Stop 1 · Brazil
Rio de Janeiro
Capital from 1763 until 1960, when the government left for a purpose-built city on the interior plateau. It hosted the 2016 Olympics.
Cities that lost the capital title
Each of these was once the seat of its country's government, and each was demoted — some for politics, some for congestion, one for reunification.
The five stops
Stop 2 · Japan
Kyoto
The emperor moved east to Edo in 1868, and Edo was renamed Tokyo — the "eastern capital". Some locals still insist the move was only temporary.
Stop 3 · Germany
Bonn
Capital of West Germany from 1949 to 1990. Parliament voted by just 338 to 320 to move back to Berlin, and several ministries never left.
Stop 4 · Nigeria
Lagos
It lost the capital to Abuja in 1991 but kept growing regardless — estimates now run past 20 million people.
Stop 5 · Kazakhstan
Almaty
Capital until 1997, when the government moved to the northern steppe. Its name refers to apples — the wild ancestor of every domestic apple grows here.
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