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List of largest cities throughout history

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{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2022}}

{{distinguish| Historical urban community sizes}}

This article lists the largest human settlements in the world (by population) over time, as estimated by historians, from 7000 BC when the largest human settlement was a proto-city in the ancient Near East with a population of about 1,000–2,000 people, to the year 2000 when the largest human settlement was Tokyo with 26 million.

Rome, Chang'an or Baghdad may have been the first city to have 1,000,000 people, as early as the 1st century or as late as the 8th century. Later cities that might have reached 1 million include Luoyang, Kaifeng, Hangzhou, Jinling, Beijing, and Edo. There is wide agreement that London was the first city to reach 2 million and New York was the first to reach 10 million.

The Greater Tokyo Area has been the most populous metropolitan area in the world since 1955, with more than 37.393 million residents as of 2020.{{cite web |title=The World's Cities in 2018 |url=https://www.un.org/en/development/desa/population/publications/pdf/urbanization/the_worlds_cities_in_2018_data_booklet.pdf |access-date=May 5, 2020 |website=United Nations |archive-date=31 August 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210831183632/https://www.un.org/en/development/desa/population/publications/pdf/urbanization/the_worlds_cities_in_2018_data_booklet.pdf |url-status=live }} Jakarta is expected to overtake Tokyo by 2030, partly due to Tokyo's shrinking population.{{cite web |title=Jakarta to Topple Tokyo as World's Biggest City by 2030 |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-10-09/jakarta-to-topple-tokyo-as-world-s-most-populous-city-by-2030 |access-date=April 11, 2023 |publisher=Bloomberg }}

As disagreements between the sources show, any of the pre-19th century figures are uncertain, especially in ancient times. Estimating population sizes before censuses were conducted is a difficult task.{{citation|last=Rosenberg|first=Matt|title=Largest Cities Throughout History|url=https://www.thoughtco.com/largest-cities-throughout-history-4068071|website=ThoughtCo|date=November 4, 2019|access-date=December 28, 2020|archive-date=18 August 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160818124242/http://geography.about.com/library/weekly/aa011201a.htm|url-status=live}}

List of the most populous human settlements over time

The following table lists the most populous human settlements by estimated population at specified points in history according to three sources: Ian Morris, George Modelski and Tertius Chandler. City names are in bold where all three sources agree. It shows the evolution of the largest settlement from proto-city to city to urban area to metropolitan area.

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class="wikitable sortable sticky-header"
scope="col" rowspan="2" | Year

!colspan=3|Morris (2010)(a) {{Cite web |last=Morris |first=Ian |author-link=Ian Morris (historian) |date=October 2010 |title=Social Development |url=http://www.ianmorris.org/docs/social-development.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110726164950/http://www.ianmorris.org/docs/social-development.pdf |archive-date=26 July 2011 |website=Ian Morris}} This contains supporting materials for the following book: (b) {{Cite book |last=Morris |first=Ian |title=Why the West Rules—For Now |title-link=Why the West Rules—For Now |publisher=Farrar, Straus and Giroux |year=2010 |isbn=978-0-374-29002-3 |location=New York |author-link=Ian Morris (historian)}}

!colspan=3|Modelski (2003){{Cite book |last=Modelski |first=George |title=World Cities: -3000 to 2000 |publisher=Faros2000 |year=2003 |isbn=0-9676230-1-4 |location=Washington DC |author-link=George Modelski}} Figures in main tables are preferentially cited. Part of former estimates can be read at {{Cite web |last=Modelski |first=George |author-link=George Modelski |date=12 January 2008 |title=The Evolutionary World Politics Homepage |url=http://faculty.washington.edu/modelski/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081228052839/http://faculty.washington.edu/modelski/ |archive-date=28 December 2008 |website=The Evolutionary World Politics Homepage}}

!colspan=3|Chandler (1987){{Cite book |last=Chandler |first=Tertius |title=Four Thousand Years of Urban Growth: An Historical Census |publisher=Edwin Mellen Press |year=1987 |isbn=0-88946-207-0 |location=Lewiston, New York |author-link=Tertius Chandler}} Chandler defines a city as a continuously built-up area (urban) with suburbs but without farmland inside the municipality. Figures in main tables are preferentially cited. Part of Chandler's estimates are summarized or modified at: (a) {{Cite web |last=Chase-Dunn |first=Christopher |title=Polities and Settlements Research Working Group |url=https://irows.ucr.edu/research/citemp/citemtoc.htm |website=The Institute for Research on World-Systems |access-date=14 October 2022 |archive-date=24 April 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220424173719/https://irows.ucr.edu/research/citemp/citemtoc.htm |url-status=live }} (b) {{Cite web |last=Rosenberg |first=Matt |date=4 November 2019 |title=Largest Cities Throughout History: Determining population prior to census-taking was no easy task |url=https://www.thoughtco.com/largest-cities-throughout-history-4068071 |website=ThoughtCo |access-date=28 December 2020 |archive-date=18 August 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160818124242/http://geography.about.com/library/weekly/aa011201a.htm |url-status=live }} (c) {{Cite web |title=Populations of Largest Cities in PMNs from 2000BCE to 1988AD |url=http://www.etext.org/Politics/World.Systems/datasets/citypop/civilizations/citypops_2000BC-1988AD |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080211233018/http://www.etext.org/Politics/World.Systems/datasets/citypop/civilizations/citypops_2000BC-1988AD |archive-date=11 February 2008 |website=Etext Archives }}

Population

!Name

!Present
location

!Population

!Name

!Present
location

!Population

!Name

!Present
location

style="border-top:2px solid gray;"

| rowspan=3 | {{nowrap|7000 BC}}

rowspan="3" style="text-align:right;" | The date that the population of Beidha, Basta and Çatalhöyük is estimated to be 1,000 is given as 7500 BCE in Morris's published text (p. 632). 1,000BeidhaJordanrowspan="3" style="text-align:right;"|Suggested to be the largest cities in Modelski's text, but not given constantly prior to 3700 BCE (p. 3, p. 17, and p. 20). No entry is suggested for the Halafian and Ubaid periods. 1,000–2,000rowspan=3|Jerichorowspan=3|West Bankrowspan=3|rowspan="3" |rowspan="3" |
|BastaA Pre-Pottery Neolithic B settlement located ca. 25 km north of Petra.Jordan
|ÇatalhöyükTurkey
style="border-top:2px solid gray;"6500 BCalign=right|The rough year that Çatalhöyük was supposed to be the largest is not given in Modelski's text which cites Ian Hodder's report (p. 3 and p. 17). The year 6500 BCE is based on the recent report by Hodder (Inhabiting Çatalhöyük: Reports from the 1995–99 Seasons (Çatalhöyük Research Project), Cambridge, UK: McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research, 2005.) where less inhabitants (1,500 to 2,000) are suggested by Craig Cessford (pp. 323–326). 5,000–10,000ÇatalhöyükTurkey
|6000 BCstyle="text-align:right;" |The date that the population of Çatalhöyük is estimated to be 3,000 is given as 6500 BCE in Morris's published text (p. 632). 3,000ÇatalhöyükTurkey
style="border-top:2px solid gray;"

|rowspan=2|4000 BC

rowspan="2" style="text-align:right;" |5,000UrukIraqstyle="text-align:right;" rowspan="2"| 4,000rowspan=2|Eridurowspan=2|Iraqrowspan=2|rowspan="2" |rowspan="2" |
|Tell BrakSyria
style="border-top:2px solid gray;"3800 to
3700 BC		align=right|Suggested to be housing up to 10,000 people in Modelski's text (pp. 24–25), but only Eridu is listed as the largest city in Table 2 (a) (p. 22). The estimate is based on the author's personal communication with Mikhail Videiko, Institute of Archaeology, Kiev, October 2002 (p. 75). The previous estimates by S. I. Kruts for Maydanets and Talianki are 8,000 (1,575 housed within 270 ha) and 14,000 (2,700 houses within 450 ha), respectively (Pitskhelauri, K. N., and Chernykh, E. N. Eds., Kavkaz v sisteme paleometallicheskikh kultur Evrazii, Metsniereba, Tbilisi, 1989, pp. 146–156.). < 10,000DobrovodyUkraine
|3700 BCalign=right|6,000–10,000EriduIraq
rowspan=2|3600 to
3500 BC		rowspan="2" |rowspan="2" |rowspan="2" |align="right" | < 10,000MaydanetsUkrainerowspan=2|rowspan="2" |rowspan="2" |
align=right| < 10,000TaliankiUkraine
3500 BCstyle="text-align:right;" |style="text-align:right;"|14,000UrukIraq
|3300 BCalign=right|40,000UrukIraq
|3200 BCalign=right|20,000AbydosEgypt
|3100 BCalign=right|20,000MemphisEgypt
|3000 BCstyle="text-align:right;" |Suggested to be more than 45,000 in Morris's published text (p. 632). 45,000UrukIraqalign=right|40,000UrukIraqalign=right|30,000MemphisEgypt
style="border-top:2px solid gray;"2800 BCalign=right|80,000UrukIraqMemphisEgypt
rowspan=2|2500 BCrowspan="2" style="text-align:right;" |rowspan="2" |rowspan="2" style="text-align:right;"|style="text-align:right;"|According to Modelski's list of world's largest cities (p. 218), Nippur shares the top with Lagash with 60,000 inhabitants in 2500 BC, though Table 2 (b) suggests that the population of Nippur is 20,000, the value of which is even lower than those estimated for Mari (50,000); Uruk and Umma (40,000); Memphis, Ebla, Urkesh, and Shuruppak (30,000) (p. 28). 60,000LagashGirsu (Telloh), the later capital of the state of Lagash, was situated 25 km NW of Lagash (Tell al Hiba), though both sites are frequently referred as Lagash.Iraqrowspan=2|rowspan="2" |Memphisrowspan=2|Egypt
align=right| 20,000NippurIraq
rowspan=4|2400 BCrowspan="4" |rowspan="4" |rowspan="4" |align="right" |According to Modelski's list of world's largest cities (p. 218), Girsu shares the top with Mari with 50,000 inhabitants, though Table 2 (b) suggests that the population of Girsu as well as Umma and Mohenjo-daro is 40,000 (p. 28). 50,000MariSyriarowspan=4|rowspan="4" |Memphisrowspan=4|Egypt
rowspan="3" style="text-align:right;"| 40,000UmmaIraq
|GirsuIraq
|Mohenjo-daroPakistan
rowspan=2|2300 BCrowspan="2" |rowspan="2" |rowspan="2" |align="right" |According to Modelski's list of world's largest cities (p. 218), the population of Girsu for 2300 BCE is estimated as 50,000, which is less than that appears in Table 2 (b) and is the same value with that estimated for Mari (p. 28). 80,000GirsuIraqrowspan=2|rowspan="2" |Memphisrowspan=2|Egypt
align=right| 50,000MariSyria
2250 BCstyle="text-align:right;" |style="text-align:right;" |> 30,000MemphisEgypt
|2240 BCAkkadLocation uncertain. Maybe west of Sippar.Iraq
|2200 BCalign=right|50,000GirsuIraqAkkadIraq
|2100 BCalign=right|100,000UrIraqAkkadIraq
|2075 BCalign=right|50,000GirsuIraq
|2059 BCGirsuIraq
|2030 BCUrIraq
rowspan=3|2000 BCrowspan="3" style="text-align:right;" |60,000rowspan="3" |Memphisrowspan=3|Egyptrowspan="3" style="text-align:right;"|Modelski's list of world's largest cities (p. 218) excludes Girsu for 2000 BCE, though Table 2 (b) lists Girsu with 40,000 inhabitants (p. 28), sharing the top with Isin and Larsa. 40,000IsinIraqrowspan="3" style="text-align:right;"|65,000rowspan=3|Urrowspan=3|Iraq
|LarsaIraq
|GirsuIraq
style="border-top:2px solid gray;"1991 BCUrIraq
|1980 BCThebesEgypt
rowspan=2|1900 BCrowspan="2" |rowspan="2" |rowspan="2" |rowspan="2" style="text-align:right;" |40,000IsinIraqrowspan=2|rowspan="2" |Thebesrowspan=2|Egypt
|LarsaIraq
1800 BCstyle="text-align:right;" |60,000MariSyriaalign=right|> 25,000ThebesEgypt
|1770 BCalign=right|60,000BabylonIraq
|1700 BCalign=right|60,000BabylonIraqBabylonIraq
|1670 BCAvarisThe palace of Pi-Ramses (Qantir) was founded 2 km NE of Avaris (or Hawaret, Tell el-Dab'a), the residential area of which overlaps.Egypt
|1650 BCalign=right|When the city first passed 100,000, suggested by Richard Forstall (pp. 541–542). 100,000AvarisEgypt
|1600 BCalign=right|50,000–100,000AvarisEgyptalign=right|100,000AvarisEgypt
|1595 BCAvarisEgypt
|1580 BCAvarisEgypt
|1557 BCMemphisEgypt
rowspan=2|1500 BCrowspan="2" style="text-align:right;" |75,000UrukIraqrowspan="2" style="text-align:right;"|60,000rowspan=2|Thebesrowspan=2|Egyptrowspan=2|rowspan="2" |Memphisrowspan=2|Egypt
|ThebesEgypt
|1400 BCstyle="text-align:right;" |style="text-align:right;"|80,000ThebesEgyptThebesEgypt
|1375 BCalign=right| 100,000ThebesEgypt
|1360 BCalign=right|80,000ThebesEgypt
|1350 BCThebesEgypt
|1300 BCstyle="text-align:right;" |style="text-align:right;"
|Yinxu
(Anyang)		ChinaThebesEgypt
|1205 BCMemphisAccording to Chandler's list of the largest cities (pp. 523–527), Thebes was the largest for 1400–668 BC, but Memphis was also supposed to be somewhat larger during 1205–1188 (p. 94, p. 460).Egypt
rowspan=2|1200 BCrowspan="2" style="text-align:right;" |80,000BabylonIraqrowspan="2" style="text-align:right;"|160,000rowspan=2|Pi-Ramsesrowspan=2|Egyptrowspan="2" style="text-align:right;"| 50,000rowspan=2|Memphisrowspan=2|Egypt
|ThebesEgypt
|1188 BCThebesEgypt
|1184 BCalign=right|120,000ThebesEgypt
1100 BCstyle="text-align:right;" |style="text-align:right;"|120,000Pi-RamsesEgyptThebesEgypt
rowspan="4" |1000 BCrowspan="4" style="text-align:right;" |35,000rowspan="4" |Qiyi (Qi)rowspan="4" |Chinastyle="text-align:right;"|Modelski's list of the world's largest cities treats Thebes and Haojing as the top cities with 100,000 inhabitants (p. 218), though the same list on the next page (p. 219) as well as Table 2 (c) place the population of Thebes at 120,000, while that for Haojing as well as Memphis and Babylon at 100,000 (pp. 33–34). 120,000ThebesEgyptalign=right|Chandler listed Thebes, Haojing, and Chengzhou (Luoyang) as the largest, second-largest, and third-largest cities (p. 460), though Luoyang is supposed to pass 100,000 in 1000 BCE (p. 541). > 50,000ThebesEgypt
rowspan="3" style="text-align:right;"| 100,000Haojing
(Xi'an)Haojing, which formed the capital of Western Zhou together with Fenghao, was located 15 km SW of Chang'an, the capital of Tang dynasty as well as the present center of Xi'an. Han capital was located 5 km NW of the center of modern Xi'an. All these sites are now within the sub-provincial city of Xi'an.		Chinastyle="text-align:right;"| > 50,000Haojing
(Xi'an)		China
MemphisEgyptalign=right| 50,000rowspan=2|Chengzhou
(Luoyang)Chengzhou was founded on the east side of the Luo river with Wangzheng on the west side. Both cities were later annexed to form Luoyi (Luoyang), the center of which has often shifted.		rowspan="2" |China
|BabylonIraqalign=right| 100,000
style="border-top:2px solid gray;"900 BCstyle="text-align:right;" |style="text-align:right;"|120,000HaojingChinaThebesEgypt
800 BCstyle="text-align:right;" |style="text-align:right;"|125,000HaojingChinaalign=right|> 50,000ThebesEgypt
rowspan=6|700 BCrowspan="6" style="text-align:right;" |rowspan="6" |rowspan="6" |rowspan="6" style="text-align:right;"|100,000ThebesEgyptrowspan=6|rowspan="6" |Thebesrowspan=6|Egypt
MemphisEgypt
NinevehIraq
BabylonAccording to Modelski's list of world's largest cities (p. 219), the population of Babylon for 700 BCE is estimated as 120,000, which makes Babylon the only city to appear as the largest, while Table 8 (a) shows that Babylon has 100,000 inhabitants in 700 BCE (p. 55).Iraq
Luoyi
(Luoyang)		China
LinziChina
|668 BCalign=right| 100,000NinevehIraq
|650 BCalign=right|120,000NinevehIraq
|612 BCBabylonIraq
rowspan=2|600 BCrowspan="2" style="text-align:right;" |rowspan="2" |rowspan="2" |rowspan="2" style="text-align:right;"|200,000BabylonIraqrowspan="2" style="text-align:right;"| 100,000rowspan=2|Babylonrowspan=2|Iraq
|LuoyiChina
|562 BCalign=right|200,000BabylonIraq
rowspan=3|500 BCrowspan="3" style="text-align:right;" |150,000rowspan=3|Babylonrowspan=3|Iraqrowspan="3" style="text-align:right;"|Modelski's list of world's largest cities (p. 219) excludes Linzi for 500 BC, though Table 5 (a) lists Linzi with 200,000 inhabitants (p. 41). 200,000BabylonIraqrowspan=3|rowspan="3" |Babylonrowspan=3|Iraq
LuoyiChina
LinziChina
|479 BCBabylonIraq
|460 BCBabylonIraq
|440 BCBabylonIraq
|430 BCalign=right|200,000BabylonIraq
|400 BCstyle="text-align:right;" |style="text-align:right;"|320,000XiaduChinaBabylonIraq
|320 BCalign=right|> 300,000AlexandriaEgypt
300 BCstyle="text-align:right;" |style="text-align:right;"|500,000CarthageTunisiaPataliputra
(Patna)		India
|220 BCPataliputraIndia
|206 BCPataliputraIndia
rowspan=2|200 BCrowspan="2" style="text-align:right;" |300,000rowspan=2|Alexandriarowspan=2|Egyptrowspan="2" style="text-align:right;"|600,000rowspan=2|Alexandriarowspan=2|Egyptalign=right|According to Chandler's list of the largest cities (pp. 523–527), Pataliputra was the largest for 300 to 195 BC, but Chang'an is listed as the largest already in 200 BCE (p. 462). 350,000PataliputraIndia
align=right|400,000Chang'an
(Xi'an)		China
|195 BEChang'anChina
|190 BCChang'anChina
|170 BCChang'anChina
|160 BCChang'anChina
100 BCstyle="text-align:right;" |style="text-align:right;"|1,000,000AlexandriaEgyptChang'anChina
|25 BCRomeItaly
style="border-top:2px solid;"1 ADstyle="text-align:right;"|1,000,000RomeItalyalign=right|800,000RomeItalyRomeItaly
style="border-top:2px solid gray;"100align=right|style="text-align:right;"|1,000,000RomeItalyalign=right|450,000RomeItaly
|180align=right|600,000RomeItaly
style="border-top:2px solid gray;"200align=right|800,000RomeItalyalign=right|1,200,000RomeItalyRomeItaly
|280align=right|500,000RomeItaly
style="border-top:2px solid gray;"300align=right|style="text-align:right;"|1,000,000RomeItalyRomeItaly
|340Constantinople
(Istanbul)		Turkey
|350ConstantinopleTurkey
|361align=right|300,000ConstantinopleTurkey
style="border-top:2px solid gray;"400align=right|500,000RomeItalyalign=right|800,000RomeItalyConstantinopleTurkey
|410ConstantinopleTurkey
|450ConstantinopleTurkey
style="border-top:2px solid gray;"

|rowspan=3|500

rowspan="3" style="text-align:right;"|rowspan="3" |rowspan="3" |rowspan="3" style="text-align:right;"|500,000ConstantinopleTurkeyrowspan="3" style="text-align:right;"|400,000rowspan=3|Constantinoplerowspan=3|Turkey
Jiankang
(Nanjing)Based on historical documents, in Southern Liang dynasty, Jiankang (Nanjing) had 280,000 registered households, and assuming an average Nanjing household had about 5.1 people at that time, the city had more than 1.4 million residents. (Shufen Liu, "Jiankang and the Commercial Empire of the Southern Dynasties", in Pearce, Spiro, Ebrey eds. Culture and Power, 2001:35.)		China
LuoyangChina
|570CtesiphonSeleucia was founded on the right bank of Tigris opposite to Ctesiphon. Figures for Seleucia include the population of Ctesiphon as a suburb during the Seleucid era and vice versa during the Sassanid era.Iraq
|575align=right|500,000CtesiphonIraq
style="border-top:2px solid gray;"600align=right|The population of Daxing (Chang'an) in AD 600 is estimated at 250,000 in Morris's published text (p. 632), while the supporting material describes 600,000. 600,000Daxing
(Chang'an)		Chinaalign=right|600,000ConstantinopleTurkeyalign=right|500,000CtesiphonIraq
|622align=right|500,000CtesiphonIraq
|637align=right|400,000Chang'anChina
|650Chang'anChina
style="border-top:2px solid gray;"700align=right|style="text-align:right;"|1,000,000Chang'anChinaalign=right|800,000Chang'anChina
|750align=right|800,000Chang'anChina
|775align=right|600,000BaghdadIraq
style="border-top:2px solid gray;"800align=right|1,000,000|Chang'an|Chinaalign=right|800,000|Chang'an|Chinaalign=right|700,000|Baghdad|Iraq
|833align=right|900,000BaghdadIraq
style="border-top:2px solid gray;"900align=right| 750,000Chang'anChinaalign=right|900,000BaghdadIraqalign=right|900,000BaghdadIraq
|925align=right|1,100,000BaghdadIraq
|932align=right|1,100,000BaghdadIraq
|935align=right|350,000CordobaSpain
style="border-top:2px solid gray;"1000align=right|1,000,000KaifengChinaalign=right|Modelski's list of world's largest cities (p. 219) estimates the population of Baghdad for AD 1000 as 1,500,000, which is much higher than the value listed in Table 8 (b) (1,200,000 inhabitants) (p. 55). 1,200,000BaghdadIraqalign=right|350,000CordobaSpain
|1013align=right|400,000KaifengChina
|1050align=right|400,000KaifengChina
|1071align=right|400,000KaifengChina
style="border-top:2px solid gray;"1100align=right|style="text-align:right;"|1,200,000BaghdadIraqalign=right|442,000KaifengChina
|1102align=right|442,000KaifengChina
|1126align=right|420,000KaifengChina
|1127align=right|200,000ConstantinopleTurkey
|1145align=right|200,000MervTurkmenistan
|1150align=right|200,000MervTurkmenistan
|1153align=right|200,000ConstantinopleTurkey
|1160align=right|200,000ConstantinopleTurkey
|1170align=right|200,000FezMorocco
|1180align=right|200,000HangzhouChina
style="border-top:2px solid gray;"

|rowspan=3|1200

rowspan="3" style="text-align:right;"|The population of Hangzhou in AD 1200 is estimated at 800,000 in Morris's published text (p. 632), while the supporting material describes 1,000,000. 1,000,000rowspan=3|Hangzhourowspan=3|Chinarowspan="3" style="text-align:right;"|1,000,000BaghdadIraqrowspan="3" style="text-align:right;"|255,000rowspan=3|Hangzhourowspan=3|China
|HangzhouChina
|KaifengChina
|1210align=right|260,000HangzhouChina
|1250align=right|320,000HangzhouChina
|1273align=right|432,000HangzhouChina
style="border-top:2px solid gray;"1300align=right|style="text-align:right;"|1,500,000HangzhouChinaalign=right|432,000HangzhouChina
|1315align=right|432,000CairoEgypt
|1325align=right|500,000CairoEgypt
|1348align=right|432,000HangzhouChina
|1350align=right|432,000HangzhouChina
|1358Jinling
(Nanjing)		China
|1391align=right|473,000JinlingChina
style="border-top:2px solid gray;"1400align=right|500,000Jinling
(Nanjing)		Chinaalign=right|1,000,000Jinling
(Nanjing)		Chinaalign=right|487,000JinlingChina
|1420JinlingChina
|1425BeijingChina
|1450align=right|600,000BeijingChina
|1492align=right|669,000BeijingChina
style="border-top:2px solid gray;"1500align=right|600,000BeijingChinaalign=right|1,000,000BeijingChinaalign=right|672,000BeijingChina
|1550align=right|690,000BeijingChina
|1575align=right|706,000BeijingChina
|1579align=right|706,000BeijingChina
style="border-top:2px solid gray;"1600align=right|700,000BeijingChinaalign=right|1,000,000BeijingChinaalign=right|706,000BeijingChina
|1635BeijingChina
|1637BeijingChina
|1650align=right|700,000ConstantinopleIncludes Üsküdar in Asia Minor as a suburb.Turkey
|1670ConstantinopleTurkey
|1675align=right|750,000ConstantinopleTurkey
|1684ConstantinopleTurkey
|1685ConstantinopleTurkey
|1690align=right|700–800,000ConstantinopleTurkey
style="border-top:2px solid gray;"1700align=right|650,000|Beijing|Chinaalign=right|1,000,000|Ayutthaya|Thailandalign=right|700,000|Constantinople|Turkey
|1710BeijingChina
|1720EdoAccording to Morris (p. 483), Edo grew into the world's biggest city by 1720, but the estimated population for Edo is not given.JapanBeijingChina
|1750align=right|900,000BeijingChina
|1775align=right|1,000,000BeijingChina
style="border-top:2px solid gray;"1800align=right|1,100,000BeijingChinaalign=right|1,100,000BeijingChinaalign=right|1,100,000BeijingChina
|1821align=right|1,300,000BeijingChina
rowspan=2|1825rowspan=2|rowspan="2" |rowspan="2" |rowspan="2" |rowspan="2" |rowspan="2" |align="right" |1,350,000BeijingChina
align=right|1,335,000London
(urban area)		United Kingdom
|1841align=right|1,948,000LondonUnited Kingdom
|1850align=right|2,320,000LondonUnited Kingdom
|1851align=right|2,362,000LondonUnited Kingdom
|1861align=right|2,803,000LondonUnited Kingdom
|1875align=right|4,241,000LondonUnited Kingdom
style="border-top:2px solid gray;"1900align=right|6,600,000LondonUnited Kingdomalign=right|6,500,000LondonUnited Kingdomalign=right|6,480,000LondonUnited Kingdom
|1914align=right|7,419,000LondonUnited Kingdom
|1925align=right|7,774,000New York
(urban area)		United States
|1936align=right|10,150,000New YorkUnited States
|1950align=right|12,463,000New YorkUnited States
|1965align=right|15,000,000Tokyo
(urban area)		Japan
|1975align=right|20,500,000TokyoJapan
style="border-top:2px solid gray;"2000align=right|The population of Tokyo in AD 2000 is estimated at 26,700,000 in Morris's published text (p. 632), while the supporting material describes 26,400,000. 26,400,000TokyoJapan

See also

References

{{reflist|30em}}

External links

  • [http://www.thingsmadethinkable.com/item/top_ten_cities_through_history.php Top Ten Cities Through History], animation showing the ten largest cities throughout history according to Chandler
  • [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_7jCioztj_c Top 20 Most Populated Cities in The World 1500 to 2100 (History + Projection)]

{{World's largest cities}}

{{Cities}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:List Of Largest Cities Throughout History}}

Category:Urban geography

Category:Historical geography lists

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Cities

Category:Demographic history

Category:Cities-related lists of superlatives

Cities

Category:Largest things