a capital city, or capital town or capital, is a city or town, specified by law or constitution, by the government of a country, or part of a country, such as a state, province, or county. it usually serves as the location of the government's central meeting place and offices. most of the country's leaders, embassy and officials work in the capital city. this doesn't have to be the case though: monaco, nauru, switzerland and vatican city are examples of countries that do not have a capital city. israel said jerusalem was its capital: most countries don't recognise this, and most embassies are in tel aviv. in japan, the city of tokyo, which was the capital, was disbanded in 1943. today, the 23 city districts (called wards) have the role of capital city. each district is a city of its own, though. "capital city" can also mean a city most famous for something, in this case, capital of the world is a nickname.