Capital cities in Asia

Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. Its territory comprises a main island, over 60 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. The country is about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, bordering the Strait of Malacca to the west, the Singapore Strait to the south along with the Riau Islands in Indonesia, the South China Sea to the east and the Straits of Johor along with the State of Johor in Malaysia to the north.

Tokyo, officially the is the capital and most populous city of Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is one of the most populous urban areas in the world. The Greater Tokyo Area, which includes Tokyo and parts of six neighboring prefectures, is the most populous metropolitan area in the world, with 41 million residents .

Beijing, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's most populous national capital city, as well as China's second-largest city by urban area, after Shanghai. It is located in Northern China, and is governed as a municipality under the direct administration of the State Council with 16 urban districts. Beijing is mostly surrounded by Hebei Province and neighbors Tianjin to the southeast; together, the three divisions form the Jing-Jin-Ji cluster.

Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the oldest cities in the world and is considered holy to the three major Abrahamic religions: Judaism, Christianity and Islam. Both Israel and Palestine claim Jerusalem as their capital city; Israel maintains its primary governmental institutions there, while Palestine ultimately foresees it as its seat of power. Neither claim is widely recognised internationally.

Bangkok, officially known in Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estimated population of 11.4 million people as of 2024, 15.9% of the country's population. Over 17.4 million people (25% of Thailand's population) live within the surrounding Bangkok Metropolitan Region as of the 2021 estimate, making Bangkok a megacity and an extreme primate city, dwarfing Thailand's other urban centres in both size and importance to the national econo

Baghdad is the capital and largest city in Iraq. It is located on the banks of the Tigris in central Iraq. The city has an estimated population of 8 million. It ranks among the most populous and largest cities in the Middle East and the Arab world and constitutes 22% of Iraq's population. Baghdad is a primary financial and commercial center in the region.

Jakarta, officially the Special Region of Jakarta, previously called the Special Capital Region of Jakarta, is the de facto capital and largest city of Indonesia and an autonomous region with administrative status equivalent to a province. Located on the northwest coast of Java, the world’s most populous island, the city borders the provinces of West Java and Banten and faces the Java Sea to the north. Although Jakarta covers about , the wider Jakarta metropolitan area—commonly known as Greater Jakarta—is one of the largest urban agglomerations in the world. The city serves as Indonesia’s poli

Baku (, ; ) is the capital and largest city of Azerbaijan, as well as the largest city on the Caspian Sea and in the Caucasus region. Baku is below sea level, which makes it the lowest lying national capital in the world and the largest city in the world below sea level. Baku lies on the southern shore of the Absheron Peninsula, along the Bay of Baku. Baku's urban population was estimated at two million people as of 2009. Baku is the primate city of Azerbaijan. It is the sole metropolis in the country, and about 25% of all inhabitants of the country live in Baku's metropolitan area.

Ankara is the capital city of Turkey. Located in the central part of Anatolia, the city has a population of over 5.3 million residents in its urban center, out of 6 million residents in Ankara Province. Ankara is Turkey's second-largest city by population after Istanbul.

Damascus is the capital and largest city of Syria. It is the oldest capital city in the world. Known colloquially in Syria as and dubbed, poetically, the "City of Jasmine" (), Damascus is a major cultural center of the Levant and the Arab world.

Tehran is the capital and largest city of Iran. It is also the capital of Tehran province and the administrative center for Tehran County and its Central District. With a population of around 9 million in the city, and 16.8 million in the metropolitan area, Tehran is the most populous city in Iran and West Asia, the second-largest metropolitan area in the Middle East after Cairo, and the 24th-most-populous metropolitan area in the world. Greater Tehran includes several municipalities, including Karaj, Eslamshahr, Shahriar, Qods, Malard, Golestan, Varamin, Pakdasht, Qarchak, Nasimshahr, Parand,

Tbilisi ( ; , or , ) is the capital and largest city of Georgia, located on the banks of the Kura River. With more than 1.3 million inhabitants, it contains almost one third of the country's population. Tbilisi was founded in the fifth century AD by Vakhtang I of Iberia and has since served as the capital of various Georgian kingdoms and republics. Between 1801 and 1917, then part of the Russian Empire, it was the seat of the Caucasus Viceroyalty, governing both the northern and southern sides of the Caucasus.

Kabul is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. It is within the jurisdiction of Kabul District and has an estimated population of 5,333,284 people. Located in the eastern half of the country, forming part of the Kabul Province, the city is administratively divided into five zones and 22 municipal districts. The native population of Kabul primarily speaks Persian, locally referred to as Persian Dari, using regional Dari dialects with a distinctive Kabuli accent.

capital city of India

Dhaka ( or ; , ), formerly known as Dacca, is the capital and largest city of Bangladesh. With an estimated population of 36.6 million, Dhaka is the second largest city by population in the world, and is widely considered to be the most densely populated built-up urban area in the world. Dhaka is an important cultural, economic, and scientific hub of Eastern South Asia. Dhaka ranks fourth in South Asia and 55th in the world in terms of GDP. Lying on the Ganges Delta, it is bounded by the Buriganga, Turag, Dhaleshwari and Shitalakshya rivers. It is also the largest Bengali-speaking city in the

Kuala Lumpur (KL), officially the Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur, is the capital city and a federal territory of Malaysia. It is the most populous city in the country, covering an area of 243 km2 (94 sq mi) with a population of 2,075,600 as of 2024. Greater Kuala Lumpur, which itself includes the Klang Valley, is an urban agglomeration of 8.8 million people as of 2024. It is among the fastest growing metropolitan regions in Southeast Asia, in terms of both population and economic development.

Beirut ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Lebanon. As of 2025, Greater Beirut has a population of 2.4 million, just under half of Lebanon's population, which makes it the twelfth-largest city in the Levant region and the sixteenth-largest in the Arab world. The city is situated on a peninsula at the midpoint of Lebanon's Mediterranean coast. Beirut has been inhabited for more than 5,000 years, making it one of the oldest cities in the world.

Astana is the capital city of Kazakhstan. With a population of 1,622,245 within the city limits, it is the second-largest in the country after Almaty, which was the national capital until 1997. The city lies on the banks of the Ishim river in the north of Kazakhstan. It is located within the Akmola Region but administers itself. Initially founded as Aqmoly in 1830, the city was later renamed Akmolinsk, Tselinograd, and Aqmola before adopting the name Astana in 1998, which means "capital city" in Kazakh. In 2019, the city briefly adopted the name Nur-Sultan in honor of former president Nursulta

Manila, officially the City of Manila, is the capital and second-most populous city of the Philippines after Quezon City. According to the 2024 census, it has a population of 1,902,590 people. Located on the eastern shore of Manila Bay on the island of Luzon, it is classified as a highly urbanized city. With , Manila is one of the world's most densely populated cities proper.

Nicosia, also known as Lefkosia or Lefkoşa, is the capital of Cyprus. Its northern part is the de facto capital of Northern Cyprus. It is the southeasternmost capital city among European Union member states.

Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a megacity and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, but spread chiefly to the west, or beyond its right bank, Delhi shares borders with the state of Uttar Pradesh in the east and with the state of Haryana in the remaining directions. Delhi became a union territory on 1 November 1956 and the NCT in 1995. The NCT covers an area of . According to the 2011 census, Delhi's city proper population was over 11 million, while the NCT's population was about 16.8 mi

Hanoi ( ) is the capital and second-most populous municipality of Vietnam. It encompasses an area of , and as of 2025 has a population of 8,807,523. Hanoi had the second-highest gross regional domestic product of all Vietnamese provinces and municipalities at US$48 billion in 2023, behind Ho Chi Minh City. It hosts 78 foreign embassies, the headquarters of the Vietnam People's Army (VPA), its Vietnam National University system, and other governmental organizations. Hanoi has 18.7 million domestic and international visitors in 2022. It hosts the Imperial Citadel of Thăng Long, Ho Chi Minh Mauso

Pyongyang () is the capital and largest city of North Korea. According to the 2008 population census, it has a population of 3,255,288. Pyongyang is located on the Taedong River about upstream from its mouth on the Yellow Sea. Pyongyang is a directly administered city () with a status equal to that of the North Korean provinces.

Kathmandu () is the capital and largest city of Nepal, situated in the central part of the country within the Kathmandu Valley. As per the 2021 Nepal census, it has a population of 845,767 residing in 105,649 households, with approximately 4 million people in the surrounding metropolitan area. The city stands at an elevation of above sea level.

Taipei (; ; Tâi-gí: Tâi-pak), officially Taipei City, is the capital and a special municipality of Taiwan. Located in Northern Taiwan, Taipei City is an enclave of the municipality of New Taipei City that sits about southwest of the northern port city of Keelung. Most of the city rests on the Taipei Basin, an ancient lakebed. The basin is bounded by the relatively narrow valleys of the Keelung and Xindian rivers, which join to form the Tamsui River along the city's western border.

Riyadh is the capital and largest city of Saudi Arabia. It is also the capital of the Riyadh Province and the centre of the Riyadh Governorate. Located on the eastern bank of Wadi Hanifa, the current form of the metropolis largely emerged in the 1950s as an offshoot of the 18th century walled town following the dismantling of its defensive fortifications.

Tashkent (), also known as Toshkent, is the capital and largest city of Uzbekistan. It is the most populous city in Central Asia, with a population of more than 3.1 million people as of July 1, 2025. It is located in northeastern Uzbekistan. Tashkent's history stretches back centuries as part of the ancient Silk Road, the network of trade routes that connected East and West. The city has long been a crossroads of cultures, goods, and ideas.

Amman is the capital and the largest city of Jordan, and the country's economic, political, and cultural center. With a population of five million as of 2024, Amman is Jordan's primate city and is the largest city in the Levant region, the seventh-largest city in the Arab world, and the eighth-largest metropolitan area in the Middle East.

Islamabad is the capital city of Pakistan. It is the country's tenth-most populous city with a population of over 1.1 million; and is federally administered by the Pakistani government as part of the Islamabad Capital Territory — with a metropolitan population of over 2.3 million. Built as a planned city in the 1960s and established in 1967 along the Margalla Hills, Islamabad replaced Karachi as Pakistan's national capital. It is located north of the city of Rawalpindi, the largest in northern Punjab, with which it forms a metropolitan area of over 5.7 million inhabitants.

Ulaanbaatar is the capital and most populous city of Mongolia. It has a population of 1.67 million, and is the coldest capital city in the world by average yearly temperature. The municipality is located in north central Mongolia at an elevation of about in a valley on the Tuul River. The city was founded in 1639 as a nomadic Buddhist monastic centre, changing location 29 times, and was permanently settled at its modern location in 1778.

Doha (; ) is the capital city and main financial hub of Qatar. Located on the Persian Gulf coast in the east of the country, north of Al Wakrah and south of Al Khor and Lusail, it is home to most of the country's population. It is also Qatar's fastest growing city and over 80% of the nation's population live in Doha or its surrounding suburbs, which is known collectively as the Doha Metropolitan Area.

capital city of the United Arab Emirates

Ashgabat is the capital and largest city of Turkmenistan. It lies between the Karakum Desert and the Köpetdag mountain range in Central Asia, approximately 50 km (30 mi) away from the Iran-Turkmenistan border. The city has a population of 1,030,063 (2022 census). thumb|Satellite view of Ashgabat

Bishkek, formerly known as Pishpek (until 1926), and then Frunze (1926–1991), is the capital and largest urban city of Kyrgyzstan. The city is also the capital of the Chüy Region. It is situated near the border with Kazakhstan and has a population of around 1,200,000 people as of 2024.

capital of Cambodia

Dushanbe is the capital and largest city of Tajikistan. , Dushanbe had a population of 1,228,400, with this population being largely Tajik. Until 1929, the city was known in Russian as Dyushambe, and from 1929 to 1961 as Stalinabad, after Joseph Stalin. Dushanbe is located in the Hisar Valley, bounded by the Hisar Range in the north and east and the Babatag, Aktau, Rangontau and Karatau mountains in the south, and has an elevation of 750–930 m. The city is divided into four districts: Ismail Samani, Avicenna, Ferdowsi, and Shah Mansur.

Vientiane is the capital city of Laos. Comprising the 5 urban districts of Vientiane Prefecture, the city is located on the banks of the Mekong, close to the border with Thailand. Vientiane was the administrative capital during French rule. The city had a population of 840,000 as of the 2023 census. Pha That Luang, an icon of Buddhism, is located in Vientiane. Other Buddhist temples can be found there, such as Haw Phra Kaew, which formerly housed the Emerald Buddha.

Sanaa, officially the Sanaa Municipality, is the capital and largest city of Yemen. The city is the capital of the Sanaa Governorate, but is not part of the governorate, as it forms a separate administrative unit. At an elevation of , Sanaa is the seventh highest capital city in the world and is next to the Sarawat Mountains of Jabal An-Nabi Shu'ayb and Jabal Tiyal, considered to be the highest mountains in the Arabian Peninsula and one of the highest in the Middle East.

Thimphu ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Bhutan. It is situated in the western central part of Bhutan, and the surrounding valley is one of Bhutan's dzongkhags, the Thimphu District. The ancient capital city of Punakha was replaced by Thimphu as the capital in 1955, and in 1961 Thimphu was officially declared the capital of the Kingdom of Bhutan by the 3rd Druk Gyalpo Jigme Dorji Wangchuck.

capital of Kuwait

Manama ( '''', Bahrani pronunciation: ) is the capital and largest city of Bahrain, with an approximate population of 743,066 as of 2025 estimate. Long an important trading center in the Persian Gulf, Manama is home to a diverse population. After periods of Portuguese and Persian control and a short invasion from the ruling dynasty of Saudi Arabia, followed by a longer invasion by Oman, Bahrain established itself as an independent nation in 1971 following a period of British hegemony.

capital and largest city of Brunei

Muscat ( , ; , ) is the capital and most populous city of Oman. It is the seat of the Governorate of Muscat. According to the National Centre for Statistics and Information (NCSI), the population of the Muscat Governorate in 2022 was 1.72 million. The metropolitan area includes six provinces, called , and spans approximately . Known since the early 1st century CE as a leading port for trade between the west and the east, Muscat was ruled successively by various indigenous tribes, as well as by foreign powers such as the Persians, the Portuguese Empire and the Ottoman Empire. In the 18th centur

Dili (Portuguese and Tetum: Díli) is the capital and largest city of Timor-Leste. It lies on the northern coast of the island of Timor, in a small area of flat land hemmed in by mountains. The climate is tropical, with distinct wet and dry seasons.

Malé is the capital and most populous city of the Maldives. With a population of 211,908 in 2022 within its administrative area and coterminous geographical area of , Malé is one of the most densely populated cities in the world. The city is geographically located in the southern edge of North Malé Atoll (Kaafu Atoll). Administratively, the city consists of a central island, an airport island, and five other islands presided over by the Malé City Council.

Naypyidaw ( ), officially romanised as Nay Pyi Taw (NPT), is the capital and third-largest city of Myanmar. The city is located at the centre of the Naypyidaw Union Territory. It is unusual among Myanmar's cities in that it is an entirely planned city outside of any state or region. The city, previously known only as Pyinmana District, officially replaced Yangon as the administrative capital of Myanmar on 6 November 2005; its official name was revealed to the public on Armed Forces Day, 27 March 2006.

Sukhumi or Sokhumi is a city in a wide bay on the Black Sea's eastern coast. It is both the capital and largest city of Abkhazia, a partially recognized state that most countries consider a part of Georgia. The city has been controlled by Abkhazia since the Abkhazian war in 1992–93. The city, which has an airport, is a port, major rail junction and a holiday resort because of its beaches, sanatoriums, mineral-water spas and semitropical climate. It is also a member of the International Black Sea Club.

Grozny (, ; ) is the capital city of Chechnya, Russia.

administrative capital of Sri Lanka

thumb|215x215px|Port of Aden from the ISS, 2016

Stepanakert, or Khankendi, is a city in the Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan. The city was under the control and the capital city of the breakaway Republic of Artsakh prior to the 2023 Azerbaijani offensive in the region. The city is located in a valley on the eastern slopes of the Karabakh mountain range, on the left bank of the Karkar/Gargarchay River.

Nukus (; ) is the sixth-largest city in Uzbekistan and the capital of the autonomous Republic of Karakalpakstan. The population of Nukus as of 1 January 2022 was 329,100. The Amu Darya river passes west of the city. Administratively, Nukus is a district-level city, that includes the urban-type settlement Karatau.

Raqqa (, also ), is a city in Syria on the North bank of the Euphrates River, about east of Aleppo. It is located east of the Tabqa Dam, Syria's largest dam. The Hellenistic, Roman, and Byzantine city and bishopric Callinicum (formerly a Latin and now a Maronite Catholic titular see) was the capital of the Abbasid Caliphate between 796 and 809, under the reign of Harun al-Rashid. It was also the capital of the Islamic State from 2014 to 2017. With a population of 531,952 based on the 2021 official census, Raqqa is the sixth largest city in Syria.

Diego Garcia is the largest island of the Chagos Archipelago. It has been used as a joint UK–U.S. military base since the 1970s, following the expulsion of the Chagossians by the UK government. The Chagos Islands are a British overseas territory, though a treaty to transfer sovereignty from the UK to Mauritius was signed on 22 May 2025, with a provision that the military base at the island would remain under British control for at least 99 years. The agreement may be renewed for an additional 40 years after the initial 99-year period, and for an additional period thereafter. The UK government expected the treaty to be ratified sometime in 2026. The UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination has expressed "deep concern" at the terms of the deal.

Metropolitan Manila, commonly shortened to Metro Manila and formally the National Capital Region, is the capital region and largest metropolitan area of the Philippines. Located on the eastern shore of Manila Bay, the region lies between the Central Luzon and Calabarzon regions. Encompassing an area of 636.00 km2 (245.56 sq mi) and with a population of 14,001,751 as of 2024, it consists of sixteen highly urbanized cities: Manila—the capital city—Caloocan, Las Piñas, Makati, Malabon, Mandaluyong, Marikina, Muntinlupa, Navotas, Parañaque, Pasay, Pasig, Quezon City, San Juan, Taguig, and Valenzuela, along with one independent municipality, Pateros. As the second most populous and the most densely populated region in the Philippines, it ranks as the 7th most populous metropolitan area in Asia and the 8th most populous urban area in the world.

capital city and main settlement of Australia's Christmas Island

capital of Northern Cyprus

capital of the Cocos (Keeling) Islands

historical aspects of the capital cities of Japan