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Ranked: World Capitals by Elevation
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Capital cities are often the economic, cultural, and political heart of nations. In premodern times, these were often also where the ruler resided, so if you wanted to resolve a dispute or receive some favor, then you had to travel there to petition the ruler directly: in essence, going straight to the top.
In this visualization, creator Julia R. Peasley asks the further question, just how high up is that proverbial top for all the world’s 196 capital cities. Data comes from Wikipedia’s list of capital cities by elevation and includes only United Nations Member and Observer states.
From Sea to Sky
The top spot goes to Bolivia’s La Paz, which at nearly 12,000 feet (3,640 meters) above sea level. It’s the world’s highest capital city, which is not surprising once you realize that the country is bisected by the East Andes Mountain Range and that the mean elevation of the country is close to 4,000 feet (1,192 meters).
CountryCapitalElevation (ft)Elevation (m)
AzerbaijanBaku-92-28
NetherlandsAmsterdam-7-2
Antigua and BarbudaSaint John’s00
BruneiBandar Seri Begawan00
Cape VerdePraia00
DjiboutiDjibouti00
DominicaRoseau00
Dominican RepublicSanto Domingo00
FijiSuva00
GabonLibreville00
The GambiaBanjul00
GuineaConakry00
Guinea-BissauBissau00
GuyanaGeorgetown00
KiribatiSouth Tarawa00
LiberiaMonrovia00
MaldivesMalé00
MonacoMonaco00
PanamaPanama City00
Saint Kitts and NevisBasseterre00
SamoaApia00
SeychellesVictoria00
SingaporeSingapore00
Saint Vincent and the GrenadinesKingstown00
TongaNuku’alofa00
Trinidad and TobagoPort of Spain00
TunisiaTunis00
TuvaluVaiaku00
VanuatuPort Vila00
AlgeriaAlgiers31
SurinameParamaribo31
ThailandBangkok31
BahamasNassau72
Saint LuciaCastries72
United StatesWashington, D.C.72
BangladeshDhaka103
IndonesiaJakarta103
Marshall IslandsMajuro103
CubaHavana134
Sri LankaSri Jayawardenapura-Kotte134
DenmarkCopenhagen165
KuwaitKuwait165
AngolaLuanda206
BahrainManama206
BarbadosBridgetown206
LibyaTripoli206
MauritaniaNouakchott206
North KoreaPyongyang206
PhilippinesManila237
LatviaRiga268
IrelandDublin268
NauruYaren309
ArgentinaBuenos Aires3310
New ZealandWellington3210
Timor-LesteDili3611
NorwayOslo4012
QatarDoha4313
United Arab EmiratesAbu Dhabi4313
ItalyRome4614
United KingdomLondon4614
CambodiaPhnom Penh4915
IcelandReykjavík4915
PortugalLisbon4915
SwedenStockholm4915
JapanTokyo5617
EgyptCairo7222
FinlandHelsinki8225
GrenadaSaint George’s8225
VietnamHanoi8225
SomaliaMogadishu9228
Solomon IslandsHoniara9529
South KoreaSeoul10833
FranceParis11234
GermanyBerlin11234
EstoniaTallinn12137
SenegalDakar12137
BeninPorto-Novo12538
Papua New GuineaPort Moresby12839
IraqBaghdad13140
Vatican CityVatican City13541
UruguayMontevideo14143
ChinaBeijing14444
MauritiusPort Louis17050
JamaicaKingston17453
MoroccoRabat17453
MaltaValletta18654
ParaguayAsunción17754
LebanonBeirut18055
MalaysiaKuala Lumpur19760
MontenegroPodgorica20061
MozambiqueMaputo20763
TogoLomé20763
OmanMuscat22368
RomaniaBucharest23070
PalauNgerulmud23672
CanadaOttawa24374
BelgiumBrussels24976
BelizeBelmopan25076
Sierra LeoneFreetown24976
MyanmarNaypyidaw25377
MoldovaChișinău26380
NicaraguaManagua27283
MicronesiaPalikir30090
PolandWarsaw30593
GhanaAccra32298
HaitiPort-au-Prince32298
HungaryBudapest335102
AlbaniaTirana341104
Equatorial GuineaMalabo351107
ComorosMoroni361110
SerbiaBelgrade381116
LithuaniaVilnius407124
RussiaMoscow407124
CroatiaZagreb427130
SlovakiaBratislava430131
São Tomé and PríncipeSão Tomé463141
GreeceAthens502153
PeruLima506154
CongoBrazzaville509155
UkraineKyiv551168
AustriaVienna558170
CyprusNicosia557170
LaosVientiane570174
BelarusMinsk650198
NigerNiamey679207
IndiaNew Delhi689210
TurkmenistanAshgabat705215
Côte d’IvoireYamoussoukro712217
DRCKinshasa787240
North MacedoniaSkopje797243
CzechiaPrague801244
LuxembourgLuxembourg896273
SloveniaLjubljana922281
ChadN’Djamena978298
Burkina FasoOuagadougou1,001305
San MarinoSan Marino1,076328
KazakhstanAstana1,109338
MaliBamako1,145349
Central African RepublicBangui1,211369
SudanKhartoum1,237377
GeorgiaTbilisi1,480451
LiechtensteinVaduz1,493455
UzbekistanTashkent1,506459
ChileSantiago1,709521
SwitzerlandBern1,778542
Bosnia and HerzegovinaSarajevo1,800550
South SudanJuba1,800550
PakistanIslamabad1,830560
BulgariaSofia1,900580
AustraliaCanberra1,985605
Saudi ArabiaRiyadh2,047624
El SalvadorSan Salvador2,159658
SpainMadrid2,188667
SyriaDamascus2,267691
CameroonYaoundé2,382726
IsraelJerusalem2,474754
KyrgyzstanBishkek2,530771
NigeriaAbuja2,549777
PalestineEast Jerusalem2,557779
TajikistanDushanbe2,589789
JordanAmman2,953900
VenezuelaCaracas2,982909
TürkiyeAnkara3,077938
BotswanaGaborone3,225983
ArmeniaYerevan3,246989
HondurasTegucigalpa3,250990
AndorraAndorra la Vella3,3561,023
MalawiLilongwe3,3601,024
BrazilBrasília3,5401,079
TanzaniaDodoma3,6751,120
Costa RicaSan José3,7601,146
UgandaKampala3,9041,190
EswatiniMbabane4,0781,243
ZambiaLusaka4,1671,270
South AfricaPretoria4,1701,271
MadagascarAntananarivo4,2261,288
MongoliaUlaanbaatar4,4291,350
NepalKathmandu4,5931,400
ZimbabweHarare4,8651,483
BurundiGitega4,9341,504
GuatemalaGuatemala City5,0161,529
RwandaKigali5,1411,567
LesothoMaseru5,4891,673
NamibiaWindhoek5,6461,721
AfghanistanKabul5,8731,790
KenyaNairobi5,8891,795
IranTehran6,0031,830
MexicoMexico City7,3502,240
YemenSanaʽa7,3822,250
EritreaAsmara7,6282,325
BhutanThimphu7,6572,334
EthiopiaAddis Ababa7,7262,355
ColombiaBogotá8,6122,625
BoliviaSucre9,2202,790
EcuadorQuito9,3502,850
BoliviaLa Paz11,9423,640
Source: Wikipedia.
On the other end of the scale sits Baku, Azerbaijan, which at -92 feet (-28 meters) is the lowest-lying world capital.
Normally, that would mean that the city would need to rely on extensive dikes and levees to keep the waters at bay, much like second-lowest Amsterdam in the Netherlands. However, because the country is landlocked, even though the city sits on the Caspian Sea, it remains dry.
The post Distribution of World Capitals by Elevation appeared first on Visual Capitalist.