The concept of the capital city is a fairly
simple one. It’s generally the location of a country’s
government, usually with some sort of historical significance. London, Paris, Rome - we think of these cities
as the unchanging bedrock of their countries. However, while the single, fixed capital may
be the norm now, this wasn’t always the case. Throughout history, and especially in Medieval
Europe, kingdoms would often change their capital on a regular basis. Reasons for changing the capital city were
plentiful, whether it be a more strategic location, a more neutral/central location
to promote unity, or sometimes simply the location of the current monarch. Some countries literally changed their capital
dozens of times throughout their long history. One country that has changed its capital numerous
times in its several thousand years of existence, is China. Although the constantly changing capital cities
in this case was mostly due to the country’s turbulent past, the ever-changing dynasties,
and the multiple divisions and unifications of China. Today, the name of the modern-day capital
of China, Beijing, literally means “northern capital”. Of course, three other cities are recognized
as historical capitals of China - Nanjing, Luoyang, and Xi’an. In fact, Nanjing means southern capital, while
Luoyang and Xi’an have both been called “Xijing” in the past, meaning western
capital. And Luoyang has, at another time, also been
called “Dongdu”, or eastern capital, given its location with respect to the rest of the
territory of the ruling dynasty. The practice of changing capitals largely
fell out of use in Europe before the end of the Middle Ages, but in China this continued
even as recently as the last century. The Republic of China changed its capital
several times due to war, invasion, and rival governments. Obviously countries changing their capital
is somewhat rare these days, but it does still happen. In fact, Burundi changed its capital from
Bujumbura to Gitega as recently as December 2018. Some countries don’t actually have their
government in what they call their capital city, or only have part of it there, making
it even harder to say what a capital city actually... is. In this way, some countries can be thought
of as having more than one capital city, and there are actually quite a few examples of
them. We’ll start by looking at the Netherlands. While the country’s constitution states
that Amsterdam is the nation’s capital, its seat of government is actually in The
Hague, which is therefore the de facto capital, and where most countries have their embassies. The reason for this dates all the way back
to 1588, shortly after the establishment of the Dutch Republic, when the newly declared
country finally set its government in The Hague. At this time, Amsterdam was actually still
loyal to Spain given the trade opportunities that this choice offered, so obviously it
couldn’t be the capital of the ‘rebel’ state, as they were still seen at the time. Over time, power in the Dutch Republic became
concentrated in the stadtholder, whose political base, the Orangists, were primarily centered
in rural areas and The Hague; meanwhile, republicans tended to be more dominant in cities, and
especially Amsterdam. This conflict dominated Dutch politics until
Napoleon invaded and established the Kingdom of Holland; his brother Louis was crowned
in Amsterdam, setting it as capital of the region for the first time in history. After Napoleon’s defeat, the seat of government
for the region was moved back to The Hague, and the Great Powers created the precursor
to the modern, monarchist Kingdom of the Netherlands. In a similar situation to the Netherlands,
Sucre is the official, constitutional capital of Bolivia, while the country’s seat of
government is La Paz... mostly. The executive and legislative powers of the
country are centered in La Paz, since both the President and Legislative Assembly are
based there. However, the Judiciary is centered in Sucre,
the result of a compromise during the writing of the most recent Bolivian Constitution. Whether or not La Paz can be classed as a
capital city is relevant for the city’s ‘claim to fame’, so to speak, as the highest
capital city in the world. La Paz is at an altitude of 3,650m above sea-level,
which is an incredible 41% the height of Mt Everest. Of course, many will argue La Paz is not officially
the capital of Bolivia, in which case Quito, Ecuador would be the highest capital in the
world, at a slightly less impressive 2,850m above sea-level. There are still more countries that arguably
have two capitals, including Malaysia, Benin, Sri Lanka, Chile and even more still. Believe it or not though, there is actually
one country that has more than two capital cities. South Africa has three! Pretoria is the executive capital, where most
foreign embassies are located; Bloemfontein is the judicial capital and seat of the Supreme
Court of Appeal; and Cape Town is the legislative capital, and seat of parliament. None of these cities are the country’s largest,
by the way, which is Johannesburg, which is also the location of the Constitutional Court. This bizarre situation dates back to the foundation
of the Union of South Africa in 1910, when 4 British colonies united to become a semi-independent
dominion under the British Crown. 3 of the 4 colony capitals became a capital
of the dominion. Pietermaritzburg, capital of Natal, was the
only one not be become a national capital, which apparently received some financial compensation. The decision for this was made as a compromise
to ensure no one city had too much power. More than a century later and the capital
cities have remained constant. Now, at the opposite end of the spectrum,
there is actually one country that has NO capital city: the small, Pacific island-nation
of Nauru. Well, it doesn’t actually have any cities,
just districts. The Yaren district is the seat of government
and therefore the de facto capital... with a population of about 800 people. It could be argued that there actually are
more countries without a capital. For example, Switzerland doesn’t officially
have a capital city. Bern is technically a “federal city”,
which is the seat of government and universally accepted as the nation’s capital, but nowhere
in the Swiss constitution or any of its laws does it state the city as its capital. There are a couple of cities in the world
which are politically disputed, in which a single city is claimed by more than one party. On the Mediterranean island of Cyprus, its
capital city, Nicosia, is claimed by both Cyprus, as well the self-declared, unrecognised
Northern Cyprus, who actually only claims Northern Nicosia as its capital. Cyprus claims the whole city as its capital,
and indeed the whole island as its territory, but only has control over the southern part
of the island and city. Nicosia is supposedly the “last divided
capital city” in the world, and is separated by barriers, acting as a de facto international
border. The island has been this way since 1974. Now, Nicosia isn’t the only capital whose
status is unsettled, and while Jerusalem is not practically a divided capital today, its
situation certainly is... complicated. Broadly speaking, the current debate around
the status of Jerusalem can be traced back to UN plan for the partition of British-controlled
Mandatory Palestine, Resolution 181. This plan called for the separation of the
territory into both a Jewish and an Arab state; however, Jerusalem was to be treated as a
UN-administered international territory that wouldn’t belong to either one. This decision stemmed primarily from the importance
of Jerusalem as a holy city to the three largest Abrahamic religions. Of course, UN Resolution 181 was never put
into effect; after Israel declared its independence in May of 1948, the surrounding Arab states
invaded. The aftermath of this conflict left Jerusalem
divided between Israel in the west and Jordan in the east, with the Old City of Jerusalem
being located on the Jordanian side, right along the border. After the war, both Israel and Jordan annexed
the portions of Jerusalem that they controlled, which the UN objected to. Israel had already declared Jerusalem its
capital during the war, while Jordan proclaimed it its “second capital” several years
later. Until 1967, the city would remain divided;
however, after the Six-Day War, Israel gained control of a large amount of territory. In the aftermath, Israel integrated both Jordanian-controlled
Jerusalem and a number of the surrounding towns that were captured, today collectively
referred to as “East Jerusalem”, into the city. Later on, in 1980, Israel passed a law affirming
that “Jerusalem, complete and unified, is the capital of Israel”. The situation is complicated by the fact that
the Palestinian leadership currently claims East Jerusalem as the capital of their state
- although their current administrative center is, for the most part, Ramallah. Today, many countries maintain the position
that the status of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel is put into question by the inclusion
of East Jerusalem in its jurisdiction. Most countries maintain their embassies to
Israel in Tel Aviv, withholding any recognition of Jerusalem as the capital until a final
status agreement can be reached. In a controversial move in 2017, US President
Donald Trump officially recognised Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, with a new embassy
being opened in May of 2018. This was widely condemned by the majority,
though not all, of the international community. Oddly enough though, a bill was actually passed
by Congress way back in 1995 stating that Jerusalem “should” be recognised as the
capital, but a waiver had been signed every 6 months postponing the implementation of
the law by all presidents until now. Taking a quick break from international capital
cities, to briefly look at some sub-national capitals. All 50 of the US states have their own capital
city, but they’re a bit odd sometimes. For example, have you ever wondered why New
York City is not the capital of New York State? Or why Los Angeles isn’t the capital of
California. Surprisingly, in only 17 of the 50 states
are the the largest city and the capital city the same. Only one of the top ten most populous cities
in the US is actually a capital - Phoenix, Arizona, in 5th place, which is also the only
state capital to have a population of more than 1 million. But why is this? Well, there isn’t one, single reason, and
it varies by state. Generally though, a central location is preferred,
as many state capitals were established before the prevalence of motor vehicles. Also, capitals often were the most populous
at the time of being declared, sometimes before the now-most populous city was even founded
in some cases. A few random oddities of the US state capitals: Olympia, the capital of Washington, is the
24th most populous city in the state Montpelier, Vermont, is the least populous
state capital with just 7,500 people Juneau, Alaska, is the largest state capital
by area at 2,717 square miles, which is larger than the entire state of Delaware Carson City, Nevada, and Richmond, Virginia,
are the only two capital cities that are ‘independent cities’, administered as their own entity. In Virginia, by state law, all cities are
independent cities. And... Honolulu, Hawaii is home to the only royal
palace in the United States. Of course, getting back to national capitals,
the national capital of the USA isn’t part of any of the 50 states, it’s its own federal
district, Washington D.C. Now, Washington has got to be the most famous
example of the phenomenon of the purpose-built capital. A city founded for the sole purpose of being
the seat of government and the capital of the nation. The idea for the new capital city was conceived
back at the end of the 18th century. Land was donated by the states of Virginia
and Maryland along the Potomac River. The district formed a perfect square of 10
miles on each side. The district was named “Columbia”, which
is feminine form of Columbus. The capital city was founded within the federal
district and 3 of the commissioners named it “Washington”, after the president. The district was split into two counties,
Alexandria and Washington, the Virginia- and Maryland-donated land, respectively. In the 1840s however, due to economic decline
and fear that slavery would be outlawed, citizens of Alexandria country increasingly wanted
to be part of Virginia again. Citizens petitioned Virginia to accept back
the 31 square miles, and in 1846, Congress gave it to them, leaving just the Maryland-donated
land. In 1871, the city of Washington was merged
with the other jurisdictions within the District of Columbia into one entity and became known
as what it is today, Washington D.C. The plan of the city itself was mostly designed
by a French-born architect, who partially based his work on the designs of various European
cities, including Paris. Unsurprisingly, the original plan intended
to demonstrate various principles of the country’s government and the union of the states. The city is divided into four unequal quadrants
which intersect on the US Capitol building, making the home of the national legislature
the center of the city. The overall grid system of the city is very
orderly, with numbered streets running north-south and lettered streets running east-west. Purpose-built capital cities are actually
surprisingly common. Another country that has one too, is Australia. Disagreements between the rival cities of
Sydney and Melbourne, led to the creation of a new city being made as the capital, Canberra,
located geographically between the two. It was built on territory ceded from New South
Wales, but it was agreed that it would be at least 100 miles away from Sydney. Another good example of a planned capital
city is in Brazil. Rio de Janeiro was its capital half a century
ago, but an 1891 article in the Brazilian constitution stated that the capital should
be closer to the centre of the country. The city, which was named Brasilia, was built
in 41 months, and officially became the capital of Brazil in 1960. Brasília was chosen as a UNESCO World Heritage
Site for its modern architecture. To end this video off, I’m going to look
at some random fun facts about capital cities. Bratislava, capital of Slovakia, is the only
capital in the world whose city limits border two other countries: Austria and Hungary Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia is the only capital
sited on a body of water that drains ultimately to the Arctic Ocean The closest capitals cities of any two UN
members, are the capitals of the two Congos - Brazzaville and Kinshasa, of the Republic
of Congo, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The cities are separated only by the Congo
River, which makes up a large part of the international border between the two countries,
and where both countries got their name. San José is the capital of Costa Rica, but
“San José” is actually the single most commonly used place name in the world, with
over 1700 different places called San José. And finally, the full, ceremonial name of
Thailand’s capital, Bangkok, is the longest place name in the world with 168 letters,
which roughly translates as “City of angels, great city of immortals, magnificent city
of the nine gems, seat of the king, city of royal palaces, home of gods incarnate, erected
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