List of countries whose capital is not their largest city

Australia

Canberra

426,704

Sydney

5,312,163

12.6

A planned city, Canberra has been Australia's capital city since its foundation in 1913. However, the national parliament was based in Melbourne, Victoria until 1927.

Belgium

Brussels

188,737

Antwerp

536,079

2.84

Considering Brussels metropolitan area has more inhabitants, Antwerp is the largest in city inhabitants.

Belize

Belmopan

20,621

Belize City

61,762

3.07

Belize City was the capital until 1970.

Benin

Porto-Novo

264,320

Cotonou

761,100

3.4

Cotonou is the de facto capital with seat of government. Both cities are part of the same metropolitan area.

Bolivia

Sucre

259,388

Santa Cruzde la Sierra

1,453,549

7.1

La Paz is the de facto capital with the seat of government; it is in Bolivia's second most populous metropolitan area.

Brazil

Brasília

3,500,000

São Paulo

12,252,023

4.25

Brasília is a planned city and has been the capital city since its inauguration in 1960. Rio de Janeiro was the capital from 1763 until 1960. Brasília is the third most populous city in Brazil and the seventh largest metropolitan area.

Burundi

Gitega

41,944

Bujumbura

1,092,859

26.06

Bujumbura was the capital until 2019.

Cameroon

Yaoundé

1,430,000

Douala

2,000,000 +

1.4

Yaoundé is the second largest city in Cameroon.

Canada

Ottawa

1,017,449

Toronto

2,794,356

3.08

Toronto was the capital of the Province of Canada from 1849 to 1852 and 1856 to 1858. For some years before, Kingston was the de facto capital, but when it came time to form the United Province of Canada in 1841 an official capital needed to be designated. There was much controversy until Queen Victoria made her ruling (supported by a vote with a majority of 3) that it should be Ottawa.[clarification needed]

China

Beijing

22,000,000

Shanghai (urban metropolitan area)

30,484,300

1.39

With a population of more than 19 million, Beijing is the second largest city in China, after Shanghai. However, the size of Chonqging Municipality is about that of the sovereign country of Austria. University of Washington professor Kam Wing Chan argued that Chongqing's status is more akin to that of a province rather than a city.

Chongqing (city boundaries)

32,054,159

1.46

Ecuador

Quito

1,763,275

Guayaquil

2,650,288

1.5

Gambia

Banjul

31,301

Serrekunda

337,000

2.18

India

New Delhi

249,998

Mumbai

12,442,373

49.77

In 1912, the capital was moved from Calcutta (now Kolkata) to New Delhi. The neighbouring city of Delhi had previously served as the capital of the Mughal Empire.

Israel

Jerusalem (limited recognition)

363,095(excludingEast Jerusalem)

Tel Aviv

460,613

1.2

Jerusalem has only limited recognition as the capital of Israel. It would be Israel's largest city if East Jerusalem was included (increasing the population to 936,425). However, Israel's occupation of East Jerusalem is not internationally recognized. Without East Jerusalem, Tel Aviv is Israel's largest city.

Ivory Coast

Yamoussoukro

200,659

Abidjan

4,348,000

21.7

Abidjan was the capital until 1983.

Kazakhstan

Astana

743,014

Almaty

1,450,095

1.95

Almaty was the capital from 1927 to 1997. Astana was named Nur-Sultan from 2019 until 2022.

Liechtenstein

Vaduz

5,109

Schaan

6,039

1.14

Vaduz is the second largest city in Liechtenstein. Both cities are part of the same metropolitan area.

Federated States of Micronesia

Palikir

5,000

Weno

13,000

1.4

Palikir is the second largest city of Micronesia.

Malta

Valletta

5,827

St. Paul's Bay

29,097

6.62

Valletta is part of the Central Region, a conurbation with a population of 111,994.

Morocco

Rabat

627,000

Casablanca

4,150,000

6.62

Rabat is the seventh largest city in Morocco.

Myanmar

Naypyidaw

925,000

Yangon

4,346,000

4.7

Yangon was the capital until 2006. Naypyidaw is a planned city and does not have contiguous urban areas or a proper metro area.

New Zealand

Wellington

209,800

Auckland

1,547,200

7.37

Auckland was the capital from 1841 to 1865.

Nigeria

Abuja

778,567

Lagos

7,937,932

10.2

Lagos was the capital until 1991.

Pakistan

Islamabad

1,014,825

Karachi

14,910,352

14.69

Karachi was the capital from 1947 to 1958.

Palau

Ngerulmud

0

Koror

11,200

-

Koror was the capital until 2006.

Palestine

Jerusalem (limited recognition)

573,330 (East Jerusalem)

Gaza City

590,481

13.0

Jerusalem is claimed as the capital of the State of Palestine although East Jerusalem is still under Israeli occupation since 1967. Gaza City is the country's largest city prior to evacuations in 2023.

Ramallah (administrative centre)

104,173

Philippines

Manila

1,780,148

Quezon City

2,936,116

1.67

Quezon City, a northeastern suburb of Manila, was planned as the post-colonial capital of the Philippines and officially declared the capital after independence from 1948. In 1976, both cities were made part of the Metropolitan Manila region. It had overtaken Manila as the largest city proper of the Philippines by the 1990 census.

San Marino

San Marino

4,211

Serravalle

10,601

2.52

South Africa

Pretoria

2,345,908

Johannesburg

5,635,000

1.66

Cape Town (pop. 4.8 million) and Bloemfontein (metro pop. 747,431) serve as legislative and judicial capitals respectively.

Switzerland

Bern

138,041

Zürich

397,698

2.88

Switzerland does not have a de jure capital, but Bern was designated "federal city" with the seat of the two parliament chambers in 1848, when for the first time the independent Swiss states established standing federal authorities. Important federal authorities are also located in Lausanne (most notably: the Federal Supreme Court), Zürich, Lucerne, Bellinzona and St. Gallen.

Taiwan

Taipei

2,668,572

New Taipei

4,004,367

1.5

Despite having no formal designation to the national capital of the ROC by law, Taipei has been the seat of the ROC central government since 1949.

Tanzania

Dodoma

324,347

Dar es Salaam

2,497,940

7.70

Dar es Salaam was the capital until 1974.

Trinidad and Tobago

Port of Spain

49,000

Chaguanas

67,400

1.37

Both cities are part of the same metropolitan area.

Turkey

Ankara

5,150,072

Istanbul

14,377,018

3.4

Istanbul (as Constantinople) was the capital of the Ottoman Empire from 1453 to 1922.

United Arab Emirates

Abu Dhabi

896,751

Dubai

2,262,000

2.52

Abu Dhabi is the second largest city in the United Arab Emirates.

United States

Washington, D.C.

705,749

New York City

8,398,748

12.72

New York was the capital from 1785 to 1790 and the largest city in 1790 (narrowly edging out the next capital, Philadelphia, which served as capital from 1790 to 1800). Philadelphia was the nation's second-largest city when it was the capital. Washington, D.C. is the 22nd-largest city in the United States, but the Washington metropolitan area is the seventh-largest and Washington–Baltimore combined statistical area is the third-largest.

Vietnam

Hanoi

8,053,663

Ho Chi Minh City

8,993,082

1.1

Ho Chi Minh City, formerly Saigon, was the capital of South Vietnam prior to reunification.