List of countries with multiple capitals

Countries with multiple capitals
  Countries that currently have multiple capital cities
  Countries that have had multiple capital cities in the past

Some countries have multiple capitals. In some cases, one city is the capital for some purposes, and one or more others are capital for other purposes, without any being considered an official capital in preference to the others.

There are also cases where there is a single legally defined capital, but one or more other cities operate as the seat of some or all parts of government; while such cases are arguably not technically multiple capitals, the situation is similar, so they are included in this list.

More than one capital at present

Country Capitals Details
 Benin Porto-NovoOfficial capital; seat of legislature
CotonouDe facto seat of government; seat of judicial bodies
 Bolivia SucreOfficial (constitutional) capital; seat of national judiciary
La PazSeat of national executive, legislative, and electoral bodies
 Chile SantiagoOfficial capital; seat of national administrative and judicial bodies
ValparaísoSeat of national legislature
 Côte d'Ivoire YamoussoukroOfficial capital
AbidjanDe facto seat of government
 Georgia TbilisiOfficial capital and seat of executive government and President
KutaisiLegislative capital
 Honduras TegucigalpaDe facto capital and, with Comayagüela, one of two cities constituting the Municipality of the Central District, which is the official constitutional capital
ComayagüelaWith Tegucigalpa, one of two cities constituting the Municipality of the Central District, which is the official constitutional capital
 Malaysia
Kuala LumpurOfficial and royal capital; seat of national legislature
PutrajayaAdministrative centre and seat of national judiciary
 Netherlands
AmsterdamConstitutional capital
The HagueSeat of the government
 South Africa PretoriaAdministrative and executive capital
Cape TownLegislative capital
BloemfonteinJudicial capital
 Sri Lanka Sri Jayawardenepura KotteAdministrative capital and seat of national legislature
ColomboCommercial capital and seat of national executive and judicial bodies
 Swaziland MbabaneAdministrative capital
LobambaLegislative and royal capital
 Tanzania DodomaOfficial and legislative capital
Dar es SalaamDe facto seat of government; seat of judicial bodies
 Western Sahara (SADR) LaayouneDeclared capital
TifaritiTemporary capital
 Yemen Sana'aInternationally recognized capital, occupied by the Houthis
AdenTemporary capital

Other countries

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, and seats its government in that city. However, as Jerusalem's political status has not reached a final settlement, most countries locate their embassy in Tel Aviv.[1] Tel Aviv and Jerusalem served as de facto joint capitals of Israel from May to December 1948. The Israeli parliament and the supreme court are both located in Jerusalem, which makes it the legislative capital and judicial capital of Israel. Palestine also claims Jerusalem as its capital, but the current de facto seat of the internationally recognized Palestinian government is in Ramallah, while the seat of the Hamas-led government is in Gaza City.

In Germany, the highest judiciary organs (Federal Court of Justice and Federal Constitutional Court) 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).

The Honduran constitution statutes that Tegucigalpa and Comayagüela are both capitals in this country. However, all the branches of government are in Tegucigalpa. Comayagüela currently is part of Tegucigalpa Metropolitan Aera.

In Peru, the Peruvian Constitution declared Cusco to be the "Historical Capital" (in Spanish Capital Histórica), a merely symbolic statement, because the national government continues to reside in Lima.

Republika Srpska, a sub-national entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina, has a constitutional capital of Sarajevo, the same as the capital of the country, by the Dayton Accords; but in fact, their government is located in Banja Luka.

Cetinje is a historical, the traditional, and the secondary capital of Montenegro. The city's status is specifically recognized by the constitution. While the official residence of the President of Montenegro is located in the city, the rest of the government is in Podgorica.

Saint Petersburg, the former capital of the Russian Empire, is unofficially recognised as the Northern Russian capital. In 2009, the Constitutional Court of Russia moved from Moscow to Saint Petersburg, giving the latter city some of the expected functions of a capital.

In South Africa, Bloemfontein is considered the de facto judicial capital, as it houses the Supreme Court of Appeal. The Constitutional Court is housed in Johannesburg, and is a higher appeal court in the case of constitutional matters.

Although there is only one capital, London, of the United Kingdom, there are also three other cities which serve as capitals of their respective nations. Belfast, Cardiff and Edinburgh are the capital cities of Northern Ireland, Wales and Scotland respectively, while London is also the capital of England. The government, parliament, royal residence and supreme court are actually located in the City of Westminster, Greater London rather than the City of London.

Although not considered a country, the European Union has three administrative centres: Brussels (executive and part legislative), Luxembourg (judiciary), and Strasbourg (Parliament).

Although not a sovereign country on its own, the Portuguese autonomous region of the Azores has three designated regional capital cities: Ponta Delgada at São Miguel Island (seat of the Autonomous Government); Horta at Faial Island (seat of the Legislative Assembly); and Angra do Heroísmo at Terceira Island (seat of the judiciary and the historical capital of the Azores, in addition to being the seat of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Angra).

The Canary Islands, a Spanish autonomous community, has two official capitals, in Santa Cruz de Tenerife and in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria.

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, for various reasons such as war, weather or partition. In some cases, the second capital is considered a temporary capital.

Country Years Capitals Details
Afghanistan 1776–1818 Kabul Summer capital
Peshawar Fall capital
 China 1937–1945 Nanjing Capital of puppet state
Chongqing Provisional capital of the Kuomintang
1945–1991 Nanjing Administrative, legislative, and judicial capital (claimed after 1949)
Taipei Provisional capital of the Kuomintang-ruled Republic of China in Taiwan
 Germany 1990–1999 BerlinOfficial capital
BonnGovernment seat
 North Korea 1948–1972 PyongyangSeat of administration[2]
SeoulOfficial and constitutional de jure capital[2]
 British Raj 1858–1947 Calcutta (1858–1911) Winter capital
Delhi (1911–1947)
Shimla Fall capital
 Laos 1947–1975 VientianeAdministrative capital
Luang PrabangRoyal capital
Libya 1951–1969 Tripoli One of two official capitals of Kingdom
Benghazi One of two official capitals of Kingdom
Malawi 1974–1994 Lilongwe Administrative and judiciary capital
Zomba Legislative capital
 Philippines 1948–1976 Quezon CityOfficial capital
ManilaDe facto seat of government
1901–1976 BaguioSummer capital (Still known as summer capital, unpolitically)
 Serbia and Montenegro 2003–2006 BelgradeAdministrative and legislative
PodgoricaJudicial

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Field Listing::Capital". The World Factbook. Retrieved 2014-04-27.
  2. 1 2 Eberstadt, Nick (1999). The End of North Korea. Washington: American Enterprise Institute. pp. 26, 32. ISBN 978-0-8447-4087-4.
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