There are many cases where a subnational administrative division (a federated state, municipality, or other unit) is governed from a capital city that is not itself a part of that territory. In most of these cases, the city itself is constituted as a separate local government unit, but also administers a surrounding or neighbouring territory.

Current

Africa Ethiopia: Addis Ababa, capital of the region of Oromia (in addition to being the national capital city), itself an independently governed chartered city that is not part of Oromia. Adama, located within the Oromia region, served as its capital between 2000 and 2005. South Africa: East London, the administrative centre of the Amathole District Municipality, itself in the Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality Gqeberha, the administrative centre of the Cacadu District Municipality, itself in the Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipality

Americas Bogotá, Colombia – capital of the surrounding Cundinamarca Department, while constituting its own capital district. Hot Springs, South Dakota, United States – seat of Fall River County, whose administration is under contract from neighbouring Oglala Lakota County to also perform the latter's administrative functions. King Salmon, Alaska, United States – seat of government for the Lake and Peninsula Borough but lies in the Bristol Bay Borough. Alberta, Canada - More than half of Alberta's 63 municipal districts are administered from a separate municipality, often an incorporated city, town, or village surrounded by, but administratively-separate from, the municipal district itself. London, Ontario, Canada - seat of Middlesex County, itself an independent city. Ontario, Canada - since the municipal restructuring of the 1990s, many of the remaining two-tier counties are administered from separated municipalities that are no longer included within the county; for example, the seat of Wellington County is in Guelph. Paramaribo, Suriname – the vast and sparsely populated Sipaliwini District in the South of the country does not have a capital, and is administered from a distance directly by the central government, in the national capital city of Paramaribo on the coast. Paramaribo does not even border the Sipaliwini District. Recife, Brazil – seat of the administration of the Fernando de Noronha islands. The Atlantic archipelago of Fernando de Noronha is a unique case in Brazil of a state district, not part of any municipality and administered directly by the government of the state of Pernambuco. The islands' administrative offices are located in the state capital city of Recife, on the mainland, away from the islands. Thessalon, Ontario, Canada – seat of Cockburn Island township, itself a separate municipality on the mainland. Cockburn Island, in Lake Huron, has no longer any permanent population, yet it is still legally incorporated as a township of the province of Ontario, with the administrative offices located in Thessalon. Virginia in the United States – has unique laws regarding independent city status, where a city is not part of its surrounding county. Because of this, many county courthouses and county government offices are technically located outside of the county. These include Albemarle County, Alleghany County, Frederick County, Greensville County, Prince William County, Rockbridge County, and Rockingham County. The government offices for Roanoke County, James City County, and Henrico County are located within the borders of the county while the historic courthouses are located in the independent cities of Salem, Williamsburg, and Richmond, respectively. In Fairfax County, the courthouse is situated in an enclave within the city of Fairfax, which is an independent city that is itself an enclave within Fairfax County. This is a rare example of a counter-enclave. The county's government offices are outside of the City of Fairfax's borders. Winner, South Dakota, United States – seat of both Tripp and Todd counties, itself located in Tripp County.

Asia Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan – capital of Chüy Region which surrounds the city, though the city itself is not part of the region but rather a region-level unit of Kyrgyzstan Central, Hong Kong – the area where the district council and district office of the Islands District is located, itself within the Central and Western District Chandigarh, India – shared capital of the states of Punjab and Haryana, itself a union territory Fort Pikit, Malidegao, Philippines – the barangay which serves as the site of the municipal hall of Pikit in Cotabato province. The barangay was previously part of Pikit, until the creation of Malidegao in 2024. Ishigaki, Japan – government seat both of the Yaeyama District of Okinawa Prefecture, and of the town of Taketomi, located in that district. Ishigaki itself is a city, outside any district and with its own separate administration. Jiagedaqi District, China – administrative centre of the Da Hinggan Ling Prefecture, Heilongjiang Province, itself (nominally) located in Inner Mongolia. Kagoshima, Japan – hosts the municipal offices for the island villages of Mishima and Toshima. Lankaran, Azerbaijan – capital of Lankaran Rayon, itself administratively separate Several provinces of the Philippines technically have their capitals outside their borders when the cities are classified as highly urbanized (independent); by law these cities are not included in any province, although most of the time these cities are tightly connected and were sometimes once part of the province that surrounds them. See cities of the Philippines for a more extensive explanation and the Virginia entry above for a comparison. Saipan, Northern Mariana Islands – seat of the mayor office of the largely evacuated Northern Islands Municipality, itself another municipality Shaki, Azerbaijan – capital of Shaki Rayon, itself administratively separate Shusha, Azerbaijan – capital of Shusha Rayon, itself administratively separate Tashkent, Uzbekistan – capital of Tashkent Province, itself an independent city Yevlakh, Azerbaijan – capital of Yevlakh Rayon, itself administratively separate Ongjin County, Incheon - County office located in Michuhol District because county is composed entirely of islands.

Europe Austria: Most of the so-called Statutarstädte (statutory cities), which are independent cities not part of any district, are the seats of their surrounding districts. The statutory cities for which this is the case are: Eisenstadt, Graz, Innsbruck, Klagenfurt am Wörthersee, Krems an der Donau, Linz, the city of Linz is the seat of two districts, Linz-Land and Urfahr-Umgebung, the latter of which used to have its seat at the town of Urfahr, which became a borough of Linz. Sankt Pölten, Steyr, Villach, Wels, Wiener Neustadt, Grieskirchen is also the seat of both districts of Eferding and Grieskirchen, which share one district commission. Belarus: Minsk – administrative center of Minsk Region, itself a city with special status of capital Belgium: The City of Brussels is the capital of the Flanders region, while it is itself part of the Brussels Capital Region Bulgaria: Sofia – capital of the Sofia Province, itself an administrative unit (oblast) on its own. Croatia: Zagreb – Capital of Zagreb County, itself administratively separate Czech Republic: Prague – capital of Central Bohemian Region, Prague-West District and Prague-East District, itself an administrative unit on its own France: Lyon – capital of the Rhône department (collectivity), though it is itself the bulk of the administratively separate Lyon Metropolis since 2015 A few town halls of French communes are located outside of their boundaries: Château-Chinon (Campagne), the town hall is located in Château-Chinon (Ville); Le Malzieu-Forain, the town hall is located in Le Malzieu-Ville; Le Plessis-Patte-d'Oie, the town hall is located in Berlancourt; Pourcharesses, the town hall is located in Villefort; Rouvres-sous-Meilly, the town hall is located in Meilly-sur-Rouvres; Suzan, the town hall is located in La Bastide-de-Sérou; Taillepied, the town hall is located in Saint-Sauveur-le-Vicomte; Turquestein-Blancrupt, the town hall is located in Saint-Quirin. Germany: several rural Kreise (districts of a state) have their capitals in larger nearby cities that have their own separate administration (being self-governing cities that have both Kreis and city level functions) and are not part of the usually homonymous rural Kreis; they includes: Amberg; Ansbach; Ausburg; Aschaffenburg; Bamberg; Bayreuth; Darmstadt; Fürth; Goburg; Hof; Ludwigshafeb am Rhein; Kaiserslautern; Kassel; Karlsruhe; Koblenz; Landshut; Laudau in der Pfalz; Munich; Nümberg; Offenbach; Osnabrück; Passau; Pfozheim; Primasens; Regensburg; Rosenheim; Rostock; Schweinfurt; Straubing; Trier; Ulm; Würzburg; Greece: Piraeus is the headquarters of the Decentralized Administration of the Aegean, which comprises most islands in the Aegean Sea but is itself located on the mainland, in the Decentralized Administration of Attica. Hungary: Budapest – capital of Pest county, and also the Central Hungarian Region, itself having a county status, thus outside Pest county, but within the Central Hungarian Region Lithuania: Vilnius – capital of Vilnius district municipality, itself a separate administrative unit (urban municipality). Netherlands: Alkmaar – Alkmaar is the seat of the municipality of Bergen, of which it is not a part Norway: Oslo – administration headquarters of Akershus county, itself a separate county Romania: Bucharest– capital of Ilfov County, itself a municipality with special status Russia: Moscow, capital of Moscow Oblast, itself a federal city Slovakia: Košice, administrative center of Košice-okolie District, itself divided into four separate districts: Košice I, Košice II, Košice III, and Košice IV Ukraine: Kyiv, administrative centre of Kyiv Oblast, itself a city with special status United Kingdom: Aberdeen, Scotland – Aberdeen was the historic county town of Aberdeenshire but now forms a separate local authority. Aberdeenshire Council's headquarters remain within the city of Aberdeen, the only local authority in Scotland to have its council sit in another local authority area. Abingdon-on-Thames, England – Since 2014, the district councils of South Oxfordshire and Vale of White Horse have been located in the same headquarters. In 2014, the Vale of White Horse District Council moved into the headquarters of the South Oxfordshire District Council in Crowmarsh Gifford, South Oxfordshire. In 2015, due to a fire, both councils moved to Milton, Vale of White Horse. In 2022, both councils temporarily moved to Abingdon, Vale of White Horse, intending to move together to a new headquarters in Didcot, South Oxfordshire, initially planned to be completed in 2023. Ipswich, England, United Kingdom, itself a non-metropolitan district, serves as the administrative centre for the neighboring districts of Babergh and Mid Suffolk.

Oceania Alice Springs, Northern Territory, Australia - seat of three distinct local government areas of the Northern Territory: the Central Desert Region, the MacDonnell Region, and itself, the Town of Alice Springs, which is not part of either region. Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia - seat of the separate Tiwi Islands Region of the Northern Territory, itself its own local government area on the mainland as the City of Darwin. Additionally, two areas of the Northern Territory have no local government and are administered directly by the territory's government, and hence from Darwin, the territory's capital city: the Northern Territory Rates Act Area and the Unincorporated Top End Region. Honiara, Solomon Islands – capital of Guadalcanal Province, while itself a separate capital territory