What is a Capital City?

A capital city (or just capital) is the area of a country, province, region, or state regarded as enjoying primary status.

Although there are exceptions, a capital is almost always a city which physically encompasses the offices and meeting places of the seat of government and is usually fixed by law or by the constitution. 

An alternative term is political capital, but this phrase has a second meaning based on an alternate sense of the word capital. The capital is frequently, but not necessarily, the largest city of its constituent area and also often a specialised city. 

The word capital is derived from the Latin caput meaning "head".