The capital is always one of the most important cities in a country. Origin of the Latin word capitals, which means “relating to the head”, the capital is the “head of a territory”. It is there that the most important decisions of a country are taken and that will directly affect the entire population.
In addition to being the locus from which control is exercised over an entire territory, capitals also need to evoke a sense of unity – the entire population needs to feel that it is accessible. In pursuit of this, many countries change the location of their capitals. This is the case of Brasilia, for example. The city was built in a territory within Goiás, precisely the most centralized state in the Brazil, based on the idea that the new capital should be equally accessible to all regions of the country.
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Due to historical and governmental issues, some locations cannot reach a consensus and have more than one capital. Check out which countries
officially, have more than one capital, below:
Capitals: Cape Town, Pretoria and Bloemfotein
Before the creation of the Union of South Africa, in 1910, the territory that today corresponds to the African country was composed of four different territories: Cape Colony, Transvaal, KwaZulu-Natal and Free State of Orange.
After unification, it was not possible to reach a consensus on where the country's capital would be. Therefore, three capitals were defined: the cape town, seat of the legislative power; Pretoria, seat of the executive; It is bloemfotein, seat of the judiciary.
Capitals: Porto Novo and Cotonou
Since when it was a French colony, Benin, an East African country, has always had Porto Novo as its official capital. However, also since that period, the city of Cotonou was where the government was centralized.
With independence from France in 1970, this organization continued. Today, Porto Novo is the administrative capital and seat of the legislative power; Cotonou is the economic capital and seat of the executive and judiciary.
Capitals: Yamusucro and Abijan
Abijah was declared the capital of Côte d'Ivoire in 1933, when the territory was still a French colony. With independence in 1958, the city continued as the capital.
However, the first president of Côte d'Ivoire, Félix Houphouët-Boigny, who stayed in power for 33 years, decided to move the capital of Abijah to Yamusucro, his hometown. The decision took place as a way to stimulate development in the center of the country.
Since then, the country has had two cities as its capitals: Yamusucro is the official one and Abijã is the administrative one, since government institutions continue and have always been there.
Capitals: Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya
Malaysia's decision to have more than one capital is recent. Kuala Lumpur, the official capital of the country, was very crowded and politically congested. So the Malaysian government decided to build a planned city, created specifically to centralize government administrative functions.
In 1999, the city of Putrajaya became the administrative capital of Malaysia and the official seat of the federal government.
Capitals: amsterdam and the hague
The Netherlands has always had two capitals. The Hague, since 1588, a few years after the establishment of the United Republic of the Netherlands, is the seat of government. Amsterdam, in turn, became the official capital in 1814, after the French occupation of the region. The city is also the capital of North Holland, a province of the Netherlands.
Capitals: Columbus and Sri Jayewardenepura Kotte
A few decades after gaining independence from England in 1948, the Sri Lankan government came to the conclusion that the capital Colombo was politically congested. In 1977, it was decided that the seat of the legislature would be moved to one of the suburbs of the city, Sri Jayewardenepura Kotte. In 1982, the country's parliament also moves there. Since then, Sri Jayewardenepura Kotte has been the legislative capital.
Capitals: Mbabane and Lobamba
Swaziland has always had two capitals. In Lobamba, the seat of the African kingdom is located, as well as being the city where the country's parliament meets. Mbabane, in turn, is the official and administrative capital, seat of all other government institutions.
Although some countries have the administrative functions of government divided into a city in addition to the capital, this does not officially make it a capital.. This is the case, for example, in Bolivia. Although La Paz is the seat of the executive and legislative powers, Sucre, according to the Bolivian constitution, is the only official capital.
Other countries, such as Chile, Georgia, Honduras, Myanmar, Montenegro and Tanzania, are in the same situation and have only one official capital.