Chris Dickert
2024-07-02 18:01:56
www.visualcapitalist.com
See this visualization first on the Voronoi app.
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).
Country | Capital | Elevation (ft) | Elevation (m) |
---|---|---|---|
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Baku | -92 | -28 |
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Amsterdam | -7 | -2 |
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Saint John’s | 0 | 0 |
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Bandar Seri Begawan | 0 | 0 |
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Praia | 0 | 0 |
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Djibouti | 0 | 0 |
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Roseau | 0 | 0 |
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Santo Domingo | 0 | 0 |
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Suva | 0 | 0 |
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Libreville | 0 | 0 |
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Banjul | 0 | 0 |
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Conakry | 0 | 0 |
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Bissau | 0 | 0 |
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Georgetown | 0 | 0 |
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South Tarawa | 0 | 0 |
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Monrovia | 0 | 0 |
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Malé | 0 | 0 |
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Monaco | 0 | 0 |
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Panama City | 0 | 0 |
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Basseterre | 0 | 0 |
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Apia | 0 | 0 |
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Victoria | 0 | 0 |
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Singapore | 0 | 0 |
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Kingstown | 0 | 0 |
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Nuku’alofa | 0 | 0 |
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Port of Spain | 0 | 0 |
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Tunis | 0 | 0 |
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Vaiaku | 0 | 0 |
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Port Vila | 0 | 0 |
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Algiers | 3 | 1 |
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Paramaribo | 3 | 1 |
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Bangkok | 3 | 1 |
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Nassau | 7 | 2 |
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Castries | 7 | 2 |
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Washington, D.C. | 7 | 2 |
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Dhaka | 10 | 3 |
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Jakarta | 10 | 3 |
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Majuro | 10 | 3 |
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Havana | 13 | 4 |
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Sri Jayawardenapura-Kotte | 13 | 4 |
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Copenhagen | 16 | 5 |
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Kuwait | 16 | 5 |
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Luanda | 20 | 6 |
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Manama | 20 | 6 |
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Bridgetown | 20 | 6 |
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Tripoli | 20 | 6 |
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Nouakchott | 20 | 6 |
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Pyongyang | 20 | 6 |
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Manila | 23 | 7 |
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Riga | 26 | 8 |
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Dublin | 26 | 8 |
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Yaren | 30 | 9 |
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Buenos Aires | 33 | 10 |
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Wellington | 32 | 10 |
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Dili | 36 | 11 |
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Oslo | 40 | 12 |
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Doha | 43 | 13 |
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Abu Dhabi | 43 | 13 |
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Rome | 46 | 14 |
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London | 46 | 14 |
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Phnom Penh | 49 | 15 |
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Reykjavík | 49 | 15 |
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Lisbon | 49 | 15 |
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Stockholm | 49 | 15 |
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Tokyo | 56 | 17 |
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Cairo | 72 | 22 |
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Helsinki | 82 | 25 |
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Saint George’s | 82 | 25 |
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Hanoi | 82 | 25 |
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Mogadishu | 92 | 28 |
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Honiara | 95 | 29 |
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Seoul | 108 | 33 |
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Paris | 112 | 34 |
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Berlin | 112 | 34 |
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Tallinn | 121 | 37 |
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Dakar | 121 | 37 |
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Porto-Novo | 125 | 38 |
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Port Moresby | 128 | 39 |
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Baghdad | 131 | 40 |
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Vatican City | 135 | 41 |
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Montevideo | 141 | 43 |
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Beijing | 144 | 44 |
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Port Louis | 170 | 50 |
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Kingston | 174 | 53 |
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Rabat | 174 | 53 |
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Valletta | 186 | 54 |
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Asunción | 177 | 54 |
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Beirut | 180 | 55 |
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Kuala Lumpur | 197 | 60 |
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Podgorica | 200 | 61 |
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Maputo | 207 | 63 |
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Lomé | 207 | 63 |
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Muscat | 223 | 68 |
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Bucharest | 230 | 70 |
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Ngerulmud | 236 | 72 |
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Ottawa | 243 | 74 |
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Brussels | 249 | 76 |
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Belmopan | 250 | 76 |
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Freetown | 249 | 76 |
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Naypyidaw | 253 | 77 |
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Chișinău | 263 | 80 |
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Managua | 272 | 83 |
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Palikir | 300 | 90 |
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Warsaw | 305 | 93 |
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Accra | 322 | 98 |
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Port-au-Prince | 322 | 98 |
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Budapest | 335 | 102 |
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Tirana | 341 | 104 |
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Malabo | 351 | 107 |
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Moroni | 361 | 110 |
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Belgrade | 381 | 116 |
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Vilnius | 407 | 124 |
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Moscow | 407 | 124 |
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Zagreb | 427 | 130 |
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Bratislava | 430 | 131 |
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São Tomé | 463 | 141 |
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Athens | 502 | 153 |
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Lima | 506 | 154 |
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Brazzaville | 509 | 155 |
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Kyiv | 551 | 168 |
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Vienna | 558 | 170 |
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Nicosia | 557 | 170 |
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Vientiane | 570 | 174 |
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Minsk | 650 | 198 |
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Niamey | 679 | 207 |
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New Delhi | 689 | 210 |
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Ashgabat | 705 | 215 |
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Yamoussoukro | 712 | 217 |
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Kinshasa | 787 | 240 |
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Skopje | 797 | 243 |
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Prague | 801 | 244 |
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Luxembourg | 896 | 273 |
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Ljubljana | 922 | 281 |
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N’Djamena | 978 | 298 |
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Ouagadougou | 1,001 | 305 |
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San Marino | 1,076 | 328 |
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Astana | 1,109 | 338 |
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Bamako | 1,145 | 349 |
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Bangui | 1,211 | 369 |
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Khartoum | 1,237 | 377 |
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Tbilisi | 1,480 | 451 |
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Vaduz | 1,493 | 455 |
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Tashkent | 1,506 | 459 |
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Santiago | 1,709 | 521 |
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Bern | 1,778 | 542 |
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Sarajevo | 1,800 | 550 |
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Juba | 1,800 | 550 |
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Islamabad | 1,830 | 560 |
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Sofia | 1,900 | 580 |
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Canberra | 1,985 | 605 |
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Riyadh | 2,047 | 624 |
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San Salvador | 2,159 | 658 |
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Madrid | 2,188 | 667 |
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Damascus | 2,267 | 691 |
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Yaoundé | 2,382 | 726 |
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Jerusalem | 2,474 | 754 |
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Bishkek | 2,530 | 771 |
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Abuja | 2,549 | 777 |
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East Jerusalem | 2,557 | 779 |
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Dushanbe | 2,589 | 789 |
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Amman | 2,953 | 900 |
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Caracas | 2,982 | 909 |
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Ankara | 3,077 | 938 |
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Gaborone | 3,225 | 983 |
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Yerevan | 3,246 | 989 |
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Tegucigalpa | 3,250 | 990 |
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Andorra la Vella | 3,356 | 1,023 |
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Lilongwe | 3,360 | 1,024 |
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Brasília | 3,540 | 1,079 |
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Dodoma | 3,675 | 1,120 |
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San José | 3,760 | 1,146 |
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Kampala | 3,904 | 1,190 |
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Mbabane | 4,078 | 1,243 |
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Lusaka | 4,167 | 1,270 |
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Pretoria | 4,170 | 1,271 |
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Antananarivo | 4,226 | 1,288 |
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Ulaanbaatar | 4,429 | 1,350 |
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Kathmandu | 4,593 | 1,400 |
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Harare | 4,865 | 1,483 |
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Gitega | 4,934 | 1,504 |
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Guatemala City | 5,016 | 1,529 |
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Kigali | 5,141 | 1,567 |
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Maseru | 5,489 | 1,673 |
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Windhoek | 5,646 | 1,721 |
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Kabul | 5,873 | 1,790 |
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Nairobi | 5,889 | 1,795 |
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Tehran | 6,003 | 1,830 |
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Mexico City | 7,350 | 2,240 |
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Sanaʽa | 7,382 | 2,250 |
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Asmara | 7,628 | 2,325 |
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Thimphu | 7,657 | 2,334 |
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Addis Ababa | 7,726 | 2,355 |
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Bogotá | 8,612 | 2,625 |
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Sucre | 9,220 | 2,790 |
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Quito | 9,350 | 2,850 |
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La Paz | 11,942 | 3,640 |
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.