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A capital city (or just capital) is the area of a country, province, region, or state regarded as enjoying primary status; although there are exceptions, a capital is almost always a city which physically encompasses the offices and meeting places of the seat of government and is fixed by law. An alternative term is political capital, but this phrase has a second meaning based on an alternative sense of capital. The capital is frequently the largest city of its constituent area.

The word capital is derived from the Latin caput meaning "head" and, in the United States, the related term capitol refers to the building where government business is chiefly conducted.


Historically, the major economic center of a state or region often becomes the focal point of political power, and becomes a capital through conquest or amalgamation. This was the case for London, Berlin, and Moscow. The capital naturally attracts the politically motivated and those whose skills are needed for efficient administration of government such as lawyers, journalists, and public policy researchers. A capital that is the prime economic, cultural, or intellectual center is sometimes referred to as a primate city. Such is certainly the case with Paris, London and Madrid among national capitals, and Milan, Irkutsk or Phoenix in their respective state or province.

Capitals are sometimes sited to discourage further growth in an existing major city. Naypyidaw was founded in Burma's interior with the justification that the former capital, Yangon, was considered over-crowded.[1]

The convergence of political and economic or cultural power is by no means universal. Traditional capitals may be economically eclipsed by provincial rivals, as occurred with Nanjing by Shanghai. The decline of a dynasty or culture could also mean the extinction of its capital city, as occurred with Babylon and Cahokia. Many present-day capital cities, such as New Delhi, Abuja, Ankara, Brasília, Canberra, Astana, Islamabad, Ottawa and Washington, D.C. are planned cities that were built as an alternative to the seat of government residing in an established population centre for various reasons. In many cases in their own right they have become gradually established as new business or commercial centres.

Unorthodox capital city arrangements


Capitals that are not the seat of government


International entities

Capital as symbol


Capitals in military strategy




Relative size of capital cities

In most countries the seat of government is situated in the largest city; exceptions to this practice are listed below.

Capitals located in the 2nd largest city

Capitals located in the 3rd largest city

Capitals located in the 4th largest city

Capitals located in the 5th largest city

Other capitals


Distance to the capital


Other great distances are

Distances between capital cities (nearest and farthest)

  • Nearest
The second closest two capital cities between two sovereign countries are Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo and Brazzaville, Republic of the Congo, which are about 1.6 km (1 mile) apart, one upstream from the other on different banks of the Congo River (the distance between the middle points is about 10 km).
Vienna and Bratislava, sometimes erroneously considered the two closest capitals, are actually 55 km (34 miles) apart.
  • Farthest
The longest distance from one capital of a sovereign country to the one closest to it is 2330 km (1448 miles) between Wellington, New Zealand and Canberra, Australia. Each is nearer to the other than to the capital of any other sovereign country.
The greatest distance between the capitals of two sovereign countries that share a border is 6423 km (3991 miles), between Pyongyang, North Korea and Moscow, Russia.

See also


  1. Pedrosa, Veronica (20 November 2006). "Burma's 'seat of the kings'". Al Jazeera. Retrieved 21 November 2006.
  4. "". Retrieved 2010-06-20.
  5. "". Retrieved 2010-06-20.
  6. "". Retrieved 2010-06-20.
  8. "". Retrieved 2010-06-20.
  9. "". Retrieved 2010-06-20.
  10. "". Retrieved 2010-06-20.
  11. "". Retrieved 2010-06-20.
  12. The Washington, D.C. urban area is the 8th largest metropolitan area by population in the United States.