List of countries with multiple capitals


Some countries have multiple capitals. In some cases, one city is the capital for some purposes, and one or more others are capital for other purposes, without any being considered an official capital in preference to the others.
There are also cases where there is a single legally defined capital, but one or more other cities operate as the seat of government of some or all parts of the national government. While such cases are arguably not technically multiple capitals, the situation is similar; so they are included in this list.

More than one capital at present


CountryCapitalsDetails
'Porto-NovoOfficial capital; seat of legislature
'CotonouDe facto seat of government; seat of judicial bodies
'SucreOfficial capital; seat of national judiciary
'La PazSeat of national executive, legislative, and electoral bodies
'GitegaOfficial capital
'BujumburaSeat of national executive
'SantiagoOfficial capital; seat of national administrative and judicial bodies
'ValparaísoSeat of national legislature
'YamoussoukroOfficial capital
'AbidjanDe facto seat of government
'PragueOfficial capital, seat of national administrative and legislative bodies
'BrnoSeat of national judiciary bodies
'Santo DomingoOfficial capital, seat of all national administrative and legislative bodies and some judiciary bodies
'Santo Domingo OesteSeat of the Constitutional Court and the Central Electoral Board
'MbabaneAdministrative capital
'LobambaLegislative and royal capital
'TegucigalpaDe facto capital and, with Comayagüela, one of two cities constituting the Municipality of the Central District, which is the official constitutional capital
'ComayagüelaWith Tegucigalpa, one of two cities constituting the Municipality of the Central District, which is the official constitutional capital
'Kuala LumpurOfficial and royal capital; seat of national legislature
'PutrajayaAdministrative centre and seat of national judiciary
'PodgoricaOfficial capital
'CetinjeSeat of President of Montenegro
'AmsterdamDe jure capital under the Constitution of the Netherlands
'The HagueSeat of government
'PretoriaAdministrative and executive capital
'Cape TownLegislative capital
'BloemfonteinJudicial capital
'Sri Jayawardenepura KotteSeat of national legislature
'ColomboSeat of national executive and judicial bodies
'DodomaOfficial and legislative capital
'Dar es SalaamDe facto seat of government; seat of judicial bodies
' LaayouneDeclared capital
' TifaritiTemporary capital
'Sana'aInternationally recognized capital, controlled by the Houthis
AdenTemporary capital, controlled by the pro-Hadi forces.

Other countries

designates Jerusalem as its capital, and its government, parliament and Supreme Court are located in the city. However, as Jerusalem's political status has not reached a final settlement, most countries locate their embassy in Tel Aviv. Tel Aviv and Jerusalem served as de facto joint capitals of Israel from May to December 1948. The State of Palestine also claims Jerusalem as its capital, but the current de facto seat of the internationally recognized Palestinian government is in Ramallah, while the seat of the Hamas-led government is in Gaza City.
In Germany, the highest judiciary organs are located in Karlsruhe, whereas the nation's political capital is Berlin. Some ministries are still mainly located in Bonn, the former West German capital, which is still called "federal city".
The Honduran constitution statutes that Tegucigalpa and Comayagüela are both capitals in this country. However, all the branches of government are in Tegucigalpa. Comayagüela currently is part of Tegucigalpa Metropolitan Area.
In Peru, the Peruvian Constitution declares Cusco to be the "Historical Capital", a symbolic statement, because the national government continues to reside in Lima.
Serbian Republic, a sub-national entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina, has a constitutional capital of Sarajevo, the same as the capital of the country, by the Dayton Accords; but in fact, their government is located in Banja Luka.
Cetinje is a historical, the traditional, and the secondary capital of Montenegro. The city's status is specifically recognized by the constitution. While the official residence of the President of Montenegro is located in the city, the rest of the government is in Podgorica.
Saint Petersburg, the former capital of the Russian Empire, is unofficially recognized as the Northern Russian capital. In 2009, the Constitutional Court of Russia moved from Moscow to Saint Petersburg, giving the latter city some of the expected functions of a capital.
While Manila is the official capital of the Philippines, the administrative and political centers of the Philippine government is spread across Metro Manila. The Malacañang Palace, the executive seat of the government and the Supreme Court building the judicial center are located in Manila proper while legislative branch hosted in two other cities in the metropolis the House of Representatives in Quezon City and the Senate in Pasay.

More than one capital in the past

Many nations that have maintained only one capital at any given time have, nevertheless, over time, conferred capital status on more than one city.
These current countries have had two cities that served as administrative capitals at the same time, for various reasons such as war, weather or partition. In some cases, the second capital is considered a temporary capital.

CountryYearsCapitalsDetails
'1937–1945NanjingCapital of Japanese-controlled puppet state
'1937–1945ChongqingProvisional capital of the Kuomintang-controlled Republic of China
'1945–1991NanjingAdministrative, legislative, and judicial capital
'1945–1991TaipeiProvisional capital of the Kuomintang-ruled Republic of China in Taiwan
'2012–2018TbilisiOfficial and administrative capital
'2012–2018KutaisiSeat of parliament
'1990–1999BerlinOfficial capital
'1990–1999BonnSeat of government
'1948–1972PyongyangSeat of administration
'1948–1972SeoulOfficial and constitutional de jure capital
'1858–1947Calcutta Winter capital
'1858–1947Delhi Winter capital
'1858–1947SimlaSummer capital
'1947–1975VientianeAdministrative capital
'1947–1975Luang PrabangRoyal capital
'1951–1969TripoliOne of two official capitals of the Kingdom of Libya
'1951–1969BenghaziOne of two official capitals of the Kingdom of Libya
'1974–1994LilongweAdministrative and judiciary capital
'1974–1994ZombaLegislative capital
'1940OsloOfficial capital
'1940HamarTemporarily one-day capital that seated the parliament
'1948–1976Quezon CityOfficial capital
'1948–1976ManilaDe facto seat of government
'1901–1976BaguioSummer capital
Serbia and Montenegro2003–2006BelgradeAdministrative and legislative
Serbia and Montenegro2003–2006PodgoricaJudicial


Bonn was capital of West Germany before. With the German reunification Berlin became capital of the united Germany, the government moved to Berlin 9 years later.

Subnational and supernational capitals

At the subnational level, the Canary Islands of Spain have had two co-capitals since 1927, viz. Las Palmas and Santa Cruz.
At the supernational level, Brussels is informally considered the de facto capital of the European Union. However, this informal title is shared with the cities of Frankfurt, Luxembourg and Strasbourg.