Capital districts and territories

A capital territory or capital district is normally a specially designated administrative division where a country's seat of government is located. As such, in a federal model of government, no state or territory has any political or economic advantage relative to the others because of the national capital lying within its borders. A capital territory can be a specific form of federal district.

A distinction should be made from administrative divisions which include national capitals, but have no special designated status legally (for example, Île de France has no distinct quality from other regions of France). Some federal countries (like Belgium), give their national capitals the status as full, equal federal units.

Some federal countries have made no distinction administratively for the territory around the capital. A few federal countries have their national capitals located in the capital city of a federal state: Sarajevo, the capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina, is also the capital of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, one of federal units and de jure capital of Republika Srpska, the other federal unit; further, Bern, the capital of Switzerland, is the capital of the Canton of Bern.

Two national capitals in federal countries are neither federal units, special capital districts, nor capitals of federal units: Ottawa, the capital of Canada, and Palikir, the capital of the Federated States of Micronesia. The Canadian government does designate the Ottawa area as the National Capital Region, although this term merely represents the jurisdictional area of the government agency that administers federally-owned lands and buildings, and is not an actual administrative unit.

In some non-federal countries there are capital regions that don't have special significance, but have names hinting that. For example the Capital Region of Denmark‎ is a name of a normal national region.

The following have a special administrative district or territory for their national capital cities:

Argentina

The Ciudad autónoma de Buenos Aires is coterminous with the Argentine Federal District. In 1996, under the 1994 reform of the Argentine Constitution, the city gained autonomous status, and held its first mayoral elections. Buenos Aires is represented in the Argentine Senate by three senators and in the Argentine Chamber of Deputies by 25 national deputies.

Australia

The Australian Capital Territory (ACT) is one of two self-governing internal territories of the Australian federation, the other being the Northern Territory (NT). Created in 1911, the ACT was originally called the Federal Capital Territory, the current name being acquired in 1938. The ACT was constituted specifically to house the seat of government, the goal being to avoid situating the new nation's capital Canberra in either New South Wales or Victoria, the two most populous states. The ACT is an enclave of New South Wales.

Although the ACT has its own Chief Minister and its own legislature (the Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly), the Federal Parliament retains the right to overrule ACT legislation. While governing the entire ACT, the Legislative Assembly also acts as a municipal government for the city of Canberra. The Governor-General of Australia exercises certain rights that in the states would be exercised by a state governor, such as the power to issue writs for elections.

At a federal level, the ACT and the NT both elect two members of the House of Representatives and two Senators. The terms of the territory senators are tied to the term of the House of Representatives, not to the term of the Senate. This means that if there is an election for the Senate only (as last happened in 1970), this would involve only half the state senators, and the territory senators' terms would continue. Conversely, if there is an election for the House of Representatives only (as last happened in 1972), this would also involve the territory senators but not the state senators.

Brazil

Brasília, the capital of Brazil, is set within the Brazilian Federal District or Distrito Federal. The state includes several other cities. Brasília is a planned city, with no pre-existing status prior to its establishment.

The Federal District is an anomalous unit of the federation, as it is not organized the same manner as a municipality, does not possess the same autonomy as a state (but is ranked among them) and is closely related to the central power.

The District Governor is elected directly for a 4-year term. Local laws are issued by a legislative assembly also elected by the local population. Judiciary affairs are carried out by the Union, instead of being appointed by the governor as in the other states of Brazil. The district has the status of a federal state in many aspects. It has representatives both in the Lower House of Congress (Câmara dos Deputados) and in the national Senate.

The Brazilian federal government was transferred to the Distrito Federal on April 21, 1960, which was then split off from the state of Goiás. Before the transfer, the Brazilian capital was the municipality of Rio de Janeiro. After the transfer, the municipality of Rio de Janeiro became the Estado da Guanabara (State of Guanabara), which existed from 1960 until 1975 when the State of Guanabara was merged into the State of Rio de Janeiro.

China, People's Republic of

Beijing is a direct-controlled municipality.

Colombia

Main article: Bogotá

In Colombia the Capital District of Bogotá, containing the city of Bogotá was created as a Special District in 1955 by Gustavo Rojas Pinilla. It was renamed "Capital District" in the Colombian Constitution of 1991. The district is subdivided into 20 localities.

Dominican Republic

Main article: Distrito Nacional

In Dominican Republic the Nacional District of Santo Domingo, containing the city of Santo Domingo de Guzman was created as a Special District in 1922. In 1844 it was the Santo Domingo Province and then the constitution of the Dominican Republic decided that the country needed the capital to be in a special district.

India

The National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT) is a special Union Territory of India. The territory encompasses three statutory towns: New Delhi (the capital of India), Delhi and Delhi Cantonment, along with 59 census towns and 165 villages.

The NCT was set up as a federally administered Union Territory on 11 November 1956. In December 1991, the NCT was given a legislative assembly headed by a Chief Minister. The territory is not classified as a true Union territory, though the Central government does have limited control over the functioning of the territory much like other Union territories. Delhi is to eventually become a full fledged state.

The NCT is unique in India in that the municipal control is handled by a locally elected government, major areas such as the police, and administration are handled by the central government.

Indonesia

In Indonesia, the national capital Jakarta is within the Daerah Khusus Ibukota Jakarta (Jakarta Special Capital District). Jakarta is considered as one of Indonesia's provinces so Jakarta is headed by a governor and not a mayor. However, Jakarta is divided into 5 smaller "administrative-cities" (which are headed by mayors) and one "administrative-regency". Administrative-city is different to city, and administrative-regency is different to regency, because of its degree of autonomy. These all only available in Jakarta. Mayors of administrative-cities and regent of administrative-regency are not elected by each people there, by the Governor and members of the Provincial Parliament of Jakarta Special Capital District instead. And each do not have local parliament.

Iraq

Baghdad, the capital of Iraq, is contained within a Special Capital District.

Malaysia

In Malaysia, the national capital of Kuala Lumpur lies within the Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur (since 1974) while The Federal Government Administrative Centre of Putrajaya, 40 km to the south of KL lies within the Federal Territory of Putrajaya (since 2001). Both federal territories are located within the state of Selangor.

Mali

Further information: Regions of Mali

Bamako, the capital of Mali, is contained within the Bamako Capital District.

Mexico

Mexican Federal District or Distrito Federal since 1824 is coterminous with Mexico City. The D.F. is a federal district serving as the capital of Mexico and which is administered by the Mexican Federal Government. The D.F. encompasses the historical center of Mexico City, but is much larger than the historical municipality of Mexico City abolished in 1928. The urbanized area of Mexico City covers only the north of the D.F., while the south of the D.F. is made up of rural areas and mountains. Although the D.F. is not a municipality, the name "Ciudad de México" is used by Mexican authorities as a synonym for the Distrito Federal (Federal District). Mexico City as a municipality was abolished in 1928, and the name "Mexico City" can now refer to two things.

According to the Constitution of Mexico, Mexico City is the Federal District, (Distrito Federal). This is actually a fairly recent reform (dating from 1993) of Article 44 of the Constitution, and it was aimed at ending two centuries of discussions (and occasional problems on jurisdiction) about whether one concept engulfed the other or even if one of the two entities really had any legal existence in lieu of the other. The complete text of the aforementioned reform also states that Mexico City is the seat of the Powers of the Union (Executive, Legislative and Judicial) and capital of the United Mexican States.

Nigeria

Nigeria's capital Abuja is located in the Federal Capital Territory. The Territory was established in 1976, and the capital was formally moved from Lagos (the historic capital) in 1991.

Niger

Niger's capital, Niamey, comprises a capital district of Niger. It is surrounded by the department of Tillabéri.

North Korea

North Korea's capital city, P'yŏng-yang, while traditionally located within South P'yŏng-an Province, is currently seen as a "directly governed city" (Chikalshi 직할시). For a time, P'yŏng-yang was considered a "special city" (T'ŭkpyŏlshi 특별시), to make it equivalent to its South Korean counterpart, Seoul.

Pakistan

The capital of Pakistan, Islamabad, is a planned city within the Islamabad Capital Territory, which was created in 1960 out of the Punjab Province. The Territory elects representatives to both houses of the legislature. Before Islamabad was made the capital, Karachi was located in the Federal Capital Territory, which later reverted to the Sindh Province.

Papua New Guinea

Port Moresby, the capital of Papua New Guinea has been contained with in the National Capital District of Papua New Guinea since the country achieved independence in 1975.

Peru

Lima, the nation's capital is contained entirely within Lima Province, the only province in the country not belonging to any of the twenty-five regions. It is surrounded by the Lima Region on all sides but west.

South Korea

South Korea's capital city, Seoul, while traditionally located within Kyŏnggi Province, is currently seen as a "special city" (Teukbyeolsi/T'ŭkpyŏlshi 특별시). Seoul's mayor is seen as the equivalent of any provincial governor.

Taiwan (Republic of China)

Taipei, the capital of the Republic of China (colloquially known as Taiwan) is a special municipality (Chinese: 直轄市; pinyin: zhíxiáshì).

United States

As provided by the Article 1, Section 8 of the United States Constitution, the seat of the United States government is a federal district known as the District of Columbia. When created in 1790, the District comprised 100 square miles (260 km²) of land donated by the states of Maryland and Virginia. Columbia was a poetic name for the United States used at the time.

The City of Washington was built in the center of the District, but other towns were also located in the territory such as Georgetown and Alexandria. The United States Congress returned the Virginia portion of the District back to that state in 1846. The District of Columbia Organic Act of 1871 revoked the charters of the individuals cities of Washington and Georgetown, and instead created a single government for the whole District of Columbia. The City of Washington no longer exists; however, the name continues in use and the city is often referred to as just Washington, D.C.

Since the Home Rule Act of 1973, the District of Columbia has been run by an elected mayor and city council. Congress retains ultimate authority over the District and has the right to review the local budget and taxes, overturn laws passed by the city council, and terminate home rule. District residents pay federal taxes and are represented by a single, non-voting member in the United States House of Representatives.

Because of the Twenty-third Amendment to the United States Constitution, the people of the District of Columbia are allowed to vote for President of the United States. The District is allotted three electoral votes, equal to that of the least populous state. Before this, the residents of the District were not afforded the right to vote for the President who resides within their territory. The District still does not have voting representation in Congress, however, despite having a larger population than that of the least populous state, Wyoming.

Venezuela

Venezuelan Capital District / Metropolitan District of Caracas since 2000.

See also

• Direct-controlled municipality
• Federal territory
• Federal district
• Capital region