Throughout the world there are many cities that were once national capitals but no longer have that status because the country ceased to exist, the capital was moved, or the capital city was renamed. This is a list of such cities, sorted by country and then by date. Where a city name has changed, the name of the city when it was a capital is listed first, followed by its modern name in brackets.
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Oceania
Note: Melbourne is sometimes said to have been the inaugural capital of Australia, from 1901 until 1927, when Parliament House, Canberra was opened. This is not so. Section 125 of the Constitution of Australia states that the seat of government is to be within the state of New South Wales but not less than 100 miles from Sydney, and that until that place (Canberra) was built, the Parliament of Australia would meet at Melbourne. That made Melbourne the de facto (but not de jure) seat of government 1901-1927, but it did not amount to Melbourne being declared the capital, and it was never so described in contemporary documents.