This might be a short thread as the factual answer to this must be straightforward. However I couldn’t find a definite answer and have been scanning Google Earth. I thought at first it might be Tallinn and Stockholm but Jerusalem and Amman seem closer. Vienna and Bratislava might be closer still or possibly some of the former Yugoslavia countries. Any other good candidates?
Vatican City and Rome, I would say
Pest and Buda.
This, technically.
And just 60km separate Vienna (Austria) from Bratislava (Slovakia), so I guess that’s another good one
Nicosia and Lefkoşa
Also Nicosia in Cyprus and Lefkosa (Turkish name for Nicosia) in the Turkish Republic of North Cyprus (only recognized as an independent state by Turkey admittedly) are only separated by a fence in places.
Simulpost
Brazzaville, capital of the Republic of the Congo, andKinshasha, capital of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, are separated only by the width of the Congo River. This would be the closest for two member states of the UN, since neither Vatican City nor Turkish Cyprus are.
Ooh I think we might have a winner.
Brussels, Belgium is a little over 100 miles from Amsterdam in the Netherlands.
Podgorica, Montenegro is less than a 100 miles from Tirana, Albania
Does this make a difference? (no snark intended, just curious why you mentioned it)
A post from a recent thread on adjacent capitals came up with a list of nine national capitals within 100 km of each other. The closest ones have been mentioned here. Vatican City-Rome, Brazzaville-Kinshasa, and Vienna-Bratislava wrap up the top 3.
It’s a good criterion for what counts as a “real” country, in case someone says that Vatican City doesn’t count.
Dang, beat me to it.
There’s a lot of interesting information here: http://basementgeographer.com/capital-ideas-part-iii-distances-between-world-capitals/
Closest capitals, farthest capitals, closest farthest capitals…
Or if the Vatican does actually have a capital. Does it? (Anyone? Anyone? Bueller?)
I guessed correctly Canberra and Wellington the least close closest combo.
Indeed. That’s like asking what’s the capital of Singapore.
Trivia: Wellington is the southernmost national capital.
It eliminates some de facto but mostly unrecognized states like Turkish Cyprus.
Vatican City is a somewhat different issue, since it may be questionable to say that a city-state has a capital, when the city is coterminous with the entire country. This also would be an issue with Monaco and Singapore.
Thanks - that makes sense. Understood.
I wasn’t entirely serious with Nicosia and Lefkoşa anyway - as they’re not really two separate cities.