The United States of America is made up of 50 individual states and one national capital city - Washington, D.C. Each state has its own capital city where the center of the state's government exists. These state capitals vary in size but all are important to how politics operate in the states. Some of the largest state capitals in the U.S. are Phoenix, Arizona with a city population of over 1.6 million people (this makes it the largest U.S. state capital by population) as well as Indianapolis, Indiana, and Columbus, Ohio.

There are many other capital cities in the U.S. that are much smaller than these large cities. The following is a list of the ten smallest capital cities in the U.S. For reference, the state that they are in, along with the population of the state's largest city has also been included. All population numbers were obtained from Citydata.com and are representative of July 2009 population estimates.

1. Montpelier

• Population: 7,705

• State: Vermont

• Largest City: Burlington (38,647)

2. Pierre

• Population: 14,072

• State: South Dakota

• Largest City: Sioux Falls (157,935)

3. Augusta

• Population: 18,444

• State: Maine

• Largest City: Portland (63,008)

4. Frankfort

• Population: 27,382

• State: Kentucky

• Largest City: Lexington-Fayette (296,545)

5. Helena

• Population: 29,939

• State: Montana

• Largest City: Billings (105,845)

6. Juneau

• Population: 30,796

• State: Alaska

• Largest City: Anchorage (286,174)

7. Dover

• Population: 36,560

• State: Delaware

• Largest City: Wilmington (73,069)

8. Annapolis

• Population: 36,879

• State: Maryland

• Largest City: Baltimore (637,418)

9. Jefferson City

• Population: 41,297

• State: Missouri

• Largest City: Kansas City (482,299)

10. Concord

• Population: 42,463

• State: New Hampshire

• Largest City: Manchester (109,395)