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A capital district, capital region, or capital territory is normally a specially designated administrative division where a country's seat of government is located. As such, in a federal model of government, no state or territory has any political or economic advantage relative to the others because of the national capital lying within its borders. A capital territory can be a specific form of federal district.
A distinction should be made between administrative divisions which include national capitals, but have no special designated status legally (for example, Île de France has no distinct quality from other regions of France). Some federal countries (like Belgium and Germany), give their national capitals the status of full, equal federal units.
A few federal countries have their national capitals located in the capital city of a constituent state: Sarajevo, the capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina, is also the capital of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, one of federal units and de jure capital of Republika Srpska, the other federal unit; further, Bern, the capital of Switzerland, is the capital of the Canton of Bern.
Unusually, Canada is the only federation in the world not to accord a special administrative subdivision to its capital (c.f. District of Columbia (United States), Federal District (Brazil), Federal Capital Territory (Nigeria), National Capital Territory (India), Australian Capital Territory (Australia)); Ottawa is merely another municipality in the Province of Ontario. The Canadian government does designate the Ottawa area as the National Capital Region, although this term merely represents the jurisdictional area of the government agency that administers federally owned lands and buildings and is not an actual political unit. The City of Ottawa is governed as any other city in Ontario would be. The capital Berlin is one of three cities that operate as States of Germany.
In some non-federal countries there are capital cities that do not belong to any region, but have a special status, for example Oslo in Norway. In some countries, the region including the capital does not have special significance but has names hinting at that. For example, the Capital Region of Denmark is the name of a normal national region.
The following have a special administrative district or territory for their capital cities:
Terminology
| Class name | Term for capital | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Capital area | Yes | Seoul Capital Area |
| Capital District | Yes | Capital District (Colombia), Capital District (Venezuela), Niamey Capital District |
| Capital Region | Yes | Capital Region of Denmark |
| Capital Territory | Yes | Australian Capital Territory, Islamabad Capital Territory |
| Federal capital territory | Yes | Federal Capital Territory (Nigeria) |
| Federal district | No | Federal District (Brazil), Federal District (Mexico) |
| National Capital District | Yes | National Capital District (Papua New Guinea) |
| National capital region | Yes | National Capital Region (Canada), National Capital Region (India), National Capital Region (Japan), National Capital Region (Philippines) |
| National capital territory | Yes | National Capital Territory (India) |
| Neutral municipality | No | Neutral Municipality (Brazil) |
Argentina
The Buenos Aires city, previously in the Federal District of Argentina. In 1996, under the 1994 reform of the Argentine Constitution, the city gained autonomous city status, changed its formal name to Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, and held its first mayoral elections. Buenos Aires is represented in the Argentine Senate by three senators and in the Argentine Chamber of Deputies by 25 national deputies.
Australia
The Australian Capital Territory is one of two self-governing internal territories of the Commonwealth of Australia, the other being the Northern Territory. Created in 1911, the ACT was originally called the Federal Capital Territory, the current name being acquired in 1938. The ACT was constituted specifically to house the seat of government, the goal being to avoid situating the new nation's capital Canberra in either New South Wales or Victoria, the two most populous states. The ACT is an enclave of New South Wales.
Although the ACT has its own Chief Minister and its own legislature (the Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly), the Federal Parliament retains the right to overrule ACT legislation. While governing the entire ACT, the Legislative Assembly acts as a municipal/state government.
At a federal level, the ACT and the NT both elect two Senators, with the ACT electing 3 members of the House of Representatives and the NT two. The terms of the territory senators are tied to the term of the House of Representatives, not to the term of the Senate. This means that if there is an election for the Senate only (as last happened in 1970), this would involve only half the state senators, and the territory senators' terms would continue. Conversely, if there is an election for the House of Representatives only (as last happened in 1972), this would also involve the territory senators but not the state senators.
Brazil
Brasília, the capital of Brazil, is set within the Federal District. Its territory includes several other cities, officially called administrative regions, since the Federal District cannot be divided into municipalities in the same manner as the states of Brazil.
The Federal District is a special unit of the federation, as it is not organized in the same manner as a municipality, does not possess the same autonomy as a state (but is ranked among them) and is closely related to the central power.
The District Governor is elected directly for a 4-year term. Local laws are issued by a legislative chamber also elected by the local population. Judiciary affairs are carried out by the Union, instead of being appointed by the governor as in the other states of Brazil. The Federal District has the status of a federal state in many aspects. It has representatives both in the Chamber of Deputies (lower house of congress) and in the Federal Senate (upper house of congress).
The Brazilian federal government was transferred to the current Federal District, separate from the state of Goiás and the border with the state of Minas Gerais on April 21, 1960, when the planned city of Brasília was inaugurated. Before the transfer, the Brazilian capital was the city of Rio de Janeiro. After the transfer, the territory where the former Federal District was located became the state of Guanabara, where the city of Rio de Janeiro was included, this state that existed from 1960 to 1975, when the state of Guanabara was merged with the state of Rio de Janeiro.
Colombia
In Colombia the Capital District, containing the city of Bogotá was created as a special district in 1955 by Gustavo Rojas Pinilla. The district is made up of 20 localities.
Dominican Republic
In Dominican Republic the National District, containing the city of Santo Domingo de Guzman was created as a special district in 1922.
India
The National Capital Territory is a special union territory of India. The territory encompasses three statutory towns: New Delhi (the capital of India), Delhi and Delhi Cantonment, along with 59 census towns and 165 villages. The NCT was set up as a federally administered Union Territory on 11 November 1956. In December 1991, the NCT was given a legislative assembly headed by a Chief Minister. The territory is not classified as a true union territory, though the central government does have limited control over the functioning of the territory much like other union territories. The NCT is unique in India in that the municipal control is handled by a locally elected government, and major areas such as the police, and administration are handled by the central government.
Indonesia
In Indonesia, the national capital Jakarta is within the Daerah Khusus Jakarta (Special Region of Jakarta). Jakarta is considered one of Indonesia's provinces, therefore Jakarta is headed by a governor and not a mayor. However, Jakarta is divided into 5 smaller "administrative cities" (kota administrasi) and one "administrative regency" (kabupaten administrasi). The administrative cities are Central, North, East, West, and South Jakarta. The Kepulauan Seribu (Thousand Islands) administrative regency is also included in the formal definition of Jakarta. All of these sub-units have their own degree of autonomy. Mayors of the five administrative cities and the regent of Kepulauan Seribu administration-regency are not elected, but directly appointed by the Governor and members of the Provincial Parliament of Jakarta. Furthermore, these sub-units do not have local parliament as opposed to other cities or regencies in Indonesia.
Iraq
Baghdad, the capital of Iraq, is contained within a special capital district.
Malaysia
As per Article 154 of the Federal Constitution, the national capital of Malaysia was set in Kuala Lumpur, then part of the state of Selangor. In Malaysia, the national capital of Kuala Lumpur lies within the Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur (since 1974) while the federal government administrative centre of Putrajaya, 40 km (25 mi) to the south of Kuala Lumpur, lies within the Federal Territory of Putrajaya (since 2001). Both federal territories are enclaves within the state of Selangor.
Mali
Bamako, the capital of Mali, is contained within the Bamako Capital District.
Mexico
The Federal District was, since 1824, a federal territory that served as the seat of the capital of Mexico, Mexico City, which was directly administered, until 1997, by the federal government via a presidential-appointed head of government. The Federal District encompassed the historical municipality of Mexico City (abolished in 1928) and other territories in its surroundings. The lack of proper legislation often led to ambiguity regarding to what was under the jurisdiction of Mexico City and what fell under the Federal District. Hence, in 1993, an amendment to article 44 of the federal constitution defined that both names referred to the same entity. On July 6, 1997, the head of government was elected by popular vote for the first time.
On 29 January 2016, the Federal District ceased to exist and its territory, under the name of Mexico City, became the 32nd federal entity of the country. Mexico City has the same rights and obligations as any of the other 31 states, albeit it is not technically one.
Niger
Niger's capital, Niamey, comprises a capital district of Niger. It is surrounded by the Tillabéri Department.
Nigeria
Nigeria's capital Abuja is located in the Federal Capital Territory. The Territory was established in 1976, and the capital was formally moved from Lagos (the historic capital) in 1991.
In addition, Awka, the capital of Anambra State, within Nigeria, is part of Awka Capital Territory. While this is mainly a geographical name for the metropolitan area, a state government body, Awka Capital Territory Development Authority, has been significant in terms of urban planning.
North Korea
North Korea's capital city, Pyongyang, while traditionally located within South Pyongan Province, is currently seen as a "directly governed city" (chikalshi 직할시). For a time, Pyongyang was considered a "special city" (t'ŭkpyŏlshi 특별시), to make it equivalent to its South Korean counterpart, Seoul.
Norway
Oslo acts as a consolidated city-county, and is separate from the other counties of Norway. All counties are co-governed by a county council and representatives from the national government.
Pakistan
The capital of Pakistan, Islamabad, is a planned city within the Islamabad Capital Territory, which was created in 1960 out of the Punjab Province. The Territory elects representatives to both houses of the legislature. Before Islamabad was made the capital, Karachi was located in the Federal Capital Territory, which later reverted to the Sindh Province.
Papua New Guinea
Port Moresby, the capital of Papua New Guinea has been contained within the National Capital District of Papua New Guinea since the country achieved independence in 1975.
Peru
Lima, the nation's capital, is contained entirely within Lima Province, the only province in the country not belonging to any of the twenty-five regions. It is surrounded by the Lima Region on all sides but west.
Philippines
The National Capital Region of the Philippines is Metro Manila, the country's seat of government containing Manila, the country's capital. Created in 1975 out of four cities and twelve municipalities of the province of Rizal and one municipality of the province of Bulacan, the region is administered by seventeen separately elected mayors and their councils which are coordinated by the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority, a national government agency headed by a chairperson directly appointed by the Philippine President. Quezon City, the country's former capital from 1948 to 1976, is also located within this region.
Solomon Islands
In 1983, the government of Solomon Islands gave the designation of Capital Territory to a 22 square-kilometre area around the city of Honiara. Afterwards, the Capital Territory was a separate self-governing entity, similar in status to the Provinces of Solomon Islands, although Honiara remained the capital of Guadalcanal Province.
South Korea
South Korea's capital city, Seoul, while traditionally located within Gyeonggi Province, is currently seen as a "special city" (Teukbyeolsi/T'ŭkpyŏlshi 특별시). Seoul's mayor is seen as the equivalent of any provincial governor.
Sweden
Since 1968, Stockholm has been a consolidated city-county.
Historically, until 1967, Stockholm did not belong to any county of Sweden, including Stockholm County. Instead, there was a Governor that had the normal responsibilities of the County Administrative Boards and its managers, the governors. This did not mean there was a large practical difference. There were no County Council (which is elected by the people and is responsible for example for health care); instead, Stockholm city handled such tasks.
Taiwan (Republic of China)
Taipei, the capital of the Republic of China (colloquially known as Taiwan), is a special municipality (Chinese: 直轄市; pinyin: zhíxiáshì).
United States
As provided by Article 1, Section 8 of the United States Constitution, the seat of the United States government is a federal district known as the District of Columbia. When created in 1790, the District comprised 100 square miles (260 km2) of land donated by the states of Maryland and Virginia. Columbia was a poetic name for the United States used at the time.
The City of Washington was built in the center of the District, but other towns were also located in the territory such as Georgetown and Alexandria. The United States Congress returned the Virginia portion of the District back to that state in 1846. The District of Columbia Organic Act of 1871 revoked the charters of the individual cities of Washington and Georgetown and instead created a single government for the whole District of Columbia. The City of Washington no longer exists; however, the name continues in use and the District is often referred to as just Washington, D.C. Georgetown now exists as a historic district within the District of Columbia.
Since the Home Rule Act of 1973, the District of Columbia has been run by an elected mayor and district council. Congress retains ultimate authority over the District and has the right to review the local budget and taxes, overturn laws passed by the district council, and terminate home rule. District residents pay federal taxes and are represented by a single, non-voting member in the United States House of Representatives.
Because of the Twenty-third Amendment to the United States Constitution, the people of the District of Columbia are allowed to vote for President of the United States. The District is allotted three electoral votes, equal to that of the least populous state.
Venezuela
The Capital District has the capital of Venezuela, Caracas.
See also
- Capital region
- Direct-controlled municipality
- Federal district
- Federal territory
References
- "Title VI: Reservation of Congressional Authority". District of Columbia Home Rule Act. Retrieved 3 March 2012.
This article needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources Capital districts and territories news newspapers books scholar JSTOR November 2024 Learn how and when to remove this message A capital district capital region or capital territory is normally a specially designated administrative division where a country s seat of government is located As such in a federal model of government no state or territory has any political or economic advantage relative to the others because of the national capital lying within its borders A capital territory can be a specific form of federal district A distinction should be made between administrative divisions which include national capitals but have no special designated status legally for example Ile de France has no distinct quality from other regions of France Some federal countries like Belgium and Germany give their national capitals the status of full equal federal units A few federal countries have their national capitals located in the capital city of a constituent state Sarajevo the capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina is also the capital of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina one of federal units and de jure capital of Republika Srpska the other federal unit further Bern the capital of Switzerland is the capital of the Canton of Bern Unusually Canada is the only federation in the world not to accord a special administrative subdivision to its capital c f District of Columbia United States Federal District Brazil Federal Capital Territory Nigeria National Capital Territory India Australian Capital Territory Australia Ottawa is merely another municipality in the Province of Ontario The Canadian government does designate the Ottawa area as the National Capital Region although this term merely represents the jurisdictional area of the government agency that administers federally owned lands and buildings and is not an actual political unit The City of Ottawa is governed as any other city in Ontario would be The capital Berlin is one of three cities that operate as States of Germany In some non federal countries there are capital cities that do not belong to any region but have a special status for example Oslo in Norway In some countries the region including the capital does not have special significance but has names hinting at that For example the Capital Region of Denmark is the name of a normal national region The following have a special administrative district or territory for their capital cities TerminologyClass name Term for capital ExampleCapital area Yes Seoul Capital AreaCapital District Yes Capital District Colombia Capital District Venezuela Niamey Capital DistrictCapital Region Yes Capital Region of DenmarkCapital Territory Yes Australian Capital Territory Islamabad Capital TerritoryFederal capital territory Yes Federal Capital Territory Nigeria Federal district No Federal District Brazil Federal District Mexico National Capital District Yes National Capital District Papua New Guinea National capital region Yes National Capital Region Canada National Capital Region India National Capital Region Japan National Capital Region Philippines National capital territory Yes National Capital Territory India Neutral municipality No Neutral Municipality Brazil ArgentinaThe Buenos Aires city previously in the Federal District of Argentina In 1996 under the 1994 reform of the Argentine Constitution the city gained autonomous city status changed its formal name to Autonomous City of Buenos Aires and held its first mayoral elections Buenos Aires is represented in the Argentine Senate by three senators and in the Argentine Chamber of Deputies by 25 national deputies AustraliaThe Australian Capital Territory is one of two self governing internal territories of the Commonwealth of Australia the other being the Northern Territory Created in 1911 the ACT was originally called the Federal Capital Territory the current name being acquired in 1938 The ACT was constituted specifically to house the seat of government the goal being to avoid situating the new nation s capital Canberra in either New South Wales or Victoria the two most populous states The ACT is an enclave of New South Wales Although the ACT has its own Chief Minister and its own legislature the Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly the Federal Parliament retains the right to overrule ACT legislation While governing the entire ACT the Legislative Assembly acts as a municipal state government At a federal level the ACT and the NT both elect two Senators with the ACT electing 3 members of the House of Representatives and the NT two The terms of the territory senators are tied to the term of the House of Representatives not to the term of the Senate This means that if there is an election for the Senate only as last happened in 1970 this would involve only half the state senators and the territory senators terms would continue Conversely if there is an election for the House of Representatives only as last happened in 1972 this would also involve the territory senators but not the state senators BrazilBrasilia the capital of Brazil is set within the Federal District Its territory includes several other cities officially called administrative regions since the Federal District cannot be divided into municipalities in the same manner as the states of Brazil The Federal District is a special unit of the federation as it is not organized in the same manner as a municipality does not possess the same autonomy as a state but is ranked among them and is closely related to the central power The District Governor is elected directly for a 4 year term Local laws are issued by a legislative chamber also elected by the local population Judiciary affairs are carried out by the Union instead of being appointed by the governor as in the other states of Brazil The Federal District has the status of a federal state in many aspects It has representatives both in the Chamber of Deputies lower house of congress and in the Federal Senate upper house of congress The Brazilian federal government was transferred to the current Federal District separate from the state of Goias and the border with the state of Minas Gerais on April 21 1960 when the planned city of Brasilia was inaugurated Before the transfer the Brazilian capital was the city of Rio de Janeiro After the transfer the territory where the former Federal District was located became the state of Guanabara where the city of Rio de Janeiro was included this state that existed from 1960 to 1975 when the state of Guanabara was merged with the state of Rio de Janeiro ColombiaIn Colombia the Capital District containing the city of Bogota was created as a special district in 1955 by Gustavo Rojas Pinilla The district is made up of 20 localities Dominican RepublicIn Dominican Republic the National District containing the city of Santo Domingo de Guzman was created as a special district in 1922 IndiaThe National Capital Territory is a special union territory of India The territory encompasses three statutory towns New Delhi the capital of India Delhi and Delhi Cantonment along with 59 census towns and 165 villages The NCT was set up as a federally administered Union Territory on 11 November 1956 In December 1991 the NCT was given a legislative assembly headed by a Chief Minister The territory is not classified as a true union territory though the central government does have limited control over the functioning of the territory much like other union territories The NCT is unique in India in that the municipal control is handled by a locally elected government and major areas such as the police and administration are handled by the central government IndonesiaIn Indonesia the national capital Jakarta is within the Daerah Khusus Jakarta Special Region of Jakarta Jakarta is considered one of Indonesia s provinces therefore Jakarta is headed by a governor and not a mayor However Jakarta is divided into 5 smaller administrative cities kota administrasi and one administrative regency kabupaten administrasi The administrative cities are Central North East West and South Jakarta The Kepulauan Seribu Thousand Islands administrative regency is also included in the formal definition of Jakarta All of these sub units have their own degree of autonomy Mayors of the five administrative cities and the regent of Kepulauan Seribu administration regency are not elected but directly appointed by the Governor and members of the Provincial Parliament of Jakarta Furthermore these sub units do not have local parliament as opposed to other cities or regencies in Indonesia IraqBaghdad the capital of Iraq is contained within a special capital district MalaysiaAs per Article 154 of the Federal Constitution the national capital of Malaysia was set in Kuala Lumpur then part of the state of Selangor In Malaysia the national capital of Kuala Lumpur lies within the Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur since 1974 while the federal government administrative centre of Putrajaya 40 km 25 mi to the south of Kuala Lumpur lies within the Federal Territory of Putrajaya since 2001 Both federal territories are enclaves within the state of Selangor MaliBamako the capital of Mali is contained within the Bamako Capital District MexicoThe Federal District was since 1824 a federal territory that served as the seat of the capital of Mexico Mexico City which was directly administered until 1997 by the federal government via a presidential appointed head of government The Federal District encompassed the historical municipality of Mexico City abolished in 1928 and other territories in its surroundings The lack of proper legislation often led to ambiguity regarding to what was under the jurisdiction of Mexico City and what fell under the Federal District Hence in 1993 an amendment to article 44 of the federal constitution defined that both names referred to the same entity On July 6 1997 the head of government was elected by popular vote for the first time On 29 January 2016 the Federal District ceased to exist and its territory under the name of Mexico City became the 32nd federal entity of the country Mexico City has the same rights and obligations as any of the other 31 states albeit it is not technically one NigerNiger s capital Niamey comprises a capital district of Niger It is surrounded by the Tillaberi Department NigeriaNigeria s capital Abuja is located in the Federal Capital Territory The Territory was established in 1976 and the capital was formally moved from Lagos the historic capital in 1991 In addition Awka the capital of Anambra State within Nigeria is part of Awka Capital Territory While this is mainly a geographical name for the metropolitan area a state government body Awka Capital Territory Development Authority has been significant in terms of urban planning North KoreaNorth Korea s capital city Pyongyang while traditionally located within South Pyongan Province is currently seen as a directly governed city chikalshi 직할시 For a time Pyongyang was considered a special city t ŭkpyŏlshi 특별시 to make it equivalent to its South Korean counterpart Seoul NorwayOslo acts as a consolidated city county and is separate from the other counties of Norway All counties are co governed by a county council and representatives from the national government PakistanThe capital of Pakistan Islamabad is a planned city within the Islamabad Capital Territory which was created in 1960 out of the Punjab Province The Territory elects representatives to both houses of the legislature Before Islamabad was made the capital Karachi was located in the Federal Capital Territory which later reverted to the Sindh Province Papua New GuineaPort Moresby the capital of Papua New Guinea has been contained within the National Capital District of Papua New Guinea since the country achieved independence in 1975 PeruLima the nation s capital is contained entirely within Lima Province the only province in the country not belonging to any of the twenty five regions It is surrounded by the Lima Region on all sides but west PhilippinesThe National Capital Region of the Philippines is Metro Manila the country s seat of government containing Manila the country s capital Created in 1975 out of four cities and twelve municipalities of the province of Rizal and one municipality of the province of Bulacan the region is administered by seventeen separately elected mayors and their councils which are coordinated by the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority a national government agency headed by a chairperson directly appointed by the Philippine President Quezon City the country s former capital from 1948 to 1976 is also located within this region Solomon IslandsIn 1983 the government of Solomon Islands gave the designation of Capital Territory to a 22 square kilometre area around the city of Honiara Afterwards the Capital Territory was a separate self governing entity similar in status to the Provinces of Solomon Islands although Honiara remained the capital of Guadalcanal Province South KoreaSouth Korea s capital city Seoul while traditionally located within Gyeonggi Province is currently seen as a special city Teukbyeolsi T ŭkpyŏlshi 특별시 Seoul s mayor is seen as the equivalent of any provincial governor SwedenSince 1968 Stockholm has been a consolidated city county Historically until 1967 Stockholm did not belong to any county of Sweden including Stockholm County Instead there was a Governor that had the normal responsibilities of the County Administrative Boards and its managers the governors This did not mean there was a large practical difference There were no County Council which is elected by the people and is responsible for example for health care instead Stockholm city handled such tasks Taiwan Republic of China Taipei the capital of the Republic of China colloquially known as Taiwan is a special municipality Chinese 直轄市 pinyin zhixiashi United StatesAs provided by Article 1 Section 8 of the United States Constitution the seat of the United States government is a federal district known as the District of Columbia When created in 1790 the District comprised 100 square miles 260 km2 of land donated by the states of Maryland and Virginia Columbia was a poetic name for the United States used at the time The City of Washington was built in the center of the District but other towns were also located in the territory such as Georgetown and Alexandria The United States Congress returned the Virginia portion of the District back to that state in 1846 The District of Columbia Organic Act of 1871 revoked the charters of the individual cities of Washington and Georgetown and instead created a single government for the whole District of Columbia The City of Washington no longer exists however the name continues in use and the District is often referred to as just Washington D C Georgetown now exists as a historic district within the District of Columbia Since the Home Rule Act of 1973 the District of Columbia has been run by an elected mayor and district council Congress retains ultimate authority over the District and has the right to review the local budget and taxes overturn laws passed by the district council and terminate home rule District residents pay federal taxes and are represented by a single non voting member in the United States House of Representatives Because of the Twenty third Amendment to the United States Constitution the people of the District of Columbia are allowed to vote for President of the United States The District is allotted three electoral votes equal to that of the least populous state VenezuelaThe Capital District has the capital of Venezuela Caracas See alsoCapital region Direct controlled municipality Federal district Federal territoryReferences Title VI Reservation of Congressional Authority District of Columbia Home Rule Act Retrieved 3 March 2012
