Distribution of World Capitals by Elevation

Chris Dickert
2024-07-02 18:01:56
www.visualcapitalist.com

Ranked: World Capitals by Elevation

This was originally posted on our Voronoi app. Download the app for free on iOS or Android and discover incredible data-driven charts from a variety of trusted sources.

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)
Azerbaijan	Baku	-92	-28
Netherlands	Amsterdam	-7	-2
Antigua and Barbuda	Saint John’s	0	0
Brunei	Bandar Seri Begawan	0	0
Cape Verde	Praia	0	0
Djibouti	Djibouti	0	0
Dominica	Roseau	0	0
Dominican Republic	Santo Domingo	0	0
Fiji	Suva	0	0
Gabon	Libreville	0	0
The Gambia	Banjul	0	0
Guinea	Conakry	0	0
Guinea-Bissau	Bissau	0	0
Guyana	Georgetown	0	0
Kiribati	South Tarawa	0	0
Liberia	Monrovia	0	0
Maldives	Malé	0	0
Monaco	Monaco	0	0
Panama	Panama City	0	0
Saint Kitts and Nevis	Basseterre	0	0
Samoa	Apia	0	0
Seychelles	Victoria	0	0
Singapore	Singapore	0	0
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	Kingstown	0	0
Tonga	Nuku’alofa	0	0
Trinidad and Tobago	Port of Spain	0	0
Tunisia	Tunis	0	0
Tuvalu	Vaiaku	0	0
Vanuatu	Port Vila	0	0
Algeria	Algiers	3	1
Suriname	Paramaribo	3	1
Thailand	Bangkok	3	1
Bahamas	Nassau	7	2
Saint Lucia	Castries	7	2
United States	Washington, D.C.	7	2
Bangladesh	Dhaka	10	3
Indonesia	Jakarta	10	3
Marshall Islands	Majuro	10	3
Cuba	Havana	13	4
Sri Lanka	Sri Jayawardenapura-Kotte	13	4
Denmark	Copenhagen	16	5
Kuwait	Kuwait	16	5
Angola	Luanda	20	6
Bahrain	Manama	20	6
Barbados	Bridgetown	20	6
Libya	Tripoli	20	6
Mauritania	Nouakchott	20	6
North Korea	Pyongyang	20	6
Philippines	Manila	23	7
Latvia	Riga	26	8
Ireland	Dublin	26	8
Nauru	Yaren	30	9
Argentina	Buenos Aires	33	10
New Zealand	Wellington	32	10
Timor-Leste	Dili	36	11
Norway	Oslo	40	12
Qatar	Doha	43	13
United Arab Emirates	Abu Dhabi	43	13
Italy	Rome	46	14
United Kingdom	London	46	14
Cambodia	Phnom Penh	49	15
Iceland	Reykjavík	49	15
Portugal	Lisbon	49	15
Sweden	Stockholm	49	15
Japan	Tokyo	56	17
Egypt	Cairo	72	22
Finland	Helsinki	82	25
Grenada	Saint George’s	82	25
Vietnam	Hanoi	82	25
Somalia	Mogadishu	92	28
Solomon Islands	Honiara	95	29
South Korea	Seoul	108	33
France	Paris	112	34
Germany	Berlin	112	34
Estonia	Tallinn	121	37
Senegal	Dakar	121	37
Benin	Porto-Novo	125	38
Papua New Guinea	Port Moresby	128	39
Iraq	Baghdad	131	40
Vatican City	Vatican City	135	41
Uruguay	Montevideo	141	43
China	Beijing	144	44
Mauritius	Port Louis	170	50
Jamaica	Kingston	174	53
Morocco	Rabat	174	53
Malta	Valletta	186	54
Paraguay	Asunción	177	54
Lebanon	Beirut	180	55
Malaysia	Kuala Lumpur	197	60
Montenegro	Podgorica	200	61
Mozambique	Maputo	207	63
Togo	Lomé	207	63
Oman	Muscat	223	68
Romania	Bucharest	230	70
Palau	Ngerulmud	236	72
Canada	Ottawa	243	74
Belgium	Brussels	249	76
Belize	Belmopan	250	76
Sierra Leone	Freetown	249	76
Myanmar	Naypyidaw	253	77
Moldova	Chișinău	263	80
Nicaragua	Managua	272	83
Micronesia	Palikir	300	90
Poland	Warsaw	305	93
Ghana	Accra	322	98
Haiti	Port-au-Prince	322	98
Hungary	Budapest	335	102
Albania	Tirana	341	104
Equatorial Guinea	Malabo	351	107
Comoros	Moroni	361	110
Serbia	Belgrade	381	116
Lithuania	Vilnius	407	124
Russia	Moscow	407	124
Croatia	Zagreb	427	130
Slovakia	Bratislava	430	131
São Tomé and Príncipe	São Tomé	463	141
Greece	Athens	502	153
Peru	Lima	506	154
Congo	Brazzaville	509	155
Ukraine	Kyiv	551	168
Austria	Vienna	558	170
Cyprus	Nicosia	557	170
Laos	Vientiane	570	174
Belarus	Minsk	650	198
Niger	Niamey	679	207
India	New Delhi	689	210
Turkmenistan	Ashgabat	705	215
Côte d’Ivoire	Yamoussoukro	712	217
DRC	Kinshasa	787	240
North Macedonia	Skopje	797	243
Czechia	Prague	801	244
Luxembourg	Luxembourg	896	273
Slovenia	Ljubljana	922	281
Chad	N’Djamena	978	298
Burkina Faso	Ouagadougou	1,001	305
San Marino	San Marino	1,076	328
Kazakhstan	Astana	1,109	338
Mali	Bamako	1,145	349
Central African Republic	Bangui	1,211	369
Sudan	Khartoum	1,237	377
Georgia	Tbilisi	1,480	451
Liechtenstein	Vaduz	1,493	455
Uzbekistan	Tashkent	1,506	459
Chile	Santiago	1,709	521
Switzerland	Bern	1,778	542
Bosnia and Herzegovina	Sarajevo	1,800	550
South Sudan	Juba	1,800	550
Pakistan	Islamabad	1,830	560
Bulgaria	Sofia	1,900	580
Australia	Canberra	1,985	605
Saudi Arabia	Riyadh	2,047	624
El Salvador	San Salvador	2,159	658
Spain	Madrid	2,188	667
Syria	Damascus	2,267	691
Cameroon	Yaoundé	2,382	726
Israel	Jerusalem	2,474	754
Kyrgyzstan	Bishkek	2,530	771
Nigeria	Abuja	2,549	777
Palestine	East Jerusalem	2,557	779
Tajikistan	Dushanbe	2,589	789
Jordan	Amman	2,953	900
Venezuela	Caracas	2,982	909
Türkiye	Ankara	3,077	938
Botswana	Gaborone	3,225	983
Armenia	Yerevan	3,246	989
Honduras	Tegucigalpa	3,250	990
Andorra	Andorra la Vella	3,356	1,023
Malawi	Lilongwe	3,360	1,024
Brazil	Brasília	3,540	1,079
Tanzania	Dodoma	3,675	1,120
Costa Rica	San José	3,760	1,146
Uganda	Kampala	3,904	1,190
Eswatini	Mbabane	4,078	1,243
Zambia	Lusaka	4,167	1,270
South Africa	Pretoria	4,170	1,271
Madagascar	Antananarivo	4,226	1,288
Mongolia	Ulaanbaatar	4,429	1,350
Nepal	Kathmandu	4,593	1,400
Zimbabwe	Harare	4,865	1,483
Burundi	Gitega	4,934	1,504
Guatemala	Guatemala City	5,016	1,529
Rwanda	Kigali	5,141	1,567
Lesotho	Maseru	5,489	1,673
Namibia	Windhoek	5,646	1,721
Afghanistan	Kabul	5,873	1,790
Kenya	Nairobi	5,889	1,795
Iran	Tehran	6,003	1,830
Mexico	Mexico City	7,350	2,240
Yemen	Sanaʽa	7,382	2,250
Eritrea	Asmara	7,628	2,325
Bhutan	Thimphu	7,657	2,334
Ethiopia	Addis Ababa	7,726	2,355
Colombia	Bogotá	8,612	2,625
Bolivia	Sucre	9,220	2,790
Ecuador	Quito	9,350	2,850
Bolivia	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.

Source Link