All capitals in the world

In the tapestry of global geography, capital cities stand out as vibrant threads, weaving together the essence of the nations they represent. These cities, from the bustling streets of Tokyo to the historic avenues of Rome, are much more than administrative centers. They are the heart and soul of their countries, embodying a rich confluence of history, culture, and power. This exploration into capital cities worldwide offers a panoramic view of their roles as political epicenters, cultural hubs, and economic engines. Each city tells a unique story, reflecting the identity, struggles, and aspirations of its people.

Capital cities in Europe

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

Country	Capital City	Population	Area km²
Åland	Mariehamn	11,750	20,75
Albania	Tirana	418,495	1.110
Andorra	Andorra la Vella	22,886	12
Austria	Vienna	1,990,487	414,6
Belarus	Minsk	2,018,281	348,8
Belgium	Brussels	1,175,173	32,61
Bosnia and Herzegovina	Sarajevo	275,524	141,5
Bulgaria	Sofia	1,221,785	492
Croatia	Zagreb	790,017	641
Czechia	Prague	1,301,432	496,2
Denmark	Copenhagen	638,790	179,8
Estonia	Tallinn	437,817	159,2
Faroe Islands	Tórshavn	13,888	172,9
Finland	Helsinki	656,920	213,8
France	Paris	2,206,488	105
Germany	Berlin	3,664,088	891,8
Gibraltar	Gibraltar	34,003	6,8
Greece	Athens	664,046	38,96
Guernsey	Saint Peter Port	19,354	6,5
Hungary	Budapest	1,737,026	525,2
Iceland	Reykjavík	129,964	273
Ireland	Dublin	544,107	117,8
Isle of Man	Douglas	27,938	175,5
Italy	Rome	2,759,629	1.285
Jersey	Saint Helier	35,822	10,6
Kosovo	Pristina	211,129	572
Latvia	Riga	5,774	307,2
Liechtenstein	Vaduz	5,774	17,3
Lithuania	Vilnius	546,155	401
Luxembourg	Luxembourg	128,494	51,46
Malta	Valletta	5,876	0,84
Moldova	Chisinau	339,079	123
Monaco	Monaco	31,109	2,0
Montenegro	Podgorica	185,937	108
Netherlands	Amsterdam	872,680	219,3
North Macedonia	Skopje	546,824	571,5
Norway	Oslo	681,067	454
Poland	Warsaw	1,793,579	517,2
Portugal	Lisbon	505,526	100
Romania	Bucharest	1,823,526	240
Russia	Moscow	12,506,468	2.511
San Marino	San Marino	4,127	7,09
Serbia	Belgrade	1,387,422	360
Slovakia	Bratislava	435,296	367,6
Slovenia	Ljubljana	285,604	163,8
Spain	Madrid	3,320,069	604,3
Svalbard	Longyearbyen	2,144	242,9
Sweden	Stockholm	935,619	188
Switzerland	Bern	134,290	51,6
Ukraine	Kyiv	2,962,180	839
United Kingdom	London	8,961,989	1.572
Vatican	Vatican City	453	0,44

Capital cities in the Americas

Country	Capital City	Population	Area km²
Anguilla	The Valley	2,812	4.047
Antigua and Barbuda	Saint John’s	81,799	446
Argentina	Buenos Aires	2,891,082	203
Aruba	Oranjestad	34,980	23
Bahamas	Nassau	266,100	200
Barbados	Bridgetown	110,000	38,85
Belize	Belmopan	13,939	22.966
Bermuda	Hamilton	854	0,73
Bolivia	Sucre	300,000	1.768
Brazil	Brasilia	2,912,090	5.761
British Virgin Islands	Road Town	12,603	54
Canada	Ottawa	1,071,868	2.790
Cayman Islands	George Town	34,921	29
Chile	Santiago	536,089	641
Colombia	Bogota	7,181,469	1.636
Costa Rica	San José	354,025	44,62
Cuba	Havana	2,137,847	728,3
Curacao	Willemstad	150,000	117
Dominica	Roseau	16,582	5,439
Ecuador	Quito	2,011,388	372,4
El Salvador	San Salvador	200,319	72,25
Falkland Islands	Stanley	2,460	2,5
French Guiana	Cayenne	57,614	23,6
Greenland	Nuuk	18,128	690
Grenada	Saint George's	33,734	1,37
Guadeloupe	Basse-Terre	10,046	5,78
Guatemala	Guatemala City	923,392	997
Guyana	Georgetown	24,849	121
Haiti	Port-au-Prince	987,310	36,04
Honduras	Tegucigalpa	996,658	1.515
Jamaica	Kingston	584,627	1.351
Martinique	Fort-de-France	82,502	44,21
Mexico	Mexico City	9,209,944	1.485
Montserrat	Brades	449	102
Nicaragua	Managua	1,033,622	267,2
Panama	Panama City	505,627	275
Paraguay	Asunción	525,252	117
Peru	Lima	9,751,717	2.672
Puerto Rico	San Juan	337,300	28
Saint Barthelemy	Gustavia	2,300	3,4
Saint Kitts and Nevis	Basseterre	14,000	6,475
Saint Lucia	Castries	3,661	79
Saint Pierre and Miquelon	Saint-Pierre	5,415	242
Sint Maarten	Philipsburg	1,327	34
South Georgia	King Edward Point	18
St. Martin	Marigot	5,700	21,63
Suriname	Paramaribo	240,924	182
Trinidad and Tobago	Port-of-Spain	37,074	12
United States	Washington, D.C.	671,803	177
Uruguay	Montevideo	1,384,210	530
Venezuela	Caracas	2,245,744	433
Virgin Islands	Charlotte Amalie	10,354	3,14

Capital cities in Asia

Country	Capital City	Population	Area km²
Afghanistan	Kabul	4,601,789	1.028
Armenia	Yerevan	1,087,886	223
Azerbaijan	Baku	2,330,425	2.140
Bahrain	Manama	157,474	30
Bangladesh	Dhaka	8,906,035	306,4
Bhutan	Thimphu	114,551	26,1
Brunei	Bandar Seri Begawan	50,000	12,87
Cambodia	Phnom Penh	2,281,951	679
China	Beijing	21,893,095	16.411
Cyprus	Nicosia	116,392	111
East Timor	Dili	222,323	178,6
Georgia	Tbilisi	1,154,314	726
Hong Kong	Hong Kong	7,346,100	2.755
India	New Delhi	33,807,000	42,7
Indonesia	Jakarta	10,562,088	661,5
Iran	Tehran	8,846,782	730
Iraq	Baghdad	8,126,755	204,2
Israel	Jerusalem	958,679	125,1
Japan	Tokyo	37,115,035	2.194
Jordan	Amman	4,007,526	1.680
Kazakhstan	Nursultan	1,354,507	722
Kuwait	Kuwait City	2,989,000	860
Kyrgyzstan	Bishkek	1,071,261	127
Laos	Vientiane	783,000	3.920
Lebanon	Beirut	361,366	19,8
Macao	Concelho de Macau	677,300	11,4
Malaysia	Kuala Lumpur	1,982,112	243
Maldives	Malé	240,984	8,3
Mongolia	Ulaanbaatar	1,665,469	470,4
Myanmar	Nay Pyi Taw	1,160,242	7.054
Nepal	Kathmandu	975,453	49,45
North Korea	Pyongyang	3,222,000	829,1
Oman	Muscat	31,409	3.500
Pakistan	Islamabad	1,009,003	906,5
Palestine	Ramallah	27,092	16,3
Philippines	Manila	1,846,513	42,34
Qatar	Doha	1,186,023	132
Saudi Arabia	Riyadh	7,676,654	1.973
Singapore	Singapore	5,637,022	734,3
South Korea	Seoul	9,617,795	605,2
Sri Lanka	Colombo	752,993	37,31
Syria	Damascus	2,354,000	105
Taiwan	Taipei	2,646,204	271,8
Tajikistan	Dushanbe	770,027	203,2
Thailand	Bangkok	11,234,000	1.569
Turkey	Ankara	5,663,322	24.521
Turkmenistan	Ashgabat	1,031,992	470
United Arab Emirates	Abu Dhabi	1,482,816	972
Uzbekistan	Tashkent	2,862,420	449
Vietnam	Hanoi	4,678,198	3.360
Yemen	Sanaa	2,545,000	5.552

Capital cities in Africa

Country	Capital City	Population	km²
Algeria	Algiers	2,712,944	363
Angola	Luanda	2,571,861	113
Benin	Porto-Novo	264,320	110
Botswana	Gaborone	246,323	169
Burkina Faso	Ouagadougou	2,415,266	520
Burundi	Bujumbura	497,169	127
Cameroon	Yaounde	2,765,600	180
Cape Verde	Praia	130,271	102,6
Central Africa	Bangui	889,231	67
Chad	N'Djamena	1,092,066	104
Comoros	Moroni	54,000	30
Congo	Brazzaville	2,308,000	263,9
Congo (Dem. Republic)	Kinshasa	14,970,000	9.965
Djibouti	Djibouti	475,322	23.200
Egypt	Cairo	9,539,673	3.085
Equatorial Guinea	Malabo	315,665	21
Eritrea	Asmara	963,000	45
Eswatini	Mbabane	60,691	81,76
Ethiopia	Addis Ababa	2,739,551	527
Gabon	Libreville	703,904	189
Gambia	Banjul	31,301	12
Ghana	Accra	1,594,419	225,7
Guinea	Conakry	1,659,785	450
Guinea-Bissau	Bissau	387,909	77
Ivory Coast	Yamoussoukro	279,977	2.075
Kenya	Nairobi	4,397,073	696,1
Lesotho	Maseru	330,760	138
Liberia	Monrovia	1,010,970	194,2
Libya	Tripoli	1,126,000	1.507
Madagascar	Antananarivo	1,275,207	85,01
Malawi	Lilongwe	989,318	727,8
Mali	Bamako	1,810,366	245
Mauritania	Nouakchott	958,399	1.036
Mauritius	Port Louis	143,574	46,7
Mayotte	Mamoudzou	57,281	41,94
Morocco	Rabat	573,895	117
Mozambique	Maputo	1,080,277	347,7
Namibia	Windhoek	429,974	5.133
Niger	Niamey	1,026,848	239,3
Nigeria	Abuja	2,750,000	1.476
Reunion	Saint-Denis	146,985	142,8
Rwanda	Kigali	859,332	730
Saint Helena	Jamestown	657	84,69
Sao Tome and Principe	São Tomé	56,945	1.001
Senegal	Dakar	1,146,053	83
Seychelles	Victoria	26,450	20,1
Sierra Leone	Freetown	1,055,964	81,48
Somalia	Mogadishu	2,388,000	204
South Africa	Pretoria	741,651	687,5
South Sudan	Juba	230,195	52
Sudan	Khartoum	639,598	1.010
Tanzania	Dodoma	2,083,588	418
Togo	Lomé	839,566	333
Tunisia	Tunis	1,056,247	104
Uganda	Kampala	1,507,114	189
Western Sahara	El Aaiún	196,331	247,8
Zambia	Lusaka	1,747,152	360
Zimbabwe	Harare	1,698,122	982,3

Capitals of Oceania

Country	Capital City	Population	km²
American Samoa	Pago Pago	2,934	141,8
Australia	Canberra	477,567	814,2
Christmas Island	Flying Fish Cove	1,600	7,81
Cocos Islands	West Island	134	6,23
Cook Islands	Avarua	4,906	28
Fiji	Suva	100,237	26,24
French Polynesia	Papeete	26,925	17,4
Guam	Hagåtña	1,051	2,59
Kiribati	Tarawa	69,710	31,02
Marshall Islands	Majuro	27,797	9,2
Nauru	Yaren	747	1,5
New Caledonia	Nouméa	94,285	45,7
New Zealand	Wellington	424,441	444
Niue	Alofi	578	46,48
Norfolk Island	Kingston	880
Northern Marianas	Saipan	48,220	119
Papua New Guinea	Port Moresby	420,419	240
Pitcairn Islands	Adamstown	50	4,6
Samoa	Apia	38,465	123,8
Solomon Islands	Honiara	111,987	22
Tonga	Nuku‘alofa	21,695	19
Tuvalu	Funafuti	7,804	2,4
Vanuatu	Port-Vila	61,424	23,6
Wallis and Futuna	Mata-Utu	1,126	75,64

What is a capital city?

A capital city is the municipality holding 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 official residences of the head of state, head of government, ministers, and other senior government officials are located. It often serves as the political, cultural, and economic hub of the country or region.

The Essence of a Capital City

At the heart of every nation lies its capital city, a central hub that epitomizes the country’s identity, culture, and governance. These cities are not just administrative centers but also reflect the historical, political, and social ethos of their respective countries. This article delves into the multifaceted roles and characteristics of world capitals, offering a glimpse into their significance beyond mere geographical entities.

Capitals as Historical Narratives

Each capital has a unique story, often intertwined with the nation’s history. From ancient times, where they were established for strategic or symbolic reasons, to modern-day evolutions, these cities have witnessed and shaped pivotal moments in history. Exploring a capital is akin to walking through a live museum, where each street, building, and monument narrates a chapter of the past.

Political and Administrative Roles

Capitals are the epicenters of political power, hosting government institutions, embassies, and the residences of heads of state. They are the venues for major political events, policy-making, and national celebrations. The design and layout of these cities often reflect their political importance, with grandiose government buildings and carefully planned infrastructure.

Cultural Heartbeats of Nations

Beyond politics, capitals are cultural melting pots. They boast a rich tapestry of arts, music, literature, and traditions, often encapsulating the diversity of the entire nation. Museums, theaters, galleries, and festivals in these cities are not just tourist attractions but are vital for preserving and promoting national heritage and identity.

Economic Engines and Innovation Hubs

Capitals are typically economic powerhouses, contributing significantly to their country’s economy. They attract businesses, investments, and talent, often becoming centers for innovation and entrepreneurship. The concentration of resources, institutions, and human capital makes them fertile grounds for economic growth and development.

Challenges Facing Modern Capitals

However, being a capital also comes with its set of challenges. Urbanization, population growth, and political centralization often lead to issues like congestion, pollution, and socio-economic disparities. Balancing growth with sustainability and inclusivity is a key challenge for these cities.

Capitals in the Global Context

In an increasingly interconnected world, capitals are not just national symbols but players on the global stage. They are nodes in the network of international diplomacy, trade, and cultural exchange. How these cities evolve and interact with each other shapes global dynamics.

In conclusion, world capitals are far more than administrative centers. They are the heartbeats of nations, reflecting their history, culture, and aspirations. Understanding these cities is crucial for grasping the essence of the countries they represent. As we explore these vibrant and dynamic cities, we uncover the stories and dreams of the nations they embody.

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