Where we are in the world
Since 1920, 17 countries created new capital cities – and one additional is being seriously considered. The reasons vary dramatically – from civil unrest to political pressures to new nationhood to climate change to population growth. While this is more frequent at a subnational level (such as Monserrat, a British Overseas Territory, changing its capital due to a volcanic eruption), is less-frequent at a national level. Moving capital cities often comes with moving additional infrastructure, such as government workers and embassy workers, both of which demand being close to the decision-making powers.
Countries that have changed the locations of their capital cities include:
| # | Date of move | Country | Old Capital City | New Capital City |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1927 | Australia | Melbourne | Canberra |
| 2 | 1958 | Mauritania | Saint Louis (Senegal) | Nouakchott |
| 3 | 1960 | Brazil | Rio de Janeiro | Brasilia |
| 4 | 1965 | Botswana | Mahikeng (South Africa) | Gaborone |
| 5 | 1966 | Pakistan | Karachi | Islamabad |
| 6 | 1970 | Belize | Belize City | Belmopan |
| 7 | 1975 | Malawi | Zomba | Lilongwe |
| 8 | 1983 | Ivory Coast | Abidjan | Yamoussoukro |
| 9 | 1989 | Micronesia | Kolonia | Palikir |
| 10 | 1991 | Nigeria | Lagos | Abuja |
| 11 | 1996 | Tanzania | Dar Es Salaam | Dodoma |
| 12 | 1997 | Kazahkstan | Almaty | Astana |
| 13 | 1999 | Malaysia | Kuala Lumpur | Putrajaya |
| 14 | 2005 | Myanmar | Yangon | Naypyidaw |
| 15 | 2006 | Palau | Koror | Ngerulmud |
| 16 | TBD | Egypt | Cairo | New Administrative Capital |
| 17 | TBD | Indonesia | Jakarta | Nusantara |
| ** | TBD | South Korea | Seoul | Sejong |
For other maps on capital cities, see post on Washington DC as the 51st State and Hulhumale (in Male, Maldives)!
See the interactive Google Map at the bottom of the post!
Three key facts about this map
Astana/Nursultan, Kazakhstan has changed names 4 times since 1997
In Kazakhstan, the capital city moved from the southern city of Almaty, economic and cultural hub of the country, to Astana in 1997 to be closer to the geographic center of the country. Since its inaugeration as the offical seat of the Kazakh government, the city has changed names 4 times:
- Akmola (1997) – the original name of the city when it was named the capital of Kazahkstan
- Astana (1998) – the city was quickly renamed Astana for “capital city” in the Kazakh language
- Nur-Sultan (2019) – the city was renamed after the former president (authoritarian leader) Nursultan Nazarbayev
- Astana (2022) – the city’s name reverted to Astana in the wake of civil unrest that resulted in Nazarbayev’s resigning from government
Indonesia is planning to move its capital city to a different island
Today, Jakarta is the capital city of Indonesia and is one of the most densely populated cities in the world. It faces a myriad of issues from overpopulation, to excessive polution, to frequent earthquakes, to rising sea levels. In 2019, Indonesian president Joko Widodo announced that the govenrmnet planned to move the capital city of the country from Jakarta to the island of Borneo about 750 miles away.
The new city is intended to be built from scratch as a “planned city” called Nusantara on the relatively undeveloped, massive and forested island of Borneo. The intent of starting a new city is to leverage sustainable and equal access practices when designing from the start to avoid issues that Jakarta currently faces; however, environmentalists say that Nusantara will cause massive deforestation and negatively impact native animal populations such as orangutans. Along with this, many indiginous communities and villages are expected to be uprooted.
Construction on Nusantara started in 2022 and is expected to be somewhat operational by 2024.
There are proposals to move South Korea’s capital city from Seoul
Historically, Seoul has been the economic, cultural and political capital of South Korea. Over the past several decades there have been discussions about changing the location of the capital to both “spread wealth” to other parts of the country and to hedge safety risk of being so close to hostile North Korea (Seoul is within 40 miles of the DMZ).
Sejong City, the proposed capital, would be a planned city designed specifically for government and administrative operations. There is major resistance to the idea of moving the capital from Seoul, especially amongst the large number of government employees/
Additional links and sources
- Article on Astana’s name changes over the years (link, published in 2022)
- Article with background surrounding the plans to move Indonesia’s capital city (link, published in 2023)
- Post about proposals to move South Korea’s capital (link, published in 2022)
Have you ever visited one of these new capital cities before?
See other places around the world Globe Charting has featured!
