CapitalCity

棉花糖

Many of you may know that Jakarta is the capital city of Indonesia. But this will change soon.Why？

Changing capital city

In English-language news， when you read about “relations （关系） between Beijing and Washington”， it actually means “relations between China and the US”. Thats how important capital cities are-they stand for the country.

在英語新闻中，当你读到“北京和华盛顿之间的关系”时，其实它的意思是指“中国和美国之间的关系”。这说明首都有多重要——因为它们代表着国家。

There are many cities in most countries. But every country has one special city-the capital. For example， Chinas capital city is Beijing. The capital of the UK is London. New Delhi is the capital of India.

大多数国家都有许多城市，但是每个国家都有一个特殊的城市——首都。例如，中国的首都是北京，英国的首都是伦敦，印度的首都是新德里。

The capital city is important. It is home to a countrys central government （中央政府）. Many important offices are there. Leaders （领导人） of a country work and live there. It is often the center of a countrys economy （经济） and culture too.

首都非常重要，它是一个国家中央政府的所在地，那里有许多重要的办公部门。国家领导人在那里工作和生活。首都也通常是一个国家的经济中心和文化中心。

Because it is so special， countries do not often change their capital city.

正因为它如此特殊，所以很多国家是不会轻易改变他们的首都的。

But Indonesia （印度尼西亚） recently said that it is going to build a new capital on the island of Borneo. Jakarta， its current （现在的） capital， is overpopulated （人口过多的）.The traffic is heavy. The areas people live in are crowded. The environment is poor. Whats worse， the city is sinking into the sea， as people are using too much groundwater.

但是最近，印度尼西亚想在婆罗洲岛上建立一个新首都。雅加达是目前印度尼西亚的首都，那里人口过剩，交通拥挤。人们居住的地区不仅拥挤而且环境还很差。更糟糕的是，这座城市正渐渐沉入大海，因为人们过度地开采地下水。

It will not be easy to change the capital city. Officials from the Indonesian government say it will take around 10 years and cost about $32 billion （十亿）.

改变首都并不是一件容易的事情。印度尼西亚政府官员表示，这需要大约10年的时间，耗资约320亿美元。

There are some interesting things to know about capital cities around the world.

Learn about the capitals

Capitals are usually large cities， but not always the largest city in a country. For example， Canberra （堪培拉） is the capital of Australia， but the largest city in Australia is Sydney.

首都通常都是大城市，但并不总是一个国家最大的城市。例如，堪培拉是澳大利亚的首都，但澳大利亚最大的城市是悉尼。

Some smaller countries take the whole country itself as the capital， such as Singapore in Asia and Monaco （摩纳哥） in Europe （欧洲）.

一些比较小的国家会以整个国家本身为首都，比如亚洲的新加坡和欧洲的摩纳哥。

Some countries build new cities to use as their capital. Washington， D.C. was a new city when it was set as the capital of the US.

有些国家将刚建造好的新城市作为首都。华盛顿特区被定为美国首都的时候就是一个新城市。

Beijings many names

Beijing was also the capital of several dynasties （朝代） in ancient （古代的） China. They include the Liao Dynasty （916-1125）， the Jin Dynasty （1115-1234）， the Yuan Dynasty （1271-1368）， the Ming Dynasty （1368-1644） and the Qing Dynasty （1644-1911）.

在古代中国，北京也是好几个朝代的首都。这些朝代包括辽（916—1125）、金（1115—1234）、元（1271—1368）、明（1368—1644）和清（1644—1911）。

In history， Beijing had many names， such as Yanjing （燕京）， Zhongdu （中都）， Dadu （大都）， Jingshi （京师） and Beiping （北平）. In 1949， the Chinese government changed its name from Beiping to Beijing and chose it as the capital.

历史上，北京有许多名字，比如燕京、中都、大都、京师和北平。1949年，中国政府将其名称从北平改为北京，并选择它作为首都。