memorial clock, rebuilt after fire and hurricane, with Brimstone Hill fortress along the coast.
Kiribati's capital is a chain of islets joined by causeways, three metres above a rising ocean and one of the densest places in the Pacific.
The least populated capital in the world - a domed capitol on a hill in Melekeok, built in 2006 for a few hundred people.
A cruise harbour under Morne Fortune, a covered market selling cocoa sticks and bay rum, and the Pitons an hour down the coast.
The best land-based whale watching in the world, southern rights from the cliff path June to November.
A windswept Atlantic port with 18th-century ramparts, a fish market and kitesurfing on the beach.
A German Art Nouveau town on the wild coast and the ghost town of Kolmanskop swallowed by sand.
Vasco da Gama's pillar, the Gedi ruins in the forest and the Italian-flavoured beach town.
Cape Dutch gables under oak trees and the oldest wine estates in the country.
A lagoon between two sandstone Heads, oysters and the forests of the Garden Route.
Stilt palafito houses and wooden churches on Chiloe island, with curanto cooked in the ground.
The safari capital under Mount Meru, where the Serengeti and Ngorongoro trips begin.
Dhow trips to the Bazaruto archipelago, dugongs and dune islands in turquoise water.
Wide colonial avenues, the railway museum and the Matobo hills of balancing rocks and rock art.
The lone tree in the lake, the Roys Peak hike and the quieter alternative to Queenstown.
An adobe oasis in the driest desert on Earth: geysers, salt flats, flamingos and the clearest night sky.
The southernmost city in the world, the end of the road and the port for Antarctic ships.
The Flag Monument on the Parana, the birthplace of Messi and Che Guevara.
Moulay Ismail's imperial city: the Bab Mansour gate, the royal granaries and the Roman ruins of Volubilis nearby.
The last stop before Torres del Paine, on a fjord of the Ultima Esperanza.
The port on Lake Victoria, tilapia by the water and the Kit Mikayi rock.
The royal palaces of the Dahomey kings, their bas-reliefs and the story of the Amazon warriors.
The door of the desert and the film studios of Gladiator and Game of Thrones, next to the Ait Benhaddou kasbah.
One of the smallest capitals in the world, a clock tower copied from London and the Sir Selwyn Selwyn-Clarke market.
Four Mile Beach, reef boats and the Daintree, the quieter northern base for the reef.
The oasis where Alexander consulted the oracle, salt lakes to float in and the mud-brick Shali fortress.
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