Some countries can be considered to 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
The seat of government is (as defined by ''Brewer's Politics'') "the building, complex of buildings or the city from which a government exercises its authority".
In most countries, the nation's Capital city, capital is also seat of its governmen ...
of some or all parts of the national government; in these situations, sources may disagree on whether these other cities are considered additional capital cities.
More than one capital at present
More than one capital in the past
These 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
A temporary capital or a provisional capital is a city or town chosen by a government as an interim base of operations due to some difficulty in retaining or establishing control of a different metropolitan area. The most common circumstances leadi ...
.
See also
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List of national capitals
This is a list of national capitals, including capitals of territories and dependencies, non-sovereign states including associated states and entities whose sovereignty is disputed.
The capitals included on this list are those associate ...
*
List of purpose-built national capitals
This is a list of capital city, capital cities that were specially designed, Planned community#Planned capitals, planned, and built to be a nation state, national or regional capital.
Built Current national capitals
Subnational
Histori ...
References
{{reflist
Multiple capitals
Countries with multiple
de:Hauptstadt#Staaten und subnationale Entitäten mit mehreren Hauptstädten