List of countries with multiple capitals
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Some countries have multiple capitals; often one city is the seat of government while the other is the legal capital.
[edit] More than one capital at present
| Country | Capitals | Details |
|---|---|---|
| Benin | Porto-Novo | Official capital |
| Cotonou | De facto seat of government | |
| Bolivia | Sucre | Official ("constitutional") capital; seat of national judiciary |
| La Paz | Seat of national administrative & legislative bodies | |
| Chile | Santiago | Official captial; seat of national administrative and judicial bodies |
| Valparaíso | Seat of national legislature | |
| China (ROC) | Nanjing | De jure capital |
| Taipei | "Provisional" and de facto capital (due to 1949 Chinese Civil War) | |
| Côte d'Ivoire | Yamoussoukro | Official capital |
| Abidjan | De facto seat of government | |
| Malaysia | ||
| Kuala Lumpur | Offical capital; seat of national legislature | |
| Putrajaya | "Administrative centre" and seat of national judiciary | |
| Montenegro | Podgorica (Serbian: Glavni grad) | Official and de facto capital |
| Cetinje (Serbian: Prestonica) | "Old royal capital" (historical capital possessing no national governmental functions) | |
| Netherlands | Amsterdam | Official ("constitutional") capital |
| The Hague | "Seat of Government," i.e., seat of national administrative, legislative, judicial, & royal bodies | |
| South Africa | Pretoria | Administrative capital |
| Cape Town | Legislative capital | |
| Bloemfontein | Judicial capital | |
| Sri Lanka | Sri Jayewardenepura Kotte | Administrative capital |
| Colombo | Legislative capital | |
| Swaziland | Mbabane | Administrative capital |
| Lobamba | Legislative and royal capital | |
| Tanzania | Dodoma | Official capital |
| Dar es Salaam | De facto seat of government |
Some Kyoto natives also argue that Tokyo and Kyoto are both capitals of Japan at present; see Capital of Japan.
Israel designates Jerusalem as its capital; pending final settlement of Jerusalem's political status, most countries as well as the United Nations recognize Tel Aviv. Tel Aviv served as the temporary de facto capital of Israel from May to December 1948. See Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, Israel.
In Germany, the highest judiciary organs (Bundesgerichtshof and Bundesverfassungsgericht) are located in Karlsruhe, whereas the nation's political capital is Berlin. Some ministries are still mainly located in Bonn, the former West-German capital, which is still called "federal city" (Bundesstadt).
[edit] More than one capital in the past
Many nations that have maintained only one capital at any given time have nevertheless, over time, conferred capital status on more than one city.
These current countries have had two cities that served as administrative capitals at the same time due to various reasons such as war or partition.
| Country | Years | Capitals | Details |
|---|---|---|---|
| France | 1940-1944 | Paris | Occupied France (Germany-occupied northern France) |
| Vichy | French State | ||
| India | 1912-1947 | Delhi | Winter capital |
| Simla | Summer capital | ||
| Libya | 1951-1969 | Tripoli | One of two official capitals of Kingdom |
| Benghazi | One of two official capitals of Kingdom | ||
| Philippines | 1910-1948 | Manila | General capital |
| Baguio | Summer capital | ||
| 1948-1976 | Quezon city | General capital | |
| Baguio | Summer capital | ||
| Serbia and Montenegro | 1992-2006 | Belgrade | Administrative & legislative |
| Podgorica | Judicial |
[edit] See also
- List of current and former capital cities within the United States
- List of historical capitals of China
- List of national capitals
- List of historical national capitals
- List of purpose-built capital cities
- List of countries whose capital is not their largest city
- List of cities
- List of capitals and largest cities by country
