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 usually fixed by law or by the constitution. An alternative term is political capital, but this phrase has a second meaning based on an alternate sense of the word capital. The capital is frequently, but not necessarily, the largest city of its constituent area and also often a specialized city.

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 Congress meets.

The seats of government in major sub-state jurisdictions are often called "capitals", but this is typically the case only in countries with some degree of federalism, wherein major substate legal jurisdictions have elements of sovereignty. In unitary states, an "administrative centre" or other similar term is typically used for such locations besides the national capital city. For example, the seat of government in a state of the United States is usually called its "capital", but the main city in a region of the United Kingdom is usually not called such, even though in Ireland, a county's main town is usually called its "capital". On the other hand, these four subdivisions of the United Kingdom do have capital cities: Scotland – Edinburgh, Wales – Cardiff, Northern Ireland – Belfast, and England – London. Counties in England, Wales and Scotland have historic county towns, which are often not the largest settlement within the county and invariably no longer exercise political power, as the county is often only ceremonial, and administrative boundaries differ.

In Canada, there is a national capital, and the ten provinces and 3 territories all have capital cities. The states of such countries as Mexico, Brazil (including the famous cities of Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo, capital of their respective states), and Australia all have capital cities. For example, the six state capitals of Australia are Adelaide, South Australia; Brisbane, Queensland; Hobart, Tasmania; Melbourne, Victoria; Perth, Western Australia; and Sydney, New South Wales. In Australia, the term "capital cities" is regularly referred to and includes the aforementioned state capitals plus the federal capital Canberra and Darwin, the capital of the Northern Territory.

In the Federal Republic of Germany, each of its constituent states (or a Länder) has its own capital city, such as Wiesbaden, Mainz, Düsseldorf, Stuttgart, and Munich. Likewise, each of the republics of the Russian Federation has its own capital city.

At the lower administrative subdivisions in various English-speaking countries, terms such as county town, county seat, and borough seat are usually used.

Origins of capital cities

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 federation. These were the cases for Ancient Baghdad, Berlin, Constantinople, London, Madrid, Moscow, Ancient Rome, Peking, Stockholm, Tokyo, and Vienna. The capital city naturally attracts politically motivated people and those whose skills are needed for efficient administration of national or imperial governments, such as lawyers, political scientists, bankers, journalists, and public policy mavens. Sometimes, religious leaders are also involved, such as in the cases of Constantinople (more than one religion), Rome (the Roman Catholic Church), Jerusalem (more than one religion), Ancient Baghdad, London (the Anglican Church), Moscow (the Russian Orthodox Church), Paris, and Peking.

A capital city that is also the prime economic, cultural, or intellectual centre of a nation or an empire is sometimes referred to as a primate city. Such is the case with Athens, Beijing, Brussels, Budapest, Buenos Aires, Cairo, Copenhagen, Dublin, Lima, Lisbon, London, Madrid, Manila, Montevideo, Mexico City, Nairobi, Paris, Prague, Rome, Seoul, Stockholm, Tokyo, Vienna, and Warsaw among national capitals.

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 Nanking by Shanghai, Edinburgh by Glasgow and numerous US state capitals. The decline of a dynasty or culture could also mean the extinction of its capital city, such as occurred with Babylon and Cahokia.

Although many capitals are defined by constitution or legislation, many long-time capitals possess no legal designation. This is the case of Bern, Edinburgh, Lisbon, London, Melbourne, Paris, Toronto and Wellington, for example. They are recognised as capitals as a matter of conventions, and because all or almost all political institutions, such as government departments, supreme court, legislature, embassies, etc., are located in or within close proximity of them.

Deliberately created capital cities

A significant subset of present-day capital cities were deliberately planned by government leaders to house the seat of government of the nation or subdivision. These cities, such as Abuja, Nigeria (1991); Ankara, Turkey (1923); Dhaka, Bangladesh (1971) ; Brasília, Brazil (1960); Canberra, Australia (1927); Islamabad, Pakistan (1960); Frankfort, Kentucky (1792); Jefferson City, Missouri (1821); Jhongsing New Village, Taiwan, Republic of China (1955); New Delhi, India (1911); Oklahoma City, Oklahoma (1889); Ottawa, Canada (1857); Quezon City, Philippines (1948–1976); Raleigh, North Carolina, USA (1792); Washington D.C., USA (1800); and Wellington, New Zealand (1865) satisfy one or both of these situations:

• A deliberately planned city that was built expressly to house the seat of government, superseding one that had been located in an established population center. There have been various reasons for this, including overcrowding in that major metropolitan area, and the desire to place the capital city in a location with a better climate (usually a less-tropical one).
• A town that was chosen as a compromise among two or more cities (or other political divisions), none of which would allow the other(s) the honor of being the capital city. Usually, the new capital is geographically located roughly equidistant to the competing population centers.

Some examples of the second situation include:

1. Canberra, Australia, which was chosen as a compromise located between Melbourne and Sydney.
2. Frankfort, Kentucky, which is midway between Louisville and Lexington, Kentucky.
3. Ottawa, Canada, which is located along the boundary between the Province of Quebec and the Province of Ontario - the two most populous of the ten provinces, and also roughly midway between the two most-populous cities of Canada, Montreal, Quebec, and Toronto, Ontario.
4. Wellington, New Zealand, which is located at the southern tip of the North Island of New Zealand, the more populous island, immediately across the Cook Strait from the South Island. The capital city was moved there from Auckland, in the northern extent of the North Island, due to fears that the then gold-rich South Island would separate to become its own colony.

When the United States of America established its present constitution by writing it in 1787, the question of its capital city arose. Several cities desired to be the national capital: Boston; New York City; Philadelphia; Richmond, Virginia; etc., but none of these were willing to concede this honor to one of the others. Also, there was rivalry between the proposed thirteen States of the United States as to which one would contain the capital city. Given this situation, the compromise was reached to establish a federal district separate from any of the states, and this would contain a brand-new city for the capital. The capital district was given the name District of Columbia, and the capital city of Washington was founded within it. In 1800, Washington was ready to house the federal government for the first time.

The District of Columbia was the first such district to be set aside purposely for a capital city, and this arrangement has been followed by Australia (the Australian Capital Territory), Mexico (the Federal District), and Brazil (where the district and the city both have the same name, Brasília).

Changes in a nation's political regime sometimes result in the designation of a new capital. The newly independent Kazakhstan moved its capital to the existing city of Aqmola. Naypyidaw was founded in Burma's interior with the justification that the former capital, Rangoon, was considered to be overcrowded.

Unorthodox capital city arrangements

A number of cases exist where states have multiple capitals, and there are also several states that have no capital.

• Chile: Santiago is the capital even though the National Congress of Chile meets in Valparaíso.
• Czech Republic: Prague is the sole constitutional capital. However, Brno is home to all three of the country's highest courts, making it the de facto capital of the Czech judicial branch.
• Finland: During the summer, the President resides at the Kultaranta in Naantali; presidential sessions of the government are held there as well.
• France: The French constitution does not recognise any capital city in France. Paris is de facto capital of France (seat of the presidency, the government, the national assembly and the senate), but the parliament holds its joint congresses in Versailles.
• Germany: The official capital Berlin is home to the parliament. However, various ministries are located in the former West German capital of Bonn, which now has the title Federal City. The judicial branch is divided between Karlsruhe, Kassel, and Leipzig.
• Malaysia: Kuala Lumpur is the constitutional capital but the federal administrative centre was moved 30 kilometres south to Putrajaya in the late 1990s. The parliament remains in Kuala Lumpur.
• Myanmar (Burma): Naypyidaw was designated the national capital in 2005, the same year it was founded, but most government offices and embassies are still located in Yangon (Rangoon).
• Nauru: Nauru, a tiny country of only 21 square kilometres (8 sq mi), has no distinct capital city, and thus has a capital district instead.
• Sri Lanka: Sri Jayawardenapura Kotte is the official capital and the location of the parliament, while the former capital, Colombo, is now designated as the "commercial capital". However, many government offices are still located in Colombo. Both cities are in the Colombo District.
• South Africa: The administrative capital is Pretoria, the legislative capital is Cape Town, and the judicial capital is Bloemfontein. This is the outcome of the compromise that created the Union of South Africa in 1910.
• Switzerland: Bern is the Federal City of Switzerland and functions as de facto capital. However, the Swiss Supreme Court is located in Lausanne.
• Tanzania: Dodoma was designated the national capital in 1973, but most government offices and embassies are still located in Dar es Salaam.
• Monaco, Singapore and the Vatican City are city-states, and thus do not have a capital city distinct from the country as a whole.

Capitals that are not the seat of government

Countries in the world where capital and seat of government are currently separated:

• Benin: Porto-Novo is the official capital, but Cotonou is the seat of government.
• Bolivia: Sucre is still the constitutional capital, but most of the national government long ago abandoned that region for La Paz.
• Côte d'Ivoire: Yamoussoukro was designated the national capital in 1983, but most government offices and embassies are still located in Abidjan.
• Netherlands: Amsterdam is the constitutional national capital even though the Dutch government, parliament, supreme court, and the residential and work palace of the queen are all located in The Hague. (For more details see: Capital of the Netherlands).

International entities

• European Union (see details): Brussels, Belgium, is generally considered as the capital of the European Union alongside the French city of Strasbourg where the European Parliament has its main seat and votes because it hosts the major institutions of the EU. However, the judiciary and some of the executive's work is located in Luxembourg and other bodies and agencies are scattered across other cities. Although the main seats are fixed in the EU's treaties which form its legal basis, they do not use the term "capital" for any city.
• United Nations: New York City is the main meeting place of the highest bodies of the UN, but significant parts of its structure exist in other cities, such as Vienna, Geneva and The Hague.

The capital as a symbol

With the rise of modern empires and the nation-state, the capital city has become a symbol for the state and its government, and imbued with political meaning. Unlike medieval capitals, which were declared wherever a monarch held his or her court, the selection, relocation, founding, or capture of a modern capital city is an emotional event. For example:

• The ruined and almost uninhabited Athens was made capital of newly independent Greece in 1834, four years after the country gained its independence, with the romantic notion of reviving the glory of Ancient Greece. Similarly, following the Cold War and German reunification, Berlin is now once again the capital of Germany. Other restored capital cities include Moscow after the October Revolution.
• A symbolic relocation of a capital city to a geographically or demographically peripheral location may be for either economic or strategic reasons (sometimes known as a "forward capital" or spearhead capital). Peter I of Russia moved his government from Moscow to Saint Petersburg to give the Russian Empire a western orientation. The economically significant city of Nafplion became the first capital of Greece, instead of the then unimportant village that was Athens. The Ming emperors moved their capital to Peking from more central Nanking to better supervise the border with the Mongols. During the 1857 war of independence, Indian rebels considered Delhi their capital and Bahadur Shah Zafar was proclaimed emperor, though the ruling British had their capital in Calcutta. In 1877, the British formally held a 'Durbar' in Delhi, proclaiming Queen Victoria as 'Empress of India'. Delhi finally became the colonial capital after the Coronation Durbar of King-Emperor George V in 1911, continuing as independent India's capital from 1947. Other examples include Abuja, Astana, Brasília, Helsinki, Islamabad, Naypyidaw and Yamoussoukro.
• The selection or founding of a "neutral" capital city — i.e. one unencumbered by regional or political identities — was meant to represent the unity of a new state when Ankara, Turkey; Bern, Switzerland; Canberra, Australia; Madrid; Ottawa, Ontario; Washington, D.C.; and Wellington, New Zealand became capital cities. Sometimes, the location of a new capital city was chosen to terminate squabbling or possible squabbling between various entities, such as in the cases of Canberra, Ottawa, Washington, and Wellington.
• The British-built town of New Delhi represented a simultaneous break and continuity with the past — the location of Delhi being where many imperial capitals were built, e.g., Indraprastha, Dhillika, and Shahjahanabad, but the actual capital being the new British-built town designed by Edwin Lutyens. Wellington, located on the southwestern tip of the North Island of New Zealand, replaced the much more northerly city of Auckland in order to place the national capital close to the South Island and hence to placate its residents.
• During the American Civil War, tremendous resources were expended to defend Washington, D.C., which actually bordered on the Confederate States of America (with the Commonwealth of Virginia), from Confederate attack, even though the relatively small Federal Government of the United States of that time could have been moved elsewhere – such as Ohio or New York State relatively easily – in that era of the railroad and the telegraph. Likewise, great resources were expended by the Confederacy, in defending the Confederate capital from attack by the Union, in its deliberately exposed location of Richmond, Virginia, rather than in South Carolina or Alabama.

Capitals in military strategy

The capital city is almost always a primary target in a war, as capturing it usually guarantees capture of much of the enemy government, victory for the attacking forces, or at the very least demoralization for the defeated forces.

In ancient China, where governments were massive centralized bureaucracies with little flexibility on the provincial level, a dynasty could easily be toppled with the fall of its capital. In the Three Kingdoms period, both Shu and Wu fell when their respective capitals of Chengdu and Jianye fell. The Ming dynasty relocated its capital from Nanjing to Beijing, where they could more effectively control the generals and troops guarding the borders from Mongols and Manchus. The Ming was destroyed when the Li Zicheng took their seat of power, and this pattern repeats itself in Chinese history, until the fall of the traditional Confucian monarchy in the 20th century. After the Qing Dynasty's collapse, decentralization of authority and improved transportation and communication technologies allowed both the Chinese Nationalists and Chinese Communists to rapidly relocate capitals and keep their leadership structures intact during the great crisis of Japanese invasion.

National capitals were arguably less important as military objectives in other parts of the world, including the West, because of socioeconomic trends toward localized authority, a strategic modus operandi especially popular after the development of feudalism and reaffirmed by the development of democratic and capitalistic philosophies. In 1204, after the Latin Crusaders captured the Byzantine capital, Constantinople, Byzantine forces were able to regroup in several provinces; provincial noblemen managed to reconquer the capital after 60 years and preserve the empire for another 200 years after that. The British forces sacked various American capitals repeatedly during the Revolutionary War and War of 1812, but American forces could still carry on fighting from the countryside, where they enjoyed support from local governments and the traditionally independent civilian frontiersmen. Exceptions to these generalizations include highly centralized states such as France, whose centralized bureaucracies could effectively coordinate far-flung resources, giving the state a powerful advantage over less coherent rivals, but risking utter ruin if the capital were taken. In their military strategies, traditional enemies of France such as Prussia (in the Franco-Prussian War of 1871) focused on the capture of Paris.

Distances between capital cities (nearest and farthest)

• Nearest

The closest capital cities of two sovereign countries are Vatican City, Vatican, and Rome, Italy, one of which is inside the other (the distance between the middle points, St. Peter's Square/Piazza Venezia is about 2 km).

The two second closest 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 mi) apart.

• Farthest

The longest distance from one capital of a sovereign country to the one closest to it is 2,330 km (1,448 mi) 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 6,423 km (3,991 mi), between Pyongyang, North Korea and Moscow, Russia.

See also

• List of capital cities
• List of former national capitals
• South American capital cities
• Temporary capital
• Specialized City
• List of capital cities by altitude
• List of capital cities by relative size