capitals

Capitals, in geography, are cities chosen to act as the seat of government for a country, subnational entity, or region. The capital typically hosts the executive, legislature, and judiciary, though in some nations the location of government functions may differ from the most populous or economically dominant city. Examples: in the United States, Washington, D.C. is the capital; in India, New Delhi serves as capital; in South Africa, Pretoria is the administrative capital, Cape Town the legislative capital, and Bloemfontein the judicial capital; in Bolivia, La Paz is the seat of government while Sucre is the constitutional capital; in Sri Lanka, Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte is the official capital, with Colombo as the commercial capital. Capitals may be designated for historical, political, or logistical reasons and can change by law or constitutional amendment.

Capitals also refer to uppercase letters in writing. A capital letter is used at the beginning of sentences and for proper nouns and acronyms. The word capital comes from Latin caput, meaning head, reflecting the leading role of the head of something. In typesetting, capitalization rules vary by language, but common conventions include capitalizing the first word of a sentence and the names of people, places, and organizations.

Capital, in economics, denotes assets used to produce goods or services, such as money, equipment, or buildings, as well as the intangible asset human capital in education and skills. Capital is accumulated through saving and investment and flows between sectors as part of economic growth.