List of all the capitals of the world + 101 facts and trivia!

What are the capitals of the world? And what is the difference between a capital and a de facto capital? All these questions and many more fun facts and tidbits about capitals are answered in this new worldly article by Wereldreizigers.nl. Will you travel with us?

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Definition of a Capital

Each country is made up of multiple cities and each of these has its own importance in some of the other ways. Of these, one city is called the capital of the country. A capital is an area of ​​a country, province, region or state that is considered primary over any other city. In general, it can be said that these are often the largest or best accessible cities in the country.

All prominent offices, such as the Supreme Court and the parliament are usually located in the capital. The official leaders of the governing bodies usually work in the capital. Moreover, it is the capital where all the important leaders live, but there are also exceptions to everything we have just mentioned. Those exceptions will certainly pass in this article!

All capitals of the world | List (2022)

Purpose-built capitals

Most of the world's capitals are the country's largest or most historic cities. But not always. Many countries have moved or rebuilt their capital over the years, because the current capital was conquered by another country by war, or is located in a risk area. Relocation of the capital also occurs because it has become difficult to reach or simply less suitable due to crowds, pollution or other reasons. Below is a selection of the world's most famous capitals, which were built with the aim of becoming the new capital.

• Abuja – Nigeria – founded in 1991 – former capital Lagos.
• Ankara - Turkey – founded in 1923 – former capital Istanbul.
• Astana – Kazakhstan – founded in 1998 – former capital Almaty.
• Beijing – China – officially established in 1949 with the formation of the People's Republic.
• Belmopan – Belize – founded in 1970 after the destruction of the former capital, Belize City, by the effects of a hurricane.
• Brasilia- Brazil – founded in 1960 – former capital Rio de Janiero.
• Canberra– Australia – newly established in 1913.
• Islamabad – Pakistan – founded in 1960 – former capital Karachi.
• Napyidaw – Myanmar – Founded in 2005 – former capital Rangoon / Yangon.
• New Delhi- India – founded in 1911 – former capital Kolkata / Calcutta.
• Ottawa– Canada – newly established in 1855.
• Washington DC – United States – designated in 1790, founded in 1871.

Distance between capital and furthest region or colony

That is, the distance between the capital and the furthest territorial area that nevertheless falls under the country and/or capital.

• Paris to New Caledonia, France. – 16.760 km.
• London to Pitcairn Island, UK – 14.900 km.
• Washington DC to Attu Island, US – 7.800.
• Moscow, pictured above, to Kunashir Island, Russia. – 7.050 km.

The largest capitals in the world (2022)

• By area – Tokyo, Japan. – 37.393 square kilometers (figures from 2022)
• By population – Tokyo, Japan – 39,1 million (figures from 2022)
• By population density – Manila – Philippines – 1,78 million people in 43 square kilometers (figures from 2022)

De facto capitals of the world

De facto capitals designate cities where the government rules over the country. In The Netherlands we have the perfect example of that! The capital of the Netherlands is Amsterdam, but the government's heart is beating in The Hague.

Some countries have both an official capital and a de facto designated capital. France, Malta and Nauru have only de facto capitals, as their governments do not believe in giving one city a higher status than any other. The official capitals are shown in bold text and the actual capitals are shown in italics.

• Yamoussoukro – Ivory Coast – Abidjan
• Prague - Czech Republic - Brno
• Basel - Switzerland - Bern
• dodomo – Tanzania – Dar Es Salaam
• Sugar – bolivia – La Paz
• New Port – Benin – Cotonou
• Amsterdam - The Netherlands - The Hague
• Tokyo - Japan - Kyoto
• Santiago - Chili - Valparaiso
• South Africa: another exception! † Bloemfontein (judicial capital) – Kaapstad (legislative capital) – Pretoria (executive and recognized national capital)

Countries with cities bigger than their capitals

Not all capital cities around the world are necessarily the largest city of a province or country. Listed below are nineteen countries with one or more cities larger than their capital. The capital is shown in bold, the cities written in italics are larger than the capital.

• Australia - Sydney –Melbourne– Perth – Adelaide–Brisbane - Canberra
• Belize - Belize City – San Ignacio - Belmopan
• Bolivia - Santa Cruz–El Alto–La Paz–Cochabamba - Sugar
• Brazil – Sao Paulo–Rio de Janiero - Brasilia
• Canada– Toronto - Ottawa
• China - Shanghai - Beijing / Beijing
• Ecuador - Guayaquil - Quito
• India - Mumbai – Kolkata - Delhi.
• Liechtenstein - Schaan - Vaduz
• Malt - Birkirkara - Valletta
• New Zealand - Auckland – Christchurch - Wellington
• Pakistan – Karachi – Lahore – Faisalabad – Rawalpindi – Multan – Gujranwala – Hyderabad – Peshawar - Islamabad
• San Marino - Dogana–Borgo Maggiore - San Marino City
• Scotland - Glasgow - Edinburgh
• South Africa - Johannesburg – Durban – Port Elizabeth – Cape Town – Polokwane – Nelspruit – Rustenburg - Pretoria
• Switzerland - Zurich – Geneva – Basel - Bern
• Turkey - Istanbul, - Ankara
• United Arab Emirates - Dubai - Abu Dhabi
• USA – The capital of the United States – Washington DC – is the 25th largest city in the country! So too many to mention.

Capitals without water (lake, river or sea)

Most of the world's capitals were originally built near freshwater areas, such as a lake or river. Other capitals were built near salt water and a very rare number were built near no water supply at all, for example in a desert. Listed below are the twenty capitals in the world that were built in areas where there was no supply of water at all.

• Abuja-Nigeria
• Addis Ababa – Ethiopia
• Ashghabat – Turkemenistan
• Asmar-Eritrea
• Baku – Azerbaijan
• Brasilia – Brazil – The purpose-built capital of Brazil, it is not built on a freshwater area, although it is surrounded by the artificial Lake Paranoa.
• Guatemala City – Guatemala
• Islamabad–Pakistan
• Lome–Togo
• Ouagadougou–Burkino Faso
• Riyadh – Saudi Arabia – Although originally built next to the Orchard Oasis – Riyadh Wadi – this water has long since dried up
• San Jose–Costa Rica
• San'a – Yemen
• San Marino City – San Marino
• San Salvador–El Salvador
• Sofia – Bulgaria – The Vladaiska River, Perlovska River and Iskar River all run through the outskirts of the city.
• Yamoussoukro – Ivory Coast
• Yaounde – Cameroon
• Windhoek – Namibia

Capitals with the most…

• coldest – Ulan Bator, Mongolia – with an annual average temperature of 2,4 degrees Celsius (70 Fahrenheit).
• hottest – Bangkok, Thailand, shown above, with an annual average temperature of 25 degrees Celsius (27,7 Fahrenheit).
• wettest – Monrovia, Liberia – with 5.207 mm of rain per year.
• driest – Lima, Peru – with only 2,29 mm of rain per year.
• Mistiest – Canberra, Australia – with 47 fog days per year.
• Highest (de facto capital) – La Paz, Bolivia – at 3650 meters above sea level.
• Highest (official capital) – Quito, Ecuador – at 2800 meters above sea level.
• Lowest – Baku – Azerbaijan, 28 meters below sea level.
• Most remote / most remote – Wellington – New Zealand.
• Most Northern – Reykyavik – Iceland.
• The most polluted – Beijing, China – with 700 micrograms PM2,5 per cubic meter.
• Southernmost – Wellington – New Zealand.
• Closest to the Arctic Circle line – Reykjavik, Iceland, located at latitude 64 '08 degrees north.
• Closest to the equator line – Quito, Ecuador – located at 00 '15' 00 degrees South.
• Closest to the line of the Tropic of Cancer – Muscat, Oman, located at latitude 23 '36' 31 degrees north.
• Closest to the Tropic of Capricorn line – Windhoek, Namibia, located at 22 '34' 12 degrees south.
• Eldest – Damascus – Syria, continuously inhabited as the capital since the year 661.
• Youngest – Juba – Republic of South Sudan, established in July 2011.
• Furthest from the neighbor's capital – Wellington in New Zealand is furthest from its neighbor's capital – Wellington in New Zealand is 2.326 km from its nearest neighbor's capital, Canberra in Australia.
• Closest to neighbor's capital Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of the Congo is closest to its neighbor's capital and is only a mile from Brazzaville, the capital of the Republic of Congo. The two cities face each other across the Congo River, Kinshasa on the south bank and Brazzaville on the north bank.
• The windiest – Wellington – New Zealand, shown below – Experience regular wind speeds of about 16 knots (18 mph) and 173 days a year with wind speeds over 32 knots.

Conclusion

The most fascinating thing about the world's capitals is the diversity that exists between these cities around the world. We have collected in this article all the names of the capitals of the world. These world capitals or the country capitals also serve as the centers of the major economic, cultural, population or intellectual centers of the nation. The news media usually uses the name of capital cities as an alternative name for the country. For example, the relations between London and Washington symbolize the relationship between the UK and the US.

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• Worldly | What are the 10 largest countries in the world?
• Worldly | How many countries does the world count? List of countries + population
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• Worldly | All countries in Africa + number of inhabitants per country
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