Although Lisbon is currently the capital of Portugal, that has not always been the case.
In 1808, the Portuguese royal family and most of the Portuguese aristocracy fled Portugal due to an infestation of French troops under the banner of Napoleon. Since much of Europe suffered from this same blight, the fugitives migrated to Brazil, Portugal's colony in the Americas, and transformed Rio de Janeiro into the capital of Portugal. It retained this elevated status until 1822, when Brazil achieved its independence as its own nation.
This is the only example of the capital of a European country being located outside of Europe.
You might think that the inhabitants of Rio de Janeiro would have been proud of elevated status of their city, but most of them resented instead the fact that many of them were evicted out of their homes in order to make room for the flood of incoming nobles.
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