毛里林

一般來說，首都是一個(gè)國家的最大城市。然而，華盛頓只是美國的第九大城市。瑞士的首都伯爾尼， 也只是該國的第四大城市。

根據(jù)法律規(guī)定，阿姆斯特丹是荷蘭的首都。事實(shí)上，它只是名義上的首都。如議會(huì)、首相府和中央政府所有部委等政府部門都在海牙。外國駐荷蘭的大使們也都留住海牙。

在澳大利亞，首都的位置曾經(jīng)引起悉尼和墨爾本之間的爭(zhēng)端。在1927之前，墨爾本是首都。最大的城市西德尼強(qiáng)烈反對(duì)。一度，聯(lián)邦政府考慮把首都遷到悉尼，但是墨爾本說“不”。在這種情況下，政府別無選擇，只好在兩座城市之間建一座新首都，于是堪培拉誕生了。

蒙古的首都烏蘭巴托是個(gè)會(huì)自行移動(dòng)的城市。它每年向赤道移動(dòng)大約4至5厘米。

沙特阿拉伯同時(shí)擁有四個(gè)首都：利雅得，行政首都；麥加，宗教首都；外交部和外交使節(jié)住吉達(dá)，被稱為外交首都；塔伊夫是一個(gè)著名的避暑勝地，所以政府把它定為夏都。

Something interesting about capitals

Generally speaking, the capital is the largest city in a country. But Washington is only the 9th largest of U.S. cities. Berne, the capital of Switzerland, is the 4th largest one in that country.

According to law, Amsterdam is the capital of the Netherlands.In fact, it is a capital only in name. The governmental units such as the Parliament, the Prime Minister’s Mansion, and all the ministries of the central government are in the Hague. Foreign ambassadors to the Netherlands all stay in the Hague, too.

In Australia, the location of the capital once caused disputes between Sydney and Melbourne. Before 1927, Melbourne was the capital. Sidney, the biggest city, was strongly against it. At one time, the Federal Government thought of moving the capital to Sidney, but Melbourne said “No”. Under the circumstances, the Government had no choice but to build a new capital in a place between the two cities, and thus Canberra was born.  

Mongolia’s capital, Ulanbator, moves itself. It moves towards the equator 4 or 5 centimeters each year.

Saudi Arabia simultaneously has four capitals: Riyadh, the administrative capital; Mecca, the religious one; the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and foreign ambassadors are in Jiddah, which is called the capital of foreign affairs; finally Taif is a famous summer resort, so the Government makes it the summer capital.

文章署名： 毛里林

報(bào)刊名稱：《今日中學(xué)生》