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A capital territory or capital district is normally a specially designated administrative division where a country's seat of government is located. As such, in a federal model of government, no state or territory has any political or economic advantage relative to the others because of the national capital lying within its borders. A capital territory can be a specific form of federal district.

A distinction should be made from administrative divisions which include national capitals, but have no special designated status legally (for example, Île de France has no distinct quality from other regions of France). Some federal countries (like Belgium), give their national capitals the status as full, equal federal units.

Some federal countries have made no distinction administratively for the territory around the capital. A few federal countries have their national capitals located in the capital city of a federal state: Sarajevo, the capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina, is also the capital of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, one of federal units and de jure capital of Republika Srpska, the other federal unit; further, Bern, the capital of Switzerland, is the capital of the Canton of Bern.

Two national capitals in federal countries are neither federal units, special capital districts, nor capitals of federal units: Ottawa, the capital of Canada, and Palikir, the capital of the Federated States of Micronesia. The Canadian government does designate the Ottawa area as the National Capital Region, although this term merely represents the jurisdictional area of the government agency that administers federally-owned lands and buildings, and is not an actual administrative unit.

In some non-federal countries there are capital regions that don't have special significance, but have names hinting that. For example the Capital Region of Denmark‎ is a name of a normal national region.

The following have a special administrative district or territory for their national capital cities:

Argentina[link]

The Ciudad autónoma de Buenos Aires is coterminous with the Argentine Federal District. In 1996, under the 1994 reform of the Argentine Constitution, the city gained autonomous status, and held its first mayoral elections. Buenos Aires is represented in the Argentine Senate by three senators and in the Argentine Chamber of Deputies by 25 national deputies.

Australia[link]

The Australian Capital Territory (ACT) is one of two self-governing internal territories of the Australian federation, the other being the Northern Territory (NT). Created in 1911, the ACT was originally called the Federal Capital Territory, the current name being acquired in 1938. The ACT was constituted specifically to house the seat of government, the goal being to avoid situating the new nation's capital Canberra in either New South Wales or Victoria, the two most populous states. The ACT is an enclave of New South Wales.

Although the ACT has its own Chief Minister and its own legislature (the Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly), the Federal Parliament retains the right to overrule ACT legislation. While governing the entire ACT, the Legislative Assembly also acts as a municipal government for the city of Canberra. The Governor-General of Australia exercises certain rights that in the states would be exercised by a state governor, such as the power to issue writs for elections.

At a federal level, the ACT and the NT both elect two members of the House of Representatives and two Senators. The terms of the territory senators are tied to the term of the House of Representatives, not to the term of the Senate. This means that if there is an election for the Senate only (as last happened in 1970), this would involve only half the state senators, and the territory senators' terms would continue. Conversely, if there is an election for the House of Representatives only (as last happened in 1972), this would also involve the territory senators but not the state senators.

Brazil[link]

Brasília, the capital of Brazil, is set within the Federal District or Distrito Federal. The state includes several other cities. Brasília is a planned city, with no pre-existing status prior to its establishment.

The Federal District is an anomalous unit of the federation, as it is not organized the same manner as a municipality, does not possess the same autonomy as a state (but is ranked among them) and is closely related to the central power.

The District Governor is elected directly for a 4-year term. Local laws are issued by a legislative assembly also elected by the local population. Judiciary affairs are carried out by the Union, instead of being appointed by the governor as in the other states of Brazil. The district has the status of a federal state in many aspects. It has representatives both in the Lower House of Congress (Câmara dos Deputados) and in the national Senate.

The Brazilian federal government was transferred to the Distrito Federal on April 21, 1960, which was then split off from the state of Goiás. Before the transfer, the Brazilian capital was the municipality of Rio de Janeiro. After the transfer, the municipality of Rio de Janeiro became the Estado da Guanabara (State of Guanabara), which existed from 1960 until 1975 when the State of Guanabara was merged into the State of Rio de Janeiro.

China, People's Republic of[link]

Beijing is a direct-controlled municipality.

Colombia[link]

In Colombia the Capital District of Bogotá, containing the city of Bogotá was created as a Special District in 1955 by Gustavo Rojas Pinilla. It was renamed "Capital District" in the Colombian Constitution of 1991. The district is subdivided into 20 localities.

Dominican Republic[link]

In Dominican Republic the Nacional District of Santo Domingo, containing the city of Santo Domingo de Guzman was created as a Special District in 1922. In 1844 it was the Santo Domingo Province and then the constitution of the Dominican Republic decided that the country needed the capital to be in a special district.

India[link]

The National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT) is a special Union Territory of India. The territory encompasses three statutory towns: New Delhi (the capital of India), Delhi and Delhi Cantonment, along with 59 census towns and 165 villages.

The NCT was set up as a federally administered Union Territory on 11 November 1956. In December 1991, the NCT was given a legislative assembly headed by a Chief Minister. The territory is not classified as a true Union territory, though the Central government does have limited control over the functioning of the territory much like other Union territories. Delhi is to eventually become a full fledged state.

The NCT is unique in India in that the municipal control is handled by a locally elected government, major areas such as the police, and administration are handled by the central government.

Indonesia[link]

In Indonesia, the national capital Jakarta is within the Daerah Khusus Ibukota Jakarta (Jakarta Special Capital District). Jakarta is considered as one of Indonesia's provinces so Jakarta is headed by a governor and not a mayor. However, Jakarta is divided into 5 smaller "administrative-cities" (which are headed by mayors) and one "administrative-regency". Administrative-city is different to city, and administrative-regency is different to regency, because of its degree of autonomy. These all only available in Jakarta. Mayors of administrative-cities and regent of administrative-regency are not elected by each people there, by the Governor and members of the Provincial Parliament of Jakarta Special Capital District instead. And each do not have local parliament.

Iraq[link]

Baghdad, the capital of Iraq, is contained within a Special Capital District.

Malaysia[link]

In Malaysia, the national capital of Kuala Lumpur lies within the Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur (since 1974) while The Federal Government Administrative Centre of Putrajaya, 40 km to the south of KL lies within the Federal Territory of Putrajaya (since 2001). Both federal territories are located within the state of Selangor.

Mali[link]

Bamako, the capital of Mali, is contained within the Bamako Capital District.

Mexico[link]

Mexican Federal District or Distrito Federal since 1824 is coterminous with Mexico City. The D.F. is a federal district serving as the capital of Mexico and which is administered by the Mexican Federal Government. The D.F. encompasses the historical center of Mexico City, but is much larger than the historical municipality of Mexico City abolished in 1928. The urbanized area of Mexico City covers only the north of the D.F., while the south of the D.F. is made up of rural areas and mountains. Although the D.F. is not a municipality, the name "Ciudad de México" is used by Mexican authorities as a synonym for the Distrito Federal (Federal District). Mexico City as a municipality was abolished in 1928, and the name "Mexico City" can now refer to two things.

According to the Constitution of Mexico, Mexico City is the Federal District, (Distrito Federal). This is actually a fairly recent reform (dating from 1993) of Article 44 of the Constitution, and it was aimed at ending two centuries of discussions (and occasional problems on jurisdiction) about whether one concept engulfed the other or even if one of the two entities really had any legal existence in lieu of the other. The complete text of the aforementioned reform also states that Mexico City is the seat of the Powers of the Union (Executive, Legislative and Judicial) and capital of the United Mexican States.

Nigeria[link]

Nigeria's capital Abuja is located in the Federal Capital Territory. The Territory was established in 1976, and the capital was formally moved from Lagos (the historic capital) in 1991.

Niger[link]

Niger's capital, Niamey, comprises a capital district of Niger. It is surrounded by the department of Tillabéri.

North Korea[link]

North Korea's capital city, P'yŏng-yang, while traditionally located within South P'yŏng-an Province, is currently seen as a "directly governed city" (Chikalshi 직할시). For a time, P'yŏng-yang was considered a "special city" (T'ŭkpyŏlshi 특별시), to make it equivalent to its South Korean counterpart, Seoul.

Pakistan[link]

The capital of Pakistan, Islamabad, is a planned city within the Islamabad Capital Territory, which was created in 1960 out of the Punjab Province. The Territory elects representatives to both houses of the legislature. Before Islamabad was made the capital, Karachi was located in the Federal Capital Territory, which later reverted to the Sindh Province.

Papua New Guinea[link]

Port Moresby, the capital of Papua New Guinea has been contained within the National Capital District of Papua New Guinea since the country achieved independence in 1975.

Peru[link]

Lima, the nation's capital is contained entirely within Lima Province, the only province in the country not belonging to any of the twenty-five regions. It is surrounded by the Lima Region on all sides but west.

South Korea[link]

South Korea's capital city, Seoul, while traditionally located within Kyŏnggi Province, is currently seen as a "special city" (Teukbyeolsi/T'ŭkpyŏlshi 특별시). Seoul's mayor is seen as the equivalent of any provincial governor.

Taiwan (Republic of China)[link]

Taipei, the capital of the Republic of China (colloquially known as Taiwan) is a special municipality (Chinese: 直轄市; pinyin: zhíxiáshì).

United States[link]

As provided by the Article 1, Section 8 of the United States Constitution, the seat of the United States government is a federal district known as the District of Columbia. When created in 1790, the District comprised 100 square miles (260 km²) of land donated by the states of Maryland and Virginia. Columbia was a poetic name for the United States used at the time.

The City of Washington was built in the center of the District, but other towns were also located in the territory such as Georgetown and Alexandria. The United States Congress returned the Virginia portion of the District back to that state in 1846. The District of Columbia Organic Act of 1871 revoked the charters of the individuals cities of Washington and Georgetown, and instead created a single government for the whole District of Columbia. The City of Washington no longer exists; however, the name continues in use and the city is often referred to as just Washington, D.C.

Since the Home Rule Act of 1973, the District of Columbia has been run by an elected mayor and city council. Congress retains ultimate authority over the District and has the right to review the local budget and taxes, overturn laws passed by the city council, and terminate home rule. District residents pay federal taxes and are represented by a single, non-voting member in the United States House of Representatives.

Because of the Twenty-third Amendment to the United States Constitution, the people of the District of Columbia are allowed to vote for President of the United States. The District is allotted three electoral votes, equal to that of the least populous state. Before this, the residents of the District were not afforded the right to vote for the President who resides within their territory. The District still does not have voting representation in Congress, however, despite having a larger population than that of the least populous state, Wyoming.

Venezuela[link]

Venezuelan Capital District / Metropolitan District of Caracas since 2000.

See also[link]

• Direct-controlled municipality
• Federal territory
• Federal district
• Capital region

Jesper Kyd Jakobson (born February 3, 1972) is an award winning Danish video game, television and film score composer. Internationally renowned for composing the unique, signature music soundtracks for multi-million selling franchises Assassin's Creed, Hitman and Borderlands, Kyd’s distinctive scores feature a diverse array of orchestra, choir, acoustic manipulations and electronic soundscapes, immersing audiences with emotional depth often described by critics as ‘rousing,’ ‘surreal’ and ‘beautiful.’^{[citation needed]}

Biography[link]

Early years[link]

Kyd started playing piano at an early age. Later, he took several years of training in classical guitar, note reading, choir singing and classical composition for piano. However, he is mostly self-taught.^[1][2] Kyd was always more interested in the compositional aspects of music and received a Commodore 64 when he was 14, enabling him to compose music for the demoscene.^[3] Several years later he obtained an Amiga, allowing him to compose music with samples in it.^[4] He, along with his good friend and collaborator, Mikael Balle, became a member of the demo group Silents DK, and after some time started collaborating with a group of coders known as Crionics,^[5] which would arguably later prove vital for his professional career. They eventually made the legendary Amiga demoscene production Hardwired.^[6][7] He also created and scored the first wild demo, Global Trash 2, together with Mikael Balle.

Career[link]

At this point Jesper Kyd decided to quit the demo scene and focus on a professional career as a game musician. He and his demoscene friends who had collaborated on the Hardwired demo created the computer game developer Zyrinx and started working on a game called Sub-Terrania for the Sega Genesis. The game was successful and the music of the game received particular acclaim, many stating it was "Some of the best ever" for this particular system.^{[citation needed]}

With the commercial success of the game, Jesper Kyd and the rest of the team relocated to Boston. Kyd composed music for two additional Zyrinx titles, Red Zone and Scorcher as well as the music for two externally developed games, Amok and The Adventures of Batman and Robin before their game publisher Scavenger went bankrupt, forcing the Zyrinx team to dissolve as well.

Freelance[link]

After the demise of Zyrinx, many of its former members returned to Denmark to start IO Interactive. Jesper Kyd decided to move to New York City and set up his own sound studio in Manhattan called "Nano studios". Because of his extensive connections in the industry,^{[citation needed]} Kyd found success as a freelance computer game musician. He also had been planning to score upcoming games from IO Interactive from the beginning.

Breakthrough[link]

Jesper Kyd's real fame came, according to him, with the release of Bioware's MDK2: Armageddon, Shiny's Messiah and IO's Hitman: Codename 47 being released around the same time, all being fairly well known games, with Hitman ending up as one of the most popular of the time.^[8] The soundtrack to Codename 47 was based on urban soundscapes and ethnic instrumentation. It immediately took the focus of many magazines around the world. Mp3.com declared that "The theme song to the original Hitman is arguably one of the best pieces of video game theme music so far this decade".^[9]

His next huge step was recording the soundtrack of Hitman 2: Silent Assassin. The soundtrack was recorded with 110 musicians of the Budapest Symphony Orchestra and Choir. "The music of most big budget action movies won't move you like the music of Hitman 2," said IGN.^[9]

His next soundtrack contained heroic and densely atmospheric music for the epic action/adventure Freedom Fighters. He recorded the score with the Hungarian Radio choir. It further established him as one of the leading, innovative A-list composers in interactive entertainment. It was described by Film Score Monthly Magazine as "Vangelis on steroids". Billboard Digital Entertainment Awards nominated him for Best Use of Soundtrack, meanwhile, Game Audio Network Guild Awards nominated him for "Best Original Vocal Song – Choral" (for Main Title and March of the Empire). Leading video game web site GameSpot awarded Freedom Fighters "Best Music of the Year".

His unique fusion of modern electronica and brooding symphonic and choral grooves featured in Hitman: Contracts garnered international critical acclaim as one of the truly groundbreaking original soundtracks. It was awarded Best Original Music by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts at the 2005 BAFTA Games Awards and won Best Cinematic / Cut-Scene Audio at the 2005 G.A.N.G. Awards. "Many have tried to turn a video game soundtrack into a musical experience. But few have succeeded in creating a coherent, satisfying listening experience as well as Jesper Kyd," noted EQ Magazine.^[9]

Following his Bafta-winning music for the globally acclaimed Hitman series, Kyd’s next assignment was to provide the rich and melodic sound for what would become Ubisoft’s flagship franchise, Assassin's Creed, created by visionary developer Patrice Desilets. Kyd’s cinematic score for Altair’s Middle-Eastern story delivers a deeply meditative and spiritual aesthetic with dramatic effect. For Assassin's Creed II, Kyd took the music in an adventurous new direction, crafting a melodic, acoustic and orchestral music score recorded with A-list musicians in Los Angeles. The music propels the action, captures the allure and mystery of Ezio’s story and immerses players in the breathtakingly detailed settings of Renaissance Italy. Kyd’s original score for Assassin's Creed Brotherhood draws influence and authentic instrumentation from the Renaissance period, immersing players in master assassin Ezio’s mission to liberate Rome from the corrupt and tyrant regime of the Borgias. For the epic conclusion to Ezio’s story, Assassin's Creed Revelations, Kyd composed a rich and evocative hybrid music style drawing on Greek, Renaissance and Middle-Eastern instrumentation, while combining his emotional melodic writing and acoustic/electronic styles associated with the series.

Kyd’s emotionally dynamic score for the highly anticipated action/adventure Darksiders II combines dark ethereal themes and melodic fantasy with sublime atmosphere that enrich the player’s cinematic journey through each of the unique realms. Darksiders II II follows the exploits of Death, one of the four horsemen of the Apocalypse, during his epic journey through various light and dark realms as he tries to redeem his brother WAR, the horseman who was blamed for prematurely starting the Apocalypse. Darksiders II is set for release on August 21, 2012.

Kyd is currently scoring new episodes of the upcoming live action TV series Metal Hurlant Chronicles (Heavy Metal), Cameron Romero’s next film Radical, Undead Labs’ ‘Class3′ and other projects to be announced.

He resides in Burbank, California and is represented by The Gorfaine-Schwartz Agency.

Works[link]

Kyd has composed music for many different forms of visual and non-visual media, below is a run-down of his works.

Games[link]

• 2012 - Darksiders II
• 2012 - Heroes and Generals
• 2012 - Soulcalibur V (provided a remix of the track "Venice Rooftops" from Assassin's Creed II)
• 2011 - Forza Motorsport 4
• 2011 - Assassin's Creed: Revelations (with Lorne Balfe)
• 2010 - Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood^[10]
• 2009 - Assassin's Creed II
• 2009 - Borderlands
• 2008 - The Chronicles of Spellborn
• 2008 - The Club (main theme)
• 2007 - Assassin's Creed
• 2007 - Unreal Tournament 3 (with Rom Di Prisco)
• 2007 - Kane & Lynch: Dead Men
• 2006 - Hitman: Blood Money
• 2006 - Gears of War (concept music)
• 2005 - Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory (cinematics)
• 2004 - Dance Dance Revolution ULTRAMIX 2 (songs .59 -remix-, Istanbul café, and Red Room)^[11]
• 2004 - Robotech: Invasion
• 2004 - Hitman: Contracts
• 2004 - McFarlane's Evil Prophecy
• 2003 - Freedom Fighters
• 2003 - Brute Force
• 2002 - Hitman 2: Silent Assassin
• 2002 - Minority Report: The Video Game
• 2001 - Shattered Galaxy
• 2001 - The Nations: Alien Nations 2
• 2000 - Hitman: Codename 47
• 2000 - Messiah
• 2000 - MDK2
• 2000 - Soldier (unreleased)
• 1999 - Time Tremors
• 1996 - Scorcher
• 1996 - Amok
• 1995 - Adventures of Batman and Robin
• 1994 - Red Zone
• 1993 - Sub-Terrania
• 1993 - AWS Pro Moves Soccer
• 1989 - USS John Young

Movies[link]

• 2010 - A Perfect Soldier
• 2008 - Staunton Hill
• 2007 - La Passion de Jeanne d'Arc (1928, new score)
• 2006 - Sweet Insanity
• 2003 - Night All Day
• 2002 - Pure
• 2002 - Death of a Saleswoman

Short films[link]

• 2011 - Somnolence
• 2010 - The Auctioneers
• 2006 - Virus
• 2006 - Impulse
• 2003 - Cycle
• 2002 - Pure
• 2002 - Paper Plane Man
• 2002 - Day Pass
• 2001 - Going with Neill
• 2001 - The Lion Tamer
• 2000 - Organizm

TV series[link]

• 2012 - Metal Hurlant Chronicles / Heavy Metal (US title)
• 2009 - The Resistance

Trailers[link]

• Game of Thrones TV Series
• Conan the Barbarian
• Assassin's Creed TV launch trailer
• Assassin's Creed cello TV trailer
• Assassin's Creed E3 trailer
• Gears of War E3 trailer
• V For Vendetta (Warner Bros. Pictures)
• Hitman: Blood Money TV trailers
• Hitman: Contracts TV trailers
• Hitman 2: Silent Assassin TV trailers
• Freedom Fighters TV trailers

Awards and nominations[link]

• 2012 BAFTA British Academy of Film and Television Arts - Best Original Score Nomination
• 2011 GameSpot Readers Choice Special Achievement Awards - Best Music Winner
• 2011 GameSpot Editors Choice Special Achievement Awards - Best Music Nomination
• 2011 Gold Spirit Awards - Best Video Game Score Nomination
• 2011 Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences - Outstanding Achievement in Original Music Nomination
• 2011 Game Audio Network Guild Awards - Music of the Year Nomination
• 2011 Soundtrack Geek Awards - Best Video Game Score Nomination
• 2010 Hollywood Music in Media Awards - Best Original Score (VG) Nomination
• 2010 Gold Spirit Awards: Best Video Game Score Winner
• 2010 BAFTA British Academy of Film and Television Arts - Best Original Score Nomination
• 2010 International Film Music Critics Association - Best Original Video Game Score Nomination
• 2010 Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences - Outstanding Achievement in Original Music Nomination
• 2010 Game Audio Network Guild Awards - Music of the Year Winner
• 2009 IGN Best of the Year Awards - Best Soundtrack Winner (PlayStation 3)
• 2009 GameSpot Readers Choice Special Achievement Awards - Best Original Score Winner
• 2009 GameSpot Editors Choice Special Achievement Awards - Best Original Score Nomination
• 2009 Hollywood Music in Media Awards - Best Original Score (VG) Winner
• 2009 Gamespy Editors' Choice Awards - Best Original Music Winner
• 2009 Spike Video Game Awards - Best Original Score Nomination
• 2009 G4TV X-Play Awards - Best Original Soundtrack Nomination
• 2009 Machinima Awards - Best Original Score Nomination
• 2008 BAFTA - Best Original Music Nomination (British Academy Award)
• 2008 Hollywood Music Awards - Best Original Score Nomination
• 2008 Golden Joystick Awards - Soundtrack of the Year Nomination
• 2008 ELAN Awards - Best Video Game Score Winner
• 2007 GameSpot - Best Video Game Score Nomination
• 2007 3 G.A.N.G. Nominations, including Music of the Year
• 2006 MTV Video Music Awards - Best Video Game Score Nomination
• 2006 IGN Best Original Score Winner
• 2006 Golden Joystick Awards - Best Game Soundtrack Nomination
• 2006 4 G.A.N.G. Nominations Including Music of the Year
• 2005 BAFTA - Winner Best Original Music Award (British Academy Award)
• 2005 G.A.N.G. Winner Best Music for Cinamatic/Cut Scene
• 2005 PSE2 Editor's Choice GOLD - Freedom Fighters Soundtrack CD
• 2004 Billboard Awards Best Music Nomination 2004
• 2004 IGN - Best Soundtrack Nomination
• 2004 3 G.A.N.G. Nominations
• 2004 PSE2 Editor's Choice GOLD - Hitman Contracts Soundtrack CD
• 2003 GameSpot - Best Soundtrack of the Year Winner
• 2003 Game Reactor - Best Original Soundtrack Winner
• 2003 PSE2 Editor's Choice GOLD - Hitman 2 Soundtrack CD
• 2002 Games Agent - Best Original Soundtrack Winner
• 2002 GameSpot - Best Original Soundtrack of the Year Nomination
• 2002 X-Sages - Soundtrack of the Year Nomination
• 2002 IGN - Best Sound Nomination
• 2002 Action Vault - Outstanding Achievement In Music
• 2002 Bolt Games - Bolt Games Music Award

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official website
• Official MySpace
• Jesper Kyd discography at MusicBrainz
• MobyGames rap sheet
• Artist profile at OverClocked ReMix
• An insight into Kyd's demoscene days with a video from 1991 he did the music for
• A more in depth look at his career including his demoscene days

Interviews[link]

• Interview at Nerd Reactor
• Interview at Tracksounds
• Interview at SoundtrackNet
• Interview at Go! Game Music
• Interview at BSOSpirit
• Interview at SpelMusik
• Interview & Module Downloads at Amiga Music Preservation
• Interview at DVD.Reviewer for Jesper Kyd's work on Staunton Hill
• Interview at GameStar.ru