Former national capitals

Edirne (; ), historically known as Orestias, Orestiada, Adrianople, or Adriana is a city in Turkey, in the northwestern part of the province of Edirne in Eastern Thrace. Situated from the Greek and from the Bulgarian borders, Edirne was the second capital city of the Ottoman Empire from the 1360s to 1453, before Constantinople became its capital.

Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd (Петроград) and later Leningrad (Ленинград), is the second-largest city in Russia, after Moscow, the nation's capital. It is situated on the River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea. With an area of 1,439 square kilometers, Saint Petersburg is the smallest administrative division of Russia by area. The city had a population of 5,601,911 residents as of 2021, with more than 6.4 million people living in the metropolitan area. Saint Petersburg is the fourth-most populous city in Europe, the most populous city on the Baltic Sea, and the world's northernmost city of more than 1 million residents. As the former capital of the Russian Empire, and a historically strategic port, it is governed as a federal city.

Ho Chi Minh City, also known as Saigon, is the most populous municipality of Vietnam, with a population of more than 14 million in 2025. Its geography is defined by rivers and canals, of which the largest is Saigon River. As the largest financial centre in Vietnam, Ho Chi Minh City has the largest gross regional domestic product out of all Vietnam provinces and municipalities, contributing around a quarter of the country's total GDP. It is the busiest international transport hub in Vietnam, with Tân Sơn Nhất International Airport accounting for nearly half of all international arrivals to Vietnam, and the Port of Saigon among the busiest container ports in Southeast Asia. Ho Chi Minh City has historic landmarks and modern landmarks, including the Independence Palace, Bitexco Financial Tower, Landmark 81 Tower, the War Remnants Museum, and Bến Thành Market. It is known for its alleys and nightlife, including the Phạm Ngũ Lão Ward and Bùi Viện street.

Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung/ or ) is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second most-populous city in Australia. The city's name generally refers to a area, comprising an urban agglomeration of 31 local government areas. The name is also used to specifically refer to the local government area named City of Melbourne, whose area is centred on the Melbourne central business district and some immediate surrounds.

Karachi is the capital city of the province of Sindh, Pakistan. It is the largest city in Pakistan and 12th largest in the world, with a population of over 20 million. It is situated at the southern tip of the country along the Arabian Sea coast and formerly served as the country's capital from 1947 to 1959. Ranked as a beta-global city, it is Pakistan's premier industrial and financial centre, with an estimated GDP of over $200 billion (PPP) . Karachi is a major metropolitan area and is considered Pakistan's most cosmopolitan city, and among the country's most linguistically, ethnically,

Kolkata, also known as Calcutta (its official name until 2001), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of West Bengal. It lies on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River, west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary financial and commercial centre of eastern and one of the gateways to northeastern India. Kolkata is the seventh most populous city in India with an estimated city proper population of 4.5 million (04.5 million) while its metropolitan region Kolkata Metropolitan Area is the third most populous metropolitan region of India with a metro population of ove

Lagos ( ; ), or Lagos City, is a large metropolitan port city in southwestern Nigeria. , the size of the city's population has been estimated to stand between 17 and 21 million residents, making Lagos the largest city in Nigeria, the most populous urban area on the African continent, and one of the fastest-growing megacities in the world. Lagos was the national capital of Nigeria until the government's December 1991 decision to relocate its capital to Abuja, in the centre of the country. Apart from serving as a major African financial center, Lagos has also played a significant role in the nat

city and municipality in the Netherlands, seat of the Dutch government

Turin () is a city and an important business and cultural centre in northern Italy. It is the capital city of the Piedmont region and of the Metropolitan City of Turin. From 1861 to 1865, it was the first capital of the Kingdom of Italy. The city is mainly on the western bank of the River Po, below its Susa Valley, and is surrounded by the western Alpine arch and Superga hill. The population of the city proper is as of , while the population of the urban area is estimated by Eurostat to be 1.7 million inhabitants. The Turin metropolitan area is estimated by the OECD to have a population o

Wuhan is the capital of Hubei, China. With a population of 13,739,000, it is the most populous city in Hubei and the seventh-most-populous city in China. It is also one of China's nine national central cities.

Durrës ( , ; ) is the second most populous city of the Republic of Albania and seat of Durrës County and Durrës Municipality. It is one of Albania's oldest continuously inhabited cities, with roughly 2,500 years of recorded history. It is located on a flat plain along the Albanian Adriatic Sea Coast between the mouths of the Erzen and Ishëm at the southeastern corner of the Adriatic Sea. Durrës's climate is profoundly influenced by a seasonal Mediterranean climate.

Valencia, officially València, is the capital of the Valencian Community and the province of the same name in Spain. It is located on the banks of the Turia, on the east coast of the Iberian Peninsula on the Mediterranean Sea. With a population of 824,340, it is the third-largest city in Spain. The urban area of Valencia has 1.6 million people while the metropolitan region has 2.5 million.

Bonn, () officially the Federal City of Bonn, () is a federal city in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, located on the banks of the Rhine. With a population exceeding 300,000, it lies about south-southeast of Cologne, in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ruhr region.

Malabo ( , ; formerly Santa Isabel ) is a city in Equatorial Guinea, located in the province of Bioko Norte. It is located on the north coast of the island of Bioko (, historically known as Fernando Pó by the Europeans). In 2018, the city had a population of approximately 297,000 inhabitants.

Bujumbura (; ), formerly Usumbura, is the economic capital, former political capital, largest city and main port of Burundi. It ships most of the country's chief export, coffee, as well as cotton and tin ore. Bujumbura was formerly the country's political capital. In late December 2018, Burundian president Pierre Nkurunziza announced that he would follow through on a 2007 promise to return Gitega its former political capital status, with Bujumbura remaining as economical capital and center of commerce. A vote in the Parliament of Burundi made the change official on 16 January 2019, and as of l

Abidjan ( , ; N'ko: ߊߓߌߖߊ߲߬) is the largest city and the former capital of Ivory Coast. As of the 2021 census, Abidjan's population was 6.3 million, which is 21.5 percent of the overall population of the country, making it the sixth most populous city proper in Africa, after Lagos, Cairo, Kinshasa, Dar es Salaam, and Johannesburg. A cultural crossroads of West Africa, Abidjan is characterised by a high level of industrialisation and urbanisation. It is the most populous French-speaking city in West Africa.

Almaty is the largest city in Kazakhstan, with a population exceeding two million residents within its metropolitan area. Located in the foothills of the Trans-Ili Alatau mountains in southern Kazakhstan, near the border with Kyrgyzstan, Almaty stands as a pivotal center of culture, commerce, finance and innovation. The city is nestled at an elevation of 700–900 metres (2,300–3,000 feet), with the Big Almaty and Small Almaty rivers running through it, originating from the surrounding mountains and flowing into the plains. Almaty is the second-largest city in Central Asia and the fourth-largest

Colombo ( ; , ; , ) is the largest city of Sri Lanka by population and de facto commercial capital of Sri Lanka. The Colombo metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of 5.6 million, and 752,993 within the municipal limits. It is the financial centre of the island and a tourist destination. It is located on the west coast of the island. It is also the administrative capital of the Western Province and the district capital of Colombo District.

Yangon, sometimes romanised in English as Rangoon, is the capital of the Yangon Region and the largest city of Myanmar. Yangon was the capital of Myanmar until 2005 and served as such until 2006, when the military government relocated the administrative functions to the purpose-built capital city of Naypyidaw in north central Myanmar. With over five million people, Yangon is Myanmar's most populous city and its most important commercial centre.

Samarkand is a city in southeastern Uzbekistan and among the oldest continuously inhabited cities in Central Asia. Samarkand is the capital of the Samarkand Region and a district-level city, that includes the urban-type settlements Kimyogarlar, Farhod and Khishrav. With 551,700 inhabitants (2021), it is the third-largest city in Uzbekistan.

capital of the Nizhny Novgorod Oblast and the Volga Federal District in central Russia

Hyderabad is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River, in the northern part of Southern India. With an average altitude of , much of Hyderabad is situated on hilly terrain around artificial lakes, including the Hussain Sagar lake, predating the city's founding, in the north of the city centre. According to the 2011 census of India, Hyderabad is the fourth-most populous city in India with a population of residents within the city limits, and has a population of residents in the metropolitan region, making

Kaunas (; ) is the second-largest city in Lithuania (after Vilnius), the fourth-largest city in the Baltic States, and an important centre of Lithuanian economic, academic, and cultural life. Kaunas was the largest city and the centre of a in the Duchy of Trakai of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and Trakai Palatinate since 1413. In the Russian Empire, it was the capital of the Kaunas Governorate from 1843 to 1915.

Dar es Salaam or Daresalaam is the largest city and financial hub of Tanzania and the capital of the Dar es Salaam Region. It is located on the Swahili coast. With a population of over 7 million people, Dar es Salaam is the largest city in East Africa by population and the fifth-largest in Africa. Dar es Salaam is an important economic centre and one of the fastest-growing cities in the world. Experts predict that the city's population will grow to over 10 million before 2030.

Trondheim ( , ; ; ), historically Kaupangen, Nidaros, and Trondhjem (), is a city and municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. As of January 1, 2026, it had a population of 218,460. Trondheim is the third most populous municipality in Norway, and is the fourth largest urban area. Trondheim lies on the south shore of Trondheim Fjord at the mouth of the River Nidelva. Among the significant technology-oriented institutions headquartered in Trondheim are the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), the Foundation for Scientific and Industrial Research (SINTEF), the Geological Survey

Yogyakarta is the capital city of the Special Region of Yogyakarta in Indonesia, in the south-central part of the island of Java. As the only Indonesian royal city still ruled by a monarchy, Yogyakarta is regarded as an important centre for classical Javanese fine arts and culture such as ballet, batik textiles, drama, literature, music, poetry, silversmithing, visual arts, and wayang puppetry. Renowned as a centre of Indonesian education, Yogyakarta is home to a large student population and dozens of schools and universities, including Gadjah Mada University, the country's largest institute o

Coimbra, officially the City of Coimbra, is a city and a municipality in Portugal. The population of the municipality at the 2021 census was 140,796, in an area of . It is the fourth-largest metropolitan area in Portugal after Lisbon, Porto, and Braga, and is the largest city of the district of Coimbra and the Central Region. About 460,000 people live in its intermunicipal community.

Rawalpindi, colloquially known as Pindi, is the third-largest city in the Pakistani province of Punjab, serving as the principal commercial and industrial hub of northern Punjab. It is the fourth-most populous city in Pakistan and ranks as the world's third-largest Punjabi-speaking metropolis (after Lahore and Faisalabad). Located along the Soan River in north-western Punjab, Rawalpindi lies adjacent to Pakistan's capital, Islamabad, and the two are jointly known as the "twin cities".

Huế, formerly Thừa Thiên Huế province,'''''' is a municipality in central Vietnam, located approximately at the center of the country, and an educational, medical, and cultural hub. It borders Quảng Trị to the north, Đà Nẵng to the south, the Laos provinces of Salavan and Sekong to the west and the South China Sea to the east. As one of the country's six direct-controlled municipalities, Huế falls under the administration of the central government. It has 128 km of coastline, 22,000 ha of lagoons and over 200,000 ha of forest. The city is located in the middle of the North Central and Sou

city of the Philippines in Metro Manila

Aarau (, ) is a town, a municipality, and the capital of the northern Swiss canton of Aargau. The town is also the capital of the district of Aarau. It is German-speaking and predominantly Protestant. Aarau is situated on the Swiss plateau, in the valley of the Aare, on the river's right bank, and at the southern foot of the Jura Mountains, and is west of Zurich, south of Basel and northeast of Bern. The municipality borders directly on the canton of Solothurn to the west. It is the largest town in Aargau. At the beginning of 2010 Rohr became a district of Aarau.

Liepāja () (formerly: Libau) is a state city in western Latvia, located on the Baltic Sea. It is the largest city in the Courland region and the third-largest in the country after Riga and Daugavpils. It is an important ice-free port.

Angkor ( , 'capital city'), also known as Yasodharapura (; ), was the capital city of the Khmer Empire, located in present-day Cambodia. The empire flourished from approximately the 9th to the 15th centuries. The site of Angkor has a variety of religious temples, libraries, moats, and other buildings. These other buildings could have been used by officials to the grand palace housing the Khmer king. Those constructed outside the main complex were not made of stone. One of the more visited places in Angkor is Angkor Wat, a temple complex that is one of Cambodia's tourist attractions.

Cetinje (, ) is a town in Montenegro. It is the former royal capital () of Montenegro and is the location of several national institutions, including the official residence of the president of Montenegro.

city of the Philippines and capital of the province of Cebu

Roskilde ( , ) is a city west of Copenhagen on the Danish island of Zealand. With a population of 53,354 (), the city is a business and educational centre for the region and the 10th largest city in Denmark. It is governed by the administrative council of Roskilde Municipality.

ancient Egyptian city

thumb|A square in Sirte (2007)

Colchester ( ) is a city in north-eastern Essex, England. At the 2021 census the built up area had a population of 130,245, making it the second-largest settlement in Essex, after Southend-on-Sea. It gives its name to the wider Colchester local government district which also covers an extensive surrounding area. The demonym is Colcestrian.

Chelmsford () is a city in Essex, England. It is the county town of Essex and one of three cities in the county, along with Colchester and Southend-on-Sea. It is located north-east of Charing Cross in London, and south-west of Colchester. At the 2021 census the built up area had a population of 110,625. It gives its name to the wider Chelmsford local government district which also covers an extensive surrounding area.

thumb|View of the Nafplio Town Hall on Βασ. Κωνσταντίνου (Vasileos Konstantinou). Nafplio or Nauplio () is a coastal city located in the Peloponnese in Greece. It is the capital of the regional unit of Argolis and an important tourist destination. Founded in antiquity, the city became an important seaport in the Middle Ages during the Frankokratia as part of the lordship of Argos and Nauplia, held initially by the de la Roche following the Fourth Crusade before coming under the Republic of Venice and, lastly, the Ottoman Empire. The city was the second capital of the First Hellenic Republic an

Mekelle (), or '''Mek'ele''', is a special zone and capital of the Tigray Region of Ethiopia. Mekelle was formerly the capital of Enderta awraja in Tigray. It is located around north of the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa, with an elevation of above sea level. Administratively, Mekelle is considered a Special Zone, which is divided into seven sub-cities. It is the economic, cultural, and political hub of northern Ethiopia.

Gondar, also spelled Gonder (Amharic: ጎንደር, Gonder or Gondär; formerly , Gʷandar or Gʷender), is a city and woreda in Ethiopia. Located in the North Gondar Zone of the Amhara Region, Gondar is north of Lake Tana on the Lesser Angereb River and southwest of the Simien Mountains. , Gondar has an estimated population of 443,156.

colonial city and capital of León Department, Nicaragua

Mdina ( ; ), also known by its Italian epithets ' ("Old City") and ' ("Notable City"), is a fortified city in the Western Region of Malta which was the island's capital from antiquity to the medieval period. The city has not spread beyond its ancient walls, and has a population of 250.

Massawa or Mitsiwa ( ) is a port city in the Northern Red Sea region of Eritrea, located on the Red Sea at the northern end of the Gulf of Zula beside the Dahlak Archipelago. It has been a historically important port for many centuries. Massawa has been ruled or occupied by a succession of polities during its history, including the Dahlak Sultanate, the Ottoman Empire, the Khedivate of Egypt and the Kingdom of Italy.

municipality in Granada Department, Nicaragua

Dunfermline is a city, parish, and former royal burgh in Fife, Scotland, from the northern shore of the Firth of Forth. Dunfermline was the de facto capital of the Kingdom of Scotland between the 11th and 15th centuries.

city in the southern parts of Malawi

city of the Philippines and capital of the province of Iloilo

Tadjoura (; ; ) is one of the oldest towns in Djibouti and the capital of the Tadjourah Region. The town rose to prominence in the early 19th century as an alternative port to nearby Zeila. Lying on the Gulf of Tadjoura, it is home to a population of around 19,000 inhabitants. It is the third-largest city in the country after Djibouti and Ali Sabieh.

Birgu ( , ), also known by its title Città Vittoriosa ('Victorious City'), is an old fortified city on the south side of the Grand Harbour in the Port Region of Malta. The city occupies a promontory of land with Fort Saint Angelo at its head and the city of Cospicua at its base. Birgu is ideally situated for safe anchorage, and has a long history of maritime, mercantile and military activities.

Comayagua () is a city, municipality and old capital of Honduras, located northwest of Tegucigalpa on the highway to San Pedro Sula and above sea level.

Punakha () is the administrative centre of Punakha dzongkhag, one of the 20 districts of Bhutan. Punakha was the capital of Bhutan and the seat of government until 1955, when the capital was moved to Thimphu. It is about 72 km away from Thimphu, and it takes about 3 hours by car from the capital. Unlike Thimphu, it is quite warm in winter and hot in summer. It is located at an elevation of 1,200 metres above sea level, and rice is grown as the main crop along the river valleys of two main rivers of Bhutan, the Pho Chhu and Mo Chhu. Dzongkha is widely spoken in this district.

Nicomedia (; , Nikomedeia; modern İzmit) was an ancient Greek city located in what is now Turkey. In 286 AD, Nicomedia became the eastern and most senior capital city of the Roman Empire (chosen by the emperor Diocletian who ruled in the east), a status which the city maintained during the Tetrarchy system (293–324 AD).

Koror is the state comprising the main commercial centre of the Republic of Palau. It consists of several islands, the most prominent being Koror Island (also Oreor Island). It is Palau's most populous state; more people live in Koror than in the rest of Palau.

thumb|upright=1.5|The 8th century BCE burial tumuli, Tumulus MM (left) and Tumulus P (right) at Gordion, Turkey

district in Heredia canton, and city of Heredia province, Costa Rica

thumb|Catholic Belltower thumb|Spanish Wall thumb|Looking out over Kolonia Town with iconic Sokehs Rock and the Pohnpei State Airport in the distance Kolonia is a coastal town and the capital of Pohnpei State in the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM). It's not to be confused with the far smaller Colonia, the capital of the State of Yap. It was also the former FSM capital before being replaced by Palikir in 1989, located nearby to the southwest in the municipality of Sokehs. It has a population of 6,074.