Home > South America > Capitals
In the table below a summary with all the capitals of South America, you find also a useful map with their position on the continent and the population updated to the latest data or available estimates, both of the city itself and of its urban agglomeration.The most populous capital is Buenos Aires in Argentina, the second city by number of inhabitants (considering the urban agglomerations) of the Continent after Săo Paulo in Brazil; Lima and Bogotá, the capitals of Peru and Colombia, are close to 10 million inhabitants.
Although there are only 13 countries on this continent, it is interesting to underline that the first three highest capitals in the world are located here, all between 2,500 and 3,000 meters above sea level, a rather significant altitude.
Four capitals have less than 1 million inhabitants, also because in three of these countries the population is quite low, except Bolivia, which since 2009 has Sucre as its only capital, a city smaller than La Paz, where the government offices are still located.
| Flag | Country | Capital | Population | Urban aggl. | Elevation |
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Argentina | Buenos Aires | 3,122,000 | 15,748,000 | 25 m |
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Bolivia | Sucre | 361,000 | 361,000 | 2,810 m |
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Brazil | Brasilia | 2,817,000 | 3,406,000 | 1,170 m |
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Chile | Santiago | 5,220,000 | 7,099,000 | 567 m |
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Colombia | Bogotá | 7,898,000 | 10,252,000 | 2,640 m |
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Ecuador | Quito | 1,763,000 | 2,778,000 | 2,850 m |
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Guyana | Georgetown | 125,000 | 125,000 | 4 m |
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Paraguay | Asunción | 477,000 | 1,609,000 | 43 m |
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Perú | Lima | 10,004,000 | 10,556,000 | 30 m |
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Suriname | Paramaribo | 241,000 | 241,000 | 3 m |
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Trinidad and Tobago | Port of Spain | 37,100 | 681,000 | 3 m |
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Uruguay | Montevideo | 1,369,000 | 1,421,000 | 43 m |
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Venezuela | Caracas | 2,088,000 | 2,521,000 | 900 m |
* data on urban agglomerations updated to 2023 (estimates), those on population according to official data or more recent estimates of the national statistical services, when different from urban agglomerations.