Capitals that are Not the Largest City by Country 2025
Country | Capital Population↓ | Capital City | Largest City Population | Largest City | Capita / Largest City Population Ratio 2025 | Additional Capital Details | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | China | 22M | Beijing | 30.5M | Shanghai | 1.39 | |
 | Vietnam | 8.1M | Hanoi | 9M | Ho Chi Minh City | 1.1 | Ho Chi Minh City, formerly Saigon, was the capital of South Vietnam prior to reunification. |
 | Turkey | 5.2M | Ankara | 14.4M | Istanbul | 3.4 | Istanbul (as Constantinople) was the capital of the Ottoman Empire from 1453 to 1922. |
 | Brazil | 3.5M | Brasília | 12.3M | São Paulo | 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. |
 | Taiwan | 2.7M | Taipei | 4M | New Taipei | 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. |
 | South Africa | 2.3M | Pretoria | 5.6M | Johannesburg | 1.66 | Cape Town (pop. 4.8 million) and Bloemfontein (metro pop. 747,431) serve as legislative and judicial capitals respectively. |
 | Ecuador | 1.8M | Quito | 2.7M | Guayaquil | 1.5 | |
 | Cameroon | 1.4M | Yaoundé | 2M | Douala | 1.4 | |
 | Canada | 1M | Ottawa | 2.8M | Toronto | 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 |
 | Pakistan | 1M | Islamabad | 14.9M | Karachi | 14.7 | Karachi was the capital from 1947 to 1958. |
 | Myanmar | 925K | Naypyidaw | 4.3M | Yangon | 4.7 | Yangon was the capital until 2006. Naypyidaw is a planned city and not does not have contiguous urban areas or a proper metro area. |
 | United Arab Emirates | 896.8K | Abu Dhabi | 2.3M | Dubai | 2.52 | |
 | Nigeria | 778.6K | Abuja | 7.9M | Lagos | 10.2 | Lagos was the capital until 1991 |
 | Kazakhstan | 743K | Astana | 1.5M | Almaty | 1.95 | Almaty was the capital from 1927 to 1997. Astana was named Nur-Sultan from 2019 until 2022. |
 | United States | 705.7K | Washington, D.C. | 8.4M | New York City | 12.7 | 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 is the 20th-largest city in the United States, but the Washington metropolitan area is the sixth-largest (estimated 6,216,589 in 2017). |
 | Morocco | 627K | Rabat | 4.2M | Casablanca | 6.62 | Rabat is the seventh largest city in Morocco. |
 | Australia | 426.7K | Canberra | 5.3M | Sydney | 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. |
 | Israel | 363.1K | Jerusalem | 460.6K | Tel Aviv | 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. |
 | Tanzania | 324.3K | Dodoma | 2.5M | Dar es Salaam | 7.7 | Dar es Salaam was the capital until 1974. |
 | Equatorial Guinea | 297K | Malabo | 513K | Bata | ||
 | Benin | 264.3K | Porto-Novo | 761.1K | Cotonou | 3.4 | Cotonou is the de facto capital with seat of government. Both cities are part of the same metropolitan area. |
 | Bolivia | 259.4K | Sucre | 1.5M | Santa Cruz de la Sierra[1] | 7.1 | La Paz is the de facto capital with the seat of government; it is in Bolivia's second most populous metropolitan area. |
 | India | 250K | New Delhi | 12.4M | Mumbai | 49.8 | 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. |
 | New Zealand | 208.8K | Wellington | 1.5M | Auckland | 7.33 | Auckland was the capital from 1841 to 1865. |
 | Ivory Coast | 200.7K | Yamoussoukro | 4.3M | Abidjan | 21.7 | Abidjan was the capital until 1983 |
 | Belgium | 188.7K | Brussels | 536.1K | Antwerp | 2.84 | Considering Brussels metropolitan area has more inhabitants, Antwerp is the largest in city inhabitants. |
 | Switzerland | 138K | Bern | 397.7K | Zürich | 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 |
 | Sri Lanka | 113K | Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte | 648K | Colombo | ||
 | Trinidad and Tobago | 49K | Port of Spain | 67.4K | Chaguanas | 1.37 | Both cities are part of the same metropolitan area. |
 | Burundi | 41.9K | Gitega | 1.1M | Bujumbura | 26.1 | Bujumbura was the capital until 2019 |
 | Gambia | 31.3K | Banjul | 337K | Serrekunda | 2.18 | |
 | Belize | 20.6K | Belmopan | 61.8K | Belize City | 3.07 | Belize City was the capital until 1970 |
 | Malta | 5.8K | Valletta | 29.1K | St. Paul's Bay | 6.62 | Valletta is part of the Central Region, a conurbation with a population of 111,994. |
 | Liechtenstein | 5.1K | Vaduz | 6K | Schaan | 1.14 | Vaduz is the second largest city in Liechtenstein. Both cities are part of the same metropolitan area. |
 | Micronesia | 5K | Palikir | 13K | Weno | 1.4 | |
 | San Marino | 4.2K | San Marino | 10.6K | Serravalle | 2.52 |
Populations listed are sourced from United Nations population projections.
Just because a city is the capital of a country doesn’t mean it has the largest population.
The United States is a good example. The capital of the US is Washington (pop. 705,700), DC, but the city with the largest population is New York City (pop. 8.4 million).
Many think that Sydney (pop. 5.3 million) is the capital of Australia when, in fact, it’s Canberra (pop. 426,700). Canberra is the largest inland city but the eighth-largest city overall.
Belize is the least populated country in Central America, so it makes sense that the capital, Belmopan, only has a population of 20,600, while the largest city, Belize City, has 61,800.
Brasília (pop. 3.5 million) is the capital city of Brazil, while São Paulo (pop. 12.3 million) is the largest city. São Paulo is actually the largest city in the Southern Hemisphere.
The most populated city in Canada is Toronto, at 2.8 million, while the capital, Ottawa, only has 1 million. Toronto is the largest city in Canada and the fourth largest in North America.
The People’s Republic of China’s capital is Beijing (pop. 22 million), while the largest city is Shanghai (pop. 30.5 million). Beijing has been the capital of China for nearly 800 years.
More people in New Zealand (pop. 1.5 million) live in Auckland rather than the capital Wellington (pop. 208,800). Auckland is the fifth-largest city in Oceania.
The largest city in Pakistan is Karachi, with a population of 14.9 million. The capital, Islamabad, has a population of 1 million. Karachi is the 12th largest city in the world.
Commonly, Johannesburg is mistaken for the capital of South Africa. Pretoria is the executive and de facto capital. South Africa has two other capital cities—Cape Town (legislative branch) and Bloemfontein (judicial branch).
Abu Dhabi (pop. 896,800) is the capital of the United Arab Emirates, while Dubai (pop. 2.3 million) is far more populated and is growing rapidly.
Sources
- Global State of Metropolis 2020 – Population Data Booklet - United Nations
- City of Belmopan - Belize.com
- Sucre - wiki
- Serravalle - Britannica
- Benin - CIA World Factbook
- Cote d'Ivoire - CIA World Factbook
- Equatorial Guinea - CIA World Factbook
- Sri Lanka - CIA World Factbook
- Tanzania - CIA World Factbook
- List of countries whose capital is not their largest city - Wiki
