Some countries can be considered to have multiple capitals . In some cases, one city is the capital for some purposes, and one or more others are capital for other purposes, without any being considered an official capital in preference to the others. There are also cases where there is a single legally defined capital, but one or more other cities operate as the seat of government of some or all parts of the national government; in these situations, sources may disagree on whether these other cities are considered additional capital cities.
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Country | Capitals | Details |
---|---|---|
Benin | Porto-Novo | Official capital |
Cotonou | De facto administrative capital | |
Bolivia | Sucre | Constitutional capital |
La Paz | De facto executive and legislative capital | |
Burundi | Gitega | Official political capital |
Bujumbura | Seat of government and economic capital [1] | |
Eswatini | Mbabane | Administrative capital |
Lobamba | Legislative capital (parliament) and place of royal residence | |
Ivory Coast | Yamoussoukro | Official capital |
Abidjan | De facto administrative capital [2] | |
Malaysia | Kuala Lumpur | Constitutional and legislative capital (parliament), seat of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong |
Putrajaya | Administrative centre and judicial seat; variously referred to as the administrative capital [3] | |
Netherlands | Amsterdam | Official capital |
The Hague | Seat of government and de facto administrative capital | |
South Africa | Pretoria | Administrative and executive capital |
Bloemfontein | Judicial capital | |
Cape Town | Legislative capital (parliament) | |
Sri Lanka | Colombo | Executive, judicial, and commercial [4] capital |
Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte | Legislative capital (parliament) | |
Afghanistan | Kabul | Administrative, cultural and financial capital |
Kandahar | De facto Capital, founding City of the taliban and the seat of the Taliban Parliament. and the Supreme Leader [5] |
These countries have had two cities that served as administrative capitals at the same time, for various reasons such as war, weather or partition. In some cases, the second capital is considered a temporary capital.
Country | Year(s) | Capitals | Details |
---|---|---|---|
British India | 1858–1947 | Kolkata (a.k.a. Calcutta) (1858–1911) | Administrative capital |
New Delhi (1911–1947) | |||
Shimla (a.k.a. Simla) | Summer capital | ||
Austria-Hungary | 1873–1918 | Vienna | Cisleithania |
Budapest | Kingdom of Hungary | ||
Republic of China | 1937–1945 | Nanjing (a.k.a. Nanking) | Capital of the Japanese-controlled puppet state |
Chongqing | Provisional capital of the Kuomintang-ruled Republic of China | ||
1945–1991 | Nanjing | Administrative, legislative, and judicial capital (claimed between the 1949 Retreat and the 1992 Consensus) | |
Taipei | Provisional capital of the Kuomintang-ruled Republic of China on Taiwan | ||
France | 1940–1944 | Vichy | De facto administrative capital |
Paris | De jure constitutional capital, also capital for the German military administration | ||
Kingdom of Italy | 1943–1944 | Brindisi (1943–Feb 1944) | De facto provisional capital |
Salerno (Feb–Jun 1944) | |||
Rome | De jure capital until 1944 when it was liberated by the Allies | ||
Italian Social Republic | 1943–1944 | Salò | De facto capital until 1944 when it became the primary capital |
Rome | De jure capital until 1944 when it was liberated by the Allies | ||
Laos | 1947–1975 | Vientiane | Administrative capital |
Luang Prabang | Royal capital | ||
Libya | 1951–1963 | Tripoli | One of two official capitals of the Kingdom of Libya, then Bayda became the capital of Libya from 1963 to 1969 |
Benghazi | |||
Malawi | 1974–1994 | Lilongwe | Administrative and judiciary capital |
Zomba | Legislative capital | ||
Netherlands-Indonesia Union | 1948–1956 | Amsterdam | Kingdom of the Netherlands |
Jakarta | United States of Indonesia | ||
Norway | 1940 | Oslo | Official capital |
Hamar | Temporarily one-day capital that seated the parliament [6] | ||
Philippines | 1948–1976 | Quezon City | Official capital |
Manila | De facto seat of government | ||
1901–1976 | Baguio | Summer capital (still known as summer capital, outside of political use) | |
Serbia and Montenegro | 2003–2006 | Belgrade | Administrative and legislative capital |
Podgorica | Judicial capital |
Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, is a region of Belgium comprising 19 municipalities, including the City of Brussels, which is the capital of Belgium. The Brussels-Capital Region is located in the central portion of the country and is a part of both the French Community of Belgium and the Flemish Community, but is separate from the Flemish Region and the Walloon Region, located less than 4 kilometres (2.5 mi) to the south. Historically Dutch-speaking, Brussels saw a language shift to French from the late 19th century. Nowadays, the Brussels-Capital Region is officially bilingual in French and Dutch, although French is the majority language and lingua franca. Brussels is also increasingly becoming multilingual. English is spoken widely and many migrants and expatriates speak other languages as well.
Bujumbura, formerly Usumbura, is the economic capital, largest city and main port of Burundi. It ships most of the country's chief export, coffee, as well as cotton and tin ore. Bujumbura was formerly the country's political capital. In late December 2018, Burundian president Pierre Nkurunziza announced that he would follow through on a 2007 promise to return Gitega its former political capital status, with Bujumbura remaining as economical capital and center of commerce. A vote in the Parliament of Burundi made the change official on 16 January 2019, with all branches of government expected to move to Gitega within three years.
Colombo is the executive and judicial capital and largest city of Sri Lanka by population. According to the Brookings Institution, the Colombo metropolitan area has a population of 5.6 million, and 752,993 in the Municipality. It is the financial centre of the island and a tourist destination. It is located on the west coast of the island and adjacent to the Greater Colombo area which includes Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte, the legislative capital of Sri Lanka, and Dehiwala-Mount Lavinia. Colombo is often referred to as the capital since Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte is itself within the urban/suburban area of Colombo. It is also the administrative capital of the Western Province and the district capital of Colombo District. Colombo is a busy and vibrant city with a mixture of modern life, colonial buildings and monuments.
Putrajaya, officially the Federal Territory of Putrajaya, is the administrative centre of Malaysia. The seat of the federal government of Malaysia was moved in 1999 from Kuala Lumpur to Putrajaya because of overcrowding and congestion, whilst the seat of the judiciary of Malaysia was later moved to Putrajaya in 2003. Kuala Lumpur remains as Malaysia's national capital city per the constitution and is still the seat of the head of state and the national legislature, as well as being the country's commercial and financial centre.
A capital city or just capital is the municipality holding primary status in a country, state, province, department, or other subnational division, usually as its seat of the government. A capital is typically a city that physically encompasses the government's offices and meeting places; the status as capital is often designated by its law or constitution. In some jurisdictions, including several countries, different branches of government are in different settlements, sometimes meaning multiple official capitals. In some cases, a distinction is made between the official (constitutional) capital and the seat of government, which is in another place.
The seat of government is "the building, complex of buildings or the city from which a government exercises its authority".
An auto rickshaw is a motorized version of the pulled rickshaw or cycle rickshaw. Most have three wheels and do not tilt. They are known by many terms in various countries, including 3wheel, Adaidaita Sahu, Keke-napep, Maruwa, auto rickshaw, auto, baby taxi, bajaj, bao-bao, chand gari, easy bike, jonnybee, lapa, lapa-lapa, mototaxi, pigeon, pragya, tuktuk, tukxi, and tum-tum.
Gitega, formerly Kitega, is the political capital of Burundi. Located in the centre of the country, in the Burundian central plateau roughly 62 kilometres (39 mi) east of Bujumbura, the largest city and former political capital, Gitega is the country's fourth largest city and former royal capital of the Kingdom of Burundi until its abolition in 1966. In late December 2018, Burundian president Pierre Nkurunziza announced that he would follow on a 2007 promise to return Gitega its former political capital status, with Bujumbura remaining as economic capital and centre of commerce. A vote in the Parliament of Burundi made the change official on 16 January 2019, with all branches of government expected to move in over three years.
Kirundo Province is one of the eighteen provinces of Burundi, in north of the country bordering Rwanda. The economy is mostly based on agriculture, with a dispersed population and few sizable communities. Before 1970 large parts of the province were forested. Migrants from the south then cleared much of the vegetation to create agricultural land, and Kirundo became the breadbasket of Burundi. The civil war from 1993 to 2005 caused agricultural output to drop by more than half. Since then, lack of farm inputs, poor infrastructure and shortages of water have caused widespread poverty.
Sri Lanka is a popular tourist destination. Tourism is a key industry that attracts international tourists yearly. Foreigners visit Sri Lanka to see nature, wildlife, historical monuments, and indigenous culture. In 2018, tourist arrivals peaked at 2.5 million, who spent a total of US$5.6 billion in the country. However, the COVID-19 pandemic caused tourist numbers to decrease by 92% in 2020. As of 2022, tourist numbers have not rebounded from the pre-crisis high. The government is attempting to attract foreign investment in the country's tourism industry, which began in earnest after the end of the Sri Lankan Civil War in 2009.
The World Book Capital (WBC) is an initiative of UNESCO which recognises cities for promoting books and fostering reading for a year starting on April 23, World Book and Copyright Day. Cities designated as UNESCO World Book Capital carry out activities with the aim of encouraging a culture of reading in all ages and sharing UNESCO's values. The nomination does not provide a financial prize.
North Western Province is a province of Sri Lanka. It is the fourth-largest province by land area, covering 7,888 km2 (3,046 sq mi), and the fourth-most populated province with a population of over 2,592,000 people. North Western Province is bordered by the North Central Province, Sri Lanka to the north, Central Province, Sri Lanka to the east, Sabaragamuwa Province to the southeast, Western Province, Sri Lanka to the south, and is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the west.
Sejong or Sejong City, officially the Sejong Special Self-Governing City, is a special self-governing city and the de facto administrative capital of South Korea.
Burundi, officially the Republic of Burundi, is a landlocked country in the Great Rift Valley at the junction between the African Great Lakes region and Southeast Africa. It is bordered by Rwanda to the north, Tanzania to the east and southeast, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west; Lake Tanganyika lies along its southwestern border. The capital city is Gitega and the largest city is Bujumbura.