Capital

:This article concerns places that serve as centers of government and politics. For alternative meanings see capital (disambiguation)

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In politics a capital (also called capital city or political capital — although the latter phrase has an alternative meaning based on an alternative meaning of "capital") is the principal city or town associated with its government. It is almost always the city which physically encompasses the offices and meeting places of the seat of government and fixed by law. The word capital is derived from the Latin caput meaning "head," and the related term capitol refers to the building where government-business is chiefly conducted.

Related Topics:
Politics - Capital - City - Town - Government - Seat of government - Law - Latin - Capitol

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The seats of government in major substate jurisdictions are usually called capitals, but at lower administrative subdivisions, terms such as county town, county seat, or borough seat are also used.

Related Topics:
County town - County seat - Borough seat

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A number of cases exist where states or other entities have multiple capitals. In South Africa, for example, the administrative capital is Pretoria, the legislative capital is Cape Town, and the judicial capital is Bloemfontein, the outcome of the compromise that created the Union of South Africa in 1910.

Related Topics:
South Africa - Pretoria - Cape Town - Bloemfontein - Union of South Africa - 1910

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In others, the "effective" and "official" capital may differ for pragmatic reasons, resulting in a situation where a city known as "the capital" is not, in fact, host to the seat of government:

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• Yamoussoukro was designated the national capital of Côte d'Ivoire in 1983, but as of 2004 most government offices and embassies were still located in Abidjan
• Sucre is still the constitutional capital of Bolivia, but most of the national government long abandoned that region for La Paz
• Amsterdam is the nominal national capital of The Netherlands even though the Dutch government and supreme court are both located in The Hague.

In such cases, the city housing the administrative capital is usually understood to be the "national capital" among outsiders. For instance, Santiago is understood to be the capital of Chile even though its Congress is in Valparaiso.

Related Topics:
Santiago - Chile - Congress - Valparaiso

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As the focal point of power for the country or region, the capital naturally attracts the politically motivated and those whose skills are needed for efficient administration of government such as lawyers, journalists, and public policy researchers. Older capitals have often developed into prime economic, cultural, or intellectual centers as well. Such is certainly the case with Paris, France and Buenos Aires, Argentina among national capitals, and Irkutsk or Salt Lake City in their respective state or province. Such concentration may be controversial. The siting of Brasília in Brazil's heartland was done in order to bring progress to the interior of the country, since the old capital, Rio de Janeiro, along with entire Southeastern Brazil was already crowded. The government of South Korea announced in 2004 it would move its capital from Seoul to Yeongi-Gongju — even though the word Seoul itself means "capital" in the Korean language.

Related Topics:
Lawyer - Journalist - Public policy - Paris - France - Buenos Aires - Argentina - Irkutsk - Salt Lake City - Brasília - Brazil - Rio de Janeiro - South Korea - 2004 - Seoul - Yeongi-Gongju - Korean language

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The convergence of political and economic or cultural power is by no means universal. Traditional capitals may be economically eclipsed by provincial rivals, as occurred with Thebes by Alexandria, Nanjing by Shanghai, or Edinburgh by Glasgow. The decline of a dynasty or culture could mean the extinction of its capital city as well, as occurred with Babylon and Cahokia. And many modern capital cities, such as Abuja and Ottawa, were deliberately fixed outside existing economic areas, and may not have established themselves as new commercial or industrial hubs since.

Related Topics:
Thebes - Alexandria - Nanjing - Shanghai - Edinburgh - Glasgow - Babylon - Cahokia - Abuja - Ottawa

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Capital: Capital as symbol ►