Can you name the world's most populous cities as in the years 1500, 1800, 1900 and 1950?

created by Booger

Enter a city in the box below
Correctly named cities will show up below
Answers do not have to be guessed in order
Responses require city names only. Correct answers will appear with the names of the countries in which the cities are currently located.
Source: Four Thousand Years of Urban Growth: A Historical Census
Also try: Most Populous City by Time Zone

You have 8 minutes to guess after you click the button below.

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Show Missed Answers

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1800
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1950
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Historical City Populations Quiz

Rating:	Report a mistake
Created by: Booger -
Published: March 29th, 2009
Category: History
Plays: 150,793

Tags: City Quizzes, World Quizzes, Population Quizzes, rank, populous, historical, 1900, 1500, 1800, 1950

Loading friend results....

	AntieAnnie:	Mar 29th, 2009 at 05:19 GMT	13 points
	Great quiz Sporcle! I just wish I could have filled at least ONE of the columns (almost got the 1900 column).

Comment below threshold: show it

	mungar:	Mar 29th, 2009 at 05:22 GMT	2 points
	Awesome quiz. I also needed one more in the 1900 column (forgot #10)

	NoVan:	Mar 29th, 2009 at 05:24 GMT	44 points
	Nice, I like how it combines geography and history! After several times playing the Largest Cities of the World quiz, you have to take this from a different perspective. (But at the risk of being voted down, anglicized "Canton" ought to count for Guangzhou.)

	clavinfield:	Mar 29th, 2009 at 05:26 GMT	3 points
	Wow, this was a really interesting quiz! I completed the 1900 and 1950 columns (if you think back to the numerous Most Populous... quizzes on here for different regions, you'll get these). The answers for the first two columns were much harder, especially for a non-history buff like me.

	sammyhain2364:	Mar 29th, 2009 at 05:28 GMT	38 points
	Peking should be acceptable since that's what it was refered to until just recently

	Liberal:	Mar 29th, 2009 at 05:35 GMT	4 points
	Good job on this quiz.

	austin massachusetts:	Mar 29th, 2009 at 05:49 GMT	36 points
	Wow, I can't believe Rome didn't cut it in any of these years. I know that it had been on a decline towards the end of the empire in 756 B.C.E., but I thought it would have rebounded in population during the rise of the Papal States.

	leob:	Mar 29th, 2009 at 05:49 GMT	8 points
	Too bad 1700 was missed. I knew the #1 for that year - Ayutthaya, Thailand!

	frey553:	Mar 29th, 2009 at 05:52 GMT	2 points
	Gah! I spelled it St. Petersberg...that's what I get for all my years of German I guess :-P Fun quiz!

	debbiedoesnothin:	Mar 29th, 2009 at 06:05 GMT	0 points
	Fun quiz. I knew most of the ones I was missing had to be in Asia but I didn't know the names of the cities.

	TeganX7:	Mar 29th, 2009 at 06:33 GMT	0 points
	Great idea for a quiz ... missed 1900 and 1950 by one each.

	SowCrates:	Mar 29th, 2009 at 06:33 GMT	-2 points
	Manchester, Ruhr and Tabrize were the only non Indian/Chinese I ended up missing. For 1500 I went chasing Spanish cities, Amsterdam, some French and Italian cities, hoping the ones I was missing weren't Chinese or Indian because I knew I had no chance in hell on those. At least it got me Naples.

	Jordan117:	Mar 29th, 2009 at 08:27 GMT	31 points
	Holy crap... in 500 years Vijayanagar went from the second-largest city on Earth to a bunch of ruins, population: 0. (Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vijayanagara). Makes you wonder what Tokyo or New York might be like in 2500...

	livfred:	Mar 29th, 2009 at 08:34 GMT	17 points
	Great quiz, but #9 in 1950 is listed as an "area". Does that really count as a city? Just wondering.

	Rhys:	Mar 29th, 2009 at 08:35 GMT	2 points
	Never would have guessed Manchester or Philadelphia to have ever been anywhere near the biggest city in the world.

	jomaw:	Mar 29th, 2009 at 08:59 GMT	12 points
	Great quiz. It would be even better if it listed the population of each city at the time.

	rahv:	Mar 29th, 2009 at 10:28 GMT	8 points
	@frey553: but it's spelled "st petersburg" in german as well (and in russian, too, for that matter)...

	rahv:	Mar 29th, 2009 at 10:30 GMT	2 points
	@jomaw: populations are listed on the linked site, if you're interested :)

	Statto2:	Mar 29th, 2009 at 10:39 GMT	13 points
	Interestingly Beijing & Cairo who don't feature in 1900 & 1950 now once again have a larger population than Chicago!

	OscilatingGibbon:	Mar 29th, 2009 at 10:46 GMT	5 points
	Awesome quiz, it would be nice if Canton worked for Guangzhou :-)

	davidr:	Mar 29th, 2009 at 11:08 GMT	2 points
	@ared: In Russian, it's spelt Санкт-Петербург.

	sharon:	Mar 29th, 2009 at 12:56 GMT	6 points
	Enjoyable. Which cities are not on these lists is as interesting and educating as the ones that are.

	Djungelurban:	Mar 29th, 2009 at 13:10 GMT	13 points
	How about if "Napoli" was accepted as a right answer for Naples... Jsut a thought...

	RobH:	Mar 29th, 2009 at 13:34 GMT	5 points
	A tip: Always, always guess Philadelphia on these quizzes. It's always there for some reason!

Comment below threshold: show it

Rating:	Report a mistake
Created by: Booger -
Published: March 29th, 2009
Category: History
Plays: 150,793

	Kicking222:	Mar 29th, 2009 at 15:14 GMT	3 points
	Absolutely awesome quiz. Interesting, fun, and I actually learned something.

	Kathryn:	Mar 29th, 2009 at 15:20 GMT	4 points
	Fun quiz! I missed a few obvious ones like Moscow and St Petersburg! And I missed Naples, but put Rome in a few times.

	cmal33:	Mar 29th, 2009 at 15:22 GMT	1 point
	Great quiz. Tough.

	zalagreensbury:	Mar 29th, 2009 at 15:58 GMT	4 points
	Well it's a relief to know that Vijayanagar was only the most populous in the 1500's cause I've never even heard of it,lol.

	OscilatingGibbon:	Mar 29th, 2009 at 16:59 GMT	8 points
	Vijayanagara is no longer a city - it used to be the capital of the Vijayanagara Empire in Southern India, but it is now just ruins and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It sounds beautiful, I'd love to go there.

	zalagreensbury:	Mar 29th, 2009 at 17:09 GMT	3 points
	yeah, i kind of figured that, but still i'm surprised i never heard of it.

	Jaspers:	Mar 29th, 2009 at 17:28 GMT	2 points
	Stupid ancient history classes. I typed Edo, but didn't think to type Tokyo afterwards.

	lulubelles:	Mar 29th, 2009 at 17:35 GMT	1 point
	@ ared: I think frey means that most of the german places are 'berg' rather than 'burg'

	chambers:	Mar 29th, 2009 at 17:49 GMT	1 point
	greeeat quiz. got most of them but the 1500 one really stumped me. i hadn't heard of any of them!

	CarpeDiem:	Mar 29th, 2009 at 18:22 GMT	3 points
	Terrific game, Booger!! I love the games that make us think outside our usual boxes of comfort. Thanks! :-)

	melissa:	Mar 29th, 2009 at 19:05 GMT	7 points
	Super game - mostly requires thinking, not memorizing. And such interesting patterns -- e.g. Paris is the only city on all 4 lists. All but Buenos Aires are in the northern hemisphere. The largest population centers today are more comparable to those in 1500 than those in 1900. Makes you wonder what the charts for 2100, 2200, etc. will look like.

	MissInformed:	Mar 29th, 2009 at 19:21 GMT	10 points
	Great quiz! However when I typed in "Canton" it gave me the 1800 "Guangzhou" but not the 1500 one.