World Capital Cities - Sortable alphabetically by World Capitals or Countries
World Capital Cities with their country in a sortable table.
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Foot Notes
1 The capital of Benin is Porto-Novo, but the seat of government is in Cotonou.
2 La Paz is the seat of the government and the de facto capital of Bolivia. Sucre is the official capital, as defined in the Bolivian constitution.
3 The political capital of Burundi is Gitega (December 2018). Bujumbura remains the seat of the government and economic capital.
4 The political capital of Côte d'Ivoire (Ivory Coast) is Yamoussoukro in the centre of the country, while its economic capital and largest city is the port city of Abidjan.
5 Czechia was made the official short name of Czech Republic on 14 April 2016.
6 England is a constituent part of the sovereign state of the United Kingdom. Although not fully independent, it is widely referred to as a country.
7 In 2018 the king of Swaziland proclaimed his nation would be henceforth known as Eswatini. The country's name in its constitution has not yet been changed from Swaziland.
8 Mbabane is the administrative capital of Eswatini (Swaziland), while Lobamba is the legislative and royal capital of the country.
9 Construction of a new capital city, Nusantara, is planned to begin in mid-2023 and is set to replace Jakarta as Indonesia's capital by late 2024.
10 Both Israel and Palestine claim Jerusalem as their capital and its unresolved status is one of the core questions at the heart of the Israel-Palestine conflict.
Israel proclaimed Jerusalem as its capital in December 1949 in defiance of the UN General Assembly's decision earlier that month to reaffirm the international neutral zone (Corpus Separatum) status of the city. Due to the UN decision, very few countries recognise Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and as a result almost all the international embassies in Israel are located in Tel Aviv.
Most countries maintain a position of 'non-recognition' of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. Non-recognition is a legal term used in international law to apply to any situation established in violation of the League of Nations Pact (resolution 11 March 1932). UN Security Council resolutions 476 and 478 (1980) assert that Israel is in violation of the Pact, having unlawfully occupied Palestinian East Jerusalem since 1967. Under international law, such an occupation precludes Israel from claiming sovereignty on the city.
More than 135 United Nations member countries recognise Palestine as an independent state, but Israel and a few other countries, including the United States, do not make this distinction. The United States recognised Jerusalem as Israel's capital in December 2017, a significant but rare exception to the decades of international non-recognition consensus on the highly contested city.
Israel proclaimed Jerusalem as its capital in December 1949 in defiance of the UN General Assembly's decision earlier that month to reaffirm the international neutral zone (Corpus Separatum) status of the city. Due to the UN decision, very few countries recognise Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and as a result almost all the international embassies in Israel are located in Tel Aviv.
Most countries maintain a position of 'non-recognition' of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. Non-recognition is a legal term used in international law to apply to any situation established in violation of the League of Nations Pact (resolution 11 March 1932). UN Security Council resolutions 476 and 478 (1980) assert that Israel is in violation of the Pact, having unlawfully occupied Palestinian East Jerusalem since 1967. Under international law, such an occupation precludes Israel from claiming sovereignty on the city.
More than 135 United Nations member countries recognise Palestine as an independent state, but Israel and a few other countries, including the United States, do not make this distinction. The United States recognised Jerusalem as Israel's capital in December 2017, a significant but rare exception to the decades of international non-recognition consensus on the highly contested city.
11 Astana (previously named Nur-Sultan) is the capital city of Kazakhstan. The name was changed to Nur-Sultan in March 2019, in honour of outgoing President Nursultan Nazarbayev, reverting to Astana in September 2022.
12 Kuala Lumpur is the national capital and largest city of Malaysia while Putrajaya is the seat of federal government.
13 Construction of Myanmar's capital, Nay Pyi Taw, began in secrecy in 2002. Built under military rule, it is four times the size of London and strangely empty.
14 Amsterdam is the constitutional capital of the Netherlands. The Hague is the seat of the government and residence of the monarchy.
15 As a result of a dispute with Greece over the name 'Macedonia', the country renamed itself Republic of North Macedonia in February 2019.
16 Northern Ireland is a constituent part of the sovereign state of the United Kingdom. Although not fully independent, it is widely referred to as a country.
17 Palestine is a partially recognised sovereign state. Ireland, Norway and Spain formally provided recognition on May 28 2024, bringing the number to 146 of the 193 UN members. It has had a status of a non-member observer state in the United Nations since 2012.
18 The status of Jerusalem is disputed in both international law and diplomatic practice, with both the Israelis and Palestinians claiming Jerusalem as their capital city. Israel exercises de facto control over the city, but Palestine and Israel's claims to Jerusalem are not recognized by the international community. Ramallah is the administrative capital of Palestine where government institutions and foreign representative offices are located, while most countries maintain their embassies to Israel in Tel Aviv.
19 Scotland is a constituent part of the sovereign state of the United Kingdom. Although not fully independent, it is widely referred to as a country.
20 South Africa has no legally defined capital city. The country's three branches of government are split over different cities: Pretoria (executive), Bloemfontein (judicial) and Cape Town (legislative). Most foreign embassies are located in Pretoria.
21 Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte is the administrative capital of Sri Lanka and official seat of government. It is a suburb of the commercial capital and largest city, Colombo.
22 Taiwan is officially known as the Republic of China (ROC) and has limited diplomatic recognition as an independent country. China claims sovereignty over its territory.
23 De facto Tanzania's capital remains in Dar es Salaam, the site of the executive branch offices and diplomatic representation.
24 Turkey is now officially known as Türkiye after the country's government moved to escape associations with the ground-feeding festive bird and a term for failure. The United Nations adopted the new name in June 2022 at Ankara's request.
25 The de facto capital of Tuvalu is the village of Vaiaku, where most government offices are located.
26 Wales is a constituent part of the sovereign state of the United Kingdom. Although not fully independent, it is widely referred to as a country.
27 Yemen's constitutionally stated capital is Sana'a, but this city has been under Houthi rebel control since February 2015. Yemen's capital has been temporarily relocated to the port city of Aden, the former capital of South Yemen.