Capital Cities That Are Not the Largest City
· 5 min read
Which capitals are not their country's largest city?
Dozens of countries have a capital that is not their largest city, including the United States, Canada, Australia, Brazil, Nigeria, Turkey, India by some measures, Switzerland, Morocco, Pakistan, Myanmar, Tanzania and Bolivia. This is one of the most reliable ways to catch someone out in a geography quiz.
| Country | Capital | Largest city |
|---|---|---|
| United States | Washington, D.C. | New York City |
| Canada | Ottawa | Toronto |
| Australia | Canberra | Sydney |
| Brazil | Brasília | São Paulo |
| Nigeria | Abuja | Lagos |
| Turkey | Ankara | Istanbul |
| Switzerland | Bern | Zürich |
| Morocco | Rabat | Casablanca |
| Pakistan | Islamabad | Karachi |
| Myanmar | Naypyidaw | Yangon |
| Tanzania | Dodoma | Dar es Salaam |
| Vietnam | Hanoi | Ho Chi Minh City |
| New Zealand | Wellington | Auckland |
| Côte d'Ivoire | Yamoussoukro | Abidjan |
| Kazakhstan | Astana | Almaty |
Why do countries move their capital away from their largest city?
Countries separate the capital from the largest city for three recurring reasons: to settle a rivalry between competing cities, to pull development inland, or to put the seat of government somewhere more defensible or more central.
Settling a rivalry. Canberra exists because Sydney and Melbourne both wanted the capital and neither would concede. Australia built a new city between them, and Melbourne served as the temporary seat until Parliament moved in 1927. Ottawa was chosen in 1857, reportedly by Queen Victoria, partly because it sat on the boundary between English- and French-speaking Canada and belonged fully to neither.
Pulling development inland. Brazil moved its capital from coastal Rio de Janeiro to Brasília in 1960, a purpose-built city in the central highlands, explicitly to draw population and investment into the interior. Nigeria moved from Lagos to Abuja in 1991 for similar reasons, with the added argument that Abuja was ethnically and religiously more neutral ground.
Security and control. Pakistan moved from Karachi to the newly built Islamabad in the 1960s, closer to the army's headquarters at Rawalpindi. Myanmar's military government moved from Yangon to Naypyidaw in 2005, a decision announced with almost no warning.
Which countries have more than one capital?
South Africa has three. Pretoria is the executive capital and seat of the president, Cape Town is the legislative capital and home of Parliament, and Bloemfontein is the judicial capital. The arrangement dates to the 1910 union and was a compromise between former colonies and republics.
Bolivia has two. Sucre is the constitutional capital and home of the Supreme Court; La Paz holds the executive and legislature and functions as the working capital.
Other multi-seat arrangements exist. The Netherlands names Amsterdam as its constitutional capital, but the government, parliament and royal residence are all in The Hague. Switzerland avoids the word entirely: Bern is legally the "federal city", not a capital, a deliberate choice to avoid centralising power in a federation.
Does Switzerland have a capital?
Switzerland has no legally designated capital city. Bern is designated the Bundesstadt, or federal city, and hosts the Federal Assembly and Federal Council, so it functions as the capital in every practical sense. The Swiss Constitution simply never names one, which is consistent with a system built to distribute power across cantons.
For quiz purposes, Bern is the answer.
The quiz trap
Capitals are where general knowledge and geography most often diverge. People recognise the biggest, most famous city and assume it governs. It frequently does not.
The pattern is strongest in large federations and in countries that industrialised around a port. If a country has an obvious commercial megacity on the coast, check before you answer.
Put it to the test with the world capitals quiz, or narrow it to Africa, where purpose-built capitals are especially common.
Put it into practice: try the world locate quiz or the flags quiz.