Of cities and counterfeits

The website a1articles.com has an unusual take on the world's top 10 counterfeit cities. They report:

What’s Australia’s capital city? If your answer is Sydney, you make a mistake. However, you are not the only one to make that foolish mistake, because there are many like you. Tourist Website VirtualTourist.com voted the world’s top ten counterfeit capital cities. Chief Executive Officer of Virtual Tourist.com said: “Certain city of a country or a province (state) is the largest or most populous city, so we mistakenly regard it as the capital or capital city of its country or province.”

The following is the world’s top ten ”counterfeit” capitals or capital cities:

Albany

1. New York City, posing as New York State’s capital. The same name is called “New York”, but New York City is not New York State’s capital. The real capital is Albany, New York.

Canberra

2. Sydney poses as Australia’s capital. Actually, Sydney is Australia’s largest city and is also the capital of New South Wales. Australia’s capital is Canberra.

Springfield

3. Chicago poses as the capital of Illinois. As a matter of fact, the “Windy City” Chicago is not the capital of Illinois. The real capital in the hometown of Abraham Lincoln — Springfield.

Brasilia

4. Rio de Janeiro, posing as Brazil’s capital, is Brazil’s second largest city and the largest harbor city. Rio de Janeiro is also known as the Carnival City. However, it is not Brazil’s capital, and the real capital is Brasilia.

Ankara

5. Istanbul, posing as Turkey’s capital. It’s Turkey’s largest city and port, and it’s the world’s only one way across two continents – Europe and Asia. It is not the Turkey’s capital city. Its capital is Ankara.

Bern

6. Geneva poses as the capital of Swizerland. The right answer is neither Geneva nor Zurich. Bern is Switzerland’s capital city.

Pretoria

Sacred Heart Cathedral, Pretoria

7. Johannesburg poses as South Africa’s capital. South Africa has three capitals. The administrative capital is Pretoria. The legislative capital is Cape Town. The judicial capital is Bloemfontein.

Bamako

8. Timbuktu poses as the capital of Mali. As a historic city, Timbuktu is probably the most famous city in Mali, but the fact is the capital of Mali is Bamako.

Carson City

9. Las Vegas poses as the capital of Nevada. In fact, Las Vegas is not Nevada State’s capital, the real capital is Carson City.

Rabat

10. Casablanca poses as the capital of Morocco. Though Casablanca is Morocco’s largest city and the Hollywood film Casablanca glorifies Casablanca, it’s not the capital. Instead, the capital is Rabat.