When you want to send a postcard from a particular place, it's really hard to choose its design. After all, you have to decide what site portrays the essence of that location best. Google goes through the same problem - if a person searches a place, the website has to determine what images appear at the top of the result list. So what 'postcards' do Google assign to the cities around the world?
Bored Panda has conducted a Google image search of all the capital cities around the globe (according to United Nations there are 195 of them) and collected the first images of each query. From the sunny coast of Algiers to the buzzing lights of Taipei, these pictures show the incredibly diverse beauty of human civilization.
P.S. Results may vary for each user, but to make our list as objective as possible, we used Google Chrome's Incognito mode (the queries were formulated as follows: "City, Country" and were conducted on google.co.uk).
This post may include affiliate links.
Stockholm, Sweden
Reykjavik, Iceland
Moscow, Russia
I'm not a fan of my hometown, but that's a lie. Moscow is very clean. Much more clean than Europe that's for sure.
Load More Replies...Copenhagen, Denmark
We would be glad to have you :D And this is by far not the most beautiful place in the city - so loads of other beautiful spots to see ;)
Load More Replies...Go and have a look for your self! It' really looks like that! :-)
Load More Replies...Budapest, Hungary
My father loveeeed 🇭🇺. He said, it was beautiful, and the people were very nice
Absolutely, I live here, one of the best citiy in Europe 😎😊
Load More Replies...I love Budapest! Was there in 1985, 2001, 2003. Beautiful city, rich in history. And they have Gerbeaud....
Was there two summers ago and loved it so much I returned last year, too! I don't often give unsolicited travel advice but with Budapest yes
Havana, Cuba
Someday soon I have to go here before it becomes Americanized. I don't want to see a McDonalds every couple city blocks.
Yes, you better hurry up before it becomes too American and people start having the opportunity to think, buy food, go for holidays, read objective press, allow to think freely, etc...
Load More Replies...Berlin, Germany
one of my favorite capitol cities in europe. such a great fibe. especially in the summer. highly recommended to visit one time.
Waited all my life to go, But not now with all the terrorists running around
Lisbon, Portugal
Baku, Azerbaijan
Love the juxtaposition of old vs. new. They're both great in their own way!
Bern, Switzerland
Switzerland doesn't really have a capital city. It just happens to be that Bern is the seat of the federal government.
Dude of course Berne is (considered to be) Switzerland's capital city. Then if you want to mention the diplomatic, pharmaceutical or economic centre obviously it's a different story. ;)
Load More Replies...Ottawa, Canada
I live 30 minutes from Ottawa, former resident of the city. Parliament Hill and Chateau Laurier, like a group of old castles!
Amsterdam, Netherlands
there are 1000 better pictures then this one of Amsterdam.. hmm why is this on 1ste..
It's not on 1ste. It just happens to be the first one to show, when Google searched for.
Load More Replies...Brussels, Belgium
The "castle" on the left is the city hall, the "castle" to the left is called the Breadhouse and is a museum
Dublin, Ireland
The Ha'penny bridge, so called because you used to have to pay a ha'penny to cross it.
Male, Maldives
There are four compact wastewater treatment plants, and four package seawater reverse osmosis treatment plants incorporating energy recovery units & a HDPE sewage collector network .
Load More Replies...Looks fascinating, but sadly it will be gone in a few decades :(
If global warming was real and sea levels were rising they would be first to know!
Sana'a, Yemen
I wonder how old this picture is. The city has been heavily bombed by the Saudis, with our support.
Astana, Kazakhstan
Bangkok, Thailand
Paris, France
I went once when I was about 12. A man called me "small breasts". I never went back. XD
Load More Replies...Tallinn, Estonia
Tokyo, Japan
This city has a higher population than my country (even though my country is 20 times bigger)
According to TA, I've visited 156cities in the world, Tokyo is my no.1 :)
London, United Kingdom
San Marino, San Marino
Wellington, New Zealand
Santiago, Chile
Beirut, Lebanon
My beautiful resilient city <3 a bloody civil war and endless battles and shellings and it still manages to have a beautiful vibe full of life!
We would visit 🇱🇧 every summer-- that is before the silly war!! I only have beautiful memories❤️
Helsinki, Finland
Lima, Peru
Ive been in this park! I suggest to go there. You also need to see Machu Pichu, Cusco.
Riga, Latvia
Jakarta, Indonesia
Rome, Italy
Been there. It's great! Love the history. Although Italians are not very good drivers...
Seoul, South Korea
Tbilisi, Georgia
Vienna, Austria
Whatever or whereever - but definitely not the skyline of Vienna, Austria. Looks more like a collage of different cities & backgrounds.
Load More Replies...Kiev, Ukraine
Kyiv is official transliteration, not Kiev. It's much more awesome from some different point.
The official name of the city in English is Kiev. Check the Wikipedia for instance. Guys, it's a shame to teach other nations how to speak in their Languages.
It's a shame it's also an outdated picture. But anyway, Admin, please, change the spelling to the correct one: Kyiv.
Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei
Hanoi, Vietnam
Actually it's not in the center of Hanoi but the view of Thay Pagoda - 20km Western from Hanoi
Was gonna say, that Hanoi looks like one small city!
Load More Replies...This is an extremely inaccurate representation of Hanoi. You can't even see the skyline :(
Mexico City, Mexico
Beijing, China
Pictures like this raised my expectation of visiting China and the Forbidden City. When I got there, I was too distracted by the level of pollution, trash, and crowds.
What do you expect when you cram almost 22 million people into one city? Considering that, it's still stunning and steeped with history and culture! One of my favourite cities in the world.
Load More Replies...One of my favorite cities in the world! Beijing will always have my heart.
Kathmandu, Nepal
Umm, those are just statues. Where are the houses, buildings, stuff?
Moroni, Comoros
I do not recognise this harbour; most photos of Moroni depict the Friday Mosque
Vilnius, Lithuania
Yerevan, Armenia
That's mount Ararat. Actually in Turkey not Armenia
Load More Replies...Chill down. You're right. But who said otherwise here on the thread?!? Seriously, I don't get this offended insisting on "Ararat is in Turkey!" Of course it is. But it IS also seen from Yerevan and it IS since 1000 years the Holy mountain of Armenia. By the way: The MOON is not part of Turkey - and it is nevertheless on your national flagg...
Load More Replies...Madrid, Spain
Warsaw, Poland
Canberra, Australia
Ashgabat, Turkmenistan
this is the asian sanctuary, buit by sorcerer supreme long time ago
Load More Replies...Belgrade, Serbia
LOL! This is not a Belgrad, this is imaginary project that exist in fantasy of corupted government. Wrong on many levels....
It is. It's called Belgrade Waterfront (Beograd na Vodi), it is a development project...
Load More Replies...Buenos Aires, Argentina
At least 5 years old, now ir has a new metro running on that avenue.
Thimphu, Bhutan
It really is the most gorgeous and happy place on earth. I was lucky enough to spend a couple of weeks I now Bhutan.
Visited Bhutan last year. It felt like heaven. Beautiful weather and friendly people. The whole atmosphere there is so calm and serene.
Luxembourg, Luxembourg
Oh no the valley is very green - this picture doesn't do it justice
Load More Replies...Basseterre, St. Kitts And Nevis
Bratislava, Slovakia
Majuro, Marshall Islands
Nouakchott, Mauritania
Me too. The fact that slavery is still very common place here blew me out of the water!
Load More Replies...Pyongyang, North Korea
Believe it not folks... Photo is 100% real. Cars are far and in between in NK. Cars are reserved for the UPPER UPPER class. 3/4 of those buildings are empty (the blue and Red ones.) This is propaganda at it's finest folks. All show.
...and so gorgeous, too. What a shame. Some buildings in NK are just shells of buildings....
Load More Replies...I don't see any cars or people, this is both beautiful and super creepy
It doesn't mean that their leader is a horrible creep means that the north korea looks like it was "stamped out of molds".... i really think the country is beautiful.... whoever down votes this means that those people rely their judgement based on the personality of the leader.... they think their leader is the image of the whole country.....
Load More Replies...Found it! :) https://www.google.bg/maps/@38.9943286,125.7342325,551m/data=!3m1!1e3?hl=en
It does. These buildings only line the major streets. The rest are slums - hidden behind these buildings.
Load More Replies...Baghdad, Iraq
For those who are saying they don't see this picture: "Results may vary for each user, but to make our list as objective as possible, we used Google Chrome's Incognito mode (the queries were formulated as follows: "City, Country" and were conducted on google.co.uk)."
Not true. Searched as it states in the description, browsed through like the first 10 pictures, can't even see it or anything similar to it anywhere.
Hello, here's the result we got here at Bored Panda, maybe it's different for each person! :) Pasted-ima...66-png.jpg
بغداد وهل عذاب الله أكثر منك في الدنيا اجمعها؟ My beautiful city, my hometown, this is how the world knows you today. My heart breaks everyday, I will love you forever....
I just searched it as well, I got to the 7th image until it started to show blown up building
Baghdad, the jewel of the middle east. This picture is not the reality. Baghdad is very beautiful and rich city
Kabul, Afghanistan
This photo really was taken in Kabul, how is that a stereotype
Load More Replies...Athens, Greece
Monaco, Monaco
Never really had a desire to travel here. Too much money being passed around (and gambled away)
Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia
ANd there's Gengis Khan, who spread his DNA all over the world!
Zagreb, Croatia
Lome, Togo
Oslo, Norway
Ankara, Turkey
Ankara is chosen to be the capital of Turkish Republic because it is basically at the center of Turkey. Why eveything has to be in Istanbul?
Ankara is the capital of Turkey, however, Istanbul is the most famous city in Turkey.
Load More Replies...Cairo, Egypt
This surprises me. I would of thought Giza pyramids would be pictured which is the outskirts of Cairo. Maybe since they aren't the center?
Not article related: Please don't write 'of' instead of 'have'. I'm a teacher and a lot of my students do this. It's driving me crazy, for me it's even worse than there/their/they're mistakes. When saying 'would have' or 'should have' it's sounds like an 'of' but you can't be that lazy - it's only two letters shorter.
Load More Replies...New Delhi, India
well.. this certifies how inaccurate this list is... Tajmahal is not in New Delhi, its in Agra a city about 250 kms from delhi...
TAJ MAHAL is situated in AGRA, First image for Delhi is https://www.google.co.in/search?q=delhi&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjQ84b2j6_UAhUCS48KHRytBNAQ_AUIDCgD&biw=1366&bih=596#imgrc=5KTU1BBg_NLdwM:
Vaduz, Liechtenstein
Bucharest, Romania
The Palace of the Parliament or The People's House - the 2nd largest administrative building after the Pentagon, world's most expensive and heaviest administrative building in the world. It has about 1100 rooms on 12 floors, a height of 84 m, an area of 365,000 m2 and a volume of 2,550,000 m3. It's valued at €3,4 billion.
škoda! (that red car, from our - other post-communist country czechoslovakia :D)
I like the picture. For all unsatisfied: I dont knoow, if the original color was white, but I see no diference in parkinglot in front of building in newer pictures I found - just cars are more modern.
Oh come ooon!! It's such an old photo! Bucharest is much more beautiful than this! It is also called "little Paris" This photo is probably taken in the Ceausescu (communism) era
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Amman, Jordan
Dhaka, Bangladesh
Haha but guys you gotta see such things only in the old part of the city and in the newer part, a lot of roads are banned for human driven vehicles. You're most welcome to Dhaka btw :)
Georgetown, Guyana
Manila, Philippines
Our capital is getting outvoted, Philippines. Let's keep upvoting Manila.
Prague, Czech Republic
Well, I got totally different picture. This one gives no justice to the most beautiful city n Europe. Whatever...
I totally agree, I've been to Prague and it's a living museum.
Load More Replies...Well, this is my first picture :) I know what this article is about. But I also understand why many Czech people are disappointed to see this. This is kind of picture of Prague we thought we'd see here. :) prague_hero.jpg
Something people are not getting about this article: it's not about the best picture of a city, not about the newest picture of a city but the first one that comes up when that one person, the author of the article, searched that on their version of Google, in an incognito session one time. That's it.
I get here just see Prague... I am disappointed how bad the seo is :-( why they didn't use google.com instead of co.uk...
I got a different picture searching using Czech Republic, but the same picture using Czechia following the same guide as explained on the Baghdad photo. Interesting that the author chose a different title to what they searched on.
Rabat, Morocco
Sarajevo, Bosnia And Herzegovina
Valletta, Malta
Abuja, Nigeria
Andorra La Vella, Andorra
Asuncion, Paraguay
Bogota, Colombia
A bull fighting arena coexists with modern buildings, such as in most hispanic american capitals, I believe.
hey hey hey first of all we americans of the shout.central and north (i not including USA ) we practically force to take a culture from a country in Europe called SPAIN and in SPAIN they think that cut a bull and leave him to bleed slowly is and "ART" for your information from 80's to now a days eradication of bull fight is a thing that is successful growing . i from mexico and i can said in mexico we still fighting for the banning of bull fighting . so chill your criticism and judgement. i dont get why only Americans we get criticized and the Spaniards the ones that kill those animals, the ones that brought slaves to England and they support nazis got away with it , why ? because they are European? and we because we have problems like drug trafficking we like animal abuse?. geez
Load More Replies...San Jose, Costa Rica
Sao Tome, Sao Tome And Principe
Singapore, Singapore
omg i love this city. so many cultures, modern architecture mixed with old and sooo clean.
This is a very old (dated) photo. The construction in the foreground was completed several years ago and the city skyline has changed
Yaren District, Nauru
Nassau, The Bahamas
Whether it's Nassau or not, it's the first picture that comes up.
Load More Replies...Nicosia, Cyprus
This is Nicosia, a small hill town in Sicily
Load More Replies...Roseau, Dominica
somebody else noticed this picture was photoshopped? twin-woods...638152.png
Islamabad, Pakistan
Bridgetown, Barbados
Managua, Nicaragua
Port Vila, Vanuatu
Tirana, Albania
Brasilia, Brazil
Love this place!! The city is planned, full of trees, perfect for ridding bikes... but politicians are nasty.... :(
Damascus, Syria
This surprises me, I would have expected a war torn image like the one for Iraq.
Damascus is a large city, and only the outskirts have been affected by the war, this picture is from the central part of the city which is heavily populated and protected. The war was concentrated in certain cities, such as Aleppo and Homs. My mother was born is Syria, and i lived there for 8 years, it's a beautiful country, what's happening in it now is a very sad thing.
Load More Replies...Guatemala City, Guatemala
That's because they're Catholics at Guatemala, did ya know?
Load More Replies...Panama City, Panama
Pretoria, South Africa
Cape Town and Bloemfontein are also capitals - South Africa is greedy and has three. Cape Town is the fairest by far!
Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte, Sri Lanka
Yes as a Sri Lankan I confirm that Sri Jayawardenepura is the capital <3 love you my motherland..
Interesting indeed. Colombo is mentioned as Sri Lanka's capital in maps and everywhere. Well, now we're wiser. Wikipedia: Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte or Sri Jayewardenepura Kotte[1] (also known as Kotte) is the official capital of Sri Lanka.[2] Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte is within the urban area of, and a satellite city of, Colombo. Colombo is often referred to as the capital since Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte is within the urban area of, and a satellite city of, Colombo. It was the legislative capital of Sri Lanka until 1982.
Load More Replies...St John's, Antigua And Barbuda
Vatican City, Vatican City
Chisinau, Moldova
Dili, Timor L'este (East Timor)
Doha, Qatar
Dushanbe, Tajikistan
Jerusalem, Israel
JERUSALEM IS NOT THE F*****G CAPITAL OF ISRAEL. AND IT NEVER EVER WILL BE. THE CAPITAL OF THE APARTHEID STATE OF ISRAEL IS TEL AVIV. THANK YOU.
Podgorica, Montenegro
Port Louis, Mauritius
Tunis, Tunisia
Victoria, Seychelles
Algiers, Algeria
Asmara, Eritrea
Caracas, Venezuela
Funafuti, Tuvalu
This is so sad. This place could be gorgeous without the trash. The colours are amazing but the garbage just ruins it...
It's probably more accurate to say that this is where garbage from our oceans ends up. It looks like all this washed in on the tide, not is going out with the tide.
Load More Replies...Minsk, Belarus
It looks like very old picture. I know the place but I can't recognize buildings. Maybe this picture USSR
Mogadishu, Somalia
There is more to the capital then just this picture. Ps this was a picture of a suicide bombing
Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
That building in the middle just looks like a bottle opener.. what's the point?? :/
Sofia, Bulgaria
This is not Sofia! This is Rila Monastery in Bulgaria!
The attached picture is Sofia! 15-karolis...c37caa.jpg
"The First Picture That Appears When You Search Your Capital On Google Images"
Load More Replies...Well, at least it's in the right country. Google seems to be a bit confused about geography. Maybe this is the Alternative Capital? ;-)
Load More Replies...Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
Dubai is the most popular city in the UAE but it's definitely not the capital.
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Banjul, The Gambia
Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan
Conakry, Guinea
Djibouti, Djibouti
Luanda, Angola
Manama, Bahrain
Praia, Cabo Verde
Tashkent, Uzbekistan
Antananarivo, Madagascar
Apia, Samoa
Castries, St. Lucia
Freetown, Sierra Leone
Gaborone, Botswana
Lilongwe, Malawi
Lusaka, Zambia
Monrovia, Liberia
Bamako, Mali
Bangui, Central African Republic
Belmopan, Belize
It may not actually be Belmopan but it is the first image that comes up when I search for Belmopan and it must also have been the same for the author of the article. That's the whole point of this article. It's not about the best picture of a city, not about the newest picture of a city but the first one that comes up when that one person searched that one time.
Load More Replies...Khartoum, Sudan
Ljubljana, Slovenia
Montevideo, Uruguay
Nairobi, Kenya
Naypyidaw, Myanmar
Palikir, Micronesia
Port-au-Prince, Haiti
Quito, Ecuador
Skopje, Macedonia
St George's, Grenada
Tehran, Iran
Ain't this photo too old? Cars look like coming directly from Cuba!
Washington D.c., United States Of America
The Capitol Building, where millionaires make laws at the behest of billionaires.
Windhoek, Namibia
Dodoma, Tanzania
Harare, Zimbabwe
Kuwait City, Kuwait
Tegucigalpa, Honduras
Tripoli, Libya
Yaounde, Cameroon
Yamoussoukro, Cote D'ivoire (Ivory Coast)
That looks like St Paul's Cathedral and the Millennium Bridge, in London.
Well, it comes out that Cote d'Ivoire has magically turned into London...
ouch my bad. i knew something isn't right with that picture. didn't checked the facts. because it is on the internet doenst mean it is true. my fault.
Because this is London. This is St. Paul's Cathedral and the Millennium Bridge
Load More Replies...Bissau, Guinea-Bissau
Juba, South Sudan
Malabo, Equatorial Guinea
Maputo, Mozambique
Maseru, Lesotho
Totally landlocked country, surrounded by only one country (South Africa). Only other totally landlocked countries are Vatican City and San Marino, both surrounded by Italy.
N'djamena, Chad
Paramaribo, Suriname
San Salvador, El Salvador
Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic
Suva, Fiji
Brazzaville, Republic Of The Congo
Google and all the people who power it by democratic vote got it wrong? SHOCKING!!! :D
Load More Replies...Bujumbura, Burundi
Dakar, Senegal
Honiara, Solomon Islands
Kampala, Uganda
For a moment, I thought this was Auckland, NZ. But there are small details that are very different.
Kigali, Rwanda
Kingston, Jamaica
Wow, it didn't look anything like that in Assassins Creed 4:Black Flag
Kinshasa, Democratic Republic Of The Congo
Port Of Spain, Trinidad And Tobago
Porto-Novo, Benin
Ramallah, Palestine
Jerusalem has ans always will be the capital of the Jewish people AMEN!!!!!
South Tarawa, Kiribati
Sucre, Bolivia
Bah, looked it up, it is Sucre now. A year ago it was still La Paz; even when I traveled last year we were "above the capital city of bolivia", well...
Load More Replies...Nuku'alofa, Tonga
Nope. Mormon temple. See the angel on top of the spire? The Mormons have a strong missionary presence in the Pacific islands.
Load More Replies...Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea
Kingstown, St. Vincent And The Grenadines
Libreville, Gabon
Mbabane, Swaziland
It's Google. Most popular photo wins every time in a search.
Load More Replies...Ngerulmud, Palau
Niamey, Niger
very good idea and very badly formed. and why there is a classification???
Sad that some countries like Iraq and Afghanistan are now sononemous with war and disaster! But them being the hub of Islamic extremists I'm not surprised those are the first images that come up! And whites did not create this list, Srim, it is just what the most popular images are in a Google search.
Has more to do with them being targets of US invasion and bombing.
Load More Replies...Hey, Bored Panda! I started compiling a similar list for my country. Would you be interested in posting it here?
Great list! I wish though you'd disable the usual ranking and just leave it in alphabetical order!
So what's the point of this project? Because It sure has nothing to do with postcards...
very good idea and very badly formed. and why there is a classification???
Sad that some countries like Iraq and Afghanistan are now sononemous with war and disaster! But them being the hub of Islamic extremists I'm not surprised those are the first images that come up! And whites did not create this list, Srim, it is just what the most popular images are in a Google search.
Has more to do with them being targets of US invasion and bombing.
Load More Replies...Hey, Bored Panda! I started compiling a similar list for my country. Would you be interested in posting it here?
Great list! I wish though you'd disable the usual ranking and just leave it in alphabetical order!
So what's the point of this project? Because It sure has nothing to do with postcards...
