Europe's Largest Cities Throughout History: Every Year

[@OllieBye]

For those who missed the community post, the HRE video is still in production, and I will be continuing with it over the coming months. A quick Q&A for this video: Q: "Didn't Rome have 1 million people?" A: Not within the area eventually bound by the Aurelian Walls, no, as this requires an implausible population density. It may have had suburbs beyond the walls, which take its population close to 1 million according to some sources. You can read more about this in the notes page of this projects spreadsheet, linked in the description. Q: "Why are some estimates in this video different to the 2021 video about world cities?" A: I used a different dataset for part of this video, which is more up to date and detailed, but only covers Europe. In most cases the variances are small, but in some cases (such as medieval Paris and Granada) they are more significant. Q: "Why do the modern estimates in this video vary from what Google says?" If you search for a modern city's population out-of-context on a search engine, you'll probably be given the population within the official city limits. This video's data is entirely based on urban area, which in some cases goes significantly beyond the city limits.

[@adnan_honest_jihadist5775]

you include cyprus but not türkiye and rest of caucasus how weak from you... this is not all of europe only 90%

[@gwynedd4023]

@@adnan_honest_jihadist5775 make your own vid then

[@user-uf2df6zf5w]

One small mistake: in 2022 and 2023 all Ukrainian cities, including Kyiv and Odesa, were in population decline due to the outflow of refugees from the country.

[@adnan_honest_jihadist5775]

@@gwynedd4023 if i could i would

[@Sceptonic]

@@user-uf2df6zf5w hard to track currently

[@clouds-rb9xt]

I find it funny how Constantinople dissapears in the 1800s and then makes a sudden resurgence mid-late 20th century quickly becoming the largest city again

[@Gorboduc]

Location, location, location.

[@jonathanpilcher337]

By the 1800s colonization had brought incredible prosperity to north western europe, but as the effects of colonization die down things stabilize back to natural levels

[@kb-gj9lf]

Call it Istanbul. You don’t see people calling London Londonia now do you?

[@jackminto7062]

​@@kb-gj9lf the city was literally called constantinople until the end of WW1 when the new turkish state renamed it Istanbul

[@jonathanpilcher337]

@@kb-gj9lf it was still called constantinople back then

[@KSS-wk9lp]

most impressive thing is that the first city to ever reach 1.000.000 people was Rome, and it was only surpassed by London more than 1000 years later...

[@Yora21]

And for a good while inbetween, there were only some 30.000 people living in various villages around the area that used to be Rome and later became Rome again.

[@colexpert9528]

Also Baghdad reached 1m

[@giorgioandreatini7332]

​@@Yora21 they were not villages it was actually a huge city for medieval standards. That's why it's on the top tho. You can see lots of medieval architecture in Rome still. Rome is called the Eternal City because it never stopped being one of the biggest and it never stopped being the first or still in the top 3 most important cities of the continent for 1800 years straight, until the middle of the 1500s circa.

[@oenrn]

@Melvil DE CASTRO we're talking about Europe here.

[@Whoami691]

It is worth noting that many of those living in Rome were slaves, so population doesn't nessecarily equate to native population.

[@chichkrogh7092]

Rome was the first city in Europe to reach 1m residents and it didn’t happen again until the 19th century. People don’t realize how advanced Rome was

[@Vanduo610]

And it blinded them at the same time

[@BamberdittoPingpong]

The numbers for Rome definitely feel too low, same with some other cities. Rome never surpasses 1m in the video.

[@gabiironlol]

It was in no way "advanced", simply the centre of a great colonising, destructive and sterilising empire that sucked up all the resources produced by its peripheries.

[@abcdmefgh2843]

​@@gabiironlolsomeone's salty😂

[@Hannibalian]

@@gabiironlol rome was in every way advanced...

[@danialamin252]

Facinating to see how the core of european population shifts from south to north over the centuries

[@jonathanpilcher337]

The population booms in islamic cities are even more interesting

[@universetraveler5826]

It’s because places like Italy, Greece, Persia, Egypt, etc. were geographically positioned in a way that resulted in numerous invasions from all sides, making it very difficult for their cities to experience growth post antiquity.

[@jonathanpilcher337]

@@universetraveler5826 that's true for much of the middle ages, but during the early modern period the population of northwestern europe boomed thanks to the prosperity from colonization

[@croisaor2308]

@@jonathanpilcher337 Ya most trade and transport was done in and among the Mediterranean as that was what technology allowed and it led to a lot of prosperity, but as the Atlantic became accessible due to ship technology the population centres shifted north and west to the Atlantic coast which now had access to the entire world, not just the Mediterranean sea.

[@jonathanpilcher337]

@@croisaor2308 granted in recent years the population has pulled back towards the mediterranean, probably due to the effects of colonization dying down

[@BlackMamBa-yq5on]

Naples is so underrated It was representing Italy for most of recent history

[@jeupater1429]

Definitely, people also don't realize how "Italian" the middle ages were. That's where the biggest cities were until the 1400s. And it's why more than 1/3rd of all of Shakespeare's plays take place in Italy.

[@alioshax7797]

​@@jeupater1429Shakespeare is a man of the Renaissance. His fascination for Italy was the trend in all of Europe. But this Italymania was really recent.

[@jgb7480]

Built by greeks, expanded by the romans. You can say the same about Rome in general lol

[@Pokesus]

Naples was Spanish for most of history too.

[@jeupater1429]

@@Pokesus Naples was founded in 1000 BC. It was under Spanish rule from 1504 to 1714. By no means insignificant, but I would not call it most of history

[@knightarnaud]

Crazy how Ghent was once the third biggest city of Europe ...

[@AXELVISSERS]

During the 13th and 14th century you see a lot of big circles there too. Ypres, the biggest at that time, was probably just outside of the top 10.

[@koen8826]

Flanders and northern Italy were the two major urbanized regions in Europe at that time.

[@ModulusOrbis]

Italy is literaly the europe anchor ⚓

[@ArdaSReal]

The boom after the Ottoman Conquest of Constantinople and in the 20th century is so cool to see, history is so much refelcted in demigraphics

[@cazwalt9013]

The boom in the 20th century was a bad one which was resulted by mass immigration from other Turkish regions plus after 1453 Constantinople was in stable position because before that it was plundered and sacked by crusaders

[@ArdaSReal]

@@cazwalt9013 no it wasnt, turkeys overall population bommed there, you can see it in every single city at that time and even today

[@kingduck6728]

​@@ArdaSReal adam hakli knk kırsal kesimden istanbul gibi şehirlere fazla göç oldu

[@wildfire9280]

@@ArdaSReal How much of that from rural-urban migration? Whatever the amount you’d figure they got a disproportionate amount in the capital and already largest city.

[@Napoleon_]

I really appreciate the effort you put in these videos, and I love the city series.

[@bodo-bing]

The moment where the Black Death hit and everything shrunk gave me chills

[@isaiasabinadisosagarcia936]

I was just thinking that 😬

[@iseeyou5061]

I have no beef with Turkish but the spam Nationalist comment are obnoxious

[@jonathanpilcher337]

Very, like we get it the ottoman empire was successful for a time, so were a hundred other large empires throughout history

[@Vigilant3-h5h]

​@@jonathanpilcher337Bro, %90 of the comments are nothing but celebrating Ollie's work. What are you two even talking about? Even scrolling down you can bately see any!

[@jonathanpilcher337]

@@Vigilant3-h5h comment sections load different for everyone. I suppose I just got unlucky with a dozen turkish nationalists in a row lol

[@Vigilant3-h5h]

@@jonathanpilcher337 True, these Turkish "nationalists" vote for the worst parties in existence and still think they're feared.

[@Drobexxx]

Turks are Europe's Brazilians

[@carlosdumbratzen6332]

Funny how Germany, the most populated country in Europe after Turkey and Russia (both only partially in Europe) features very little in this video.

[@mariusd.396]

I wondered too and guess it is because a lot of cities were just under the minimum population to be shown in the video. German population is really spread out and not concentrated on some spots.

[@johnny5247]

Its also because there are some mistakes: Paris population is not 11m but ruffly over one million. The île-de-france (region) is 11 million, but its not the same as the city. Same for madrid, the video showed more than 2m too many inhabitants.

[@carlosdumbratzen6332]

@@johnny5247 the sources go into detail there. Apparently they just looked at urban areas and disregarded stuff like the administrative area of the city or metropolitan areas. This explains why Barcelona and not Rome is shown in the last still. But frankly only that, because some of the biggest population centres are simply missing while others are shown. Like why list Bordeaux, but not Frankfurt or Sevilla or Bergamo? Why Stuttgart, but not Valencia or Rhein-Ruhr or Katowice? Germany itself has 15 urban areas over 1 million inhabitants. Obviously the cities at their centres are smaller and they tend to be less densely populated than other european cities, but did that stop them to include Toulouse? Maybe it was a function of how densely an area is populated and how many people live there? But again, why exclude Valencia or Sevilla then?

[@rinrival]

бро перепутал великий новгород и нижний новгород

[@lammmer8143]

так нижнего новгорода там нет, там есть великий новгород, смоленск и москва позже. Это в средние века. После средних веков новгород исчезает и остаются смоленск с москвой, а потом смоленск исчезает и появляется питер. Как бы всё, где перепутал? Это сейчас Нижний больше Великого, но не в средние века. *Поправочка* А стоп, да, сорян, в конце видоса он вернул Великий Новгород. Ну да, ты прав.

[@BarnabásGáspár-p5w]

Very good and very understandable! Tysm!

[@renameduser466]

Except for obviously mixing urban areas with city limit figures at will ...

[@aspdefeniks]

Interesting video with relevant influences highlighted per era. Kudos!

[@ventilo1825]

I think you missplaced Nizhny Novgorod on Veliky Novgorod at the end, Nizhny is east of moscow and is over 1M inhabitants while veliky is like 200k or something like that

[@CommonSwindler]

The population of Palermo during the Norman era is far, far too low. Donald Matthew in his overview of of the Norman Kingdom of Sicily estimates it’s size at more than 100,000. This easily stands to reason since it was the hub of the Mediterranean.

[@vinifrss]

Hi from Rio, Brazil. If 350 CE - 1000 CE was displayed slowly too, the importance of Constantinople (Istanbul) would be EVEN greater!! Just WOW... Istanbul is the Eternal City in history, the only phoenix of world History, it never dies, and it's back again.. I don't get why this fact isn't recognized? Why people desperately try to hype Paris, Rome, London?

[@arberor4597]

Constantinople/istanbul is well known as a major city in Europe. But it doesn’t mean other European cities like Rome are less important it’s all subjective 🔹Rome - the capital of the Roman Empire, and the capital of the Catholic Church being the seat of the pope, and probably the first city to reach 1 million inhabitants, even though in the 11th century after Rome fell the pope in Rome orchestrated the crusade and in a way indirectly reestablished romes rule in the levant. 🔹Paris. Is was the center of the European enlightenment which was one of the most important event in history. And was a major city as seen in the video as Paris consistently remain amongst the largest Europeans cites for the past 800 years. 🔹London is the capital of the largest empire in history. And is the first major industrial city. The first truly mega city as it was the first to reach 2, 3, 4 , 5 , million inhabitants. The first city to built a modern sewage system, first metro system, the first power grid system, etc etc etc making London the first truly modern city

[@emilianofox8202]

Roma Caput Mundi

[@frankhungtw]

sometimes quality is more important than raw numbers. China is cosistantly the largest country in the world. What did it acheive other than being invaded and the world's factory though? Same thing with Istanbul.

[@gabs3597]

​@@arberor4597Constantinople is better and richer historically than the two rubbish French and British

[@gabs3597]

​@@frankhungtwToday China is at the top and Europe is in a practically irreversible decline

[@Heldlaris_618]

since you also count the areas outside the city of Paris, you have to do the same with Milan (Italy) the greater Milan has 8 million inhabitants

[@vittorioamato877]

Just an info about my city (Siracusa in Sicily). It was capital of eastern roman empire from 663 to 669, and it was the second biggest city of the empire till the infamous 878 year.

[@jpmtlhead39]

It's incredable that Madrid from an small size City for almost 1500 years in less than 100 years become the 5th largest City in Europe.

[@micahistory]

incredible job Ollie. I love how you show the population bubbles, the numbers and the different colours at different times.

[@mses0012]

I love how this map illustrates not only population but also lots of other details, like the color of the circle always represents the most relevant thing in that era. This map is probably one of the best imo.

[@endless123487]

Thank you for your nice video:) One thing to note though. You sometimes use metropolitan areas and sometimes the city proper. E.g., for Berlin or Paris, as Berlin had a population of around 2.08 million in 1910, and not 2.9 million. Similarly, Paris nowadays has a population of 2.2 million, but the metro area is huge (and densly connected)

[@wollin20]

OllieBye has consistenly used the urban areas (continuously build up areas), not the city proper or the metropolitan areas, since it is the only relevant way of comparing cities in the XIXth and XXth centuries. As for Paris, I wrote a comment as some figures are underestimated, especially in the Middle Ages and during the first industrial revolution.

[@biggamer145]

you came back!

[@_Leksander_]

You forgot adding Nizhny Novgorod with population 1,2m (2023)

[@isaacsepicytchannel2708]

I love how you can see the effects of the Battle of Manzikert with Constantinople's population. Its the same with the Black Plague but you can see it in every city. Everything just got decimated

[@dragonlukasmapping805]

Great work 3:42 but wasn't in your older video, Prague in 15th century 3th biggest city in europe, with 90 thousands population?

[@bigozimak]

Yes, this isn't very accurate. In the 9th-10th century OHRID was the centre of Slavic literacy and religion and was one of the largest cities of the time yet it doesn't get a mention.

[@Perebynis]

So Istanbul has grown by almost 6 million residents in just twenty years? That´s crazy. And highly problematic, I´m sure. For example if another earthquake strikes. Don´t want to think about it.

[@yasonra]

you are so right 😢

[@alioshax7797]

Combo high demographic growth + very strong rural exode

[@oguzhanduvar]

If there is an earthquake and there will be, be sure there will be no more Türkiye for long years due to earthquake bringing a lot of economical issues. İstanbul is the heart of Türkiye. I am not even talking about people dying not because I don't care because I don't even wanna think about how many deaths there will be...

[@adapazarli54]

And not only "if" Experts says that there will be a big earthquake in Istanbul in the next 10 years for sure. We are just waiting for the doom day.

[@bolumuz]

Türkiye is in the world's second most active earthquake belt. Turkey's largest fault line passes through Istanbul. In 1999, a 7.4 magnitude earthquake occurred in the city of Izmit, only 50-100 km away from Istanbul. Three months after this earthquake, another 7.2 magnitude earthquake occurred in the city of Düzce, 300 km away from Istanbul. In these earthquakes, which took place 3 months apart, there were not many problems in the buildings in Istanbul. There was great destruction in the cities of Izmit, Adapazarı and Düzce. I experienced these 2 great earthquakes in the city of Bolu. Since I live in the village, our house was not damaged. But I felt the earthquake very strongly. The population of Istanbul is now more than 16 million. There are approximately 1.2 million buildings and around 5 million flats (independent sections). 300 thousand of 5 million independent sections are very risky structures. It is planned to build new independent sections instead of 300 thousand independent sections within 5 years. While Turkey was waiting for a big earthquake in Istanbul for years, the biggest earthquake happened in another region. On the same day, there were 2 earthquakes of 7.8 and 7.7 in a row. I think there has never been an earthquake of this magnitude in succession in the world. More than 50,000 people died. There was great destruction in 5 big cities with a population of more than 500 thousand. The population affected by this earthquake is as much as the total population of the city of Istanbul. In a possible earthquake in Istanbul, similar results may occur as in the Maraş-centered earthquakes in 2023. Tens of thousands of people may lose their lives in an earthquake with a magnitude of 7.5 and above. The reason for the high number of deaths in earthquakes in Turkey is the high number of buildings before 2000. Most of the buildings before 2000 are not resistant to severe earthquakes above 7. The quality of the buildings is insufficient. After 2000, earthquake regulations related to buildings were issued 3 times. Most of the buildings that are built properly with the current regulation can withstand an 8-magnitude earthquake. In the two major earthquakes in 2023, none of the approximately 300 thousand buildings built under the leadership of the state's Mass Housing Administration (TOKİ) institution, according to the new regulations, were destroyed or even damaged. More than 95% of the buildings destroyed in these earthquakes were buildings built before 2000. Unfortunately, 5% of it was destroyed due to human error and material problems. Those responsible for the buildings were arrested. Especially for the last 10 years, Turkey has been trying to make very large earthquake regulations and neighborhood-based urban transformation. However, some people in the neighborhoods and some non-governmental organizations opposed this urban transformation, that is, the demolition of old buildings and the construction of new ones, either financially or for political and other reasons. After this last earthquake, it became clear that the first priority of people is not money, but human life. The state decided to provide 50% contribution to those who want to replace their old buildings with new ones. That also had an effect. The demand for urban transformation is very high. Within a year, approximately 300 thousand new buildings will be built in the cities where the earthquake took place. 3-4 months after the earthquake, some buildings were built and started to be delivered. In 5 years, approximately 300 thousand old buildings in Istanbul will be renewed with urban transformation. If there is no earthquake in Istanbul in 5-10 years, most of the buildings in Istanbul will become resistant to an earthquake of magnitude 8 in accordance with the new regulations. I

[@AutomticHeart]

Were Celtic hillforts such as Heuneburg/Pyrene included (5-10k), what was the minimum size in ancient era?

[@matveypavlov495]

Why do you count Paris with suburbs while others without them? There're only 2,3mln people in Paris in its administrative borders

[@KeinWilleTriumphiert]

Yeah, that’s pretty much the problem with city sizes.

[@nemesis_the_endless7286]

As well as Moscow being only 12mil, it is well beyond 17 mil in reality.

[@matveypavlov495]

@@nemesis_the_endless7286 I suppose that already even more. Moskovskaya oblast has population of 8,6 million people.

[@Faolan03]

The modern flags in this vid are a pain in the ass for every history nerd.....

[@TheBobVova]

lol

[@wolnyczowiek8705]

They are only for current location knowledge

[@biscolataman]

Turks indeed had a decisive role in triggering historical major events like the Migration Period, Crusades, shaping the history of Balkans, Islamization of Northern India, Age of Discovery as well as ending the Middle Ages with the conquest of Constantinople, fall of the Roman Empire.

[@vagabond57097]

Essentially the whole reason the Europeans discovered the new world and began colonizing was because of the Ottomans taxing everything that comes through Asia. The Ottomans had a direct impact on pretty much the most important events in recent history

[@stsk1061]

@@vagabond57097 It's not due to Ottomans, but due to Venice. Venice was the major center for trade from the east and Portugal was looking for another route.

[@kamakiller1145]

​@@stsk1061 the Ottomans made deals with the venetians

[@vagabond57097]

@@stsk1061 No it was mainly the Ottomans taxing everything coming through the Silk Road from Asia. Constantinople was the most important city to control if you wanted to tax Europe and get rich basically. The Europeans (Portuguese) found a way to cut out the middlemen, the Ottomans, and establish trade routes themselves by sailing around Africa which kicked off the age of discovery by Europeans sailing further west

[@stsk1061]

@@vagabond57097 The Portuguese had already started sailing to West Africa before the Ottomans took Constantinople.

[@Aristocles22]

The roughly 1 million figure is for ancient Rome proper. The Romans didn't give us numbers for suburbs such as Ostia.

[@13nathrezim]

1.5 thousand-year-old Kyiv was not even marked with a small dot. The capital of the largest medieval state in Europe.

[@shwabb1]

It was shown though

[@monsieurkot5858]

Rus was not a centralised state, it was a combination of a small kingdoms and principalities loosely connected to each other

[@СергейПлугатырёв]

A medieval state is a very relative thing, there cannot be any real state under the feudal system. The same goes for Charlemagne's France or Otto's HRE

[@efim_sivacholi]

​@@monsieurkot5858как это слабо связаных, если в каждом городе сидели родственники и норманы называли Русь страной городов?

[@monsieurkot5858]

​@@efim_sivacholiВсей Европой до начала 20го века правили родственники и что?

[@Pokesus]

The Arab centralization made a lot of Spanish cities the biggest ones of Europe, Spain is usually a very rural country but they changed a couple of those things to benefit modernization and industries like the wood one or the iron. Spain during arab rule was on their gold age in therms of population and advance

[@lekevire]

Thankfully Iberia was liberated by 1492.

[@albertojimenez7294]

If it were not for the brutal repression that the Muslims exercised against the Jews and the Mozarabs (Christians who spoke a Romance language, Andalusian Romance or Mozarabic) Al-Andalus would have been perfect. But the religious fanaticism that grew as the reconquest progressed ruined it.

[@spankymcflych]

It's amazing how (relatively) quickly the population levels fluctuate. I wonder if the people just all die when a city halves over a hundred years or if they're migrating somewhere else.

[@hadadezer8047]

Oh boy that Black Death population collapse at 3:21, terrifying.

[@hangmanhands5826]

the industrial revolution starting in england rlly changed things around Birmingham and Manchester were as big a cities like st Petersburg and Vienna and also caused industrialised population booms spread across northern europe first

[@AMG_636]

The best mapper

[@danialamin252]

Without doubt

[@king_halcyon]

Yes

[@Gorboduc]

We're lucky to have him.

[@adnan_honest_jihadist5775]

debatable

[@adnan_honest_jihadist5775]

@@Gorboduc luck doesnt exist

[@mordegardglezgorv2216]

Bro really think that Moscow population was less than 100k in 17th century 😂

[@UsakPasa]

А тут по факту все данные не точные, по всем городам

[@nemesis_the_endless7286]

@@UsakPasaАга, постоянно проживающий жителей в Москве уже 17 миллионов, из них только 13 записаны Росстатом, из за этого такое недопонимание получается.

[@lammmer8143]

По «Росписному списку» («Переписной книге города Москвы 1638 года») в 1638 году в Москве жило около 200 тысяч человек. К началу XVIII века численность населения Москвы немного уменьшилась и по «ревизским сказкам» составляла: в 1710 году около 160 тысяч человек, в 1725 году - 140-150 тысяч, в 1740 году - 138,4 тысячи, в 1776 году - 161 тысячу человек. Перед войной 1812 года в Москве жило 270 тысяч человек, а после её окончания - 215 тысяч. В результате миграционного прироста в середине XIX века население Москвы увеличилось: в 1840 году - 349,1 тысячи человек, в 1856 году - 368,8 тысячи, в 1868 году - 416,4 тысячи человек[144].

[@raembes]

3:23 Black Plague enters the Chat

[@JyrgenHærensøn]

I find it crazy that berlin went from not even being on the map in 1800 to 5th place in fifty years and third in 100 years.

[@tech_red4277]

6:09 The Spanish Miracle

[@bob_0146]

London’s population is 8.9 million as of 2023. 9 million at most.

[@ProductofWit]

Those modern country markers aren't something I'm a fan of, but for the rest awesome video.

[@sefe7841]

Istanbul is the first one everyone can cry about this. Thanks for your objective video dude.

[@LemurEater]

you mean constantinple right? since you guys are arab and greek genetically

[@АндрейЕрмилов-х8п]

it's not actually since part of it are in asia

[@Veriox22]

Really appreciate your work, I love how you put each city as a circle that grows and declines depending on population and putting them into categories

[@teviottilehurst]

London has a Green Belt policy that forbids Greater London expansion into London's numerous satellite towns. A good thing.

[@biscolataman]

The Battle of Manzikert paved way for the Turkification of Anatolia which laid the seeds of the Ottoman empire which conquered Constantinople ending Rome and triggering the Age of Discovery which shaped much of the modern world,... A battle can only be this impactful

[@GreenArt4]

Manzikert itself didn't cause that. If the Byzantines didn't have civil wars every 2 weeks then the Komenians would've restored the empire's rule.

[@Letnistonwandif]

The Crusaders conquered byzantiniun before t*rks.

[@adnan_honest_jihadist5775]

@@Letnistonwandif why dont you like turks

[@berkantelgin]

We will come once again wait and see and this time the Balkans will also want us to come again. Just as their ancestors wanted our ancestors to come instead of the Cardinals...

[@selimgehayev8766]

@@berkantelgin cringe

[@UkSapyy]

You can see what a massive impact industrialisation had on the UK. For those that don't know people were forced out of the country side and into city slums while the country side was transformed into areas for corps or sheep. UK countryside is scared from this period in history l.

[@excho]

4:12 as a Lithuanian, I was not aware Vilnius was ever majority protestant. Could you perhaps share your sources? I'm intrigued.

[@compatriot852]

Yeah, I know the city has a notable jewish population. Not sure about Protestant though

[@sodinc]

I don`t think he displayed a majority religion here, just the official religion of the government or something like that. Constantinople was mostly greek and orthodox for a significant amount of time after conquest for example

[@forgottenmusic1]

There are more issues, like in 17th century, Riga (not marked) was bigger than Stockholm (marked), or Novgorod shown as one of the largest cities in the USSR (perhaps, messed with Gorkiy/Nizni Novgorod). So, I wouldn't take that as granted...

[@slimebeingslimey8266]

​@@compatriot852 cry catholic

[@dsss5945]

Вільня❤

[@markus38402]

Very good video. Berlin really did have 4.5 million inhabitants until Germany's capitulation, 1 million more than today. Berlin was the industrial centre of Germany with world-famous companies like Siemens and Volkswagen. With the division and destruction of the city after the capitulation of Germany, the once third largest city in the world lost its importance. If it hadn't been for the division and the war, Berlin would probably have a population of 7-9 million today. Due to its rapid growth, Berlin had already created large areas of land, such as the Grunewald forest, which is still located outside the city today. At that time, it was assumed that the Grunewald would soon function as a green lung in the centre of the city.

[@qKitti]

Your visualizations never fail to impress, amazing job Ollie Bye :)

[@higochumbo8932]

Granada in Spain was the largest city in Europe in the 14th Century, and remained a top 5 until the 16th.

[@youtubedlaccount9331]

St. Petersburg was only called "Leningrad" in 1924, not 1917.

[@professionaldriver77878]

Petrograd from 1914 to 1924 Leningrad from 1924 to 1991 or 1993 And it reverted to St. Petersburg since then

[@scarymonster5541]

Why changing names?

[@sodinc]

@@scarymonster5541 politics, of course

[@professionaldriver77878]

@@scarymonster5541 In 1914 it was changed from Sankt Petersburg (meaning Saint Peter's City in German/Dutch) to Petrograd (City of Peter in Russian) because Russia was in war with Germany. In 1924, Soviets wanted to deal with everything associated with ,,old ways" so they changed it to Leningrad, in honor of Soviet leader Vladimir Ilich Ulyanov (a.k.a. Lenin) [There were plans to rename Moscow to Stalinodar (meaning gift of Stalin), but thank God, that failed, even Stalin himself rejected the proposal.] In 1991 or 1993, I'm not sure which year it was, it reverted to it's original name, Sankt Petersburg, or Sankt Peterburg, I'm not exactly sure how Russians spell it nowdays. When USSR and communism fell, there was absolutely no reason to keep Soviet name of the city.

[@scarymonster5541]

@@professionaldriver77878 oh alright

[@sirwaffel5236]

Was 3:23 the black plague?

[@Caysari]

aye kinda scary isnt?

[@nenenindonu]

3:45 Mehmed the Conqueror has joined the chat

[@wollin20]

Thank you for you video, very well made and pleasant to watch, but I have to criticize some of your figures for Paris, which are undoubtly underestimate : In the first half of the XIVth century, before the Great Plague, it had certainly not 83 000 in 1328 but around 200 000 inhabitants, as indicated in the only available medieval census of 1328 which counted the "feux fiscaux", so the number of families for a specific royal tax (the "taille") : the figure was then 61 098 "feux fiscaux", so at least 180 000 inhabitants and probably more than 200 000. It then declined brutally, (one third less so still like 130 000 +) and probably kept declining to a minimum of 100 000 around 1440 as the exhausted kingdom of France was winning its final war of the Hundred Years' War. By 1500 its population had bounced back to around 150 000 (so not 94 000). So the problem is that you miss the point that Paris was by far the largest city in Western Europe in the late medieval time (1280 - 1500), even if Italy was far more urban than France with, before the Great Plague, 4 cities above 100 000 (Milan, Venice, Genoa, Naples) and others around 40/80 000 like Florence, Palermo and Bologna (France had no such large cities apart maybe Rouen which had probably more than 40 000 inhabitants at that time). The figures for the XIXth and XXth centuries are well known and show (your figures which underestimate the growth outside the city proper during the first industrial revolution are in brackets) : 1860 : 1.9 million (1.6) - 1870 : 2.3 (2.0) - 1880 : 2.8 (2.4) - 1890 : 3.2 (2.8) - 1900 : 3.8 (3.3) - 1910 : 4.4 (3.8) - 1920 : 4.8 (4.4) - 1930 : 5.6 (5.5). In the years 1860 to 1930, before cities became car centric, there was no such thing as urban sprawl so the continuously build up area was well defined. Anyway, for the periods before 1240, from 1550 to 1850, and from 1930 to 2023, your figures are as accurate as they could be.

[@bryaninvictus9530]

Do someone know what happened to Cordoba during the years 1000-1030 ?

[@bryaninvictus9530]

@@alpayakay5454 Crusades in 1000 ? And Cordoba was pretty far from the "frontline"

[@alpayakay5454]

@@bryaninvictus9530 Reconquista (718-1492), which I know as crusade, for 800 years, Europe had a work to kill in Europe Muslims. Divide and rule policy is used in accordance with the complete Christianization strategy of Europe, they cause a civil war in Cordoba and cause division in an event known as the The Fitna of al-Andalus (1009-1031).

[@bryaninvictus9530]

@@alpayakay5454but the reconquista had not reach Cordoba at all in 1000 AD

[@acusticamenteconvusional9936]

@@alpayakay5454 You obviously don't know what you are talking about

[@acusticamenteconvusional9936]

The fitna of Al-Andalus, basically a civil war that ended the Caliphate of Cordoba and started the kingdoms of Taifas until the Almoravid invasion from North Africa. From most of the biggest cities of Al Andalus the governors declared themselves caliphs and Cordoba was sacked at some moments

[@TurkishZombie]

Turks, especially north and western ones are culturally and genetically European so Anatolian peninsula, Armenia and Georgia should be in it. And if it is geographical Europe, Cyprus and Anatolian islands shouldn't be in it.

[@ЪЭЪ-х5я]

No)

[@GreenArt4]

Great work on the video, but in my opinion putting modern states instead of the contemporary ones is a bit weird.

[@ValeriusMagni]

?

[@StetoGuy]

Yeah I agree, historical flags would be much more useful in providing historical context. For instance its a bit confusing when you see that Cordoba is the largest city when its got the Spanish flag to it, rather it would be more clear it being shown under the caliphate.

[@bigozimak]

I agree, it's simply not historically accurate.

[@sergio-179]

While Moscow has 12 million people registered about 25-30 millions people living in Moscow agglomeration and participate in it economic life by working/studying there

[@noahkidd3359]

What an awesome and informative video. Thanks!!

[@purrroudbeauty]

Indeed, this is a true brain-starter, in particular when you change the perspective. Thank you Ollie!

[@andrefarfan4372]

Nice

[@Greek387]

Constantinople 🇬🇷🇬🇷🇬🇷

[@TYCERWR]

Where :D?? I can't see ..

[@ardayavuz7860]

yes before 1453 😂

[@mielierz]

Интересный факт. Только в одной лишь Стамбульской агломерации турок в 2 раза больше чем греков во всей Греции.

[@JanusJensen-b6c]

Interestingly, on a map of population sizes in Europe for 1801, the then size of Moscow is given as 400.000 in the winter and 250.000 in summer (where everybody goes out to their dasha? :) ).

[@Jaga_Imba]

Surprisingly, in Christian Europe, Muslim cities were in the lead so many times.

[@fyyfnyyn]

so...Muslim Europe?

[@Pawn2e4]

Same is true in the modern era, looking at the state of London and Paris...

[@MW_Asura]

Only Constantinople

[@MW_Asura]

@@Pawn2e4 Oh no, a few million immigrants in a country with tens of millions. Whatever are the French and Brits gonna do...

[@Jaga_Imba]

​@@MW_Asura No, more Cordova

[@Flutterzancelight]

where did you find population data for nowaday ?

[@OllieBye]

UN Urbanisation Prospects (2018 revision): population.un.org/wup/Download/ You can view it in a more human-friendly format in my Google Sheets spreadsheet, linked in the description.

[@Flutterzancelight]

@@OllieBye Thank you. Ah, I see

[@adnan_honest_jihadist5775]

@@OllieBye how dyk you can trust UN?

[@atruv2089]

Oh, that black death hit hard

[@jivkoyanchev1998]

What city does the violet dot represent, that is located east of Philippopolis (Plovdiv).

[@biscolataman]

Istanbul❤

[@cubic_rubic]

What happened at 3:24, 1349 year

[@Vechnost.Pahnet.Neftyu]

Black Death

[@edwardendo2155]

In 1993 Ukraine had 5 cities with population over 1m - kiyv, harkiv, donetsk, dnepropetrovsk, odessa. In your map it's only 3. So how can I trust about all the other information?

[@mopssd9292]

Хрюкни

[@mopssd9292]

Опять ущемились😂😂😂

[@Походеньки]

​@@mopssd9292ущемились 650000 чорних пакетів з добривами

[@OndrejReinisch]

4:00 "Kdož jsú boží bojovníci a zákona jeho " 🗣

[@sano2734]

4:53 Lwów should be catholic not orthodox

[@marazmzrotterdamu8521]

+1

[@Vlad-pp4jd]

Lviv is the only correct name

[@aichtlustmann5000]

It was catholic at that time, but it has always been Lviv since the foundation

[@DimDDG]

@@Vlad-pp4jdI have always learned *Lvov*, it isn’t correct?

[@Vlad-pp4jd]

@@DimDDG Lvov is a Russian name for Lviv(Ukraine)

[@beniu1305]

Just realized Ollie came back after 4 months

[@OllieBye]

Yeah, I spent a lot of that time working on the yet-to-be-released HRE video. This video was more of a side-project.

[@beniu1305]

@@OllieBye hope the HRE project goes well, and have a nice day

[@SnapplyPie]

I never realized how big Edirne became under the Ottomans!

[@professionaldriver77878]

It was their capital before conquest of Constantinopole

[@SnapplyPie]

@@professionaldriver77878 I knew that, but I always assumed it was smaller.

[@legendaryboxer9769]

As a Turkish I still think Edirne is a very impressive city. It has good cultural&historical aura.

[@professionaldriver77878]

@@legendaryboxer9769 Indeed, Adrianopole is beautiful city.

[@SnapplyPie]

@@legendaryboxer9769 Selimiye Camii is breathtaking, along with the rest of the city!

[@Brslld]

Sarai on its way to beating venice: The black death:

[@precursors]

Cyprus is geographically in Asia, not in Europe

[@paolopinko3078]

this number are crazy

[@dopamine-boost]

Europe has to be the most interesting continent out there. Small yet rich with history.

[@mahfuzannan8270]

Nah, just overrated by the western people who are ignorant about Eastern history. Asian history is even more fascinating. The most interesting part of European history only came after Renaissance. And some part of Greek and Roman history probably. Pre modern India & China have more rich history than than pre modern Europe. Just the world is so eurocentric that they overglorify it.

[@dopamine-boost]

@@mahfuzannan8270 It is a matter of opinion.

[@MW_Asura]

@@mahfuzannan8270 Europe is the most interesting continent and has the best history for me. And yes, I'm biased because I'm European, just like you're biased towards Asia because you're Asian. Ancient and Medieval European history are one of the best parts of European history

[@mahfuzannan8270]

@@MW_Asura there is nothing "best" in history. You can't say this region has better history than that region. History is just "collection of stories and events." Yes, interest is a subjective thing. But when you say it's "best" it just shows that your perspective on history is just wrong. History can be "rich" not "best." Someone who says that Europe's history is richer than the Middle East, India and China (ignoring other regions of Asia) combined is either delusional or outright ignorant.

[@professionaldriver77878]

​@@mahfuzannan8270World is eurocentric. Deal with it.

[@johnny5247]

Paris does not have over 11 million inhabitants, but just over 2 million. The Ile de France has 11 million, but not Paris. Madrid also suddenly has far too many inhabitants.

[@joaquincimas1707]

he counts metro areas for modern times, not the city proper population.

[@deklanmadhen3091]

The size of Naples was a shock for me

[@PinoSancris_]

The most underrated city ever

[@marcomontella7785]

Even in Italy people don't realize how big Naples has been for centuries...

[@marcomontella7785]

And it has been also the biggest city of the Spanish empire

[@accountthatillusetocomment3041]

Wow, the decline of Saint Petesburg is kinda sad. It would be the largest city in Russia and possibly Europe if the Russian revolution and WW2 didn't happen.

[@panoskrs968]

It seams so strange to see Constantinople with a Turkish flag

[@asdfghdhkdfkkffn3167]

Even after 600 years omg what they teaching you guys very well propoganda

[@deanticocombar7529]

So it is also strange to see Cordoba in Spainish flag before 1240 AD

[@gelbsan]

Fun fact: Turkish flag is actually constantinople flag

[@taboretPL]

3:23 you can see how black death influenced so many countries and their population.

[@sempiternvs]

holy cow thats nice

[@wrowe_]

His manners are immaculate

[@simonovkon1972]

Снова информация по Скалигеру и Паджио Скарцези

[@gamerep2585]

Very good-looking Video! But i have one question: in the modern era, which City is the one in eastern France/southwestern Germany or northern Switzerland?

[@TheZestyCar]

Could be Strasbourg. Also could be Geneva or Lyon.

[@plumebrise4801]

@@TheZestyCar It's Zurich .

[@gamerep2585]

​@@TheZestyCar it cant be Geneva. Geneva is a bit more south. From what it looks like, i would assume that it is Bern, Basel, Freiburg, Zürich or Strasbourg. Zürich seems the most likely, but than i dont know why Stuttgart (which has more inhabitans than Zürich) is not shown.

[@lynxcato3327]

It's Strasbourg (France).

[@redneckraconteur]

I've been watching you for years, and you cintinue getting better every video! Your productions are a quick overveiw that ties together many historical events.

[@thummRU]

You mixed up Veliky Novgorod (population 0.2 mln, a bit SE from St Petersburg) and Nizhny Novgorod (population 1.4 mln). Also looks like locations of Ukrainian cities (Kyiv, Kharkiv) is off. But nice effort despite that!

[@Sonicboom363]

Amazing work. Your content just keeps getting better and better, and I love it! I like the visuals as well. Keep up the great work man!

[@ivivivs]

How's Constantinople Turkish in the 5th century?

[@OllieBye]

The flags refer to the country they are in today.

[@ivivivs]

@@OllieBye A flag of Rome or Byzantium would do.

[@FactBangladesh]

Love Istanbul and turkey from Bangladesh ❤

[@Eigilhedemann]

03:22 plauge go hard

[@daDinoCat]

Constantinople USED to be bulgarian/greek, now turkish

[@gabs3597]

Edirne was more populated 500 years ago than it is now, what happened?

[@geomapper]

Османская империя пала)

[@ismailakkoyun856]

İt was otoman empire's capital before conquest of istanbul so after we took control of istanbul we made it our capital so edirne lost its importance