The concept of the capital city is a fairly simple one.
It’s generally the location of a country’s government, usually with some sort of historical
significance.
London, Paris, Rome - we think of these cities as the unchanging bedrock of their countries.
However, while the single, fixed capital may be the norm now, this wasn’t always the
case.
Throughout history, and especially in Medieval Europe, kingdoms would often change their
capital on a regular basis.
Reasons for changing the capital city were plentiful, whether it be a more strategic
location, a more neutral/central location to promote unity, or sometimes simply the
location of the current monarch.
Some countries literally changed their capital dozens of times throughout their long history.
One country that has changed its capital numerous times in its several thousand years of existence,
is China.
Although the constantly changing capital cities in this case was mostly due to the country’s
turbulent past, the ever-changing dynasties, and the multiple divisions and unifications
of China.
Today, the name of the modern-day capital of China, Beijing, literally means “northern
capital”.
Of course, three other cities are recognized as historical capitals of China - Nanjing,
Luoyang, and Xi’an.
In fact, Nanjing means southern capital, while Luoyang and Xi’an have both been called
“Xijing” in the past, meaning western capital.
And Luoyang has, at another time, also been called “Dongdu”, or eastern capital, given
its location with respect to the rest of the territory of the ruling dynasty.
The practice of changing capitals largely fell out of use in Europe before the end of
the Middle Ages, but in China this continued even as recently as the last century.
The Republic of China changed its capital several times due to war, invasion, and rival
governments.
Obviously countries changing their capital is somewhat rare these days, but it does still
happen.
In fact, Burundi changed its capital from Bujumbura to Gitega as recently as December
2018.
Some countries don’t actually have their government in what they call their capital
city, or only have part of it there, making it even harder to say what a capital city
actually... is.
In this way, some countries can be thought of as having more than one capital city, and
there are actually quite a few examples of them.
We’ll start by looking at the Netherlands.
While the country’s constitution states that Amsterdam is the nation’s capital,
its seat of government is actually in The Hague, which is therefore the de facto capital,
and where most countries have their embassies.
The reason for this dates all the way back to 1588, shortly after the establishment of
the Dutch Republic, when the newly declared country finally set its government in The
Hague.
At this time, Amsterdam was actually still loyal to Spain given the trade opportunities
that this choice offered, so obviously it couldn’t be the capital of the ‘rebel’
state, as they were still seen at the time.
Over time, power in the Dutch Republic became concentrated in the stadtholder, whose political
base, the Orangists, were primarily centered in rural areas and The Hague; meanwhile, republicans
tended to be more dominant in cities, and especially Amsterdam.
This conflict dominated Dutch politics until Napoleon invaded and established the Kingdom
of Holland; his brother Louis was crowned in Amsterdam, setting it as capital of the
region for the first time in history.
After Napoleon’s defeat, the seat of government for the region was moved back to The Hague,
and the Great Powers created the precursor to the modern, monarchist Kingdom of the Netherlands.
In a similar situation to the Netherlands, Sucre is the official, constitutional capital
of Bolivia, while the country’s seat of government is La Paz... mostly.
The executive and legislative powers of the country are centered in La Paz, since both
the President and Legislative Assembly are based there.
However, the Judiciary is centered in Sucre, the result of a compromise during the writing
of the most recent Bolivian Constitution.
Whether or not La Paz can be classed as a capital city is relevant for the city’s
‘claim to fame’, so to speak, as the highest capital city in the world.
La Paz is at an altitude of 3,650m above sea-level, which is an incredible 41% the height of Mt
Everest.
Of course, many will argue La Paz is not officially the capital of Bolivia, in which case Quito,
Ecuador would be the highest capital in the world, at a slightly less impressive 2,850m
above sea-level.
There are still more countries that arguably have two capitals, including Malaysia, Benin,
Sri Lanka, Chile and even more still.
Believe it or not though, there is actually one country that has more than two capital
cities.
South Africa has three!
Pretoria is the executive capital, where most foreign embassies are located; Bloemfontein
is the judicial capital and seat of the Supreme Court of Appeal; and Cape Town is the legislative
capital, and seat of parliament.
None of these cities are the country’s largest, by the way, which is Johannesburg, which is
also the location of the Constitutional Court.
This bizarre situation dates back to the foundation of the Union of South Africa in 1910, when
4 British colonies united to become a semi-independent dominion under the British Crown.
3 of the 4 colony capitals became a capital of the dominion.
Pietermaritzburg, capital of Natal, was the only one not be become a national capital,
which apparently received some financial compensation.
The decision for this was made as a compromise to ensure no one city had too much power.
More than a century later and the capital cities have remained constant.
Now, at the opposite end of the spectrum, there is actually one country that has NO
capital city: the small, Pacific island-nation of Nauru.
Well, it doesn’t actually have any cities, just districts.
The Yaren district is the seat of government and therefore the de facto capital... with
a population of about 800 people.
It could be argued that there actually are more countries without a capital.
For example, Switzerland doesn’t officially have a capital city.
Bern is technically a “federal city”, which is the seat of government and universally
accepted as the nation’s capital, but nowhere in the Swiss constitution or any of its laws
does it state the city as its capital.
There are a couple of cities in the world which are politically disputed, in which a
single city is claimed by more than one party.
On the Mediterranean island of Cyprus, its capital city, Nicosia, is claimed by both
Cyprus, as well the self-declared, unrecognised Northern Cyprus, who actually only claims
Northern Nicosia as its capital.
Cyprus claims the whole city as its capital, and indeed the whole island as its territory,
but only has control over the southern part of the island and city.
Nicosia is supposedly the “last divided capital city” in the world, and is separated
by barriers, acting as a de facto international border.
The island has been this way since 1974.
Now, Nicosia isn’t the only capital whose status is unsettled, and while Jerusalem is
not practically a divided capital today, its situation certainly is... complicated.
Broadly speaking, the current debate around the status of Jerusalem can be traced back
to UN plan for the partition of British-controlled Mandatory Palestine, Resolution 181.
This plan called for the separation of the territory into both a Jewish and an Arab state;
however, Jerusalem was to be treated as a UN-administered international territory that
wouldn’t belong to either one.
This decision stemmed primarily from the importance of Jerusalem as a holy city to the three largest
Abrahamic religions.
Of course, UN Resolution 181 was never put into effect; after Israel declared its independence
in May of 1948, the surrounding Arab states invaded.
The aftermath of this conflict left Jerusalem divided between Israel in the west and Jordan
in the east, with the Old City of Jerusalem being located on the Jordanian side, right
along the border.
After the war, both Israel and Jordan annexed the portions of Jerusalem that they controlled,
which the UN objected to.
Israel had already declared Jerusalem its capital during the war, while Jordan proclaimed
it its “second capital” several years later.
Until 1967, the city would remain divided; however, after the Six-Day War, Israel gained
control of a large amount of territory.
In the aftermath, Israel integrated both Jordanian-controlled Jerusalem and a number of the surrounding
towns that were captured, today collectively referred to as “East Jerusalem”, into
the city.
Later on, in 1980, Israel passed a law affirming that “Jerusalem, complete and unified, is
the capital of Israel”.
The situation is complicated by the fact that the Palestinian leadership currently claims
East Jerusalem as the capital of their state - although their current administrative center
is, for the most part, Ramallah.
Today, many countries maintain the position that the status of Jerusalem as the capital
of Israel is put into question by the inclusion of East Jerusalem in its jurisdiction.
Most countries maintain their embassies to Israel in Tel Aviv, withholding any recognition
of Jerusalem as the capital until a final status agreement can be reached.
In a controversial move in 2017, US President Donald Trump officially recognised Jerusalem
as the capital of Israel, with a new embassy being opened in May of 2018.
This was widely condemned by the majority, though not all, of the international community.
Oddly enough though, a bill was actually passed by Congress way back in 1995 stating that
Jerusalem “should” be recognised as the capital, but a waiver had been signed every
6 months postponing the implementation of the law by all presidents until now.
Taking a quick break from international capital cities, to briefly look at some sub-national
capitals.
All 50 of the US states have their own capital city, but they’re a bit odd sometimes.
For example, have you ever wondered why New York City is not the capital of New York State?
Or why Los Angeles isn’t the capital of California.
Surprisingly, in only 17 of the 50 states are the the largest city and the capital city
the same.
Only one of the top ten most populous cities in the US is actually a capital - Phoenix,
Arizona, in 5th place, which is also the only state capital to have a population of more
than 1 million.
But why is this?
Well, there isn’t one, single reason, and it varies by state.
Generally though, a central location is preferred, as many state capitals were established before
the prevalence of motor vehicles.
Also, capitals often were the most populous at the time of being declared, sometimes before
the now-most populous city was even founded in some cases.
A few random oddities of the US state capitals:
Olympia, the capital of Washington, is the 24th most populous city in the state
Montpelier, Vermont, is the least populous state capital with just 7,500 people
Juneau, Alaska, is the largest state capital by area at 2,717 square miles, which is larger
than the entire state of Delaware
Carson City, Nevada, and Richmond, Virginia, are the only two capital cities that are ‘independent
cities’, administered as their own entity.
In Virginia, by state law, all cities are independent cities.
And...
Honolulu, Hawaii is home to the only royal palace in the United States.
Of course, getting back to national capitals, the national capital of the USA isn’t part
of any of the 50 states, it’s its own federal district, Washington D.C.
Now, Washington has got to be the most famous example of the phenomenon of the purpose-built
capital.
A city founded for the sole purpose of being the seat of government and the capital of
the nation.
The idea for the new capital city was conceived back at the end of the 18th century.
Land was donated by the states of Virginia and Maryland along the Potomac River.
The district formed a perfect square of 10 miles on each side.
The district was named “Columbia”, which is feminine form of Columbus.
The capital city was founded within the federal district and 3 of the commissioners named
it “Washington”, after the president.
The district was split into two counties, Alexandria and Washington, the Virginia- and
Maryland-donated land, respectively.
In the 1840s however, due to economic decline and fear that slavery would be outlawed, citizens
of Alexandria country increasingly wanted to be part of Virginia again.
Citizens petitioned Virginia to accept back the 31 square miles, and in 1846, Congress
gave it to them, leaving just the Maryland-donated land.
In 1871, the city of Washington was merged with the other jurisdictions within the District
of Columbia into one entity and became known as what it is today, Washington D.C.
The plan of the city itself was mostly designed by a French-born architect, who partially
based his work on the designs of various European cities, including Paris.
Unsurprisingly, the original plan intended to demonstrate various principles of the country’s
government and the union of the states.
The city is divided into four unequal quadrants which intersect on the US Capitol building,
making the home of the national legislature the center of the city.
The overall grid system of the city is very orderly, with numbered streets running north-south
and lettered streets running east-west.
Purpose-built capital cities are actually surprisingly common.
Another country that has one too, is Australia.
Disagreements between the rival cities of Sydney and Melbourne, led to the creation
of a new city being made as the capital, Canberra, located geographically between the two.
It was built on territory ceded from New South Wales, but it was agreed that it would be
at least 100 miles away from Sydney.
Another good example of a planned capital city is in Brazil.
Rio de Janeiro was its capital half a century ago, but an 1891 article in the Brazilian
constitution stated that the capital should be closer to the centre of the country.
The city, which was named Brasilia, was built in 41 months, and officially became the capital
of Brazil in 1960.
Brasília was chosen as a UNESCO World Heritage Site for its modern architecture.
To end this video off, I’m going to look at some random fun facts about capital cities.
Bratislava, capital of Slovakia, is the only capital in the world whose city limits border
two other countries: Austria and Hungary
Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia is the only capital sited on a body of water that drains ultimately
to the Arctic Ocean
The closest capitals cities of any two UN members, are the capitals of the two Congos
- Brazzaville and Kinshasa, of the Republic of Congo, and the Democratic Republic of the
Congo.
The cities are separated only by the Congo River, which makes up a large part of the
international border between the two countries, and where both countries got their name.
San José is the capital of Costa Rica, but “San José” is actually the single most
commonly used place name in the world, with over 1700 different places called San José.
And finally, the full, ceremonial name of Thailand’s capital, Bangkok, is the longest
place name in the world with 168 letters, which roughly translates as “City of angels,
great city of immortals, magnificent city of the nine gems, seat of the king, city of
royal palaces, home of gods incarnate, erected by Vishvakarman at Indra's behest.”
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