Capitals of Every Independent Country

195 Capital Cities of the World

Eiffel Tower and Paris skyline at night

Pawel Libera / Photolibrary / Getty Images

There are 195 nations officially recognized as independent countries in the world, each with its own capital city. A significant number of countries have multiple capital cities. Where that occurs, the additional capital cities are listed as well.

Is Taiwan a Country?

The United Nations list of nations doesn't include Taiwan as separate but as a part of China: 193 U.N. member nations and two nonvoting observer states, the Vatican City and Palestine. As of Jan. 20, 2020, only 15 countries recognize Taiwan as an independent nation. Eight countries that previously did so established diplomatic relations with China after President Tsai Ing-Wen's election in May 2016. Tsai was reelected on Jan. 10, 2020.

The Countries of the World and their Capitals

Check out this alphabetical list of every independent nation and its capital (Taiwan is also included):

  1. Afghanistan: Kabul
  2. Albania: Tirana
  3. Algeria: Algiers
  4. Andorra: Andorra la Vella
  5. Angola: Luanda
  6. Antigua and Barbuda: Saint John's
  7. Argentina: Buenos Aires
  8. Armenia: Yerevan
  9. Australia: Canberra
  10. Austria: Vienna
  11. Azerbaijan: Baku
  12. The Bahamas: Nassau
  13. Bahrain: Manama
  14. Bangladesh: Dhaka
  15. Barbados: Bridgetown
  16. Belarus: Minsk
  17. Belgium: Brussels
  18. Belize: Belmopan
  19. Benin: Porto-Novo
  20. Bhutan: Thimphu
  21. Bolivia: La Paz (administrative); Sucre (judicial)
  22. Bosnia and Herzegovina: Sarajevo
  23. Botswana: Gaborone
  24. Brazil: Brasilia
  25. Brunei: Bandar Seri Begawan
  26. Bulgaria: Sofia
  27. Burkina Faso: Ouagadougou
  28. Burundi: Gitega (changed from Bujumbura in December 2018)
  29. Cambodia: Phnom Penh
  30. Cameroon: Yaounde
  31. Canada: Ottawa
  32. Cape Verde: Praia
  33. Central African Republic: Bangui
  34. Chad: N'Djamena
  35. Chile: Santiago
  36. China: Beijing
  37. Colombia: Bogota
  38. Comoros: Moroni
  39. Congo, Republic of the: Brazzaville
  40. Congo, Democratic Republic of the: Kinshasa
  41. Costa Rica: San Jose
  42. Cote d'Ivoire: Yamoussoukro (official); Abidjan (de facto)
  43. Croatia: Zagreb
  44. Cuba: Havana
  45. Cyprus: Nicosia
  46. Czech Republic: Prague
  47. Denmark: Copenhagen
  48. Djibouti: Djibouti
  49. Dominica: Roseau
  50. Dominican Republic: Santo Domingo
  51. East Timor (Timor-Leste): Dili
  52. Ecuador: Quito
  53. Egypt: Cairo
  54. El Salvador: San Salvador
  55. Equatorial Guinea: Malabo
  56. Eritrea: Asmara
  57. Estonia: Tallinn
  58. Ethiopia: Addis Ababa
  59. Fiji: Suva
  60. Finland: Helsinki
  61. France: Paris
  62. Gabon: Libreville
  63. The Gambia: Banjul
  64. Georgia: Tbilisi
  65. Germany: Berlin
  66. Ghana: Accra
  67. Greece: Athens
  68. Grenada: Saint George's
  69. Guatemala: Guatemala City
  70. Guinea: Conakry
  71. Guinea-Bissau: Bissau
  72. Guyana: Georgetown
  73. Haiti: Port-au-Prince
  74. Honduras: Tegucigalpa
  75. Hungary: Budapest
  76. Iceland: Reykjavik
  77. India: New Delhi
  78. Indonesia: Jakarta
  79. Iran: Tehran
  80. Iraq: Baghdad
  81. Ireland: Dublin
  82. Israel: Jerusalem*
  83. Italy: Rome
  84. Jamaica: Kingston
  85. Japan: Tokyo
  86. Jordan: Amman
  87. Kazakhstan: Nur-Sultan
  88. Kenya: Nairobi
  89. Kiribati: Tarawa Atoll
  90. Korea, North: Pyongyang
  91. Korea, South: Seoul
  92. Kosovo: Pristina
  93. Kuwait: Kuwait City
  94. Kyrgyzstan: Bishkek
  95. Laos: Vientiane
  96. Latvia: Riga
  97. Lebanon: Beirut
  98. Lesotho: Maseru
  99. Liberia: Monrovia
  100. Libya: Tripoli
  101. Liechtenstein: Vaduz
  102. Lithuania: Vilnius
  103. Luxembourg: Luxembourg
  104. Macedonia: Skopje
  105. Madagascar: Antananarivo
  106. Malawi: Lilongwe
  107. Malaysia: Kuala Lumpur
  108. Maldives: Male
  109. Mali: Bamako
  110. Malta: Valletta
  111. Marshall Islands: Majuro
  112. Mauritania: Nouakchott
  113. Mauritius: Port Louis
  114. Mexico: Mexico City
  115. Micronesia, Federated States of: Palikir
  116. Moldova: Chisinau
  117. Monaco: Monaco
  118. Mongolia: Ulaanbaatar
  119. Montenegro: Podgorica
  120. Morocco: Rabat
  121. Mozambique: Maputo
  122. Myanmar (Burma): Rangoon (Yangon); Naypyidaw or Nay Pyi Taw (administrative)
  123. Namibia: Windhoek
  124. Nauru: no official capital; government offices in Yaren District
  125. Nepal: Kathmandu
  126. Netherlands: Amsterdam; The Hague (seat of government)
  127. New Zealand: Wellington
  128. Nicaragua: Managua
  129. Niger: Niamey
  130. Nigeria: Abuja
  131. Norway: Oslo
  132. Oman: Muscat
  133. Pakistan: Islamabad
  134. Palau: Melekeok
  135. Panama: Panama City
  136. Papua New Guinea: Port Moresby
  137. Paraguay: Asuncion
  138. Peru: Lima
  139. Philippines: Manila
  140. Poland: Warsaw
  141. Portugal: Lisbon
  142. Qatar: Doha
  143. Romania: Bucharest
  144. Russia: Moscow
  145. Rwanda: Kigali
  146. Saint Kitts and Nevis: Basseterre
  147. Saint Lucia: Castries
  148. Saint Vincent and the Grenadines: Kingstown
  149. Samoa: Apia
  150. San Marino: San Marino
  151. Sao Tome and Principe: Sao Tome
  152. Saudi Arabia: Riyadh
  153. Senegal: Dakar
  154. Serbia: Belgrade
  155. Seychelles: Victoria
  156. Sierra Leone: Freetown
  157. Singapore: Singapore
  158. Slovakia: Bratislava
  159. Slovenia: Ljubljana
  160. Solomon Islands: Honiara
  161. Somalia: Mogadishu
  162. South Africa: Pretoria (administrative); Cape Town (legislative); Bloemfontein (judiciary)
  163. South Sudan: Juba 
  164. Spain: Madrid
  165. Sri Lanka: Colombo; Sri Jayewardenepura Kotte (legislative)
  166. Sudan: Khartoum
  167. Suriname: Paramaribo
  168. Swaziland: Mbabane
  169. Sweden: Stockholm
  170. Switzerland: Bern
  171. Syria: Damascus
  172. Taiwan: Taipei
  173. Tajikistan: Dushanbe
  174. Tanzania: Dar es Salaam; Dodoma (legislative)
  175. Thailand: Bangkok
  176. Togo: Lome
  177. Tonga: Nuku'alofa
  178. Trinidad and Tobago: Port-of-Spain
  179. Tunisia: Tunis
  180. Turkey: Ankara
  181. Turkmenistan: Ashgabat
  182. Tuvalu: Vaiaku village, Funafuti province
  183. Uganda: Kampala
  184. Ukraine: Kyiv
  185. United Arab Emirates: Abu Dhabi
  186. United Kingdom: London
  187. United States of America: Washington, D.C.
  188. Uruguay: Montevideo
  189. Uzbekistan: Tashkent
  190. Vanuatu: Port-Vila
  191. Vatican City (Holy See): Vatican City
  192. Venezuela: Caracas
  193. Vietnam: Hanoi
  194. Yemen: Sanaa
  195. Zambia: Lusaka
  196. Zimbabwe: Harare

An important fact to note is that the executive, judicial, and legislative branches of the State of Israel are all located in Jerusalem, making it the capital; nonetheless, almost all countries maintain their embassies in Tel Aviv. President Donald Trump moved the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem in 2018 and others may follow, possibly just to "curry favor" with the United States for aid in their own crises, Eric Olson told the Washington Post.

While the listing above is an authoritative listing of the independent countries of the world, it is important to note that there are also more than 80 territories, colonies, and dependencies of independent countries, which often have their own capital cities as well.

View Article Sources
  1. "Independent States in the World." Bureau of Intelligence and Research, U.S. Department of State, 27 March 2019.

  2. "Member States of the United Nations." United Nations.

  3. Lawrence, Susan V. "Taiwan: Select Political and Security Issues." Congressional Research Service, 21 Jan. 2020. 

  4. "Dependencies and Areas of Special Sovereignty." Bureau of Intelligence and Research, 7 March 2019. 

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Rosenberg, Matt. "Capitals of Every Independent Country." ThoughtCo, Apr. 5, 2023, thoughtco.com/capitals-of-every-independent-country-1434452. Rosenberg, Matt. (2023, April 5). Capitals of Every Independent Country. Retrieved from https://www.thoughtco.com/capitals-of-every-independent-country-1434452 Rosenberg, Matt. "Capitals of Every Independent Country." ThoughtCo. https://www.thoughtco.com/capitals-of-every-independent-country-1434452 (accessed March 28, 2024).