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100 Biggest Cities and Towns in the UK

With the help of a map, try to name the 100 most populous cities and towns in the United Kingdom.
By city population, 2019 estimates
The number one city includes the population of its metropolitan boroughs
Quiz by
Jiaozira
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Last updated: September 6, 2025
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First submittedMarch 21, 2019
Times taken145,938
Average score43.0%
Rating4.97
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Population
City
8,776,535
London
1,121,408
Birmingham
631,690
Glasgow
536,321
Leeds
506,552
Liverpool
505,310
Edinburgh
500,552
Sheffield
470,411
Manchester
425,232
Bristol
406,588
Leicester
384,704
Belfast
348,546
Cardiff
344,322
Coventry
333,931
Bradford
299,797
Nottingham
286,468
Newcastle upon Tyne
277,106
Brighton and Hove
275,599
Derby
270,806
Kingston upon Hull
266,983
Plymouth
260,602
Stoke-on-Trent
249,604
Southampton
243,511
Northampton
234,015
Wolverhampton
233,498
Luton
223,312
Portsmouth
203,808
Reading
200,752
Norwich
197,354
Milton Keynes
196,445
Bournemouth
196,220
Aberdeen
190,584
Peterborough
184,073
Bolton
183,638
Swindon
182,287
Southend-on-Sea
174,954
Warrington
170,798
Oxford
170,055
Swansea
168,277
Sunderland
166,877
Slough
156,896
Telford
152,725
Cambridge
151,562
Ipswich
149,056
Blackpool
148,219
Middlesbrough
146,840
Dundee
141,692
Huddersfield
141,671
York
140,977
Poole
131,326
Watford
Population
City
130,900
Newport
130,248
Colchester
126,156
Exeter
124,983
Blackburn
120,549
Crawley
118,541
Gloucester
117,941
Stockport
117,207
Basingstoke
115,964
Basildon
115,959
Cheltenham
115,316
Gateshead
111,621
Worthing
111,261
Rochdale
110,718
Oldham
110,606
Chelmsford
109,848
Birkenhead
109,490
Maidstone
108,483
Gillingham
108,409
Salford
107,728
Solihull
107,677
St Helens
105,455
Worcester
104,565
Lincoln
103,112
West Bromwich
99,189
Eastbourne
97,852
Wakefield
97,241
Bedford
95,961
Hemel Hempstead
94,508
Preston
94,456
Stevenage
94,421
Southport
94,092
Bath
93,566
Harlow
93,037
Darlington
92,742
Chester
91,480
Hastings
88,813
Nuneaton
88,109
Halifax
87,984
Hartlepool
87,967
Aylesbury
87,457
Doncaster
85,911
Grimsby
85,611
Wallasey
85,279
Derry / Londonderry
84,801
Stockton-on-Tees
84,628
Weston-super-Mare
83,523
High Wycombe
82,164
Ashford
81,637
Redditch
81,557
Wigan
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79 Comments
Jiaozira
+13
Level 72
Jul 31, 2025
I have updated the quiz with 2021 figures, and I have changed the map to show county lines!

All population figures are per Citypopulation.de. Please note that Sutton Coldfield and Kingswood have been removed, as they are part of Birmingham and Bristol, respectively. I do not know why Citypopulation.de lists them separately.

MrPi2002
+11
Level 77
Jan 7, 2020
Why is this quiz not featured when the Italy one is. UK has (in my oponion) more famous cities that Italy and it is a really nice quiz and good layout. Great job :-)
Jiaozira
+7
Level 72
Jan 7, 2020
Glad you enjoyed! I was surprised too, personally I think the Italian one was the hardest out of my '100 cities' series :P
Cheeez
+3
Level 49
Jul 4, 2024
Because people like Italy more :)
Jiaozira
+1
Level 72
Jul 4, 2024
Italy is pretty cool (sorry Brits)
maxism
+5
Level 70
May 5, 2020
Nice quiz! Definitely a few surprises towards the end of this list...
BolyaiAnna
+5
Level 87
Oct 30, 2020
Got 89/100. Shared it with the Discord server, hopefully it may bring some nominations :)
Jakub
+6
Level 68
Oct 30, 2020
It got one from me :)
Jiaozira
+4
Level 72
Oct 30, 2020
Thank you for sharing it @Yev, and thanks for the nomination @ABritishCat, I always appreciate it :D
Nathaniel
+4
Level 77
Dec 21, 2020
Nominated!
Jiaozira
+2
Level 72
Dec 21, 2020
Thank you!
Nathaniel
+5
Level 77
Dec 21, 2020
It's so weird that Derry has a population of less than 60,000 even though it probably has more history than the last 20 combined. Take Weston-super-Mare for example, the most famous thing they had was Banksy's Dismaland.
Jiaozira
+2
Level 72
Dec 21, 2020
It is odd indeed, although given the last few decades I don't imagine many people would be exactly thrilled to live in Derry (I'm sure it's better now mind you).
fitheach
+12
Level 58
Mar 28, 2021
Strange. Do you really think that Bath, a city that's been around for a couple of millennia, doesn't have a lot of history? Or that nothing much has happened at Hastings?
PhilTheThrill
+1
Level 40
Dec 23, 2021
I live in weston super mare ,and the most famous place is either the grand pier or the helicopter museum
PhilTheThrill
+1
Level 40
Dec 23, 2021
I live in weston super mare ,and the most famous place is either the grand pier or the helicopter museum
FlickerP
+22
Level 79
Jul 27, 2022
You can say that again
Amilcar
+1
Level 73
Nov 13, 2023
The same is probably true though for many British towns and cities too. Perth, Stirling, Wrexham, Carlisle, Durham, Lancaster, Shrewsbury, Warwick, Salisbury, Winchester etc etc

Most of the larger but less well-known ones are either commuter towns that ballooned around conveniently placed railway lines or are reliant on an economic sector like tourism that didn't emerge until the 20th century.

Nathaniel
+8
Level 77
Dec 21, 2020
Come, friendly bombs, and fall on Slough!
Jiaozira
+13
Level 72
Dec 21, 2020
I heard they dropped an atomic bomb on Slough last week...only 20 quid worth of damage.
pkerr116
+10
Level 71
Jul 17, 2021
Yeah, it took a week for anyone to take notice and report it.
richiesyxx
+6
Level 74
Oct 17, 2022
That 20 quid was only to the bomb itself…
InfiniteBulk
+4
Level 73
Mar 28, 2021
It isn't fit for humans now,
InfiniteBulk
+4
Level 73
Feb 4, 2021
I'm surprised to see Sunderland here. I watched the Netflix show about the soccer club and assumed it was a small town. Still, I've tried it just in case on every city quiz that included the U.K. I guess almost 200k isn't that big, but still a lot by many standards. Overall good quiz. A possible request would be for the color of the U.K. to be turned back to default so it's not so dark and gloomy. Let's be honest, I'm probably just crazy.
Jiaozira
+4
Level 72
Feb 4, 2021
Thanks for playing! I am not sure whether or not I'd call Sunderland big. I guess most Championship League and League One football clubs that I can think of come from mid-size cities and towns like Sunderland. Sounds like an interesting show, nevertheless. I cannot remember why I changed the colour to grey but it has become a standard for my series. It does match the British weather quite nicely but that is just a coincidence.
Bringitonlarsons
+9
Level 94
Mar 22, 2021
It's actually a pretty big city if you include the greater urban area. The Netflix series doesn't really mention it, but it used to be one of the world's largest shipbuilding cities and a major coal exporter. Before that, it was a key strategic city in England's fractious borderlands with Scotland, as well as the home of a number of major monasteries during the Anglo-Saxon period.

Like a lot of Northern cities, the last 50 years or so haven't been great so it's lost a lot of its economic importance and has dropped out of popular consciousness a bit. It's starting to get back on its feet - they have the world's most productive car factory and they're growing a lithium battery industry.

So in short - bigger than you might think!

Newroadgirl
+1
Level 69
Jun 7, 2021
Interesting, thanks.
lanky1234
+3
Level 40
Feb 2, 2025
It's called football
Ampersandwich
+1
Level 61
Nov 30, 2025
Plenty of Brits called it soccer & football not too long ago; they only mass adopted "football" to distance themselves from "Americanisms." (How pretentious)

Then again, the Brits also left the EU so does that even surprise anyone?

And for the record, the Canadians, Australians, & South Africans also call it soccer, so for once, America isn't doing something completely different!

sacheth9
+4
Level 65
Mar 21, 2021
Great quiz! Congrats on the feature :) To be honest, the map looks like it has a lot less than 100 dots
Jiaozira
+2
Level 72
Mar 21, 2021
Thank you! Maybe it helps that they are concentrated in specific areas, such as the North or around London.
JackintheBox
+3
Level 82
Mar 28, 2021
I got 47, just ONE above the average!
zephyr226
+4
Level 56
Mar 28, 2021
A really fun quiz, but it is particularly challenging for the inclusion of Towns. I actually didn't notice Towns were accepted until I saw my hometown of Doncaster represented, and we here always complain about how the Queen hasn't made us a city yet given how big we are.

Unlike international cities which are just population centres, in the UK our cities are designated by the Queen, and each year she adds to the list, with a preference for affluent areas rather than populous and shamefully degenerate ones such as Doncaster.

But this makes it challenging because while there are a limited number of cities that can be learned by rote, there are far many more towns, that you would only really know from extensive travel to other parts of the UK, or an obsession with football. Like there is no way in a million years I'd be getting Sale, Aylesbury, Sutton Coldfield or Rayleigh. I mean I missed Barnsley for crying out loud and that's 20 minutes away.

Encourages deeper UK Geo knowledge 5/5

Jiaozira
+2
Level 72
Mar 28, 2021
I'm glad you found it fun! I find it interesting how important the role of cities are in Britain, compared to Canada in which city status is recognised, albeit much more fluid and liable to change than the British cities are. I do find that the British cities are usually more famous internationally than town, although this might have more to do with their wealth as you mentioned.

Cheers, thanks for playing :)

pkerr116
+4
Level 71
Mar 28, 2021
Slough.
Seasnails
+3
Level 70
Mar 29, 2021
Such a great quiz, shouldn't Sheffield be south of Rotherham
Jiaozira
+2
Level 72
Mar 29, 2021
Thanks! You are correct, I will have to fix that.
TyCobblestone
+1
Level 56
May 24, 2021
Still isn't fixed
Farigiraf2
+1
Level 68
Aug 4, 2024
3 years on still not fixed
Apollo12
+2
Level 56
Mar 29, 2021
Guildford has a population of 147k. Why is it missing?
Jiaozira
+2
Level 72
Mar 29, 2021
That is the population of the Borough of Guildford. According to my source Guildford has 86 thousand people, and is three cities away from making the quiz.
1ProximaCentauri
+3
Level 53
Apr 2, 2021
23/100, but no points:( Great quiz either way.
Jiaozira
+2
Level 72
Apr 2, 2021
Thank you! There's a lot of Brits on Quora to drive up the average score :)
Matisku
+3
Level 66
May 4, 2021
Lived in England my entire life and only got 83 - the quiz is bloody hard! Kudos to anyone who got 100
Alexquiz17
+2
Level 95
Oct 25, 2021
Maps are so much more memorable than a list of names. I journey across the map in my mind as I make the memory, and simply try to make the same journey to recall the answers. It works very well.

Great quiz

Jiaozira
+1
Level 72
Oct 26, 2021
Thank you! Maps are excellent for this sort of thing :D
maxmulham
+2
Level 28
Oct 25, 2021
Rayleigh? Wiki says it has a population of 33,000. The district it is in, Rochford, has about 90,000 but it's a bunch of unconnected towns througout its borders. So are these really the largest district and boroughs in the UK and instead of taking the name of that, you take the name of the largest settement in the district? I'm just curious.
Jiaozira
+1
Level 72
Oct 26, 2021
Apologies, but I'm having a hard time finding out exactly how the population is measured. On the map here Rayleigh isn't all in Rochford, however. These are still cities and towns. Here is the area my source includes under 'Rayleigh, hope it helps :)
lvtharrison
+1
Level 81
Jul 17, 2022
It just doesn't. It's a small market town. Bigger than Bedford? Stevenage...naah.
Bryfle
+1
Level 73
Jun 11, 2022
Where's Carlisle? Pop 108K
Boogied
+1
Level 28
Jun 29, 2022
Up the Birkinhead
Gllombfek
+2
Level 54
Nov 13, 2022
There is new data for city population, and Liverpool is now 5th, rather than 4th!
markasol
+1
Level 79
Jan 1, 2023
Why is Sutton Coldfield still listed as a separate city? It has been fully part of Birmingham City for the last 50 years, despite its snobbier inhabitants wishing it were otherwise..... It has no separate local authority and on the ground it is all one continuous urban area.
timshorts
+1
Level 61
Feb 24, 2023
Could you please allow "Greater London" for "London". You mean all of it, not just the city of london.
Geodaley
+1
Level 39
Apr 16, 2023
Sutton coldfield is a suburb of Birmingham
THTB
+2
Level 46
Dec 1, 2023
Can "Donny" be a type in for "Doncaster"
Sifhraven
+2
Level 76
Jul 14, 2024
Got 28, which I'm pleased with. Not from the uk, though I am sure others will score even higher not being from there. But like I said, pleased enough with it. It is over a quarter, got me a point. And I got the last one on the list. Nearly got the least guessed one.. I typed Raleigh..

Of the ones I missed I had heard of atleast half, but wouldn't have thought of most. There are 5 that I definitely could/should have gotten (which score 59%and up atm). So getting a third correct should definitely be doable :)

Sifhraven
+2
Level 76
Jul 14, 2024
Not a follower of football/soccer btw, so that hasn't helped me. I wonder how many more that would have gotten me.
Geelie
+1
Level 64
Sep 9, 2024
I didn't expect to see my town on here!
AB6959
+1
Level 46
Jan 27, 2025
Way is St. Albans not on the list? It was made a city by Queen Victoria in 1877 has a cathedral and population of 148K in 2021

A number of places names are not cities. Bedford and Luton are two examples both are towns.

Jiaozira
+1
Level 72
Jan 27, 2025
Where did you get those figures from? According to Wikipedia it's smaller than that by city proper. I'm updating the quiz to reflect the 2021 census and it still just barely misses the cut. Also, as per the title, cities and towns are both included.
AB6959
+2
Level 46
Feb 6, 2025
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/City_of_St_Albans
stephenn
+1
Level 99
Jul 31, 2025
Love it when a hard quiz resets the same day I take it :(
jdmercia
+4
Level 88
Jul 31, 2025
In response to the stickied comment: Sutton Coldfield is not ‘part of’ Birmingham and Kingswood is not ‘part of’ Bristol. But having removed them, you definitely need to remove Wythenshawe, which IS a part of Manchester.
Jiaozira
+4
Level 72
Aug 1, 2025
Good call, I didn't realise Manchester reached that far down. It has been removed now. Honestly, I have no idea how Citypopulation.de counts these areas if they are clearly under the administration of larger cities.
Quizmaster
+6
Level ∞
Aug 1, 2025
The publicly-available data produced by the United Kingdom is a hot mess.

I'm sure citypopulation.de is doing their best. But garbage in, garbage out.

overtired
+3
Level 88
Jul 31, 2025
Great quiz. That Union Jack looks a bit off though. (Surprised no one has pointed it out with all the flag experts here!)
Jiaozira
+1
Level 72
Aug 1, 2025
Good catch! It looks like the flag SVG I used has some sort of command to create the uneven lines on the Union Jack, which were lost when the shapes were translated to the map. They have been put back in their place thankfully.
Farigiraf2
+1
Level 68
Aug 1, 2025
If we're including Kingswood as part of Bristol and Sutton Coldfield as part of Birmingham, then I'd also include Wallasey & Birkenhead as part of the Liverpool urban area, Gateshead as part of the Newcastle urban area and Stockport as part of the Manchester urban area.
Jiaozira
+4
Level 72
Aug 1, 2025
The quiz is about municipal boundaries however, not urban areas, and from what I can tell each of these towns is outside the boundaries of Liverpool, Newcastle and Manchester proper.
Penguin
+1
Level 50
Aug 18, 2025
quite hard only got 58 as a scot :(
nsoper
+3
Level 68
Sep 6, 2025
Awesome quiz. Would you consider accepting "Hemel" for "Hemel Hempstead"? locals usually just call it "Hemel". Just like in Hull they call it Hull rather than Kingston upon Hull
Jiaozira
+1
Level 72
Sep 6, 2025
Thanks for letting me know (as a non-Brit!) Updated the quiz just now.
RoboquizM86
+1
Level 61
Sep 8, 2025
Wow cool quiz! Trust England to have lots of towns and cities!
Youngsterliam
+4
Level 55
Sep 10, 2025
Football Clubs are 95% of the reason I know these cities.
MaxTheAxe
+2
Level 75
Jan 14, 2026
Finally (and I do mean finally - I've been taking this quiz pretty much daily for a while) got all 100! A very nicely put together quiz that's really helped me with my UK geography. Now when I watch Pointless reruns on YouTube I recognize where most of the contestants are from.
Jiaozira
+1
Level 72
Feb 20, 2026
Glad to hear this, thank you! And enjoy the Pointless episodes, I'm not too familiar with them but as a trivia show it seems pretty relevant to Jetpunk :)
BMull28
+2
Level 55
Feb 19, 2026
Great map, clear source, no ambiguity, helpful type-ins. Perfect Quiz
Jiaozira
+1
Level 72
Feb 20, 2026
Thank you for the kind words!
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