Capital cities of North America: key facts and context

North America's 23 capitals span three continental landmasses and 13 Caribbean island nations. Mexico City, with over 9.2 million residents, is the largest; St. George's in Grenada, at around 7,500, is the smallest. Belmopan in Belize is the continent's most recently established capital, built from scratch in 1970 after Hurricane Hattie devastated Belize City in 1961, one of the few cases of a planned capital built specifically to replace a disaster-damaged city. Washington D.C. was carved from land ceded by Maryland in 1790 as a purpose-built federal district, designed to ensure no single state held jurisdiction over the seat of federal government. Ottawa was selected as Canada's capital in 1857 by Queen Victoria, chosen as a compromise between the English-speaking and French-speaking provinces. A fact that surprises many: Nassau, the capital of the Bahamas, is home to roughly 70% of the country's entire population, a level of capital city concentration that is exceptional even by small-nation standards.