Which continent? Without checking, I think there would be VERY FEW, if any that are not on or near a river or water source. Sustaining populations away from rivers of commerce is difficult now and I can imagine that years ago would have been near impossible.

Brasília isn't on a river. It's on a lake.

I did not find a comprehensive list. Moreover, it is sometimes difficult to tell whether a particular body of water can be called a "river". 1) "Stockholm is the largest city and capital of Sweden." "Its strategic location on several islands on the east coast of Sweden at the mouth of Lake Mälaren, by the Stockholm archipelago, has been historically important." Source and further information: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stockholm "The actual situation and layout of the city is very interesting as, unlike most capital cities, Stockholm is not situated on a river but rather between a sea and a lake (The BalticSea and Lake Malaren).The city itself consists of fourteen islands linked together by bridges." Source and further information: http://members.virtualtourist.com/m/f2cd8/2a642/ 2) Various references give Madrid: "Madrid is the only European capital city not situated on a river." http://samya.indiangeek.com/knowledge/newsletter.shtml http://italianalmanac.org/humor/didyouknow.htm However, Wikipedia says: "The city is located on the river Manzanares" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madrid "The river Manzanares, although small and relatively unimportant geographically, has had a great historical importance due to its close relation to the city of Madrid. The city was founded by the Moors as a citadel overlooking the river in the ninth century. The river also features in many paintings of the late eighteenth - early nineteenth-century painter Francisco de Goya which show traditionally dressed Madrileños in activities like dancing or having picnics next to the river." Source and further information: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manzanares 3) "Assuming you are including US state capitals, Lincoln Nebraska has no river per se. There is a small creek named Salt Creek, but this does not qualify as a river." Source and further information: http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Which_capital_city_has_no_river 4) "I also note that a huge number of major cities, including Old World capital cities are "coastal" - Jakarta, Hong Kong, Singapore, Mumbai, Tel Aviv, Istanbul, Athens, Algiers, Cape Town, Barcelona, Marseilles, Venice, Gdansk, St Petersburg, Copenhagen, Stockholm, Oslo, Tallinn, Helsinki, Dublin, Liverpool, Hamburg, Sydney, Melbourne, Perth, Brisbane, Boston (MA), New York City, Miami, Los Angeles, San Francisco, quickly come to mind, etc." "given the requirement for a supply of fresh water, very few human settlements of any size are not located on rivers or streams. The major exceptions would be the minority that are located near lakes or springs." Source and further information: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Categories_for_discussion/Log/2008_April_9#Category:River_cities 5) "Lake Paranoá is an artificial lake that is located in Brasília, the capital of Brazil. On the east side of the city, the Rio Paranoá (Paranoá River) has been dammed to form a large lake with a circumference of 80km/50mi, the Lago do Paranoá." Source and further information: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parano%C3%A1_Lake 6) "Pristina, also spelled Prishtina or Priština listen (help·info) (Albanian: Prishtinë or Prishtina, Serbian: Приштина, Priština) is the capital and the largest city of the newly independent Balkan nation of Kosovo which declared its independence from Serbia on February 17, 2008. " Source and further information: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pristina "By the 1950s, Pristina's main river, Vellusha, started serving as the city's sewer. City planners failed to put in place a proper waste water system and decided to simply cover the river up. The threat of recurring floods and the smell of excrement persuaded the municipal assembly to eventually cover the second river, Pristina, as well. Although Pristina received its first public water system in 1946, the necessary filters to treat the water were never put in place. Even today, the town's sewage water still flows unfiltered into the river Sitnica south of Pristina. For rock musician Migjen Kelmendi Pristina's covered river was a symbol of a hidden identity. His rock band, Traces, made a song about the City without River. More recently he wrote a book about this theme. The rivers hidden from view disclose the arrogance of communist planning but also remind us that looks can be deceiving. Pristina is a place of secrets, a city more interesting than it might appear at first sight." Source and further information: http://www.esiweb.org/index.php?lang=en&id=298&city_ID=48