Temporary capital

A temporary capital or a provisional capital is a city or town chosen by a government as an interim base of operations due to some difficulty in retaining or establishing control of a different metropolitan area. The most common circumstances leading to this are either a civil war, where control of the capital is contested, or during an invasion, where the designated capital is taken or threatened.

By definition, a temporary capital is located somewhere on the country's territory, as opposed to a capital-in-exile located on the territory of a different country. However, a country's capital may move in and out of exile over the course of a conflict.

The following list is sorted by the most recent date the temporary capital's status existed.