All capitals in the world - capital-cities.org

Capitals are more than mere geographical locations; they are the political, cultural, and economic hearts of their countries. These cities reflect the history, identity, and ambitions of a nation. From ancient metropolises to modern megacities, each capital has its unique story to tell.

Capital cities in Europe

This table displays every European capital along with its corresponding country and population.

Country	Capital City	Population
Åland	Mariehamn	11,750
Albania	Tirana	418,495
Andorra	Andorra la Vella	22,886
Austria	Vienna	1,990,487
Belarus	Minsk	2,018,281
Belgium	Brussels	1,175,173
Bosnia and Herzegovina	Sarajevo	275,524
Bulgaria	Sofia	1,221,785
Croatia	Zagreb	790,017
Czechia	Prague	1,301,432
Denmark	Copenhagen	638,790
Estonia	Tallinn	437,817
Faroe Islands	Tórshavn	13,888
Finland	Helsinki	656,920
France	Paris	2,206,488
Germany	Berlin	3,664,088
Gibraltar	Gibraltar	34,003
Greece	Athens	664,046
Guernsey	Saint Peter Port	19,354
Hungary	Budapest	1,737,026
Iceland	Reykjavík	129,964
Ireland	Dublin	544,107
Isle of Man	Douglas	27,938
Italy	Rome	2,759,629
Jersey	Saint Helier	35,822
Kosovo	Pristina	211,129
Latvia	Riga	5,774
Liechtenstein	Vaduz	5,774
Lithuania	Vilnius	546,155
Luxembourg	Luxembourg	128,494
Malta	Valletta	5,876
Moldova	Chisinau	339,079
Monaco	Monaco	31,109
Montenegro	Podgorica	185,937
Netherlands	Amsterdam	872,680
North Macedonia	Skopje	546,824
Norway	Oslo	681,067
Poland	Warsaw	1,793,579
Portugal	Lisbon	505,526
Romania	Bucharest	1,823,526
Russia	Moscow	12,506,468
San Marino	San Marino	4,127
Serbia	Belgrade	1,387,422
Slovakia	Bratislava	435,296
Slovenia	Ljubljana	285,604
Spain	Madrid	3,320,069
Svalbard	Longyearbyen	2,144
Sweden	Stockholm	935,619
Switzerland	Bern	134,290
Ukraine	Kyiv	2,962,180
United Kingdom	London	8,961,989
Vatican	Vatican City	453

Capital cities in the Americas

Country	Capital City	Population
Anguilla	The Valley	2,812
Antigua and Barbuda	Saint John’s	81,799
Argentina	Buenos Aires	2,891,082
Aruba	Oranjestad	34,980
Bahamas	Nassau	266,100
Barbados	Bridgetown	110,000
Belize	Belmopan	13,939
Bermuda	Hamilton	854
Bolivia	Sucre	300,000
Brazil	Brasilia	2,912,090
British Virgin Islands	Road Town	12,603
Canada	Ottawa	1,071,868
Cayman Islands	George Town	34,921
Chile	Santiago	536,089
Colombia	Bogota	7,181,469
Costa Rica	San José	354,025
Cuba	Havana	2,137,847
Curacao	Willemstad	150,000
Dominica	Roseau	16,582
Ecuador	Quito	2,011,388
El Salvador	San Salvador	200,319
Falkland Islands	Stanley	2,460
French Guiana	Cayenne	57,614
Greenland	Nuuk	18,128
Grenada	Saint George's	33,734
Guadeloupe	Basse-Terre	10,046
Guatemala	Guatemala City	923,392
Guyana	Georgetown	24,849
Haiti	Port-au-Prince	987,310
Honduras	Tegucigalpa	996,658
Jamaica	Kingston	584,627
Martinique	Fort-de-France	82,502
Mexico	Mexico City	9,209,944
Montserrat	Brades	449
Nicaragua	Managua	1,033,622
Panama	Panama City	505,627
Paraguay	Asunción	525,252
Peru	Lima	9,751,717
Puerto Rico	San Juan	337,300
Saint Barthelemy	Gustavia	2,300
Saint Kitts and Nevis	Basseterre	14,000
Saint Lucia	Castries	3,661
Saint Pierre and Miquelon	Saint-Pierre	5,415
Sint Maarten	Philipsburg	1,327
South Georgia	King Edward Point	18
St. Martin	Marigot	5,700
Suriname	Paramaribo	240,924
Trinidad and Tobago	Port-of-Spain	37,074
United States	Washington, D.C.	671,803
Uruguay	Montevideo	1,384,210
Venezuela	Caracas	2,245,744
Virgin Islands	Charlotte Amalie	10,354

Capital cities in Asia

This list shows all the capitals of Europe with country and population.

Country	Capital City	Population
Afghanistan	Kabul	4,601,789
Armenia	Yerevan	1,087,886
Azerbaijan	Baku	2,330,425
Bahrain	Manama	157,474
Bangladesh	Dhaka	8,906,035
Bhutan	Thimphu	114,551
Brunei	Bandar Seri Begawan	50,000
Cambodia	Phnom Penh	2,281,951
China	Beijing	21,893,095
Cyprus	Nicosia	116,392
East Timor	Dili	222,323
Georgia	Tbilisi	1,154,314
Hong Kong	Hong Kong	7,346,100
India	New Delhi	33,807,000
Indonesia	Jakarta	10,562,088
Iran	Tehran	8,846,782
Iraq	Baghdad	8,126,755
Israel	Jerusalem	958,679
Japan	Tokyo	37,115,035
Jordan	Amman	4,007,526
Kazakhstan	Nursultan	1,354,507
Kuwait	Kuwait City	2,989,000
Kyrgyzstan	Bishkek	1,071,261
Laos	Vientiane	783,000
Lebanon	Beirut	361,366
Macao	Concelho de Macau	677,300
Malaysia	Kuala Lumpur	1,982,112
Maldives	Malé	240,984
Mongolia	Ulaanbaatar	1,665,469
Myanmar	Nay Pyi Taw	1,160,242
Nepal	Kathmandu	975,453
North Korea	Pyongyang	3,222,000
Oman	Muscat	31,409
Pakistan	Islamabad	1,009,003
Palestine	Ramallah	27,092
Philippines	Manila	1,846,513
Qatar	Doha	1,186,023
Saudi Arabia	Riyadh	7,676,654
Singapore	Singapore	5,637,022
South Korea	Seoul	9,617,795
Sri Lanka	Colombo	752,993
Syria	Damascus	2,354,000
Taiwan	Taipei	2,646,204
Tajikistan	Dushanbe	770,027
Thailand	Bangkok	11,234,000
Turkey	Ankara	5,663,322
Turkmenistan	Ashgabat	1,031,992
United Arab Emirates	Abu Dhabi	1,482,816
Uzbekistan	Tashkent	2,862,420
Vietnam	Hanoi	4,678,198
Yemen	Sanaa	2,545,000

Capital cities in Africa

Country	Capital City	Population
Algeria	Algiers	2,712,944
Angola	Luanda	2,571,861
Benin	Porto-Novo	264,320
Botswana	Gaborone	246,323
Burkina Faso	Ouagadougou	2,415,266
Burundi	Bujumbura	497,169
Cameroon	Yaounde	2,765,600
Cape Verde	Praia	130,271
Central Africa	Bangui	889,231
Chad	N'Djamena	1,092,066
Comoros	Moroni	54,000
Congo	Brazzaville	2,308,000
Congo (Dem. Republic)	Kinshasa	14,970,000
Djibouti	Djibouti	475,322
Egypt	Cairo	9,539,673
Equatorial Guinea	Malabo	315,665
Eritrea	Asmara	963,000
Eswatini	Mbabane	60,691
Ethiopia	Addis Ababa	2,739,551
Gabon	Libreville	703,904
Gambia	Banjul	31,301
Ghana	Accra	1,594,419
Guinea	Conakry	1,659,785
Guinea-Bissau	Bissau	387,909
Ivory Coast	Yamoussoukro	279,977
Kenya	Nairobi	4,397,073
Lesotho	Maseru	330,760
Liberia	Monrovia	1,010,970
Libya	Tripoli	1,126,000
Madagascar	Antananarivo	1,275,207
Malawi	Lilongwe	989,318
Mali	Bamako	1,810,366
Mauritania	Nouakchott	958,399
Mauritius	Port Louis	143,574
Mayotte	Mamoudzou	57,281
Morocco	Rabat	573,895
Mozambique	Maputo	1,080,277
Namibia	Windhoek	429,974
Niger	Niamey	1,026,848
Nigeria	Abuja	2,750,000
Reunion	Saint-Denis	146,985
Rwanda	Kigali	859,332
Saint Helena	Jamestown	657
Sao Tome and Principe	São Tomé	56,945
Senegal	Dakar	1,146,053
Seychelles	Victoria	26,450
Sierra Leone	Freetown	1,055,964
Somalia	Mogadishu	2,388,000
South Africa	Pretoria	741,651
South Sudan	Juba	230,195
Sudan	Khartoum	639,598
Tanzania	Dodoma	2,083,588
Togo	Lomé	839,566
Tunisia	Tunis	1,056,247
Uganda	Kampala	1,507,114
Western Sahara	El Aaiún	196,331
Zambia	Lusaka	1,747,152
Zimbabwe	Harare	1,698,122

Capitals of Oceania

Country	Capital City	Population
American Samoa	Pago Pago	2,934
Australia	Canberra	477,567
Christmas Island	Flying Fish Cove	1,600
Cocos Islands	West Island	134
Cook Islands	Avarua	4,906
Fiji	Suva	100,237
French Polynesia	Papeete	26,925
Guam	Hagåtña	1,051
Kiribati	Tarawa	69,710
Marshall Islands	Majuro	27,797
Nauru	Yaren	747
New Caledonia	Nouméa	94,285
New Zealand	Wellington	424,441
Niue	Alofi	578
Norfolk Island	Kingston	880
Northern Marianas	Saipan	48,220
Papua New Guinea	Port Moresby	420,419
Pitcairn Islands	Adamstown	50
Samoa	Apia	38,465
Solomon Islands	Honiara	111,987
Tonga	Nuku‘alofa	21,695
Tuvalu	Funafuti	7,804
Vanuatu	Port-Vila	61,424
Wallis and Futuna	Mata-Utu	1,126

What is a capital city?

A capital city is the municipality exercising primary status in a country, state, province, or other administrative region, usually as its seat of government. A capital is typically a city where the government’s central offices and officials reside, including the head of state, government leaders, and administrative offices. It is the political, cultural, and often economic center of the country or region it serves.

Capitals are chosen for various reasons, including historical, geographical, political, and strategic considerations. Some capitals, like Rome, have ancient origins and have served as the center of power for centuries. Others, such as Brasília in Brazil, were planned and built specifically to serve as a capital, often with the intention of bringing development to less populated or developed areas or to have a neutral location not favoring any existing region.

In addition to being administrative hubs, capital cities often reflect the identity and heritage of a nation. They are usually home to important cultural institutions, such as museums, theaters, and libraries, as well as significant architectural landmarks. Capitals also frequently host foreign embassies and consulates, international organizations, and are the location for state ceremonies and events of national significance.

Criteria for Choosing a Capital

The selection of a capital is not random. Historical significance often plays a role; many capitals were once centers of ancient civilizations. Geographical location is also crucial, with a central position often preferred to facilitate administration. Political stability and economic development are other key factors that qualify a city to be a capital.

A Journey Through the Capitals of the World

Africa, the continent with the greatest diversity, hosts capitals like Cairo, a city that has witnessed great civilizations, and Cape Town, known for its breathtaking landscape. In the Americas, Washington D.C. stands as a symbol of political power, while Brasília, designed from scratch, represents modernist visions. Asia offers a contrast of capitals, from the ancient city of Damascus to the bustling metropolis of Tokyo. Europe‘s capitals, such as Athens and Rome, are steeped in history, while newer cities like Berlin and Paris blend historical significance with modern vibrancy. Oceania presents a mix of capitals from the well-planned Canberra to the remote but culturally rich Suva in Fiji.

Unique Features of Some Capitals

The oldest and newest capitals offer fascinating insights into human civilization and urban development. Capitals with unique geographical features, such as La Paz, the highest capital in the world, or Venice, with its waterways, highlight the adaptability of human settlements. Politically disputed capitals, like Jerusalem, underscore the complex relationship between politics and geography.

Role of Capitals in International Politics

Capitals are often the seat of international organizations and the venues for significant global conferences and summits. These cities are not just national symbols but also players on the international stage, facilitating diplomatic relations and global governance.

Challenges and Future Perspectives

Urbanization and overpopulation pose significant challenges to capitals, necessitating sustainable development initiatives. Environmental issues demand green policies, while political tensions can impact the stability and image of these cities.

Capitals around the world serve as the epicenters of political, cultural, and economic activity. They are a testament to human civilization’s diversity, resilience, and creativity. As we look to the future, these cities will continue to evolve, facing new challenges and embracing opportunities, reflecting the ever-changing landscape of human society.