Country rankings

Capitals that are Not the Largest City by Country

China has the highest Capital Population (22M), followed by Vietnam (8.1M) and Turkey (5.2M). San Marino has the lowest (4,211).

Population36 countries · 6 metricsUpdated May 29, 2025Original page
10 sources
36 of 235 countries
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Capital Population

Darker means higher. Click a place to highlight it.

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All 36 ranked

Highest first.

Distribution Median and middle halfThe median is the middle value: half of places are above it, half below. The middle half is the range holding the central 50% of places.More in the glossary →

Each dot is one country; the lines mark the median and the middle half.

Median
343.7K
Middle half 131.8K – 1M
Average
1.6M
36 countries
Highest
22M
China
Lowest
4,211
San Marino

Data

Click a column to sort, a row to highlight that place on the charts.

36 countries · # = rank by Capital Population
#
1China22MBeijing30.5MShanghai1.39—
2Vietnam8.1MHanoi9MHo Chi Minh City1.1Ho Chi Minh City, formerly Saigon, was the capital of South Vietnam prior to reunification.
3Turkey5.2MAnkara14.4MIstanbul3.4Istanbul (as Constantinople) was the capital of the Ottoman Empire from 1453 to 1922.
4Brazil3.5MBrasília12.3MSão Paulo4.25Brasília is a planned city and has been the capital city since its inauguration in 1960. Rio de Janeiro was the capital from 1763 until 1960. Brasília is the third most populous city in Brazil and the seventh largest metropolitan area.
5Taiwan2.7MTaipei4MNew Taipei1.5Despite having no formal designation to the national capital of the ROC by law, Taipei has been the seat of the ROC central government since 1949.
6South Africa2.3MPretoria5.6MJohannesburg1.66Cape Town (pop. 4.8 million) and Bloemfontein (metro pop. 747,431) serve as legislative and judicial capitals respectively.
7Ecuador1.8MQuito2.7MGuayaquil1.5—
8Cameroon1.4MYaoundé2MDouala1.4—
9Canada1MOttawa2.8MToronto3.08Toronto was the capital of the Province of Canada from 1849 to 1852 and 1856 to 1858. For some years before, Kingston was the de facto capital, but when it came time to form the United Province of Canada in 1841 an official capital needed to be designated. There was much contr…
10Pakistan1MIslamabad14.9MKarachi14.69Karachi was the capital from 1947 to 1958.
11Myanmar925KNaypyidaw4.3MYangon4.7Yangon was the capital until 2006. Naypyidaw is a planned city and not does not have contiguous urban areas or a proper metro area.
12United Arab Emirates896.8KAbu Dhabi2.3MDubai2.52—
13Nigeria778.6KAbuja7.9MLagos10.2Lagos was the capital until 1991
14Kazakhstan743KAstana1.5MAlmaty1.95Almaty was the capital from 1927 to 1997. Astana was named Nur-Sultan from 2019 until 2022.
15United States705.7KWashington, D.C.8.4MNew York City12.72New York was the capital from 1785 to 1790 and the largest city in 1790 (narrowly edging out the next capital, Philadelphia, which served as capital from 1790 to 1800). Philadelphia was the nation's second-largest city when it was the capital. Washington is the 20th-largest ci…
16Morocco627KRabat4.2MCasablanca6.62Rabat is the seventh largest city in Morocco.
17Australia426.7KCanberra5.3MSydney12.6A planned city, Canberra has been Australia's capital city since its foundation in 1913. However, the national parliament was based in Melbourne, Victoria until 1927.
18Israel363.1KJerusalem460.6KTel Aviv1.2Jerusalem has only limited recognition as the capital of Israel. It would be Israel's largest city if East Jerusalem was included (increasing the population to 936,425). However, Israel's occupation of East Jerusalem is not internationally recognized. Without East Jerusalem, T…
19Tanzania324.3KDodoma2.5MDar es Salaam7.7Dar es Salaam was the capital until 1974.
20Equatorial Guinea297KMalabo513KBata——
21Benin264.3KPorto-Novo761.1KCotonou3.4Cotonou is the de facto capital with seat of government. Both cities are part of the same metropolitan area.
22Bolivia259.4KSucre1.5MSanta Cruz de la Sierra[1]7.1La Paz is the de facto capital with the seat of government; it is in Bolivia's second most populous metropolitan area.
23India250KNew Delhi12.4MMumbai49.77In 1912, the capital was moved from Calcutta (now Kolkata) to New Delhi. The neighbouring city of Delhi had previously served as the capital of the Mughal Empire.
24New Zealand208.8KWellington1.5MAuckland7.33Auckland was the capital from 1841 to 1865.
25Ivory Coast200.7KYamoussoukro4.3MAbidjan21.7Abidjan was the capital until 1983
26Belgium188.7KBrussels536.1KAntwerp2.84Considering Brussels metropolitan area has more inhabitants, Antwerp is the largest in city inhabitants.
27Switzerland138KBern397.7KZürich2.88Switzerland does not have a de jure capital, but Bern was designated "federal city" with the seat of the two parliament chambers in 1848, when for the first time the independent Swiss states established standing federal authorities
28Sri Lanka113KSri Jayawardenepura Kotte648KColombo——
29Trinidad and Tobago49KPort of Spain67.4KChaguanas1.37Both cities are part of the same metropolitan area.
30Burundi41.9KGitega1.1MBujumbura26.06Bujumbura was the capital until 2019
31Gambia31.3KBanjul337KSerrekunda2.18—
32Belize20.6KBelmopan61.8KBelize City3.07Belize City was the capital until 1970
33Malta5,827Valletta29.1KSt. Paul's Bay6.62Valletta is part of the Central Region, a conurbation with a population of 111,994.
34Liechtenstein5,109Vaduz6,039Schaan1.14Vaduz is the second largest city in Liechtenstein. Both cities are part of the same metropolitan area.
35Micronesia5,000Palikir13KWeno1.4—
36San Marino4,211San Marino10.6KSerravalle2.52—

What correlates with Capital Population?

Pearson r against 1,541 other country metrics sharing at least 22 countries. Correlation is not causation.

Higher together

Places that have a higher Capital Population tend to score higher on these

  1. Total Meat ConsumptionMeat Consumption by Country
    r = +0.99 · very strong · n = 22
    Plot
  2. Cucumber ProductionCucumber Production by Country
    r = +0.97 · very strong · n = 24
    Plot
  3. Value of Exported CircuitsIntegrated Circuit Exports by Country
    r = +0.95 · very strong · n = 27
    Plot
  4. % of World Textile ExportsTextile Exports by Country
    r = +0.95 · very strong · n = 34
    Plot
  5. Textile ExportsTextile Exports by Country
    r = +0.95 · very strong · n = 34
    Plot
  6. Folk ReligionsReligious People by Country
    r = +0.94 · very strong · n = 35
    Plot

Opposite directions

Places that have a higher Capital Population tend to score lower on these

  1. Fractional Units per WholeMajor Countries Currencies
    r = −0.86 · very strong · n = 35
    Plot
  2. US Trade BalanceUS Trade Deficit by Country
    r = −0.78 · very strong · n = 35
    Plot
  3. Down SyndromeBirth Defect Rates by Country
    r = −0.49 · moderate · n = 35
    Plot
  4. Press Freedom Index Score (RSF)Freedom Index by Country
    r = −0.47 · moderate · n = 34
    Plot
  5. GGGI Health ScoreGlobal Gender Gap by Country
    r = −0.44 · moderate · n = 30
    Plot
  6. Ethnic Fractionalization Index (HIEF)Most Racially Diverse Countries
    r = −0.44 · moderate · n = 28
    Plot

Quick answers

Which country has the highest Capital Population?
China has the highest Capital Population, at 22M, followed by Vietnam (8.1M) and Turkey (5.2M).
Which country has the lowest Capital Population?
San Marino has the lowest Capital Population, at 4,211.
What is the median Capital Population across countries?
The median is 343.7K across the 36 countries with data.
Where does this capitals that are not the largest city by country data come from?
Rankodex compiles it from World Population Review and the primary sources it cites: Global State of Metropolis 2020 – Population Data Booklet - United Nations; City of Belmopan - Belize.com; Sucre - wiki; Serravalle - Britannica.