List of countries with multiple capitals

Countries with multiple capitals

Some countries have multiple capitals; often one city is the seat of government while the other is the legal capital.

More than one capital at present

Country	Capitals	Details
Benin	Porto-Novo	Official capital
	Cotonou	De facto seat of government
Bolivia	Sucre	Official (constitutional) capital; seat of national judiciary
	La Paz	Seat of national administrative & legislative bodies
Chile	Santiago	Official capital; seat of national administrative and judicial bodies
	Valparaíso	Seat of national legislature
Côte d'Ivoire	Yamoussoukro	Official capital
	Abidjan	De facto seat of government
Malaysia
	Kuala Lumpur	Official capital; seat of national legislature
	Putrajaya	Administrative centre and seat of national judiciary
South Africa	Pretoria	Administrative capital
	Cape Town	Legislative capital
	Bloemfontein	Judicial capital
Sri Lanka
	Sri Jayawardenapura	Administrative capital
	Colombo	Commercial capital
Swaziland	Mbabane	Administrative capital
	Lobamba	Legislative and royal capital
Tanzania	Dodoma	Official capital
	Dar es Salaam	De facto seat of government
Western Sahara (SADR)	El Aaiún	Declared capital
	Bir Lehlou	Temporary capital

Some Kyoto natives also argue that Tokyo and Kyoto are both capitals of Japan at present; see Capital of Japan.

Israel designates Jerusalem as its capital, and seats its government in that city. However, until Jerusalem's political status reaches a final settlement, most countries, as well as the United Nations, recognize nearby Tel Aviv. Tel Aviv served as the temporary de facto capital of Israel from May to December 1948. The Palestinian National Authority also claims Jerusalem as the capital for their future Palestinian state; but currently the de facto seat of the internationally-recognized Palestinian government is in Ramallah, while the seat of the Hamas-led government is in Gaza City.

In Germany, the highest judiciary organs (Bundesgerichtshof and Bundesverfassungsgericht) are located in Karlsruhe, whereas the nation's political capital is Berlin. Some ministries are still mainly located in Bonn, the former West German capital, which is still called "federal city" (Bundesstadt).

In the Netherlands, the country capital is Amsterdam and the seat of government is The Hague.

The Honduran constitution statutes that Tegucigalpa and Comayagüela are the both capitals in this country. However, all the branches of government are in Tegucigalpa. Comayaguela currently is part of Tegucigalpa Metropolitan Area.

In Peru, the Cusco city was declared by the Peruvian Constitution as "Historical Capital" (in Spanish Capital Histórica), a statement merely symbolic, because the national government continues to reside in Lima.

Republika Srpska, a sub-national entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina, has a constitutional capital of Sarajevo, the same as the capital of the country, by the Dayton Accords; but in fact their government is located in Banja Luka.

Although not considered a country, the European Union has three administrative centres: Brussels (executive and part legislative), Luxembourg (judiciary) and Strasbourg (Parliament).

Cetinje is a historical, the traditional and the secondary capital of Montenegro. The city's status is specifically recognized by the constitution. While the official residence of the President of Montenegro is located in the city, the rest of the government is in Podgorica.

During the Libyan civil war, The NTC and the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya both claimed Tripoli as their capital. Until the Battle of Tripoli, Benghazi was the de facto capital of the NTC, while Tripoli was the official. The Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, until August 2011, had Tripoli as their official capital. After the fall of the Gaddafi government, Tripoli had been claimed as the NTC's capital. The Jamahiriya then changed capitals, with Sirte being the de facto capital, while Tripoli being their "future" capital. After the Death of Muammar Gaddafi in October 2011, the NTC had gained full control of the country.

More than one capital in the past

Main article: List of historical national capitals

Many nations that have maintained only one capital at any given time have, nevertheless, over time, conferred capital status on more than one city.

These current countries have had two cities that served as administrative capitals at the same time due to various reasons such as war or partition.

Country	Years	Capitals	Details
France	1940–1944	Paris	Occupied France (German-occupied northern France)
		Vichy	French State
China	1937-1945	Nanjing	Capital of puppet state
		Chongqing	Provisional capital of the Kuomintang
Germany	1990–1999	Berlin	Legislative capital
		Bonn	Seat of administration
India	1912–1947	Delhi	Winter capital
		Simla	Summer capital
Libya	1951–1969	Tripoli	One of two official capitals of Kingdom
		Benghazi	One of two official capitals of Kingdom
Philippines	1948–1976	Quezon City	Official capital
		Manila	De facto seat of government
Serbia and Montenegro	2003–2006	Belgrade	Administrative & legislative
		Podgorica	Judicial

See also

• List of historical capitals of China
• List of national capitals
• List of historical national capitals
• List of purpose-built capital cities
• List of countries whose capital is not their largest city
• List of capitals and largest cities by country
• List of second cities
• Primate (bishop); the primate bishop's seat is the ecclesiastical capital, which may have civil significance for the state religion