Federal district

A federal district is a specific administrative division in some federal countries. These districts may be under the direct jurisdiction of a federation's national government. Federal districts often include capital districts of the national capital.

A federal district is made so that no state in the country can claim to be more important than the others, because the national capital is inside the state, or to stop one state trying to have control over the national capital.

Federal countries with a federal district

• United States' capital Washington, is in the federal district of the District of Columbia
• Australia's capital Canberra is in the federal district of the Australian Capital Territory
• Brazil's capital Brasilia, is in the Brazilian Federal District
• Nigeria's capital Abuja, is in the federal district of the Federal Capital Territory
• Pakistan's capital Islamabad, is in the federal district of the Islamabad Capital Territory
• Venezuela's capital Caracas, is in the federal district of the Capital District

Former federal districts

• Argentina's capital Buenos Aires, was a federal district, until it was abolished and converted into the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires in 1994

• Mexico's capital Mexico City, was a federal district, until it was abolished and converted into Mexico City in January 2016

Federal countries with no federal districts

• Canada's capital Ottawa, is not a federal district, but is part of the province of Ontario
• Belgium's capital Brussels, is not a federal district, but is its own region; to show that the French language and the Flemish language are equal, Brussels is a special bilingual (two-languages) region
• Austria's capital Vienna, is not a federal district, but is one of the states of Austria
• Switzerland's de facto capital Bern, is not a federal district, but is the capital of the canton of Bern