Capital Cities

A capital city, or simply a capital, usually serves as the location of a government’s central meeting place, whether of a country, state, province, or county. The capital is the location of the government offices and where government leaders work. The status of a capital is often designated by law or constitution.

Aside from this, the capital city is often a country’s cultural, business, and population center, in addition to being historical centers of trade, communication, and transportation. A capital is rarely constructed to solely serve as the capital city. Brasilia in Brazil was built by the government purely to serve as a government city.

Some countries have more than one capital. In some of these cases, for example, the law or constitution designates one capital, but the second contains the parliament or government of the country. This is true in the Netherlands, where Amsterdam is the capital city according to the Constitution, but The Hague is home to the parliament and Dutch government. South Africa has three capitals: Cape Town, Bloemfontein, and Pretoria. The legislative branch of the government is in Cape Town, the judicial branch is in Bloemfontein, and the executive branch is in Pretoria.

The capital of the United States is Washington, D.C. Washington D.C. was founded after the American Revolution as the seat of the new American government. Washington D.C. was named after George Washington, the first president of the United States. Washington is not only the political capital of the United States but is also an important world political capital. This is because Washington is home to several important international organizations, such as the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. Additionally, Washington D.C. is where the North Atlantic Treaty was signed, which established NATO.

Other capitals of the world include New York City, Jerusalem, London, and Rome.