# List of countries whose capital is not their largest city

The list of countries whose capital is not their largest city refers to the list of sovereign states whose capital is not their most populated city.

## List

| Country | Capital | Population | Largest city | Population | Ratio | Notes |
| 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 Cruz de 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. |
| 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. |
| China | Beijing | 22,000,000 | Chongqing (city boundaries) | 32,054,159 | 0.39 | 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. |
| Ecuador | Quito | 1,763,275 | Guayaquil | 2,650,288 | 1.5 | |
| Equatorial Guinea | Malabo | 187,302 | Bata | 250,770 | 1.34 | The capital Malabo is the second largest city in Equatorial Guinea. It is to be replaced by the planned city of Oyala, currently under construction. |
| 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 (excluding East 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 not does not have contiguous urban areas or a proper metro area. |
| New Zealand | Wellington | 214,200 | Auckland | 1,531,400 | 7.15 | 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) | - | 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. |
| Palestine | Ramallah (administrative centre) | 104,173 | 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. |
| 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. |
| Sri Lanka | Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte | 115,826 | Colombo | 642,163 | 5.54 | Colombo was the official administrative capital until 1982, when it became the commercial capital. |
| 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 is the 20th-largest city in the United States, but the Washington metropolitan area is the sixth-largest (estimated 6,216,589 in 2017). |
| 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. |