List of capitals outside the territories they serve

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Current

• Aberdeen, United Kingdom - Aberdeen was the historic county seat of Aberdeenshire but now forms a separate local authority. Aberdeenshire Council's headquarters remain within the city of Aberdeen - the only local authority in Scotland to have its council sit in another local authority area.
• Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan - capital of Chuy Province which surrounds the city, though the city itself is not part of the province but rather a province-level unit of Kyrgyzstan
• Bogotá, Colombia - capital of the surrounding Cundinamarca Department, while constituting its own capital district.
• Brussels, Belgium - capital of the Flemish Region, itself lies within the Brussels-Capital Region. The Flemish Region shares its parliament, government and administration with the Flemish Community, which has co-jurisdiction in Brussels.
• Bucharest, Romania - location of many of the institutions of Ilfov County, itself a municipality with special status
• Budapest, Hungary - capital of Pest county, and also the Central Hungarian Region, itself having a county status, thus outside Pest county, but within the Central Hungarian Region.
• Central, Hong Kong - the area where the district council and district office of the Islands District is located, itself within the Central and Western District.
• Chandigarh, India - shared capital of the states of Punjab and Haryana, itself a union territory
• Daegu, South Korea - capital of the province of North Gyeongsang, itself a metropolitan city
• Daejeon, South Korea - capital of the province of South Chungcheong, itself a metropolitan city
• Honiara, Solomon Islands - capital of Guadalcanal Province, while itself a separate capital territory.
• Kiev, Ukraine - administrative center of Kiev Oblast, itself a city with special status
• King Salmon, Alaska, United States, is the seat of government for the Lake and Peninsula Borough but lies in the Bristol Bay Borough
• Kingston upon Thames, United Kingdom - administrative headquarters of Surrey, England, itself within Greater London
• Metz, France - capital of the arrondissement of Metz-Campagne, itself an arrondissement on its own.
• Minsk, Belarus - administrative center of Minsk Voblast, itself a city with special status of capital
• Moscow, Russia - capital of the Moscow Oblast, itself a federal city
• Oslo, Norway - administration headquarters of Akershus county, itself a separate county
• Several provinces of the Philippines technically have their capitals outside their borders when the cities are classified as highly urbanized (independent); by law these cities are not included in any province, although most of the time these cities are tightly connected and were sometimes once part of the province that surrounds them. See cities of the Philippines for a more extensive explanation and the Virginia entry below for a comparison.
• Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea - capital of Central Province which surrounds city, but the city itself is in (and also the capital of) the National Capital District.
• Prague, Czech Republic - capital of Central Bohemian Region, Prague-West District and Prague-East District, itself an administrative unit on its own.
• Saint Petersburg, Russia - capital of the Leningrad Oblast, itself a federal city
• Saipan, Northern Mariana Islands - seat of the mayor office of the largely evacuated Northern Islands Municipality, Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, itself another municipality
• Sofia, Bulgaria - capital of the Sofia Province, itself an administrative unit (oblast) on its own.
• Strasbourg, France - capital of the arrondissement of Strasbourg-Campagne, itself an arrondissement on its own .
• Tashkent, Uzbekistan - capital of Tashkent Province, itself an independent city
• Virginia in the United States has unique laws regarding independent city status, where a city is not part of its surrounding county. Because of this, many county courthouses and county government offices are technically located outside of the county. These include Albemarle County, Alleghany County, Augusta County, Bedford County, Frederick County, Greensville County, Prince William County, Rockbridge County, and Rockingham County. The government offices for Roanoke County, James City County, and Henrico County are located within the borders of the county while the historic courthouses are located in the independent cities of Salem, Williamsburg, and Richmond, respectively. In Fairfax County, the courthouse is situated in an enclave within the city of Fairfax that is part of the county, while the government offices are outside of the city's borders.

Historical

• Busan, South Korea - capital of the province of South Gyeongsang, itself a metropolitan city(from 1963, when the city was separated from the province, to 1983, when it was replaced by Changwon)
• Canberra, Australia - seat of government of the Territory of Papua
• Canton, China - capital of the province of Kwangtung, Republic of China, itself a centrally-administered city
• Gwangju, South Korea - capital of the province of South Jeolla, itself a metropolitan city(from 1986, when the city was separated from the province , to 2005, when it was replaced by Namak)
• Mafikeng, South Africa - from where the former British protectorate of Bechuanaland, today Botswana, was administered. It is part of South Africa
• Marshall, Texas, United States was the capital of the exiled Confederate government of Missouri during the American Civil War.
• Mukden, China - capital of the province of Fengtien, Republic of China, itself a centrally-administered city
• Ottawa, Canada - location of the 2nd Council of the Northwest Territories from 1905 to 1951.
• Pasig, Philippines - former capital of Rizal and designated as a highly urbanized city. Pasig was made a part of Metro Manila in 1975, taking it outside the border of Rizal. Rizal has since moved its provincial government to Antipolo, within the border of Rizal but also designated a highly urbanized city.
• Seoul, South Korea - capital of the province of Gyeonggi, itself a metropolitan city (from 1946, when the city was separated from the province, to 1967, when it was replaced by Suwon)
• Sindian, China - capital of the province of Fukien, Republic of China from 1956 to 1992, itself located in Taiwan Province. (Before 1956 and after 1992, the capital is Chincheng)
• Stockholm, Sweden - capital of the Stockholm County, itself not a part of the county, administered by the Over-Governorship of Stockholm until 1967.
• Tønsberg, Norway - administration headquarters of Sem municipality, itself a separate municipality. In 1988 Sem was incorporated into Tønsberg.
• Vienna, Austria - capital of surrounding Lower Austria, itself a federal state of Austria (until 1986, when it was replaced by Sankt Pölten)
• Xian, China - capital of the province of Shensi, Republic of China, itself a centrally-administered city