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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 some or all parts of 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
| Country | Capitals | Details |
|---|---|---|
 Benin
|
Porto-Novo | Official capital; seat of legislature |
| Cotonou | De facto seat of government; seat of judicial bodies | |
 Bolivia
|
Sucre | Official (constitutional) capital; seat of national judiciary |
| La Paz | Seat of national executive, legislative, and electoral bodies | |
 Chile
|
Santiago | Official capital; seat of national administrative and judicial bodies |
| Valparaíso | Seat of national legislature | |
 Côte d'Ivoire
|
Yamoussoukro | Official capital |
| Abidjan | De facto seat of government | |
 Georgia
|
Tbilisi | Official capital and seat of executive government and President |
| Kutaisi | Legislative Capital | |
 Honduras
|
Tegucigalpa | De facto capital and, with Comayagüela, one of two cities constituting the Municipality of the Central District, which is the official constitutional capital |
| Comayagüela | With Tegucigalpa, one of two cities constituting the Municipality of the Central District, which is the official constitutional capital | |
 Malaysia
| ||
| Kuala Lumpur | Official and royal capital; seat of national legislature | |
| Putrajaya | Administrative centre and seat of national judiciary | |
 Montenegro
|
Podgorica | Official capital and seat of government |
| Cetinje | Old royal capital and site of palace of head of state | |
 Netherlands
| ||
| Amsterdam | Official (constitutional) and royal capital | |
| The Hague | Administrative centre, seat of national legislature, and seat of national judiciary | |
 South Africa
|
Pretoria | Administrative and Executive capital |
| Cape Town | Legislative capital | |
| Bloemfontein | Judicial capital | |
 Sri Lanka
|
Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte | Administrative capital and seat of national legislature |
| Colombo | Commercial capital and seat of national executive and judicial bodies | |
 Swaziland
|
Mbabane | Administrative capital |
| Lobamba | Legislative and royal capital | |
 Tanzania
|
Dodoma | Official and legislative capital |
| Dar es Salaam | De facto seat of government; seat of judicial bodies | |
 Western Sahara (SADR)
|
El Aaiún | Declared capital |
| Bir Lehlou | Temporary capital |
Some Kyoto natives also argue that Tokyo and Kyoto are both capitals of Japan at present; see Capital of Japan.
Israel designates Jerusalem as its capital, and seats its government in that city. However, until Jerusalem's political status reaches a final settlement, most countries locate their embassy in Tel Aviv. Tel Aviv served as the temporary de facto capital of Israel from May to December 1948. Palestine also claims Jerusalem as their capital; but due to the occupation 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 (Bundesgerichtshof and Bundesverfassungsgericht) 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" (Bundesstadt).
The Honduran constitution statutes that Tegucigalpa and Comayagüela are both capitals in this country. However, all the branches of government are in Tegucigalpa. Comayaguela currently is part of Tegucigalpa Metropolitan Area.
In Peru, the Cusco city was declared by the Peruvian Constitution as "Historical Capital" (in Spanish Capital Histórica), a statement merely symbolic, because the national government continues to reside in Lima.
Republika Srpska, 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.
Although not considered a country, the European Union has three administrative centres: Brussels (executive and part legislative), Luxembourg (judiciary) and Strasbourg (Parliament).
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.
Former capital of Russian Empire, Saint Petersburg, unofficially recognised as Northern Russian capital. Furthermore, since in 2009 Constitutional Court of Russia moved from Moscow to Saint Petersburg, this city formally take some capital functions.
In South Africa, Bloemfontein is considered to be the de facto judicial capital as it houses the Supreme Court of Appeal. The Constitutional Court is housed in Johannesburg, and is a higher appeal court in the case of constitutional matters.
Although not a sovereign country on its own, the Portuguese autonomous region of the Azores has three designated regional capital cities: Ponta Delgada at São Miguel Island (seat of the Autonomous Government); Horta at Faial Island (seat of the Legislative Assembly) and Angra do Heroísmo at Terceira Island (seat of the judiciary branch and the historical capital of the Azores, in addition to being the seat of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Angra).
More than one capital in the past
Main article: List of historical national capitalsMany 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 due to various reasons such as war, weather or partition. In some cases, the second capital is considered a temporary capital.
| Country | Years | Capitals | Details |
|---|---|---|---|
 Afghanistan
|
1776–1818 | Kabul | Summer capital |
| Peshawar | Winter capital | ||
 France
|
1940–1944 | Paris | Occupied France (German-occupied northern France) |
| Vichy | French State | ||
 China
|
1937-1945 | Nanjing | Capital of puppet state |
| Chongqing | Provisional capital of the Kuomintang | ||
 Germany
|
1990–1999 | Berlin | Legislative capital |
| Bonn | Seat of administration | ||
 India
|
1858-1912/1912–1947 | Calcutta/Delhi | Winter capital |
| Shimla | Summer capital | ||
 Libya
|
1951–1969 | Tripoli | One of two official capitals of Kingdom |
| Benghazi | One of two official capitals of Kingdom | ||
 Philippines
|
1948–1976 | Quezon City | Official capital |
| Manila | De facto seat of government | ||
 Serbia and Montenegro
|
2003–2006 | Belgrade | Administrative & legislative |
| Podgorica | Judicial |
See also
- List of historical capitals of China
- List of national capitals
- List of historical national capitals
- List of purpose-built capital cities
- List of countries whose capital is not their largest city
- List of national capitals and largest cities by country
- List of largest cities and second largest cities by country
References
- "Field Listing::Capital". The World Factbook. Retrieved 2014-04-27.