List of national capitals facts for kids

A capital city is like the main office or headquarters of a country or territory. It's usually where the government leaders work, where important decisions are made, and where the main government buildings are located. Think of it as the brain of a country!

This list includes capital cities for independent countries, as well as for territories and places that are still connected to other countries. Some places on this list might have a special status or their recognition might be debated by different countries.

Countries that are full members or observer states of the United Nations (a big international organization where countries work together) are shown in bold text in the list below.

Countries and Their Capitals

This table shows a list of capital cities around the world. Sometimes, a country might have more than one capital, or its capital might have changed over time. We'll explain these special cases in the notes.

City/Town	Country/Territory	Continent	Notes
Abidjan (former capital)	Ivory Coast (Côte d'Ivoire)	Africa	Abidjan is the largest city and the economic center. Yamoussoukro is the official capital.
Yamoussoukro (official)
Abu Dhabi	United Arab Emirates	Asia
Abuja	Nigeria	Africa	Lagos was the capital until 1991.
Accra	Ghana	Africa
Adamstown	Pitcairn Islands	Oceania	A British Overseas Territory.
Addis Ababa	Ethiopia	Africa
Aden (temporary)	Yemen	Asia	Due to conflict, Aden is currently the acting capital, while Sanaa is the official capital.
Sanaa (official)
Algiers	Algeria	Africa
Alofi	Niue	Oceania	Niue is self-governing but works closely with New Zealand.
Amman	Jordan	Asia
Amsterdam (official)	Netherlands	Europe	The government and royal palace are actually in The Hague.
The Hague (government seat)
Andorra la Vella	Andorra	Europe
Ankara	Turkey	Asia	Became the capital in 1923 after the Turkish War of Independence. Istanbul was the capital of the old Ottoman Empire.
Antananarivo	Madagascar	Africa
Apia	Samoa	Oceania
Ashgabat	Turkmenistan	Asia
Asmara	Eritrea	Africa
Astana	Kazakhstan	Asia	Was called Nur-Sultan from 2019 to 2022. Almaty was the capital until 1997.
Asunción	Paraguay	South America
Athens	Greece	Europe
Avarua	Cook Islands	Oceania	Self-governing in free association with New Zealand.
Baghdad	Iraq	Asia
Baku	Azerbaijan	Asia
Bamako	Mali	Africa
Bandar Seri Begawan	Brunei	Asia
Bangkok	Thailand	Asia
Bangui	Central African Republic	Africa
Banjul	Gambia	Africa
Basseterre	Saint Kitts and Nevis	North America
Beijing	China	Asia
Beirut	Lebanon	Asia
Belgrade	Serbia	Europe
Belmopan	Belize	North America	Belize City was the capital before.
Berlin	Germany	Europe	Bonn was the capital of West Germany until 1999.
Bern (de facto)	Switzerland	Europe
Bishkek	Kyrgyzstan	Asia
Bissau	Guinea-Bissau	Africa
Bloemfontein (judicial)	South Africa	Africa	South Africa has three capitals, each for a different part of the government.
Cape Town (legislative)
Pretoria (executive)
Bogotá	Colombia	South America
Brades (temporary)	Montserrat	North America	A British Overseas Territory. The old capital, Plymouth, was destroyed by a volcano. A new capital, Little Bay, is being built.
Plymouth (official)
Brasília	Brazil	South America	Rio de Janeiro was the capital until 1960.
Bratislava	Slovakia	Europe
Brazzaville	Congo	Africa
Bridgetown	Barbados	North America
Brussels	Belgium	Europe	Brussels is also a main city for the European Union.
Bucharest	Romania	Europe
Budapest	Hungary	Europe
Buenos Aires	Argentina	South America
Cairo	Egypt	Africa	A new capital city is being built nearby.
Canberra	Australia	Oceania	This city was specially planned and built to be the capital, to avoid arguments between Melbourne and Sydney.
Caracas	Venezuela	South America
Castries	Saint Lucia	North America
Charlotte Amalie	United States Virgin Islands	North America	A territory of the United States.
Chișinău	Moldova	Europe
Cockburn Town	Turks and Caicos Islands	North America	A British Overseas Territory.
Colombo (economic)	Sri Lanka	Asia	Colombo is the main economic city, but Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte is the official capital.
Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte (official)
Conakry	Guinea	Africa
Copenhagen	Denmark	Europe
Cotonou (government seat)	Benin	Africa
Porto-Novo (official)
Dakar	Senegal	Africa
Damascus	Syria	Asia
Dhaka	Bangladesh	Asia
Dili	East Timor	Asia
Djibouti	Djibouti	Africa
Dodoma	Tanzania	Africa	Dar es Salaam was the former capital and still has some government offices.
Doha	Qatar	Asia
Douglas	Isle of Man	Europe	A British Crown Dependency.
Dublin	Ireland	Europe
Dushanbe	Tajikistan	Asia
Flying Fish Cove	Christmas Island	Oceania	An external territory of Australia.
Freetown	Sierra Leone	Africa
Funafuti	Tuvalu	Oceania
Gaborone	Botswana	Africa
George Town	Cayman Islands	North America	A British Overseas Territory.
Georgetown	Ascension Island	Africa	Part of a British Overseas Territory.
Georgetown	Guyana	South America
Gibraltar	Gibraltar	Europe	A British Overseas Territory and a city-state.
Gitega (official)	Burundi	Africa	Bujumbura was the capital until 2018.
Bujumbura (government seat)
Guatemala City	Guatemala	North America
Gustavia	Saint Barthélemy	North America	An overseas area of France.
Hagåtña	Guam	Oceania	A territory of the United States.
Hamilton	Bermuda	North America	A British Overseas Territory.
Hanoi	Vietnam	Asia
Harare	Zimbabwe	Africa
Hargeisa	Somaliland	Africa	This state is independent in practice but not officially recognized by the UN.
Havana	Cuba	North America
Helsinki	Finland	Europe
Honiara	Solomon Islands	Oceania
Islamabad	Pakistan	Asia	Karachi was the first capital until 1958.
Jakarta	Indonesia	Asia	A new city called Nusantara is being built to become the new capital.
Jamestown	Saint Helena	Africa	Part of a British Overseas Territory.
Jerusalem	Israel	Asia	Israel considers Jerusalem its capital. Many countries do not recognize this and keep their embassies in Tel Aviv. Palestine also claims Jerusalem as its capital.
	Palestine	Asia
Ramallah (government seat)
Juba	South Sudan	Africa
Kabul	Afghanistan	Asia
Kampala	Uganda	Africa
Kathmandu	Nepal	Asia
Khartoum	Sudan	Africa
Kigali	Rwanda	Africa
King Edward Point	South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands	South America	A British Overseas Territory.
Kingston	Jamaica	North America
Kingston	Norfolk Island	Oceania	An external territory of Australia.
Kingstown	Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	North America
Kinshasa	Democratic Republic of the Congo	Africa
Kuala Lumpur (official)	Malaysia	Asia	Kuala Lumpur is the official capital, but Putrajaya is where the main government offices are.
Putrajaya (administrative)
Kuwait City	Kuwait	Asia
Kyiv	Ukraine	Europe
La Paz (administrative)	Bolivia	South America	La Paz is the highest administrative capital in the world. Sucre is the official capital.
Sucre (official)
Laayoune (claimed)	Western Sahara	Africa	This state is not widely recognized. Laayoune is claimed as its capital, but Tifariti is the current temporary capital.
Tifariti (temporary)
Libreville	Gabon	Africa
Lilongwe	Malawi	Africa
Lima	Peru	South America	Cusco is considered the "historical capital."
Lisbon	Portugal	Europe
Ljubljana	Slovenia	Europe
Lobamba (royal and legislative)	Eswatini	Africa	Eswatini has two capitals.
Mbabane (administrative)
Lomé	Togo	Africa
London	United Kingdom	Europe	London is the capital of the United Kingdom.
London (administration)	British Indian Ocean Territory	Asia	A British Overseas Territory. It's managed from London, but some consider Diego Garcia the main place.
Diego Garcia (de facto)
Luanda	Angola	Africa
Lusaka	Zambia	Africa
Luxembourg	Luxembourg	Europe
Madrid	Spain	Europe
Majuro	Marshall Islands	Oceania	Self-governing but works closely with the United States.
Malabo	Equatorial Guinea	Africa	A new capital, Ciudad de la Paz, is being built.
Malé	Maldives	Asia
Managua	Nicaragua	North America
Manama	Bahrain	Asia
Manila	Philippines	Asia
Maputo	Mozambique	Africa
Mariehamn	Åland Islands	Europe	An independent region of Finland.
Marigot	Saint Martin	North America	An overseas area of France.
Maseru	Lesotho	Africa
Mata Utu	Wallis and Futuna	Oceania	An overseas area of France.
Mexico City	Mexico	North America
Minsk	Belarus	Europe
Mogadishu	Somalia	Africa
Monaco	Monaco	Europe	A city-state, meaning the city is the whole country.
Monrovia	Liberia	Africa
Montevideo	Uruguay	South America
Moroni	Comoros	Africa
Moscow	Russia	Europe
Muscat	Oman	Asia
Nairobi	Kenya	Africa
Nassau	Bahamas, The	North America
Naypyidaw	Myanmar	Asia	Yangon was the capital until 2006.
N'Djamena	Chad	Africa
New Delhi	India	Asia	Kolkata was the capital until 1911 during British rule.
Ngerulmud	Palau	Oceania	Self-governing but works closely with the United States. Koror City was the capital until 2006.
Niamey	Niger	Africa
Nicosia	Cyprus	Asia	Nicosia is a divided capital, claimed by both Cyprus and Northern Cyprus (which is not widely recognized).
	Northern Cyprus
Nouakchott	Mauritania	Africa
Nouméa	New Caledonia	Oceania	An overseas territory of France.
Nukuʻalofa	Tonga	Oceania
Nuuk	Greenland	North America	A self-governing country within the Kingdom of Denmark.
Oranjestad	Aruba	South America	A self-governing country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands.
Oslo	Norway	Europe
Ottawa	Canada	North America
Ouagadougou	Burkina Faso	Africa
Pago Pago	American Samoa	Oceania	A territory of the United States.
Palikir	Micronesia	Oceania	Self-governing but works closely with the United States.
Panama City	Panama	North America
Papeete	French Polynesia	Oceania	An overseas area of France.
Paramaribo	Suriname	South America
Paris	France	Europe
Philipsburg	Sint Maarten	North America	A self-governing country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands.
Phnom Penh	Cambodia	Asia
Podgorica	Montenegro	Europe	Cetinje is known as the "Old Royal Capital" and is where the President works.
Port Louis	Mauritius	Africa
Port Moresby	Papua New Guinea	Oceania
Port of Spain	Trinidad and Tobago	South America
Port Vila	Vanuatu	Oceania
Port-au-Prince	Haiti	North America
Prague	Czech Republic	Europe
Praia	Cape Verde	Africa
Pristina	Kosovo	Europe	This state is independent in practice but not fully recognized by all UN members.
Pyongyang	North Korea	Asia
Quito	Ecuador	South America	This is the highest official capital city in the world.
Rabat	Morocco	Africa
Reykjavík	Iceland	Europe
Riga	Latvia	Europe
Riyadh	Saudi Arabia	Asia
Road Town	British Virgin Islands	North America	A British Overseas Territory.
Rome	Italy	Europe
Roseau	Dominica	North America
Rothera	British Antarctic Territory	Antarctica	A British Overseas Territory.
Saipan	Northern Mariana Islands	Oceania	A territory of the United States.
San José	Costa Rica	North America
San Juan	Puerto Rico	North America	A territory of the United States.
San Marino	San Marino	Europe
San Salvador	El Salvador	North America
Santiago	Chile	South America	The main parliament is in Valparaíso.
Santo Domingo	Dominican Republic	North America
São Tomé	São Tomé and Príncipe	Africa
Sarajevo	Bosnia and Herzegovina	Europe
Seoul	South Korea	Asia	Some government offices have moved to Sejong City.
Singapore	Singapore	Asia	A city-state, meaning the city is the whole country.
Skopje	North Macedonia	Europe
Sofia	Bulgaria	Europe
South Tarawa	Kiribati	Oceania
St. George's	Grenada	North America
St. Helier	Jersey	Europe	A British Crown Dependency.
St. John's	Antigua and Barbuda	North America
St. Peter Port	Guernsey	Europe	A British Crown Dependency.
St. Pierre	Saint Pierre and Miquelon	North America	An overseas area of France.
Stanley	Falkland Islands	South America	A British Overseas Territory.
Stockholm	Sweden	Europe
Sukhumi	Abkhazia	Asia/Europe	This state is independent in practice but not widely recognized.
Suva	Fiji	Oceania
Taipei	Taiwan	Asia	Taiwan is officially the Republic of China. Its recognition is debated with the People's Republic of China.
Tallinn	Estonia	Europe
Tashkent	Uzbekistan	Asia
Tbilisi	Georgia	Asia/Europe	Kutaisi was the legislative capital from 2012 to 2018.
Tegucigalpa	Honduras	North America	Comayagüela is also an official capital, and the two cities have grown together.
Comayagüela
Tehran	Iran	Asia
Thimphu	Bhutan	Asia
Tirana	Albania	Europe
Tiraspol	Transnistria	Europe	This state is independent in practice but not recognized by any UN member.
Tokyo	Japan	Asia
Tórshavn	Faroe Islands	Europe	A self-governing country within the Kingdom of Denmark.
Tripoli	Libya	Africa
Tskhinvali	South Ossetia	Asia/Europe	This state is independent in practice but not widely recognized.
Tunis	Tunisia	Africa
Ulaanbaatar	Mongolia	Asia
Vaduz	Liechtenstein	Europe
Valletta	Malta	Europe
The Valley	Anguilla	North America	A British Overseas Territory.
Vatican City	Vatican City	Europe	A city-state, the smallest country in the world.
Victoria	Seychelles	Africa
Vienna	Austria	Europe
Vientiane	Laos	Asia
Vilnius	Lithuania	Europe
Warsaw	Poland	Europe
Washington, D.C.	United States	North America	The capital of the United States has moved several times in history.
Wellington	New Zealand	Oceania	Has been the capital since 1865.
West Island	Cocos (Keeling) Islands	Asia	An external territory of Australia.
Willemstad	Curaçao	South America	A self-governing country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands.
Windhoek	Namibia	Africa
Yaoundé	Cameroon	Africa
Yaren (government seat)	Nauru	Oceania	Nauru doesn't have an official capital, but Yaren is where the government offices are.
Yerevan	Armenia	Asia
Zagreb	Croatia	Europe

See Also

• List of countries with multiple capitals
• List of purpose-built national capitals