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List of national capitals

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This is a list of national capitals, including capitals of territories and dependencies, non-sovereign states including associated states and entities whose sovereignty is disputed.

The capitals included on this list are those associated with states or territories listed by the international standard ISO 3166-1, or that are included in the list of states with limited recognition.

Sovereign states and observer states within the United Nations are shown in bold text.

List

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The column headings may cover the first row when the letter links are used.

City/Town Country/Territory Continent Notes
Abidjan (former capital; still hosts some government offices)  Ivory Coast (Côte d'Ivoire) Africa Abidjan is the largest city in Ivory Coast and is officially designated as the economic capital.
Yamoussoukro (de jure)
Abu Dhabi  United Arab Emirates Asia
Abuja  Nigeria Africa Lagos was the capital from 1914 to 1991.
Accra  Ghana Africa
Adamstown  Pitcairn Islands Oceania British Overseas Territory.
Addis Ababa  Ethiopia Africa
Aden (de facto, temporary)  Yemen Asia Yemen is in a state of civil war, and Sanaa has been occupied by Houthi rebels since September 2014. Aden, the former capital of South Yemen, is Yemen's acting capital.
Sanaa (de jure)
Episkopi Cantonment  Akrotiri and Dhekelia Asia British Overseas Territory.
Algiers  Algeria Africa
Alofi  Niue Oceania Self-governing in free association with New Zealand. Government offices are spread across both Alofi North and Alofi South.
Amman  Jordan Asia
Amsterdam (official)  Netherlands Europe The Dutch government is situated in The Hague, which also hosts the monarch, government ministries, judiciary and diplomatic missions. See also Capital of the Netherlands.
The Hague (de facto)
Andorra la Vella  Andorra Europe
Ankara  Turkey Asia Ankara became capital of the newly-formed Republic of Turkey in 1923, after the Turkish War of Independence. The capital of Turkey's predecessor, the Ottoman Empire, was Constantinople.
Antananarivo  Madagascar Africa
Apia  Samoa Oceania
Ashgabat  Turkmenistan Asia
Asmara  Eritrea Africa
Astana  Kazakhstan Asia Astana was named Nur-Sultan from 2019 to 2022. Almaty was the capital of Kazakhstan from 1991 to 1997 and its predecessor the Kazakh SSR from 1929 to 1991.
Asunción  Paraguay South America
Athens  Greece Europe
Avarua  Cook Islands Oceania Self-governing in free association with New Zealand. The capital is sometimes incorrectly stated as Rarotonga, the island on which Avarua is located.
Baghdad  Iraq Asia
Baku  Azerbaijan Asia
Bamako  Mali Africa
Bandar Seri Begawan  Brunei Asia
Bangkok  Thailand Asia
Bangui  Central African Republic Africa
Banjul  Gambia Africa
Basseterre  Saint Kitts and Nevis North America
Beijing  China Asia See also: Historical capitals of China.
Beirut  Lebanon Asia
Belgrade  Serbia Europe
Belmopan  Belize North America Belize City was the capital of Belize's predecessor, British Honduras.
Berlin  Germany Europe Bonn was the capital of West Germany and remained the seat of government for reunified Germany until 1999, and is still the primary seat of six ministries. See also Capital of Germany.
Bern (de facto)  Switzerland Europe
Bishkek  Kyrgyzstan Asia
Bissau  Guinea-Bissau Africa
Bloemfontein (judicial)  South Africa Africa
Cape Town (legislative)
Pretoria (executive)
Bogotá  Colombia South America
Brades (de facto)  Montserrat North America British Overseas Territory. Plymouth was abandoned after the Soufrière Hills volcano erupted in 1997. Since then, government offices have been moved to Brades, which is in northwestern Montserrat. A new capital, Little Bay, is currently under construction.
Plymouth (de jure)
Brasília  Brazil South America Rio de Janeiro was the capital until 1960. See also: Capitals of Brazil.
Bratislava  Slovakia Europe
Brazzaville  Congo Africa
Bridgetown  Barbados North America
Brussels  Belgium
 Europe Brussels also serves as de facto capital of the European Union.[1]
 European Union (de facto)
Bucharest  Romania Europe
Budapest  Hungary Europe See also: List of historical capitals of Hungary.
Buenos Aires  Argentina South America
Cairo  Egypt Africa A new capital is being built at the New Administrative Capital. It might be named Egypt. See also: List of historical capitals of Egypt.
Canberra  Australia Oceania Planned city built to mitigate the rivalry between Melbourne (de facto capital at the time) and Sydney (economic capital and most populous city), both of which were put forward as potential capitals in the Australasia Federation Conventions of the 1890s. Section 125 of the Constitution gives basic details about the location of the capital, size of the encompassing territory and so forth, while the Seat of Government Act 1908 specified its precise location.
Caracas  Venezuela South America
Castries  Saint Lucia North America
Charlotte Amalie  United States Virgin Islands North America Territory of the United States.
Chișinău  Moldova Europe
Cockburn Town  Turks and Caicos Islands North America British Overseas Territory.
Colombo (executive, judicial)  Sri Lanka Asia Until 1982, the capital was Colombo, where many governmental institutions remain; it is still designated as the commercial capital of Sri Lanka. See also: Capital of Sri Lanka.
Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte (official) Also known as Kotte, the city is a suburb of Colombo.
Conakry  Guinea Africa
Copenhagen  Denmark Europe
Cotonou (de facto)  Benin Africa
Porto-Novo (official)
Dakar  Senegal Africa
Damascus  Syria Asia
Dhaka  Bangladesh Asia
Dili  East Timor Asia
Djibouti  Djibouti Africa
Dodoma  Tanzania Africa Dar es Salaam, the former capital and largest city, still hosts some government ministries, the judiciary, and diplomatic missions.
Doha  Qatar Asia
Douglas  Isle of Man Europe British Crown Dependency.
Dublin  Ireland Europe
Dushanbe  Tajikistan Asia
Edinburgh of the Seven Seas  Tristan da Cunha Part of the British Overseas Territory of Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha.
Flying Fish Cove  Christmas Island External territory of Australia.
Freetown  Sierra Leone Africa
Saint-Pierre (administration)  French Southern and Antarctic Lands Overseas territory of France. The French Southern and Antarctic Lands do not have an official capital. The territory is administered from Saint-Pierre, Réunion.
Funafuti  Tuvalu Oceania
Gaborone  Botswana Africa
George Town  Cayman Islands North America British Overseas Territory.
Georgetown  Ascension Island Part of the British Overseas Territory of Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha.
Georgetown  Guyana South America
Gibraltar  Gibraltar Europe British Overseas Territory and city-state.
Gitega (de jure)  Burundi Africa Bujumbura was the capital from 1962 to 2018.
Bujumbura (de facto)
Guatemala City  Guatemala North America
Gustavia  Saint Barthélemy North America Overseas collectivity of France.
Hagåtña  Guam Oceania Territory of the United States.
Hamilton  Bermuda North America British Overseas Territory.
Hanoi  Vietnam Asia See also: List of historical capitals of Vietnam.
Harare  Zimbabwe Africa
Hargeisa  Somaliland Africa De facto independent state, deemed by the UN to be de jure part of Somalia.
Havana  Cuba North America
Helsinki  Finland Europe
Honiara  Solomon Islands Oceania Honiara is a settlement on the island of Guadalcanal.
Islamabad  Pakistan Asia Karachi served as the first capital of Pakistan from 1948. A planned capital, Islamabad, was then designated, and in 1958, as an interim measure, the capital was shifted to Rawalpindi, near to the future capital. Islamabad became capital in 1967 when its construction was completed.
Jakarta  Indonesia Asia The capital will soon be moved to Nusantara on Borneo. See also: Capital of Indonesia.
Jamestown  Saint Helena Part of the British Overseas Territory of Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha.
Jerusalem  Israel Asia The Jerusalem Law states that "Jerusalem, complete and united, is the capital of Israel" and the city serves as the seat of the Israeli government and its institutions. United Nations Security Council Resolution 478 declared the Jerusalem Law "null and void" and called on member states to withdraw their diplomatic missions from Jerusalem. Nearly all countries currently have their embassies in and around Tel Aviv. Defying the UN,[2] the United States recognized Jerusalem as the capital and moved its embassy there in May 2018.[3] Many countries officially adhere to the proposal that Jerusalem should have international status, as called for in the 1947 Partition Plan.[4]
 Palestine Asia
Ramallah (de facto)
Juba  South Sudan Africa
Kabul  Afghanistan Asia
Kampala  Uganda Africa
Kathmandu  Nepal Asia
Khartoum  Sudan Africa
Kigali  Rwanda Africa
King Edward Point  South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands British Overseas Territory.
Kingston  Jamaica North America
Kingston  Norfolk Island Oceania External territory of Australia.
Kingstown  Saint Vincent and the Grenadines North America
Kinshasa  Democratic Republic of the Congo Africa
Kuala Lumpur (de jure, legislative and royal)  Malaysia Asia
Putrajaya (administrative and judicial)
Kuwait City  Kuwait Asia
Kyiv  Ukraine Europe
La Paz (administrative)  Bolivia South America La Paz is the highest administrative capital (3,650 m) in the world, higher than Quito.[5]
Sucre (constitutional)
Laayoune (declared)  Western Sahara Africa The Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR), recognized by 84 UN member states and South Ossetia, claims the mostly Moroccan-controlled Western Sahara. Moroccan-controlled territory includes Laayoune and Morocco claims all Sahrawi-controlled territory. Tifariti is the current temporary capital of the SADR (previously Bir Lehlou). Some government and military buildings reside in exile in Tindouf, Algeria.[6] See also: Politics of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic.
Tifariti (de facto)
Libreville  Gabon Africa
Lilongwe  Malawi Africa
Lima  Peru South America Cusco is declared the "historical capital" (Spanish: capital histórica), by Article 49 of the Peruvian Constitution, a merely symbolic statement. Arequipa is deemed the "legal capital" as it is the seat of the Constitutional Court.
Lisbon  Portugal Europe
Ljubljana  Slovenia Europe
Lobamba (royal and legislative)  Eswatini Africa
Mbabane (administrative)
Lomé  Togo Africa
London  United Kingdom Europe Prior to the Acts of Union in 1707, London was the capital of England only; Edinburgh was the capital of the Kingdom of Scotland. The United Kingdom also includes the subdivisions of  England (capital London),  Scotland (capital Edinburgh),  Wales (capital Cardiff),  Northern Ireland (capital Belfast).
London (administration)  British Indian Ocean Territory Asia British Overseas Territory. Officially, the British Indian Ocean Territory is administered from London,[7] though some consider the capital to be Diego Garcia.[8]
Diego Garcia (de facto)
Luanda  Angola Africa
Lusaka  Zambia Africa
Luxembourg  Luxembourg Europe
Madrid  Spain Europe
Majuro  Marshall Islands Oceania Self-governing in free association with the United States. The seat of government is at Delap-Uliga-Djarrit, a settlement on the atoll of Majuro.
Malabo  Equatorial Guinea Africa Ciudad de la Paz is currently under construction and will become the new capital when complete.[9]
Malé  Maldives Asia
Managua  Nicaragua North America
Manama  Bahrain Asia
Manila  Philippines Asia
Maputo  Mozambique Africa
Mariehamn  Åland Islands Europe Autonomous region of Finland.
Marigot  Saint Martin North America Overseas collectivity of France.
Maseru  Lesotho Africa
Mata Utu  Wallis and Futuna Oceania Overseas collectivity of France.
Mexico City  Mexico North America
Minsk  Belarus Europe
Mogadishu  Somalia Africa
Monaco  Monaco Europe City-state. Monaco does not have a capital designated in its constitution; however, the Commune of Monaco, the country's only commune, is coterminous with the nation, making it the de facto capital.[10][11]
Monrovia  Liberia Africa
Montevideo  Uruguay South America
Moroni  Comoros Africa
Moscow  Russia Europe
Muscat  Oman Asia
Nairobi  Kenya Africa
Nassau  Bahamas, The North America
Naypyidaw  Myanmar Asia Yangon was the capital until 2006.[12] See also: List of capitals of Myanmar.
N'Djamena  Chad Africa
New Delhi  India Asia Calcutta was the capital of India until 1911 during the British Raj.
Ngerulmud  Palau Oceania Self-governing in free association with the United States. Koror City was the capital until 2006.
Niamey  Niger Africa
Nicosia  Cyprus
 Asia Nicosia is a divided capital, split between Cyprus, which claims the whole city, and the internationally unrecognized breakaway state of Northern Cyprus.
 Northern Cyprus
Nouakchott  Mauritania Africa
Nouméa New Caledonia Oceania Overseas territory of France.
Nukuʻalofa  Tonga Oceania
Nuuk  Greenland North America Self-governing country within the Kingdom of Denmark.
Oranjestad  Aruba South America Self-governing country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands.
Oslo  Norway Europe See also: List of historical capitals of Norway.
Ottawa  Canada North America
Ouagadougou  Burkina Faso Africa
Pago Pago  American Samoa Oceania Territory of the United States.
Palikir  Micronesia Oceania Self-governing in free association with the United States. Kolonia is the former capital and Australia, China, Japan and the United States retain embassies there.
Panama City  Panama North America
Papeete  French Polynesia Oceania Overseas collectivity of France.
Paramaribo  Suriname South America
Paris  France Europe See also: List of Capitals of France.
Philipsburg  Sint Maarten North America Self-governing country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands.
Phnom Penh  Cambodia Asia
Podgorica  Montenegro Europe Cetinje has been designated the "Old Royal Capital" and is the present seat of the President.
Port Louis  Mauritius Africa
Port Moresby  Papua New Guinea Oceania
Port of Spain  Trinidad and Tobago South America
Port Vila  Vanuatu Oceania
Port-au-Prince  Haiti North America
Prague  Czech Republic Europe The Supreme Court of the Czech Republic is located in Brno.[13]
Praia  Cape Verde Africa
Pristina  Kosovo Europe De facto independent state that is recognized by 114 UN member states, Taiwan, the Cook Islands and Niue. Claimed in whole by Serbia as part of its Autonomous Province of Kosovo and Metohija. Kosovo has de facto control over most of the territory, with limited control in North Kosovo.
Pyongyang  North Korea Asia
Quito  Ecuador South America Highest official capital (2,850 m).[5]
Rabat  Morocco Africa
Reykjavík  Iceland Europe
Riga  Latvia Europe
Riyadh  Saudi Arabia Asia
Road Town  British Virgin Islands North America British Overseas Territory.
Rome  Italy Europe
Roseau  Dominica North America
Rothera  British Antarctic Territory Antarctica British Overseas Territory
Saipan  Northern Mariana Islands Oceania Territory of the United States. The seat of government is at Capitol Hill, a settlement on the island of Saipan.
San José  Costa Rica North America
San Juan  Puerto Rico North America Territory of the United States.
San Marino  San Marino Europe
San Salvador  El Salvador North America
Santiago  Chile South America The National Congress of Chile is located in Valparaíso.
Santo Domingo  Dominican Republic North America
São Tomé  São Tomé and Príncipe Africa
Sarajevo  Bosnia and Herzegovina Europe
Seoul  South Korea Asia On 2 July 2012, some government functions moved to Sejong City, which became the de facto administrative capital.
Singapore  Singapore Asia City-state.
Skopje  North Macedonia Europe
Sofia  Bulgaria Europe
South Tarawa  Kiribati Oceania South Tarawa is a settlement on the atoll of Tarawa.
St. George's  Grenada North America
St. Helier  Jersey Europe British Crown Dependency.
St. John's  Antigua and Barbuda North America
St. Peter Port  Guernsey Europe British Crown Dependency.
St. Pierre  Saint Pierre and Miquelon North America Overseas collectivity of France.
Stanley  Falkland Islands South America British Overseas Territory.
Stockholm  Sweden Europe
Sukhumi  Abkhazia Asia/Europe De facto independent state recognized by Russia, Nauru, Nicaragua, Venezuela, and Syria. Claimed in whole by Georgia as the Autonomous Republic of Abkhazia.
Suva  Fiji Oceania
Taipei  Taiwan Asia Officially the Republic of China, it has been competing for recognition with the People's Republic of China as the sole Chinese government since 1949. Taiwan controls the island of Taiwan and the associated islands Quemoy, Matsu, the Pratas, and part of the Spratly Islands.[Note 1] Its territory is claimed in whole by the People's Republic of China.[Note 2] The Republic of China participates in the World Health Organization and a number of non-UN international organizations such as the World Trade Organization, the International Olympic Committee and others under a variety of pseudonyms, most commonly Chinese Taipei.
Tallinn  Estonia Europe
Tashkent  Uzbekistan Asia
Tbilisi  Georgia Asia/Europe From 2012 to 2018, Kutaisi served as Georgia's legislative capital. Additionally, Mtskheta is sometimes called an "ancient capital" of Georgia.[14][15]
Tegucigalpa  Honduras North America Comayagüela is declared in the Honduran Constitution as co-official capital with Tegucigalpa.[16] The cities have since merged into a single urban area.
Comayagüela
Tehran  Iran Asia
Thimphu  Bhutan Asia
Tirana  Albania Europe
Tiraspol  Transnistria Europe De facto independent state, not recognized by any UN member, only by Abkhazia and South Ossetia. Claimed in whole by Moldova as the autonomous territorial unit of Administrative-Territorial Units of the Left Bank of the Dniester
Tokyo  Japan Asia See also: Capital of Japan.
Tórshavn  Faroe Islands Europe Self-governing country within the Kingdom of Denmark.
Tripoli  Libya Africa
Tskhinvali  South Ossetia Asia/Europe De facto independent state recognized by Russia, Nauru, Nicaragua, Venezuela, and Syria. Claimed in whole by Georgia as the Provisional Administration of South Ossetia.
Tunis  Tunisia Africa
Ulaanbaatar  Mongolia Asia
Vaduz  Liechtenstein Europe
Valletta  Malta Europe
The Valley  Anguilla North America British Overseas Territory.
Vatican City  Vatican City Europe City-state.
Victoria  Seychelles Africa
Vienna  Austria Europe
Vientiane  Laos Asia
Vilnius  Lithuania Europe
Warsaw  Poland Europe Former capitals listed in Template:Historical capitals of Poland.
Washington, D.C.  United States North America The capital of the United States has moved several times. See also: National capitals of the United States.
Wellington  New Zealand Oceania Since 1865. Wellington is New Zealand's third capital. See also: Capital of New Zealand.
West Island  Cocos (Keeling) Islands External territory of Australia.
Willemstad  Curaçao Self-governing country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands.
Windhoek  Namibia Africa
Yaoundé  Cameroon Africa
Yaren (de facto)  Nauru Oceania Nauru has no official capital; however, the government offices are in Yaren.
Yerevan  Armenia Asia
Zagreb  Croatia Europe

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ Sovereignty over the Spratly Islands is disputed by the PRC, the ROC, Vietnam, the Philippines (part), Malaysia (part), and Brunei (part).
  2. ^ In 1949, the Republic of China government led by the Kuomintang (KMT) lost the Chinese Civil War to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and set up a provisional capital in Taipei. The CCP established the People's Republic. As such, the political status of the ROC and the legal status of Taiwan (alongside the territories under ROC jurisdiction) are in dispute. In 1971, the United Nations gave the China seat to the PRC instead of the ROC: most states recognize the PRC to be the sole legitimate representative of all China, and the UN classifies Taiwan as "Taiwan, Province of China". The ROC has de facto relations with most sovereign states. A significant political movement within Taiwan advocates Taiwan independence.

References

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  1. ^ Cybriwsky, Roman Adrian (2013). Capital Cities around the World: An Encyclopedia of Geography, History, and Culture. ABC-CLIO. p. 64. ISBN 978-1-61069-248-9. Brussels, the capital of Belgium, is considered to be the de facto capital of the EU
  2. ^ https://press.un.org/en/2017/ga11995.doc.htm
  3. ^ See the CIA Factbook and Map of Israel
  4. ^ Sharkansky, Ira (1996). Governing Jerusalem: Again on the world's agenda. Wayne State University Press. p. 23. ISBN 0-8143-2592-0.
  5. ^ a b Jacobs, Frank (19 June 2012). "Amazonia or Bust!". New York Times. Retrieved 28 June 2012.
  6. ^ "CIA - The World Factbook -- Western Sahara". June 12, 2007. Archived from the original on 2007-06-12.
  7. ^ "Governance | British Indian Ocean Territory". www.biot.gov.io. Retrieved 2023-09-03.
  8. ^ "British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT)" (PDF). Island Studies. University of Prince Edward Island.
  9. ^ Fortin, Jacey (19 December 2012). "Poverty-Stricken Equatorial Guinea Builds Expensive Capital City In The Middle Of Nowhere". International Business Times.
  10. ^ "Constitution of the Principality". Gouvernement Princier Principauté de Monaco. Principauté de Monaco. 17 December 1962. Retrieved 28 February 2020.
  11. ^ "Monaco". Britannica. Retrieved 28 February 2020.
  12. ^ "Nay Pyi Taw | national capital, Myanmar | Britannica". www.britannica.com. Retrieved 2022-05-29.
  13. ^ "Countries With More Than One Capital City". WorldAtlas. 2022-10-30. Retrieved 2023-09-03.
  14. ^ "Mtskheta | Ancient Capital, UNESCO Site | Britannica". www.britannica.com. Retrieved 2023-09-03.
  15. ^ "Georgia marks day of ancient capital Mtskheta, Svetitskhoveli UNESCO monument". Agenda.ge. Retrieved 2023-09-03.
  16. ^ "Constitution of Honduras" (PDF) (in Spanish). 2010-07-05. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2010-07-05. Retrieved 2022-11-17.
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