The concept of the capital of the state is ancient and politically efficient. In time immemorial, the capital city was essentially the one holding important offices of kings, ministers, and the cabinet along with the military power concentrated in the particular area. Most often, it was also the largest city or town in the state or country of the state. In modern times, capital city still holds key offices and governmental seats along with the offices possessed by the president, prime minister, provincial and federal offices, and military personnel. The restriction of the capital city being the largest and economically the strongest is lifted in many states. The political and economic power still rests in the capital territory being the stronghold of the federation in democratic states or seat of the king or queen in monarchic countries. In the modern world, Capital city or town of the country holds the Supreme Court, highest political seat, the parliament or legislative assembly, and diplomatic enclaves housing diplomats and ambassadors of different countries.
Capital City in Modern Democracy
In the modern world, the capital city is referred as the state symbol, it usually houses less population. There are several countries where the capital city is ceremonial or more than one. In Australia, there is no single official capital. Instead, there is a capital for every state and administrates individually. Australia has six capital cities of all of its states, the federal capitals, however,is Canberra.
There are numerous countries with ceremonial capital cities despite the fact that the government and key offices are located and function out of the capital city. In Chile, Santiago is the official capital city, but the national congress holds its offices and legislative practices in Valparaiso. In Finland, the summer parliament and offices sit in Naantali whereas the official federal capital of Finland in Helsinki.
In France, there is no official and constitutional capital city. Still, the government offices and the Supreme Court, parliament are located in Paris, the unofficial capital of the country. Having no capital city, the parliament session or cabinet can sit in any part of the country by law. Germany practically functions its government in two cities. The official capital of Germany is Berlin that house Parliament and Presidential Palace, few ministries and government offices work in the West German Capital city of Bonn. The western city of Bonn is entitled Federal City by the constitution of Germany. Below is the list of all the capital cities in the world.
A
Kabul : Capital city of Afghanistan
Tirana : Capital city of Albania
Algiers : Capital city of Algeria
Andorra la Vella: Capital City of Andorra
Luanda : Capital city of Angola
St. John’s : Capital city of Antigua and Barbuda
Buenos Aires : Capital city of Argentina
Yerevan : Capital city of Armenia
Oranjestad : Capital city of Aruba
Canberra: Capital city of Australia
Vienna : Capital city of Austria
Baku : Capital city of Azerbaijan
B
Nassau : Capital city of Bahamas
Manama : Capital city of Bahrain
Dhaka : Capital city of Bangladesh
Bridgetown : Capital city of Barbados
Minsk : Capital city of Belarus
Brussels : Capital City of Belgium
Belmopan : Capital city of Belize
Porto-Novo : Capital city of Benin
Thimphu : Capital city of Bhutan
Sucre : Capital city of Bolivia
Sarajevo : Capital city of Bosnia and Herzegovina
Gaborone : Capital city of Botswana
Brasilia : Capital city of Brazil
Bandar Seri Begawan : Capital city of Brunei
Sofia : capital city of Bulgaria
Ouagadougou : Capital city of Burkina Faso
Naypyidaw : Capital city of Burma
Port-au-Prince: Capital of Haiti
Vatican City: Capital of Holy See
Tegucigalpa: Capital of Honduras
Victoria City: Capital of Hong Kong
I
Dublin: The Capital of Ireland
Jerusalem: The Capital of Israel
J
Kingston: The Capital of Jamaica