Capital cities of South America: key facts and context

South America's 12 capitals range from Lima, with over 10.7 million residents, to Georgetown in Guyana, the smallest at around 118,000. Bolivia is the only country in the world with two official capitals: Sucre holds constitutional capital status, but La Paz has functioned as the seat of government and legislature since a civil war in 1899. La Paz, at roughly 3,640 meters above sea level, is the world's highest-altitude seat of government. Brasilia was purpose-built and inaugurated in 1960, developed from largely uninhabited cerrado scrubland in central Brazil; the decision to relocate the capital inland from Rio de Janeiro was partly political, intended to shift development and population away from the Atlantic coast. Paramaribo became an independent national capital in 1975 when Suriname gained independence from the Netherlands, making it the most recently independent capital on the continent. One fact that receives little attention: Ecuador's capital Quito sits at 2,850 meters above sea level, making it the second-highest capital city in the world after La Paz.