Столица - главный город государства.Regardless of its size, population and level of development of the urban economy, it is the political center of the country. It is in the capital that the state policy is determined, its budget is set and the direction of state development is formed.
What is the capital and what are its functions
In the overwhelming majority of cases, the capitalis the country's largest city, which also serves as a financial and industrial center, but there are a large number of countries in which the capital is not the largest city.
Quite often it happens that the complexthe federal structure of the state is controversial because of the location of the capital, when various cities and regions of the country claim the right to assume the capital's functions. In this case, a decision is made to allocate a separate territory with a special status for the construction of a new capital. Such measures were taken in the US and Brazil, in Kazakhstan the capital was moved to Astana - a new city in the northern part of the country.
But very often the most reasonable decision, notrequiring huge costs, is the division of capital functions between several of the largest or historically important cities. This happened more than once in the history of major empires. For example, in the Austro-Hungarian capitals there were at once two cities - Vienna and Budapest. In the Netherlands, the residence of the head of state is in Amsterdam, and the government is located in The Hague. In South Africa, three cities perform various functions in the capital: the administration of the state is in Pretoria, the Supreme Court in Bloemfontein, and the parliament in Cape Town.
Large cities: former capitals
It often happens that the city becomes toolarge, and some of its functions are superfluous, creating an unnecessary burden on the social infrastructure. This happened with the former capital of Tanzania (the city of Dar es Salaam), from where the government had to transfer. Now the formal capital of the country was Dodoma, but due to lack of funds, the government could not move.
Sometimes it happens that the capital statusthe city deprives the elements. So the most powerful hurricane that hit the countries of Latin America in 1961, caused significant damage to the city of Belize - at that time the capital of the country of the same name. After this, the capital was moved further from the coast to the city of Belmopan.
Capitals of the former colonies
It is worth explaining what the capital is for countries withemerging economies. In most of the countries that gained independence as a result of the colonial liberation movements, the capitals are located in the largest cities that served as administrative centers, from which the colonial authorities controlled the local population.
Each of these cities bears an indelibleimprint of colonial rule. Not least the architecture. Wishing to get rid of the legacy of the former enslavers, many countries began to transfer capitals to new lands. So did Brazil.
The first capital transfer plan there was developed infar in 1893, however, later moved repeatedly postponed. Only in 1960 was the capital moved from Rio de Janeiro to the new city, built specifically for this in the geographical center of the country. So there was a capital, called Brasilia.
Conclusion
What is the capital?Summing up, I must say that it is not always the largest, but always the most politically significant city. Also, several cities of the country can be capitals at a time, in such cases the highest state authorities are located in two or more cities.
Sometimes the capital is transferred to a new city in order toreduce the load on the infrastructure or in order to avoid conflict between the territories because of the status of the capital city, which can bring financial profit and financing of various projects from the national, rather than the municipal budget.
Separately, it should be said that such a capitalstate, region or department. As a rule, it is a city in which local governments or representatives of the central government are located, as in the case of the overseas territories of France. In the United States of America, the capital of the state is the city where the governor’s residence is located.
