A capital is the area of a country, province, region, or state, regarded as enjoying primary status; although there are exceptions, a capital is almost always a city which physically encompasses the offices and meeting places of the seat of government The seat of government is defined by Brewer's Politics as "the building, complex of buildings or city from which a government exercises its authority". The seat of government is usually located in the capital. In some countries the seat of government differs from the capital, e.g. in the Netherlands where The Hague is the seat of and fixed by law Law is a system of rules, usually enforced through a set of institutions. It shapes politics, economics and society in numerous ways and serves as a primary social mediator in relations between people. Contract law regulates everything from buying a bus ticket to trading on derivatives markets. Property law defines rights and obligations related. Alternate terms include capital city and political capital; the latter phrase has a second meaning Political capital is primarily based on a public figure's favorable image among the populace and among other important actors in or out of the government. A politician gains political capital by virtue of his or her position, and also by pursuing popular policies, achieving success with initiatives, performing favors for other politicians, etc based on an alternative sense of capital.
The word capital is derived from the Latin Latin is an Italic language historically spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. Through the Roman conquest, Latin spread throughout the Mediterranean and a large part of Europe. Romance languages such as Italian, French, Catalan, Romanian, Spanish, and Portuguese are descended from Latin, while many others, especially European languages, including caput meaning "head," and, in the United States The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its 48 contiguous states and Washington, D.C., the capital district, lie between the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, bordered by Canada to the north and Mexico to the south, the related term Capitol This is a list of U.S. state capitols in the United States, not to be confused with a list of state capitals (the cities where they are located) refers to the building where government business is chiefly conducted.
The seats of government in major sub-state jurisdictions are often called "capitals", but this is typically the case only in countries with some degree of federalism Federalism is political philosophy in which a group of members are bound together with a governing representative head. The term federalism is also used to describe a system of the government in which sovereignty is constitutionally divided between a central governing authority and constituent political units (like states or provinces). Federalism, where major substate jurisdictions have an element of sovereignty Sovereignty is the quality of having supreme, independent authority over a territory. It can be found in a power to rule and make law that rests on a political fact for which no purely legal explanation can be provided. The concept has been discussed, debated and questioned throughout history, from the time of the Romans through to the present day,. In unitary states A unitary state is a sovereign state governed as one single unit in which the central government is supreme and any administrative divisions exercise only powers that the central government chooses to delegate. Most states in the world have a unitary system of government, "administrative center" or other similar terms are typically used. For example, the seat of government in a U.S. state A U.S. state is any one of 50 subnational entities of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government . Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile. However, state citizenship is very flexible, and no government approval is required to is usually called its "capital", but the main city in a region of England is usually not, even though in Ireland, a county's main town is usually regarded as its capital. At lower administrative subdivisions, terms such as county town A county town is the 'capital' of a county in the United Kingdom or the Republic of Ireland. County towns are usually the location of administrative or judicial functions, or established over time as the de facto main town of a county. The concept of a county town eventually became detached from its original meaning of where the county, county seat A county seat is a term for an administrative center for a county or civil parish, primarily used in the United States. In the Northeast United States, the statutory term often is shire town, but colloquially county seat is the term in use there. Parts of the Canadian Maritimes also use the term shire town. In England, Wales and Ireland, the term, or borough seat A county seat is a term for an administrative center for a county or civil parish, primarily used in the United States. In the Northeast United States, the statutory term often is shire town, but colloquially county seat is the term in use there. Parts of the Canadian Maritimes also use the term shire town. In England, Wales and Ireland, the term are usually used.
Historically, the major economic center of a state or region often becomes the focal point of political power, and becomes a capital through conquest or amalgamation. This was the case for London London is the capital of both England and the United Kingdom. It has been an influential city for two millennia, and its history goes back to its founding by the Romans, then named Londinium. London's core, the ancient City of London, the 'square mile', retains its medieval boundaries. However, since at least the nineteenth century, the name ", Berlin Berlin ( German pronunciation ) is the capital city and one of sixteen states of Germany. With a population of 3.4 million within its city limits, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city and the eighth most populous urban area in the European Union. Located in northeastern Germany, it is the center of the Berlin-, and Moscow Moscow (pronounced /ˈmɒskaʊ/ or pronounced /ˈmɒskoʊ/ in English, Russian: Москва, romanised: Moskva, IPA: [mɐˈskva] ; see also other names) is the capital and the largest city of Russia. It is also the largest metropolitan area in Europe, and ranks among the largest urban areas in the world. Moscow is a major political, economic,. The capital naturally attracts the politically motivated and those whose skills are needed for efficient administration of government such as lawyers A lawyer, according to Black's Law Dictionary, is "a person learned in the law; as an attorney, counsel or solicitor; a person licensed to practice law." Law is the system of rules of conduct established by the sovereign government of a society to correct wrongs, maintain stability, and deliver justice. Working as a lawyer involves the, journalists A journalist is a person who practises journalism, the gathering and dissemination of information about current events, trends, issues, and people while striving for viewpoints that aren't biased, and public policy Public policy is the body of principles that underpin the operation of legal systems in each state. This addresses the social, moral and economic values that tie a society together: values that vary in different cultures and change over time. Law regulates behaviour either to reinforce existing social expectations or to encourage constructive researchers. A capital that is the prime economic, cultural, or intellectual center is sometimes referred to as a primate city A primate city is the leading city in its country or region, disproportionately larger than any others in the urban hierarchy. A 'primate city distribution' has one very large city with many much smaller cities and towns, and no intermediate-sized urban centres, in contrast to the linear 'rank-size distribution'. The 'law of the primate city' was. Such is certainly the case with Paris Paris (pronounced /ˈpærɪs/ in English, [paʁi] in French) is the capital of France and the country's largest city. It is situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region (also known as the "Paris Region"; French: Région parisienne). The city of Paris, within its limits largely unchanged since, London London is the capital of both England and the United Kingdom. It has been an influential city for two millennia, and its history goes back to its founding by the Romans, then named Londinium. London's core, the ancient City of London, the 'square mile', retains its medieval boundaries. However, since at least the nineteenth century, the name " and Madrid Madrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. It is the third-most populous municipality in the European Union after Greater London and Berlin, and its metropolitan area is the third-most populous city by urban area in the European Union after Paris and London among national capitals, and Milan Milan (Italian: Milano; Western Lombard: Milan is the second largest city in Italy, located in the plains of Lombardy. Milan is the capital in the Province of Milan, as well as the regional capital of Lombardy. The city has a population of about 1.3 million, while the population of the urban area is estimated by Eurostat to be 3.08 million. The, Irkutsk Irkutsk is one of the largest cities in Siberia and the administrative center of Irkutsk Oblast, situated 5,185 kilometers (3,222 mi) by rail from Moscow. Population: 593,604 (2002 Census); 622,301 (1989 Census) or Phoenix Phoenix is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Arizona, as well as the fifth most populous city in the United States. Phoenix is home to 1,567,924 residents, and is the anchor of the Phoenix metropolitan area (also known as The Valley of the Sun), the 12th largest metro area by population in the United States with 4,281,899 residents in their respective state or province.
Capitals are sometimes sited to discourage further growth in an existing major city. Brasília Brasília is the capital of Brazil. The city and its District are located in the Central-West region of the country, along a plateau known as Planalto Central. It has a population of about 2,557,000 (3,599,000 in the metropolitan area) as of the 2008 IBGE estimate, making it the fourth largest city in Brazil, ahead of Belo Horizonte and Fortaleza was situated in Brazil Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: República Federativa do Brasil) listen (help·info), is a country in South America. It is the fifth largest country by geographical area, occupying nearly half of South America, the fifth most populous country, and the fourth most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the's interior because the old capital, Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro is the capital city of the State of Rio de Janeiro, the second largest city of Brazil and South America, and the third largest metropolitan area and agglomeration in South America. It is the state capital of Rio de Janeiro. The city was the capital of Brazil for nearly two centuries, from 1763 to 1822 during the Portuguese colonial, and southeastern Brazil in general, were considered over-crowded.[citation needed]
The convergence of political and economic or cultural power is by no means universal. Traditional capitals may be economically eclipsed by provincial rivals, as occurred with Nanjing Nanjing (Chinese: 南京; Romanizations: Nánjīng (Pinyin), Nan-ching (Wade-Giles), Nanking (Postal map spelling)) is the capital of China's Jiangsu Province, and a city with a prominent place in Chinese history and culture. Nanjing (literally: 'Southern capital') served as the capital of China during several historical periods and is listed as by Shanghai Originally a fishing and textiles town, Shanghai grew to importance in the 19th century due to its favourable port location and as one of the cities opened to foreign trade by the 1842 Treaty of Nanking. The city flourished as a center of commerce between east and west, and became a multinational hub of finance and business by the 1930s. However,. The decline Societal collapse broadly includes both quite abrupt societal failures typified by the Biblical story of the Tower of Babel, the Mayan Civilization collapse and others of the type, as well as more extended grinding declines of superpowers like the Roman empire in Western Europe. The great irony expressed by these and others like them is that of a dynasty or culture could also mean the extinction of its capital city, as occurred with Babylon Babylon was a city-state of ancient Mesopotamia, sometimes considered an empire, the remains of which can be found in present-day Al Hillah, Babil Province, Iraq, about 85 kilometers south of Baghdad. All that remains of the original ancient famed city of Babylon today is a mound, or tell, of broken mud-brick buildings and debris in the fertile and Cahokia Cahokia , also known as Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site, is the site of an ancient Native American city (650–1400 CE) near Collinsville, Illinois in the American Bottom floodplain, across the Mississippi River from St. Louis, Missouri. The 2,200-acre (8.9 km2) site included 120 man-made earthen mounds over an area of six square miles,. Many present-day capital cities, such as New Delhi New Delhi is the capital city of India. With a total area of 42.7 km2, New Delhi is situated within the metropolis of Delhi and serves as the seat of the Government of India and the Government of the National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT), Abuja Abuja is the capital city of Nigeria. It is located in the centre of Nigeria in the Federal Capital Territory . Abuja is a planned city, which was built mainly in the 1980s and officially became Nigeria's capital on 12 December 1991, replacing the role of the previous capital Lagos. As of the 2006 census, the Federal Capital Territory has a, Ankara Ankara is the capital of Turkey and the country's second largest city after Istanbul. The city has a mean elevation of 850 metres , and as of 2007 the city had a population of 4,751,360, which includes eight districts under the city's administration. Ankara also serves as the capital of Ankara Province, Brasília Brasília is the capital of Brazil. The city and its District are located in the Central-West region of the country, along a plateau known as Planalto Central. It has a population of about 2,557,000 (3,599,000 in the metropolitan area) as of the 2008 IBGE estimate, making it the fourth largest city in Brazil, ahead of Belo Horizonte and Fortaleza, Canberra Canberra is the capital city of Australia. With a population of over 345,000, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth largest Australian city overall. The city is located at the northern end of the Australian Capital Territory, 280 km (170 mi) south-west of Sydney, and 660 km (410 mi) north-east of Melbourne. The site of Canberra was, Astana Astana , is the capital and second largest city (after Almaty) of Kazakhstan, with an officially estimated population of 750,700 as of November 2008. It is located in the north-central portion of Kazakhstan, within Akmola Province, though politically separate from the rest of the province, Islamabad Islamabad (Urdu: اسلام آباد) Islām ābād (Meaning "Abode of Islam") is the capital of Pakistan, and is the tenth largest city in Pakistan with an estimated population of over 673,766 in 2009. The Rawalpindi/Islamabad Metropolitan Area is the third largest in Pakistan, with a population of over 4.5 million inhabitants, Ottawa Ottawa ( ˈɒtəwə or sometimes /ˈɒtəwɑː/) is the capital of Canada and a municipality within the Province of Ontario. Located in the Ottawa Valley in the eastern portion of Southern Ontario, the city lies on the southern banks of the Ottawa River, a major waterway forming the local boundary between the Provinces of Ontario and Quebec. The 20 and Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C. , formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, the District, or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States, founded on July 16, 1790. The City of Washington was originally a separate municipality within the Territory of Columbia until an act of Congress in 1871 effectively merged the City and the are planned cities A new town, planned community or planned city is a city, town, or community that was carefully planned from its inception and is typically constructed in a previously undeveloped area. This contrasts with settlements that evolve in a more ad hoc fashion, purposefully located away from established population centres for various reasons, and have become gradually established as new business or commercial centres.
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Matthew Negreanu
Fri, 21 Aug 2009 18:36:11 GM
The striking differences between the sermons in Iran's . political capital. (Tehran) and its religious . capital. (Qom) provide further evidence of a deep rift between religious and . political. sectors in Iran that has developed since the June ...
