Place from which a government exercises its authority
Theseat of government is (as defined byBrewer's Politics) "the building, complex of buildings or the city from which agovernment exercises itsauthority".[1]
In most countries, the nation'scapital is also seat of its government, thus that city is appropriately referred to as the national seat of government. The terms are not however, completely synonymous, assome countries' seat of government differs from the capital. TheNetherlands, for example, hasAmsterdam as its capital butThe Hague is the seat of government; and thePhilippines, withManila as its capital but themetropolitan area of the same name (Metro Manila; also known as National Capital Region (NCR)), is the seat of government.
Local seats of government
[edit]Local and regional authorities usually have a seat, called anadministrative centre, as well. Terms for seats of local government of various levels and in various countries include:
Buildings as seats of government
[edit]Examples of seats of government include:
- Canada: The suite of buildings on or nearParliament Hill inOttawa,Ontario: theCentre Block (legislative seat), theLangevin Block (executive seat), and 301Wellington Street (legislative seat).
- India: Three sites inRaisina Hill,New Delhi: theParliament House (legislative seat), theRashtrapati Bhavan,7, Lok Kalyan Marg (executive seat),Supreme Court of India (judicial seat).
- Philippines: Four buildings inNational Capital Region (NCR)/Metro Manila, Philippines: theGSIS Building inPasay (Senate of the Philippines) andBatasang Pambansa Complex inQuezon City:House of Representatives of the Philippines (legislative seat), theMalacañang Palace (executive seat), andSupreme Court of the Philippines (judicial seat) inManila.
- United Kingdom: Three sites inLondon: thePalace of Westminster (legislative seat),10 Downing Street (executive seat), andMiddlesex Guildhall (judicial seat).
- United States: Three sites inWashington, D.C.: theUnited States Capitol (legislative seat), theWhite House (executive seat), and theUnited States Supreme Court Building (judicial seat).
List of seats of country government which are not country capitals
[edit]There are several countries where, for various reasons, the official capital and de facto seat of government are separated:
- Benin:Porto-Novo is the official capital, butCotonou is the seat of government.
- Bolivia:Sucre is theconstitutional capital, and thesupreme tribunal of justice is located in Sucre, making it the judicial capital. ThePalacio Quemado, thenational congress andnational electoral court are located inLa Paz, making it the seat of government.
- Eswatini (Swaziland):Lobamba is the traditional, spiritual, andlegislative capital city of Eswatini, seat of theParliament,[2] while the capital isMbabane.
- Israel andPalestine:Jerusalem is considered byIsrael to be the national capital since 1950 but was fully declared the undivided capital of the nation from 1980 according to theJerusalem Law, though most government offices are located inWest Jerusalem. This move is not recognized by the international community and thus the vast majority of embassies are located inTel Aviv. In addition, theState of Palestine also declaresEast Jerusalem or the entirety of Jerusalem as its capital but the seat of government resides inRamallah as does thePalestinian National Authority. (For more details see:Status of Jerusalem.)
- Ivory Coast:Yamoussoukro was designated the national capital in 1983, but most government offices and embassies are still located inAbidjan.
- Malaysia:Putrajaya the federal administrative centre of the Malaysia. The seat of government was shifted in 1999 fromKuala Lumpur to Putrajaya because of overcrowding and congestion in the former.
- Montserrat: Its official capital isPlymouth, but it was permanently abandoned in 1997 after it was completely destroyed by the eruptions of theSoufrière Hills volcano. Since 1998 thede facto capital isBrades.[3] The move was initially intended to be temporary, but it has remained the island'sde facto capital ever since.[4] Several names have been suggested for the new official capital now being constructed in the Little Bay area.
- Netherlands:Amsterdam is the constitutional national capital even though theDutch government, theparliament, thesupreme court, theCouncil of State, and thework palace of theKing are all located inThe Hague, as are almost all the embassies. (For more details see:Capital of the Netherlands.)
- Sri Lanka:Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte, commonly known as Kotte is the official administrative capital ofSri Lanka.[5] It is a satellite city of and located within the urban area of Sri Lanka's de facto economic and legislative capital,Colombo.
- Tanzania: Until 1974,Dar es Salaam served as Tanzania's capital city, at which point the capital city commenced transferring toDodoma, by order of then-president Julius Nyerere,[6] which was officially completed in 1996. However, as of 2018[update], it remained focus of central government bureaucracy, although this is in the process of fully moving to Dodoma.
Countries with no official capital
[edit]Historical examples
[edit]
