The capital is the main city of the state. Regardless of its size, population and level of development of the urban economy, it is the political center of the country. It is in the capital that the state’s policy is determined, its budget is imposed, and the direction of state development is formed.
What is the capital and what are its functions
In the vast majority of cases, the capital is the largest city in the country, which also serves as a financial and industrial center, but there are a large number of countries in which the capital is not the largest city.
It often happens that the complex federal structure of the state causes controversy because of the location of the capital, when various cities and regions of the country claim the right to take over the capital's functions. In this case, a decision is made on the allocation of a separate territory with special status for the construction of a new capital. Such measures were taken in the USA and Brazil, in Kazakhstan the capital was moved to Astana, a new city in the northern part of the country.
But very often the most reasonable solution, which does not require huge costs, is the separation of capital functions between several of the largest or historically important cities. This has happened more than once in the history of large empires. For example, in the Austro-Hungarian capitals there were two cities at once - Vienna and Budapest. In the Netherlands, the residence of the head of state is in Amsterdam, and the government is located in The Hague. In South Africa, three cities perform various metropolitan functions: the state administration is located in Pretoria, the Supreme Court in Bloemfontein, and the parliament in Cape Town.
Big cities: former capitals
It often happens that the city becomes too large, and some of its functions are redundant, creating an extra load on the social infrastructure. This happened with the former capital of Tanzania (the city of Dar es Salaam), from where the government was supposed to transfer. Now Dodoma has become the formal capital of the country, but due to lack of funds, the government could not move.
Sometimes it happens that the city is deprived of its capital status by the elements. So the most powerful hurricane that struck the countries of Latin America in 1961, caused significant damage to the city of Belize - at that time the capital of the same country. After that, the capital was moved further from the coast to the city of Belmopan.
The capitals of the former colonies
It is worth explaining what the capital is for countries with developing economies. In most countries that gained independence as a result of colonial liberation movements, capitals are located in the largest cities serving as administrative centers, of which the colonial authorities controlled the local population.
Each of these cities bears an indelible imprint of colonial rule. Last but not least, it concerns architecture. Wanting to get rid of the legacy of the former enslavers, many countries began to move the capitals to new lands. So did Brazil.
The first plan for the transfer of the capital there was developed back in 1893, but subsequently it was postponed many times. Only in 1960 the capital was moved from Rio de Janeiro to a new city, built specifically for this in the geographical center of the country. So there was a capital, called Brasilia.
Output
What is the capital? Summing up, it must be said that this is not always the largest, but always the most politically significant city. Also, several cities of a country can be capitals at once, in such cases the highest bodies of state power are located in two or more cities.
Sometimes the capital is transferred to a new city in order to reduce the burden on infrastructure or to avoid a conflict between the territories because of the status of a capital city, which can bring financial profit and financing of various projects from the state rather than the municipal budget.
Separately, it is worth mentioning what the capital of a state, region or department is. As a rule, this is the city in which local governments or central authorities are located, as is the case with the overseas territories of France. In the United States, the capital of the state is the city where the governor's residence is located.