What is the highest capital city in the world?

La Paz is the highest national capital city in the world, sitting at roughly 3,650 metres above sea level in Bolivia. The city occupies a steep canyon in the Altiplano region of the Andes, while the wider metropolitan area climbs toward the high plateau.

La Paz’s elevation strongly shapes daily life. The thinner air contains less oxygen than at sea level, so visitors may experience altitude sickness, breathlessness and fatigue while acclimatizing. The city’s dramatic topography also produces large differences in elevation between neighbourhoods, connected in part by an extensive urban cable-car system.

A common mix-up involves Sucre, Bolivia’s constitutional and judicial capital. Sucre is the official capital under Bolivia’s constitution, but La Paz is the seat of government and national legislature—and it is much higher. For general geography quizzes, “highest capital city” conventionally refers to La Paz.

Quito, Ecuador’s capital, is also exceptionally high at about 2,850 metres, but it is lower than La Paz. Bogotá and Mexico City are high-elevation capitals as well, though neither reaches La Paz’s altitude.