Highest Capital Cities in the World
Quito is the highest national capital in our data, at about 2,854 m above sea level.
National capitals with available elevation data; 100 cities shown.
Top Cities Ranked by Elevation
| # | City | Country | Population | Elevation |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 🥇 | Quito | Ecuador | 1,900,000 | 2,854 m |
| 🥈 | Sucre | Bolivia | 300,000 | 2,798 m |
| 🥉 | Bogota | Colombia | 7,740,000 | 2,582 m |
| 4 | Addis Ababa | Ethiopia | 4,800,000 | 2,405 m |
| 5 | Asmara | Eritrea | 960,000 | 2,334 m |
| 6 | Thimphu | Bhutan | 114,000 | 2,320 m |
| =7 | Sana'a | Yemen | 2,900,000 | 2,253 m |
| =7 | Sanaa | Yemen | 1,937,451 | 2,253 m |
| 8 | Mexico City | Mexico | 9,200,000 | 2,240 m |
| 9 | Kabul | Afghanistan | 4,273,000 | 1,798 m |
| 10 | Windhoek | Namibia | 430,000 | 1,700 m |
| =11 | Gitega | Burundi | 135,000 | 1,684 m |
| =11 | Nairobi | Kenya | 4,400,000 | 1,684 m |
| 12 | Maseru | Lesotho | 330,000 | 1,552 m |
| 13 | Kigali | Rwanda | 1,100,000 | 1,542 m |
| 14 | Guatemala City | Guatemala | 3,000,000 | 1,508 m |
| 15 | Harare | Zimbabwe | 1,600,000 | 1,494 m |
| 16 | Pretoria | South Africa | 740,000 | 1,332 m |
| 17 | Kathmandu | Nepal | 1,400,000 | 1,317 m |
| =18 | Ulaanbaatar | Mongolia | 1,400,000 | 1,284 m |
| =18 | Ulan Bator | Mongolia | 844,818 | 1,284 m |
| 19 | Lusaka | Zambia | 2,500,000 | 1,277 m |
| 20 | Antananarivo | Madagascar | 1,300,000 | 1,274 m |
| 21 | Kampala | Uganda | 1,680,000 | 1,223 m |
| 22 | Mbabane | Eswatini | 94,000 | 1,209 m |
| 23 | Tehran | Iran | 9,100,000 | 1,178 m |
| 24 | San Jose | Costa Rica | 333,000 | 1,161 m |
| 25 | Brasilia | Brazil | 3,055,000 | 1,136 m |
| 26 | Dodoma | Tanzania | 410,000 | 1,125 m |
| 27 | Lilongwe | Malawi | 980,000 | 1,056 m |
| 28 | Andorra la Vella | Andorra | 22,000 | 1,037 m |
| 29 | Gaborone | Botswana | 231,000 | 1,011 m |
| 30 | Yerevan | Armenia | 1,080,000 | 994 m |
| 31 | Tegucigalpa | Honduras | 1,150,000 | 944 m |
| 32 | Caracas | Venezuela | 2,900,000 | 887 m |
| 33 | Ramallah | Palestine | 38,000 | 879 m |
| 34 | Ankara | Türkiye | 5,100,000 | 850 m |
| 35 | Jerusalem | Israel | 936,000 | 786 m |
| =36 | Bishkek | Kyrgyzstan | 1,000,000 | 767 m |
| =36 | Dushanbe | Tajikistan | 860,000 | 767 m |
| 37 | Amman | Jordan | 4,000,000 | 757 m |
| 38 | Yaounde | Cameroon | 3,820,000 | 726 m |
| 39 | Damascus | Syria | 1,700,000 | 701 m |
| 40 | Madrid | Spain | 3,300,000 | 665 m |
| 41 | San Salvador | El Salvador | 560,000 | 653 m |
| 42 | Riyadh | Saudi Arabia | 7,600,000 | 612 m |
| 43 | Islamabad | Pakistan | 1,100,000 | 579 m |
| 44 | Canberra | Australia | 431,000 | 571 m |
| 45 | Sofia | Bulgaria | 1,240,000 | 562 m |
| 46 | Santiago | Chile | 6,150,000 | 556 m |
| 47 | Bern | Switzerland | 133,000 | 549 m |
| 48 | Juba | South Sudan | 500,000 | 518 m |
| 49 | Sarajevo | Bosnia and Herzegovina | 275,000 | 509 m |
| 50 | Tbilisi | Georgia | 1,100,000 | 491 m |
| 51 | Abuja | Nigeria | 3,000,000 | 476 m |
| 52 | Vaduz | Liechtenstein | 5,600 | 465 m |
| 53 | Tashkent | Uzbekistan | 2,500,000 | 424 m |
| 54 | Khartoum | Sudan | 5,200,000 | 381 m |
| 55 | Nur-Sultan | Kazakhstan | 1,130,000 | 358 m |
| 56 | Bangui | Central African Republic | 889,000 | 351 m |
| 57 | Bamako | Mali | 2,500,000 | 338 m |
| =58 | Luxembourg (city) | Luxembourg | 122,000 | 316 m |
| =58 | Luxembourg | Luxembourg | 76,684 | 316 m |
| =59 | Ouagadougou | Burkina Faso | 2,450,000 | 299 m |
| =59 | N'Djamena | Chad | 1,400,000 | 299 m |
| =59 | N'Djamena | Chad | 1,359,526 | 299 m |
| 60 | Ljubljana | Slovenia | 280,000 | 295 m |
| 61 | Brazzaville | Congo | 2,300,000 | 284 m |
| 62 | Kinshasa | Democratic Republic of Congo | 14,970,000 | 281 m |
| 63 | Skopje | North Macedonia | 500,000 | 247 m |
| 64 | Minsk | Belarus | 2,020,000 | 222 m |
| 65 | Ashgabat | Turkmenistan | 1,000,000 | 219 m |
| 66 | Yamoussoukro | Côte d'Ivoire | 355,000 | 214 m |
| 67 | New Delhi | India | 250,000 | 211 m |
| 68 | Niamey | Niger | 1,300,000 | 206 m |
| 69 | Prague | Czechia | 1,300,000 | 202 m |
| 70 | Kyiv | Ukraine | 2,900,000 | 187 m |
| 71 | Vientiane | Laos | 820,000 | 174 m |
| 72 | Vienna | Austria | 1,911,000 | 171 m |
| 73 | Bratislava | Slovakia | 430,000 | 157 m |
| 74 | Lima | Peru | 9,750,000 | 152 m |
| 75 | Nicosia | Cyprus | 300,000 | 147 m |
| 76 | Moscow | Russia | 12,500,000 | 144 m |
| =77 | Flying Fish Cove | Christmas Island | 1,500 | 135 m |
| =77 | Zagreb | Croatia | 800,000 | 135 m |
| =78 | Naypyidaw | Myanmar | 1,100,000 | 122 m |
| =78 | Nay Pyi Taw | Myanmar | 925,000 | 122 m |
| 79 | Belgrade | Serbia | 1,160,000 | 120 m |
| 80 | Castries | Saint Lucia | 20,000 | 119 m |
| =81 | Tirana | Albania | 494,000 | 113 m |
| =81 | Algiers | Algeria | 3,415,000 | 113 m |
| =81 | Asuncion | Paraguay | 525,000 | 113 m |
| =81 | Warsaw | Poland | 1,790,000 | 113 m |
| 82 | Managua | Nicaragua | 1,050,000 | 108 m |
| 83 | Budapest | Hungary | 1,750,000 | 104 m |
| 84 | Vilnius | Lithuania | 580,000 | 98 m |
| 85 | Palikir | Micronesia | 6,600 | 90 m |
| 86 | Bucharest | Romania | 1,800,000 | 83 m |
| 87 | Plymouth | Montserrat | - | 77 m |
| 88 | Berlin | Germany | 3,645,000 | 74 m |
Methodology: Population, coordinates and elevation come from the Time.now geographic city index; population figures use city boundaries rather than metro areas.
Why Are These Capital Cities So High?
High-altitude capitals are concentrated in mountain regions and plateaus, where thinner air and large daily temperature swings shape everyday life. This ranking uses the elevation of each capital city's mapped centre.
Frequently Asked Questions: Highest Capital Cities in the World
What is the world's highest capital city?
By the city-centre elevations in our data, Quito ranks highest at about 2,854 m above sea level.
How is a capital's elevation measured?
The figure represents approximate elevation near the mapped centre of the city, so neighbourhoods within the same capital may sit higher or lower.