Top 10 Largest Cities in the World by Population (1400-2023)

This video will compare the largest cities in the world from years 1400 to 2023.
Technically, there is data starting from 1 AD, and I could have started there, but the data was sparse in those early years, and it would have required an inappropriate amount of data extrapolation.
Therefore, the video begins by showcasing the population data for the individual years of 1, 700, 900, and 1100, skipping past the years in between that had sparse data.
Anyways, this video aligns the cities with the corresponding country or empire during each year, so you can get a feel for the flags of different empires and the historical control of each city by various countries throughout history, which is more interesting!
Please do leave a like, comment, subscribe, and enjoy!
Sources:
Socioeconomic Data and Applications Center, Columbia University
London Datastore
Our World in Data
Music:
The Barber of Seville by Rossini

[@RankingCharts]

This video will compare the largest cities in the world from years 1400 to 2023. All the countries in this video are in accordance with their historical flags/empires - which is more interesting that way! By the way, shoutout to the music, The Barber of Seville, where the city of Seville makes an appearance at year 1100 CE!

[@DenizenoftheAges]

Best one yet. Loved your empire/ruling faction/sovereign nation and flag choice descriptors. Fantastic. Edit: AND the Barber of Seville.

[@PM-ld4nn]

And Cordoba, where is it?

[@Watermelonseverim]

Pls game in top 10

[@Italian_maps24]

what is this yu program, I mean what kind of program where are these comparisons?

[@beefjerkythesecond]

AD not CE! That's very offensive!

[@ponbosu147]

江戸(Edo)🇯🇵・京都(Kyoto)🇯🇵・大阪(Osaka)🇯🇵 なんだか嬉しいです🌱

[@kaaadddbbbbb29]

これって都市圏人口のことなのかな？

[@user-ui6kv6ey9o]

@@kaaadddbbbbb29たぶんそう

[@carterzhang2977]

So interesting how you used the historical flags. I think your comparison videos are the best on KZbin

[@RankingCharts]

So glad to hear! That means a lot to me.

[@carterzhang2977]

@Europe exactly, most other channels just use modern flags which is really confusing and inaccurate

[@laurv8370]

yeah right. Nobody died during WW1 and WW2 😝

[@Godzillaminusone70]

@@laurv8370 were did you get that from

[@laurv8370]

@@Godzillaminusone70 watch the video, for example, during ww2, London, was under heavy bombardment, etc. - the video omits all these (and probably a lot other) events

[@loeeeee7383]

This is without a doubt the best comparison channel on KZbin.

[@seanarmstrong2196]

Left out Tenochitlan which had a population of 200k to 250k by 1500. It's population exceeded any city in Europe at the time.

[@DanielSilva-dr8gq]

Was coming here to say this

[@dutchreagan3676]

I was even wondrin' about Teotihuacan at its peak (years earlier).

[@xchazz86]

Okay, Tokyo needs to relax.

[@MartinJPR]

@@coconutclove789you gotta explain that joke to me

[@AinzWoolGown]

Delhi and Shanghai Reeeeeeeeeee

[@KygoCalvinHarris-xu4kv]

Delhi will cross them Japan and south Korea need more children

[@BananaMaster24.]

Delhi: hold my overpopulation

[@kabir1934]

Relax? Japan will be finished if they relax. They have so less birth rates, actually most of Japan is based in Tokyo, that's why

[@One1Plr]

I just found this channel few weeks ago and i am loving it! Glad you made a new video! I would say this is the best on KZbin.

[@simonhill4021]

Bravo...I feel like clapping when the music finishes.

[@AllanGildea]

Fascinating, thank you.

[@DailyGraph975]

Ranking Chartsさん!久々の投稿ですね! ハイクオリティなグラフの動画をありがとうございます!

[@RankingCharts]

この動画を楽しんでいただけてうれしいです！チャンネルを応援してくれてありがとうございます！

[@GeronimoPlaz]

Penicillin gets invented and every major city explodes in population lol

[@terryingram6755]

Fascinating. Thanks

[@BufflesStudios2024]

I love these comparison videos so much don’t listen to the haters i think these are pretty good your underrated ❤

[@Sceptonic]

Crazy how Mexico City was the second biggest city in the world from 2002-2007

[@YungR.J.Fischer]

Yeah true I also found that, thought it was the biggest atleast some years and for over 10+ years top 3

[@NelmacCity]

@@YungR.J.Fischer I heard the same about Mexico City too. But this video uses the "Urban Area" population instead of the "City Proper" population. Urban area includes nearby cities that are part of the metro area.

[@just_a_turtle_chad]

It's also turtle approved

[@Savage-en1xv]

Tenochtitlan, the precolombian Mexico City was also the biggest city at the time. Until Spanish invasion.

[@ryszardfalkowski7917]

​​@@NelmacCityThe site this channel uses to get its numbers has its own definition for CITY and it is just flat out wrong. Anyway, it's been 11 months since your post , if you want to talk about how these numbers are wrong, I'll respond to any replies you send my way. ✌🏼

[@sparkysmalarkey]

My brain trying to keep up while thinking about what was going on in each of those places at any given time . . . 🤯💀👻

[@DaviFigueiraChavez]

Yeah, really interesting

[@Rizit13]

Don't think about what happened to Vijayanagar in 1566.

[@KygoCalvinHarris-xu4kv]

​@@Rizit13Mughal empire??

[@KygoCalvinHarris-xu4kv]

London and Paris - Charles Dickens, victor Hugo, Eugene delacroix, Paul Cezanne Claude Monet, Arthur Conan Doyle, Robert Louis Stevenson

[@KygoCalvinHarris-xu4kv]

​@@Rizit13and agra mysteriously rose

[@lynxfresh5214]

It's crazy to me that there was a period in history that the island of Great Britain had two of the top ten of the largest cities in the world.

[@skuchi9]

Great video, as usual!

[@azizzorba5930]

always nice job.

[@realomegamodern]

i really like how you used the old flags too. nice!

[@davidtang2549]

The first city ever with 1M population -- Chang' An in Tang Dynasty. The next one didn't come into exist until 1775 (which is Beijing). Can't imagine how prosperous is the Tang Dynasty

[@NanfromChina]

大唐盛世

[@starlights006]

The Tang dynasty was the father of the Asia culture ,The Ming and song too

[@ShahanshahShahin]

Persians and Indians love Tang Dynasty too 😍

[@choknuti]

Sorry to burst your bubble but Rome reached 1 million in 133 B.C. almost 900 years before Chang'An.

[@SingStar-sy8hj]

@@starlights006and father to Japan and Korea and Vietnam and so on

[@-AxisA-]

Damn Tokyo has been the largest city by population for almost 70 years... Also what happened between 700ad and 900ad that almost every city lost half or more of their population?

[@KygoCalvinHarris-xu4kv]

Istanbul top ten for centuries

[@-AxisA-]

@@KygoCalvinHarris-xu4kv Yep. One of the most important cities in human history. I'd love to visit there some day.

[@SingStar-sy8hj]

@@KygoCalvinHarris-xu4kvChang’an, Luoyang,Hangzhou,Beijing be in top ten for 1000 years😂

[@KygoCalvinHarris-xu4kv]

@@SingStar-sy8hj Well China and India obviously

[@SingStar-sy8hj]

@@KygoCalvinHarris-xu4kv no India as it ruined lots of times though it has a long history

[@缸]

Japan has never been a country named Tokugawa. Japan has been a country since around 645, and Tokugawa was the name of the powerful family at the time.

[@adamcohen2632]

There is a major error. Tenochtilan had a population estimated to be 200,000 - 400,000 in the first few decades of the 16th Century when Cortes first arrived. That made it larger than any city in Europe and quite possibly the 3rd largest city in the world. Its population was decimated shortly thereafter, mostly by the accidental introduction of communicable diseases previously unknown in the Americas with additional , fewer losses due to direct warfare with the Spaniards.

[@NanfromChina]

Great video!But can you confirm whether to use historical citys’ names or modern names?I saw you use’Changan’ which is the old capital of many dynasties but now named’Xi’an’，and most of other cities are in their modern name.

[@obansrinathan]

Istanbul was officially known as a version of Constantinople under the ottomans, and Istanbul only became the official legal name in the twenties when the Turkish state became established.

[@stonejaguar1]

and under the Byzantine Empire

[@brankojovic2000]

Pls make a chart for biggest navies in the world from 1600 to 2023.

[@williamstuartmitchell5480]

I always enjoy these videos. Can someone please tell me what the music that was playing?

[@notedata4192]

very nice data, however, I am not able to find the data from the source you shared above. Could you help share your data? Appreciated.

[@falonkern9472]

YES UR BACK

[@RankingCharts]

It’s great to be back!

[@KygoCalvinHarris-xu4kv]

Philadelphia and Chicago orchestra late 1800s + Early 1900s

[@bmsSumner]

I thought Kyoto got absolutely wiped out for a sec there in 1570

[@AlbertaGamer]

Tokyo has about as many people as Canada. Crazy

[@RD-ij2sz]

Good Job ... Ranking Charts ! Nice . Accurate .. At exactly at 1847 you ended East India Company and showed British Raj for Bombay ( Mumbai ).👍

[@luiscalymayor398]

Didn’t you miss Tenochtitlan in the early 1500s?

[@ashleyk1782]

In fact, I am curious to know the size of the Egyptian economy at the time of the Pharaonic civilization or the Greek one at the time of the Greeks🤔

[@RichyRich2607]

Measured in what?

[@AllWorldStats]

I see that you have monetization active again. How did you achieve this?

[@RankingCharts]

I ponder that question to myself every night before I sleep.

[@AllWorldStats]

@@RankingCharts I'm glad you made it. Good luck

[@cleric8543]

What concern me is Dhaka,such a small place but with massive population..

[@Illjwamh]

Tenochtitlan in the years prior to the Spanish conquest would have been larger than Guangzhou

[@ogiovanninunes]

E nem apareceu no ranking... 🙄

[@KygoCalvinHarris-xu4kv]

Mexico City and Sau Paulo need 🚅🚝

[@classiclife7204]

Props to Naples, who was on this chart until around the mid-19th century. (The creation of Italy ended that city's global and even national importance.) Looking at the list at the end, the future points East, with Africa knocking at the door. Do this 5 years from now, and Lagos is Top 10, with others to follow.

[@timprescott4634]

Not necessarily a good thing…

[@KygoCalvinHarris-xu4kv]

Saint Petersburg grew under Russian empire

[@maestri1]

Would be cool if when there was a boom on the graphs you showed what caused it

[@Kushagra.j]

2:30 sad to see the demise of Vijaynagar

[@Sceptonic]

Wtf happened

[@debarunbhattacharya7794]

​@@Sceptonic five kingdoms allied together and defeated the empire, search- battle of talikota

[@Sceptonic]

@@debarunbhattacharya7794 dang

[@varoonnone7159]

@@Sceptonic Islamic invasions of India.

[@varoonnone7159]

@@debarunbhattacharya7794 How conveniently did you avoid stating that the invading armies were muslim. A typical gutless bengali. No wonder you got butchered in 1971 Bangladesh.

[@abolfazlmoghimi3459]

Perfect

[@plweis7203]

Superb and extremely enjoyable to watch. London was/is in England fyi.

[@RankingCharts]

Glad you enjoy! The Kingdom of England lasted from 927 to 1707, so I had to account for that difference. But you are correct: London is part of the UK and England!

[@user-mg9qp1hp5g]

It is interesting to note that the US is modest in this ranking, which is dominant in other rankings. It would be ideal for humans to be moderately dispersed rather than concentrated in one place.

[@imverydeadd]

thats a huge and very wise generalisation you made there

[@KygoCalvinHarris-xu4kv]

Indeed I saw a chart where Chicago and Los Angeles decreased but new York rose Other USA cities matter 🇺🇸

[@user-gb1mq2nt2l]

It seems necessary to distinguish between the population of a metropolitan area and the population of a single city. Other cities report statistics based on the population of a "single city", but why only Japanese cities have overstated by metropolitan area population statistics?

[@corkoran]

Paris since the begining in the top 10 and just 20 yeard before the end it's finish. Amazing this last 30 years...

[@user-sy5wj2ln9u]

Just fine this channel. It was so interesting that they were in the top so long, so many years being in the top 10. Just crazy. Never fell of until... yeah. I was looking for a comment just about Paris, så thank you :) Not just me to recognize it.

[@KygoCalvinHarris-xu4kv]

Istanbul doing well for a very long time too , then Los Angeles 1957 onwards...

[@KygoCalvinHarris-xu4kv]

Paris Olympics 2024

[@user-hn9dl3xd5r]

How do you make these videos?

[@user-tm7pj1dt2f]

17世紀は大阪と京都が頑張ってて嬉しいわ！

[@RankingCharts]

Osaka and Kyoto were important and populated cities then; today, they still are.

[@dancingdanny8811]

Machu Picchu and Tenochitlan are missing.

[@user-gb1mq2nt2l]

It seems necessary to distinguish between the population of a metropolitan area and the population of a single city. Other cities report statistics based on the population of a "single city", but why only Japanese cities have overstated by metropolitan area population statistics?🤔

[@eggheadegghead]

33% of Japan's population lives in one city.............

[@j6907]

Actually, the Tokyo metropolitan area is large, so the density is not so high.

[@hamanakohamaneko7028]

54% of Japan's population is in the top 3 metro areas

[@craigmmcgill]

These are metro areas and not the cities proper. That only became clear to me as I watched the last 25 years.

[@classiclife7204]

The immediate END of Vijayanagar remains the most shocking thing here. Imagine the refugee situation!

[@Deepak_Dhakad]

Yeah. Many such countless and large scale things happened in india but people rarely knows. And video maker is stupid. He didn't shown proper sizes and cities of Mughal empire

[@hasinurrahman6317]

My boi Dhaka making a jump at the last moment 😅

[@tripleb35]

😀

[@CyborgClydeGamingEdits121]

Its been 1 year! Why you stop uploading

[@Laimondasss]

In your video it states that in 2023 there is 37 mil people in Tokyo but in Wikipedia it statea there is 13 mil people in Tokyo.

[@stajeovo96]

In video is also written "Urban Are Population" what you were looking is City Property

[@Battleneter]

Yea most cities "real" urban population is a lot bigger than you will find with the official stats on Wiki.

[@ucchau173]

​@@stajeovo96no . They include Tokyo metropolitan which includes some province near Tokyo 😂😂😂

[@user-lp8nm7eh8z]

This video introduces urban area population.actually,the most populated city is Chongqing

[@市民]

Tokyo is name of an urban area. "Tokyo city" does not exist.

[@swing-by9355]

Tokyo!!!

[@shreyanjha3903]

Can you make a chart for percentage of world GDP divided by percentage of world population in countries?

[@KygoCalvinHarris-xu4kv]

Countries are recent , we had empire for centuries

[@chetanj257]

ನಮ್ಮ ವಿಜಯನಗರ ಸಾಮ್ರಾಜ್ಯ

[@ttyun5040]

shanghai has more short-term living people, maybe 50,000,000 totally

[@thegigadykid1]

What song is this?

[@KygoCalvinHarris-xu4kv]

Rossini overture

[@timprescott4634]

Paris REALLY held her own through most of this.

[@ogiovanninunes]

Where is Tenocthitlan and Teotihuacan?

[@vdoggydogg3922]

seems they are including metropolitan areas, not just the city itself.

[@localblackman427]

If los angeles wasnt split into several mini cities (mostly for tax reasons) it would be on this list. Also you can really see the wars faught throughout china with this video. Its funny how asians started near the top, dropped out and then ended the top

[@shawnanderson6313]

This was metro area population, so it would have included the surround areas outside of LA such as Santa Monica, Beverly Hills, Long Beach, and suburbs such as Walnut. The metro LA are as of the last census in 2020 was 18.5 million. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greater_Los_Angeles. It would not have made the list.

[@localblackman427]

Good looking out

[@KygoCalvinHarris-xu4kv]

Istanbul, Beijing and Tokyo you mean And indirectly because of Alexander Fleming

[@mgill1996]

I had no idea how populated Lahore was vis-a-vis the rest of the world in the late-mediaeval period!

[@jimmykrutakofficial294]

Asia just exploded at the end

[@niconicoman]

日本凄すぎでしょ笑！

[@jurgentreue1200]

13th Century Angkor Wat had over 900,000 people.

[@murraybassett3274]

Tokyo is going to get overtaken next year I think

[@hamanakohamaneko7028]

Good. Tokyo has way too many people

[@ﾋｬｸﾘｯﾄﾙ]

やっぱり人口の多い国が発展するんだなって

[@aqwsderxz]

cairo is turkey egypt should give it back

[@marimo8407]

Edo(Tokugawa-shogunate Japan) has been renamed Tokyo(Japan Empire)

[@arhatruges7543]

Türkiyeyi 1.sırada gören ve hemen tıklayan kardeşim yanlız değilsin ~NE MUTLU TÜRKÜM DİYENE ~

[@roundingcorners]

crazy how osaka is in the top 10 last couple yrs - when I visited 10 yrs ago it felt like this smaller urban town that didn't even have the same bustle as Kyoto

[@bogentyu]

パラレルワールドから来たの？大阪って何？そんなの日本にないけど

[@thierryfromgwada9312]

​@@bogentyuwhat ?

[@kamruzzamanuzzal3764]

lol, Dhaka came out of nowhere and got the 4th position. btw based on population Dhaka is 4th, but based on crowd, Dhaka is 1st. the most crowded city in the world.

[@RA-ql2ob]

1873年時点で日本で一番人口が多いのは新潟県。明治時代は1,400,000‐1,700,000くらいで推移してた。 今回の算出方法では入ってこないみたいね

[@gsteven3414]

citiesだから都道府県じゃなくて都市(圏)やで

[@baranozbey]

Today İstanbul is largest city in Europa. Like 20m people living there.

[@RA-ql2ob]

日本は江戸時代以前の国名表記が徳川とか足利とか将軍家の名前とか時代区分で国名じゃないのね 国旗(に相当するもの)が徳川家の旗とかなのはその通りだと思うけども それはそれとして、おもしろかった

[@bjs1144]

잘못된 통계 아닌가? 2020년 기준 도쿄의 인구는 1400만명인데..

[@blueusan]

통계의 기준이 들쭉날쭉이죠 ㅎㅎ... 채널 규모도 규모인지라 이해하고 봐야겠죠..

[@user-gb1mq2nt2l]

와패니즈들이 일본 도시들은 죄다 광역권 인구 긁어와서 "오오... 세계 최대의 도시 도쿄.. 대단해!" 하는것같음

[@mksmar]

Soon 🇮🇳 Delhi will be on 1st Spot till 2025... 😂😅

[@italomatheus8615]

It's not a good thing

[@cemsancar9232]

Mültecileri sayarsak bu listenin ilk 3 üne oynarız da...

[@ilkerturkoglu7616]

İstanbul en az 25 milyon olmuştur

[@jeyasurya3932]

Delhi my city

[@KygoCalvinHarris-xu4kv]

Oh i didn't know cairo was under Ottoman empire

[@PerfectionReincarnated]

I can't believe my country's capital city has been the most populous city for nearly a century! Edit: How dare NYC take over our reign as being the most populous city. We were so close to a century, but you just have to ruin it, don't you?

[@KygoCalvinHarris-xu4kv]

Philadelphia and Chicago ruined because of politics

[@user-ew3nr2im9b]

Where is Jakarta ? Where is Manila ?

[@vagalume11]

Cuzco should have made it to the list

[@ryszardfalkowski7917]

So many errors here , NYC for example never had above 9 million , and this video shows NY having 17 million plus. Other cities are wrong too, there is absolutely no way some of these cities listed can even hold the amount of population stated. You pulled this information from the wrong site. The site defines a city as continues housing developments , so basically if a brooklyn line ends but houses keep appearing side by side to the Brooklyn ones they consider that part of NYC, meaning even if some neighborhood crosses city lines into suburbs or another city its still part of NYC, according to their definition and clearly that is incorrect. The site takes the definition of city and expands it using their criteria. In 2022 the state of New York had 19.68 million residents. Thats the number for the ENTIRE STATE and New York city had a population of 8.33 million , and has grown slowly for the past 3-4 decades when it was about 7 plus million. At no point in history has NYC ever had over 9 million residents, let alone 16-18 million as shown in this graph. I picked up on errors in your other videos and didnt try to correct them. Now I see more blatant errors that you should have gotten correct and I'm now telling you, the site you get your info from is misinforming you and you do the same to your viewers. The correct information is easy to search out, please check your work if its important that your viewers keep returning for more. Other than that, your channel is good.

[@user-ee2fw1bs9x]

Perhaps Japan will be called Tokyo

[@easportsy4685]

Can we acknowledge the fact that no one was born or died in Paris from 1400 to 1419

[@normanwells2755]

Who did the counting?

[@asmrsoap277]

Як звами зв'язатися

[@user-gl5lf1vr1m]

Oh dhaka is in😮

[@RangerFPS]

istanbul has over 20m population in 2023, u should double check ur source

[@rickgeurtsen7941]

Did you miss Karachi (Pakistan)?

[@jichhuu]

where is jakarta?

[@fawow8362]

paris 1400-1989

[@KygoCalvinHarris-xu4kv]

Olympics 2024

[@DeeptiP1999]

Where is Shenzhen and Chongching

[@NiceBoaT_98]

We can imagine how the Mongols had treated their captives. No mercy.

[@starlights006]

The mongol empire was wipe out in 1250 around and this video started 1400 so……

[@chikakomaki6598]

I thought No.1 is Beijing or Shanghai 😶

[@shaf-cr7]

Dhaka sliding in 2017 and 4th by 2023😂