List of purpose-built capitals of country subdivisions explained

This is a list of purpose-built capitals of country subdivisions.

List

City Capital of DateNotes
Subdivision Country
Adelaide1836
Amaravati Andhra Pradesh2014moved from Hyderabad[1]
Banjarbaru2022moved from Banjarmasin, construction of the city began in 1953 and official city status was given in 1999
Belo Horizonte1897moved from Ouro Preto
Chandigarh Punjab
Haryana
1947because partition of India placed Punjab's capital, Lahore, in Pakistan; Haryana created out of part of Indian Punjab in 1966 and shares capital
Changwon South Gyeongsang1983moved from Busan
Columbia1790moved from Charleston
Columbus1816moved from Chillicothe
Gandhinagar Gujarat1960founded upon split of Bombay State into two states
Goiânia1933moved from Goiás Velho
Indianapolis1825moved from Corydon
Jackson1821moved from Natchez
Jefferson City1826moved from St. Charles
La Plata1882moved from Buenos Aires
Lansing1847moved from Detroit
Lelystad1967the province consists almost entirely of reclaimed land
Madison1836capital moved from Burlington, now part of Iowa in 1837
Magas2002moved from Nazran
MaryboroughQueen's County Ireland1556Named for Queen Mary I and founded as part of the Plantation of Laois and Offaly, an effort to replace the native Irish population of the region with English settlers. Today the town is known as Portlaoise and the county is County Laois.
Milledgeville1807moved from Louisville; briefly moved to Macon in 1864, then back; moved to Atlanta in 1868
MolaveZamboanga1948moved from Dipolog; ceased to be the capital after the division of the province into Zamboanga del Norte and Zamboanga del Sur in 1952
Neuquén Neuquén Province1904moved from Chos Malal
Palayan1965moved from Cabanatuan; Cabanatuan retains the old provincial capitol and is still used by the provincial government
Palmas1990founded as capital of the new state of Tocantins, formed in 1988 from part of the state of Goiás. Replaced the provisional capital of Miracema do Norte
Perth1829founded as the capital of the Swan River Colony, which, several years later, was enlarged and renamed Western Australia
PhilipstownKing's County Ireland1556Named for King Philip II and founded as part of the Plantation of Laois and Offaly, an effort to replace the native Irish population of the region with English settlers. It was replaced as the county town by Tullamore in 1883. Today Philipstown is known as Daingean and the county is County Offaly.
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.
Raleigh1794moved from New Bern
1847de facto capital of Utah prior to 1856 and de jure capital since.
Sapporo1870sfrom the early 1870s, moved from Hakodate
Savannah1733founded as capital of new Georgia colony; remained capital until 1777 and was briefly again in 1782 and 1784-6
Shah Alam1978moved from Kuala Lumpur when the latter became a Federal Territory
Tallahassee1824from the capitals of the colonies of East Florida and West Florida Pensacola and St. Augustine
Teresina1852moved from Oeiras
Trece Martires1954moved from Cavite City; still the seat of the provincial government despite the capital having transferred to Imus making Trece Martires the de facto capital of Cavite while Imus is the de jure capital of the province.
Victoria1849nearby 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 the Colony of British Columbia in 1866 when united with the mainland; remained capital after British Columbia became Canadian province in 1871
Zhongxing New Village Taiwan Province1956moved from Taipei City. Not recognized by People's Republic of China, which still mark Taipei as capital (or not mark any capital) of its Taiwan Province on all its maps. It remained the capital until July 2018, when all remaining duties of the Taiwan Provincial Government were transferred to the National Development Council and other ministries of the Executive Yuan.

See also

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Kalavalapalli. Yogendra. 2016-07-22. Amaravati: A capital idea, but how feasible?. 2020-08-05. Livemint. en.