Some countries have multiple capitals. In some cases, one city is the capital for some purposes, and one or more others are capital for other purposes, without any being considered an official capital in preference to the others. There are also cases where there is a single legally defined capital, but one or more other cities operate as the seat of government of some or all parts of the national government. More than one capital at present More than one capital in the past These countries have had two cities that served as administrative capitals at the same time, for various reasons such as war, weather or partition. In some cases, the second capital is considered a temporary capital. See also Historical capitals of China List of purpose-built national capitals References Multiple capitals Countries with multiple de:Hauptstadt#Staaten und subnationale Entitäten mit mehreren Hauptstädten