Have you ever wondered which capital cities are highest up in the world? This article lists national capital cities from the highest to the lowest, based on their elevation (how high they are above sea level). Being high up can mean different things for a city!
You'll see that Bolivia is special because it has two capital cities! La Paz is where the government works, and Sucre is the official capital mentioned in the country's laws. If we count La Paz, it's the highest capital. But if we only count Sucre, then Quito, the capital of Ecuador, takes the top spot for being the highest.
The second list below includes places that are sometimes called "states" but are not recognized by all countries.
Highest Capital Cities: UN Members and Observers
This table shows the capital cities of countries that are part of the United Nations (UN) or have observer status, listed from highest to lowest elevation.
| Country |
Capital |
Elevation (m) |
Elevation (ft) |
 Bolivia |
La Paz (Government seat)
(Capital: Sucre) |
3,640 |
11,942 |
 Ecuador |
Quito |
2,850 |
9,350 |
| Bolivia |
Sucre |
2,790 |
9,220 |
 Colombia |
Bogotá |
2,625 |
8,612 |
 Ethiopia |
Addis Ababa |
2,355 |
7,726 |
 Bhutan |
Thimphu |
2,334 |
7,657 |
 Eritrea |
Asmara |
2,325 |
7,628 |
 Yemen |
Sanaʽa |
2,250 |
7,382 |
 Mexico |
Mexico City |
2,240 |
7,350 |
 Iran |
Tehran |
1,830 |
6,003 |
 Kenya |
Nairobi |
1,795 |
5,889 |
 Afghanistan |
Kabul |
1,790 |
5,873 |
 Namibia |
Windhoek |
1,721 |
5,646 |
 Lesotho |
Maseru |
1,673 |
5,489 |
 Rwanda |
Kigali |
1,567 |
5,141 |
 Guatemala |
Guatemala City |
1,529 |
5,016 |
 Burundi |
Gitega |
1,504 |
4,934 |
 Zimbabwe |
Harare |
1,483 |
4,865 |
 Nepal |
Kathmandu |
1,400 |
4,593 |
 Mongolia |
Ulaanbaatar |
1,350 |
4,429 |
 Madagascar |
Antananarivo |
1,288 |
4,226 |
 South Africa |
Pretoria |
1,271 |
4,170 |
 Zambia |
Lusaka |
1,270 |
4,167 |
 Eswatini |
Mbabane |
1,243 |
4,078 |
 Uganda |
Kampala |
1,190 |
3,904 |
 Costa Rica |
San José |
1,146 |
3,760 |
 Tanzania |
Dodoma |
1,120 |
3,675 |
 Brazil |
Brasília |
1,079 |
3,540 |
 Malawi |
Lilongwe |
1,024 |
3,360 |
 Andorra |
Andorra la Vella |
1,023 |
3,356 |
 Honduras |
Tegucigalpa |
990 |
3,250 |
 Armenia |
Yerevan |
989 |
3,246 |
 Botswana |
Gaborone |
983 |
3,225 |
 Turkey |
Ankara |
938 |
3,077 |
 Venezuela |
Caracas |
909 |
2,982 |
 Jordan |
Amman |
900 |
2,953 |
 Tajikistan |
Dushanbe |
789 |
2,589 |
 Palestine |
East Jerusalem and Ramallah |
779 (and 880) |
2,557 (and 2,890) |
 Nigeria |
Abuja |
777 |
2,549 |
 Kyrgyzstan |
Bishkek |
771 |
2,530 |
 Israel |
Jerusalem |
754 |
2,474 |
 Cameroon |
Yaoundé |
726 |
2,382 |
 Syria |
Damascus |
691 |
2,267 |
 Spain |
Madrid |
667 |
2,188 |
 El Salvador |
San Salvador |
658 |
2,159 |
 Saudi Arabia |
Riyadh |
624 |
2,047 |
 Australia |
Canberra |
605 |
1,985 |
 Bulgaria |
Sofia |
580 |
1,900 |
 Pakistan |
Islamabad |
560 |
1,830 |
 Bosnia and Herzegovina |
Sarajevo |
550 |
1,800 |
 South Sudan |
Juba |
550 |
1,800 |
 Switzerland |
Bern |
542 |
1,778 |
 Chile |
Santiago |
521 |
1,709 |
 Uzbekistan |
Tashkent |
459 |
1,506 |
 Liechtenstein |
Vaduz |
455 |
1,493 |
 Georgia |
Tbilisi |
451 |
1,480 |
 Sudan |
Khartoum |
377 |
1,237 |
 Central African Republic |
Bangui |
369 |
1,211 |
 Mali |
Bamako |
349 |
1,145 |
 Kazakhstan |
Astana |
338 |
1,109 |
 San Marino |
San Marino |
328 |
1,076 |
 Burkina Faso |
Ouagadougou |
305 |
1,001 |
 Chad |
N'Djamena |
298 |
978 |
 Slovenia |
Ljubljana |
281 |
922 |
 Luxembourg |
Luxembourg |
273 |
896 |
 Czech Republic |
Prague |
244 |
801 |
 North Macedonia |
Skopje |
243 |
797 |
 Democratic Republic of the Congo |
Kinshasa |
240 |
787 |
 Ivory Coast |
Yamoussoukro |
217 |
712 |
 Turkmenistan |
Ashgabat |
215 |
705 |
 India |
New Delhi |
210 |
689 |
 Niger |
Niamey |
207 |
679 |
 Micronesia, Federated States of |
Palikir |
90 |
300 |
 Belarus |
Minsk |
198 |
650 |
 Austria |
Vienna |
170 |
558 |
 Cyprus |
Nicosia |
170 |
557 |
 Ukraine |
Kyiv |
168 |
551 |
 Congo |
Brazzaville |
155 |
509 |
 Peru |
Lima |
154 |
506 |
 Greece |
Athens |
153 |
502 |
 Laos |
Vientiane |
174 |
570 |
 São Tomé and Príncipe |
São Tomé |
141 |
463 |
 Mauritius |
Port Louis |
50 |
170 |
 Slovakia |
Bratislava |
131 |
430 |
 Croatia |
Zagreb |
130 |
427 |
 Lithuania |
Vilnius |
124 |
407 |
 Russia |
Moscow |
124 |
407 |
 Serbia |
Belgrade |
116 |
381 |
 Comoros |
Moroni |
110 |
361 |
 Equatorial Guinea |
Malabo |
107 |
351 |
 Albania |
Tirana |
104 |
341 |
 Hungary |
Budapest |
102 |
335 |
 Haiti |
Port-au-Prince |
98 |
322 |
 Ghana |
Accra |
98 |
322 |
 Poland |
Warsaw |
93 |
305 |
 Moldova |
Chișinău |
80 |
263 |
 Myanmar |
Naypyidaw |
77 |
253 |
 Belize |
Belmopan |
76 |
250 |
 Belgium |
Brussels |
76 |
249 |
 Sierra Leone |
Freetown |
76 |
249 |
 Nicaragua |
Managua |
83 |
272 |
 Canada |
Ottawa |
74 |
243 |
 Palau |
Ngerulmud |
72 |
236 |
 Romania |
Bucharest |
70 |
230 |
 Oman |
Muscat |
68 |
223 |
 Mozambique |
Maputo |
63 |
207 |
 Togo |
Lomé |
63 |
207 |
 Montenegro |
Podgorica |
61 |
200 |
 Malaysia |
Kuala Lumpur |
60 |
197 |
 Lebanon |
Beirut |
55 |
180 |
 Malta |
Valletta |
54 |
186 |
 Paraguay |
Asunción |
54 |
177 |
 Jamaica |
Kingston |
53 |
174 |
 Morocco |
Rabat |
53 |
174 |
 China |
Beijing |
44 |
144 |
 Uruguay |
Montevideo |
43 |
141 |
 Vatican City |
Vatican City |
41 |
135 |
 Iraq |
Baghdad |
40 |
131 |
 Papua New Guinea |
Port Moresby |
39 |
128 |
 Benin |
Porto-Novo |
38 |
125 |
 Estonia |
Tallinn |
37 |
121 |
 Senegal |
Dakar |
37 |
121 |
 France |
Paris |
34 |
112 |
 Germany |
Berlin |
34 |
112 |
 South Korea |
Seoul |
33 |
108 |
 Solomon Islands |
Honiara |
29 |
95 |
 Somalia |
Mogadishu |
28 |
92 |
 Finland |
Helsinki |
25 |
82 |
 Vietnam |
Hanoi |
25 |
82 |
 Grenada |
Saint George's |
25 |
82 |
 Egypt |
Cairo |
22 |
72 |
 Japan |
Tokyo |
17 |
56 |
 Iceland |
Reykjavík |
15 |
49 |
 Portugal |
Lisbon |
15 |
49 |
 Sweden |
Stockholm |
15 |
49 |
 Cambodia |
Phnom Penh |
15 |
49 |
 Italy |
Rome |
14 |
46 |
 United Kingdom |
London |
14 |
46 |
 Qatar |
Doha |
13 |
43 |
 United Arab Emirates |
Abu Dhabi |
13 |
43 |
 Norway |
Oslo |
12 |
40 |
 East Timor |
Dili |
11 |
36 |
 Argentina |
Buenos Aires |
10 |
33 |
 New Zealand |
Wellington |
10 |
32 |
 Nauru |
Yaren |
9 |
30 |
 Republic of Ireland |
Dublin |
8 |
26 |
 Latvia |
Riga |
8 |
26 |
 Philippines |
Manila |
7 |
23 |
 Bahrain |
Manama |
6 |
20 |
 North Korea |
Pyongyang |
6 |
20 |
 Barbados |
Bridgetown |
6 |
20 |
 Angola |
Luanda |
6 |
20 |
 Libya |
Tripoli |
6 |
20 |
 Mauritania |
Nouakchott |
6 |
20 |
 Denmark |
Copenhagen |
5 |
16 |
 Kuwait |
Kuwait |
5 |
16 |
 Sri Lanka |
Sri Jayawardenapura-Kotte |
4 |
13 |
 Cuba |
Havana |
4 |
13 |
 Bangladesh |
Dhaka |
3 |
10 |
 Indonesia |
Jakarta |
3 |
10 |
 Marshall Islands |
Majuro |
3 |
10 |
 Bahamas |
Nassau |
2 |
7 |
 St. Lucia |
Castries |
2 |
7 |
 United States |
Washington, D.C. |
2 |
7 |
 Algeria |
Algiers |
1 |
3 |
 Thailand |
Bangkok |
1 |
3 |
 Suriname |
Paramaribo |
1 |
3 |
 Monaco |
Monaco |
0 |
0 |
 Brunei |
Bandar Seri Begawan |
0 |
0 |
 Maldives |
Malé |
0 |
0 |
 Singapore |
Singapore |
0 |
0 |
 Antigua and Barbuda |
Saint John's |
0 |
0 |
 Dominica |
Roseau |
0 |
0 |
 Dominican Republic |
Santo Domingo |
0 |
0 |
 Guyana |
Georgetown |
0 |
0 |
 Panama |
Panama City |
0 |
0 |
 Saint Kitts and Nevis |
Basseterre |
0 |
0 |
 St. Vincent and the Grenadines |
Kingstown |
0 |
0 |
 Trinidad and Tobago |
Port of Spain |
0 |
0 |
 Cape Verde |
Praia |
0 |
0 |
 Djibouti |
Djibouti |
0 |
0 |
 Gabon |
Libreville |
0 |
0 |
 Gambia |
Banjul |
0 |
0 |
 Guinea |
Conakry |
0 |
0 |
 Guinea-Bissau |
Bissau |
0 |
0 |
 Liberia |
Monrovia |
0 |
0 |
 Seychelles |
Victoria |
0 |
0 |
 Tunisia |
Tunis |
0 |
0 |
 Fiji |
Suva |
0 |
0 |
 Kiribati |
South Tarawa |
0 |
0 |
 Samoa |
Apia |
0 |
0 |
 Tonga |
Nuku'alofa |
0 |
0 |
 Tuvalu |
Vaiaku |
0 |
0 |
 Vanuatu |
Port Vila |
0 |
0 |
 Netherlands |
Amsterdam |
−2 |
−7 |
 Azerbaijan |
Baku |
−28 |
−92 |
Capital Cities of Other States
This table lists capital cities of other states, including those that are not fully recognized by all countries, or are special regions and dependencies.
Images for kids
See also
- List of cities by elevation
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