List of purpose-built capital cities

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Lists of capitals [edit]
by alphabetic order by country by continent former national capitals Timeline of country and capital changes purpose-built capital cities capitals and largest cities by country countries whose capital is not their largest city capitals outside the territories they serve

This is a list of capital cities that were built from the ground up to be national or regional capitals, rather than being a pre-existing city chosen to be the capital.

[edit] National

City	Country	Notes
Abuja	Nigeria	from 1991, moved from Lagos in order to provide a capital city that was a mix of the three major ethnic groups, the Yoruba, Igbo, and Hausa-Fulani. Other reasons include more central geographic location and to avoid overcrowded Lagos.
Ayutthaya	Ayutthaya Kingdom (Thailand)	founded 1350
Beijing	Yuan Dynasty China	Old Beijing (called Zhongdu) burned to ground by Mongols in 1215. A new city, Khanbaliq ("Dadu" in Chinese), the future Beijing, was built nearby as a Mongol capital in 1267, as prelude to Mongol establishment of the Yuan Dynasty in China. The Yuan were forced to move their capital to Karakorum in Mongolia in 1368 as their dynasty ended in China; China's capital moved to Nanjing as the Ming Dynasty started. It returned to Beijing in 1420, and the city remained the capital of China (under the Ming and Qing Dynasties and the Republic of China) until again the capital moved to Nanjing in 1928; it returned to the city in 1949 with the establishment of the Peoples Republic of China. See Historical capitals of China.
Belmopan	British Honduras	from 1970, moved from Belize City when a hurricane completely destroyed the city.
Brasília	Brazil	from 1960, moved from Rio de Janeiro because of overcrowding and to encourage inland growth.
Canberra	Australia	from 1927, moved from temporary capital at Melbourne from 1901. Site has to be in New South Wales state, but at least 200 miles from capital of that state (currently Sydney).
Fujiwara-kyō	Japan	from 694, moved from Asuka; moved to Nara in 710
Islamabad	Pakistan	from 1967, moved from Rawalpindi
Karlsruhe	Baden-Durlach (a German state)	from 1715, moved from Durlach; became capital of unified Baden in 1771; remained capital of state of Baden after joining unified Germany in 1871; ceased being capital in 1945
Kyoto	Japan	from 794, moved from Nagaokakyō; moved to Tokyo around 1868 (see article capital of Japan)
Lima	Viceroyalty of Peru	from 1535. Cusco was the capital of the precedent Inca Empire
Mandalay	Myanmar	Built in 1852 by Mindon Min, it was the last royal capital of the Burmese Konbaung Kingdom. The site was chosen in accordance to a supposed prophecy by the Buddha. Mandalay is now the second largest city in Myanmar, and is one of Myanmar's five capitals during a two century span.
Melekeok	Palau	from 2006, moved from Koror
Naypyidaw	Myanmar	from 2005, moved from Yangon to have their military government more centrally located geographically and "to keep an eye" on rebel groups forming and training for coups in the jungles and away from the political activities of Yangon
New Delhi	India	from 1912, moved from Calcutta
Nouakchott	Mauritania	from 1958, moved from Saint-Louis, Senegal
Putrajaya	Malaysia	from 2002, the administrative branch moved from Kuala Lumpur. However, Kuala Lumpur remains the official capital.
Quezon City	Philippines	from 1948, moved from Manila; returned to Manila in 1976
Saint Petersburg	Russia	from 1712, moved from Moscow; returned to Moscow in 1918
Valletta	Malta	from 1566, moved from Mdina (then known as Città Notabile)
Washington, DC	United States	from 1800, moved from Philadelphia

[edit] Subnational

City	Capital of	Notes
Adelaide	South Australia, Australia	founded 1836
Belo Horizonte	Minas Gerais, Brazil	founded 1897, moved from Ouro Preto
Brisbane	Queensland, Australia	founded 1824
Chandigarh	both Punjab and Haryana, India	from 1947, because partition of India placed Punjab's capital, Lahore, in Pakistan; Haryana created out of part of Indian Punjab in 1966 and shares capital
Changwon	Gyeongsangnam-do (South Gyeongsang), South Korea	from 1983, moved from Busan
Columbia	South Carolina, United States	from 1790, moved from Charleston
Columbus	Ohio, United States	from 1816, moved from Chillicothe
Gandhinagar	Gujarat, India	founded 1960 upon split of Bombay State into two states
Goiânia	Goiás, Brazil	from 1933, moved from Goiás Velho
Indianapolis	Indiana, United States	from 1825, moved from Corydon
Jackson	Mississippi, United States	from 1821, moved from Natchez
Jefferson City	Missouri, United States	from 1826, moved from St. Charles
Jhongsing Village	Taiwan Province, Republic of China (Taiwan)	from 1956, moved from Taipei City
Lansing	Michigan, United States	from 1847, moved from Detroit
La Plata	Buenos Aires Province, Argentina	from 1882, moved from Buenos Aires
Madison	Wisconsin, United States	from 1838, moved from Burlington, now part of Iowa
Magas	Ingushetia, Russia	from 2002, moved from Nazran
Milledgeville	Georgia, United States	from 1807, moved from Louisville; briefly moved to Macon in 1864, then back; moved to Atlanta in 1868
Palayan City	Nueva Ecija, Philippines	from 1965, moved from Cabanatuan City; Cabanatuan City retains the old provincial capitol and is still used by the provincial government
Palmas	Tocantins, Brazil	founded 1990 as capital of the new state of Tocatins, formed in 1988
Perth	Western Australia, Australia	founded in 1829 as the capital of the Swan River Colony, which, several years later, was enlarged and renamed Western Australia
Pierre	South Dakota, United States	from 1889 when the Dakota Territory divided into North and South Dakota and gained statehood, moved from then territorial capital Bismarck, North Dakota which, by default, became state capital of North Dakota. Previous territorial capital before Bismarck was Yankton, South Dakota from 1861-1883.
Raleigh	North Carolina, United States	from 1794, moved from New Bern
Sapporo	Hokkaidō, Japan	from the early 1870s, moved from Hakodate
Savannah	Georgia, United States	founded 1733 as capital of new Georgia colony; remained capital until 1777 and was briefly again in 1782 and 1784-6
Shah Alam	Selangor, Malaysia	from 1978, moved from Kuala Lumpur when the latter became a Federal Territory
Tallahassee	Florida, United States	from 1824, from Pensacola and St. Augustine
Teresina	Piauí, Brazil	from 1852, moved from Oeiras
Trece Martires City	Cavite, Philippines	from 1954, moved from Cavite City; still the seat of the provincial government despite the capital having transferred to Imus.
Victoria	British Columbia, Canada	nearby Fort Victoria had existed earlier, but in 1849 the town was specifically laid out to be the capital of the new Colony of Vancouver Island; became capital of United Colonies of Vancouver Island and British Columbia in 1866 when united with the mainland; remained capital after British Columbia became Canadian province in 1871