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First European Cities in History to Reach 100,000 People

Can you name the European cities that had reached a population of 100,000 by the year 1850?
According to 4000 Years of Urban Growth by Tertius Chandler and this article.
Some of these cities no longer exist.
Both historical and modern-day names accepted.
Quiz by
Dekkie
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Last updated: November 7, 2025
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First submittedOctober 7, 2023
Times taken51,579
Average score69.8%
Rating4.97
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Year
Country
City
475 BC
Greece
Athens
450 BC
Italy
Syracuse
250 BC
Italy
Rome
330 AD
Turkey
Istanbul
765 AD
Spain
Córdoba
1090
Spain
Seville
1130
Italy
Palermo
1190
France
Paris
1275
Italy
Venice
1280
Russia
Sarai
1410
Spain
Granada
1470
Turkey
Edirne
1490
Italy
Naples
1530
Russia
Moscow
1565
Belgium
Antwerp
1568
United Kingdom
London
1582
Italy
Milan
1590
Czech Republic
Prague
1600
Portugal
Lisbon
1612
Spain
Madrid
1620
Netherlands
Amsterdam
1660
France
Lyon
1694
Austria
Vienna
1720
Ireland
Dublin
1745
Germany
Berlin
1755
Russia
St. Petersburg
1780
Germany
Hamburg
1785
France
Marseille
1787
France
Bordeaux
1787
Spain
Barcelona
1790
Poland
Warsaw
1800
Denmark
Copenhagen
1808
United Kingdom
Glasgow
1809
United Kingdom
Liverpool
1810
United Kingdom
Edinburgh
1812
United Kingdom
Manchester
1819
United Kingdom
Birmingham
1822
United Kingdom
Bristol
1826
United Kingdom
Leeds
1829
Hungary
Budapest*
1831
Belgium
Brussels
1833
Italy
Turin
1836
United Kingdom
Sheffield
1839
Italy
Florence
1841
Netherlands
Rotterdam
1843
Poland
Wrocław
1845
Belgium
Ghent
1846
United Kingdom
Newcastle upon Tyne
1847
France
Rouen
1848
Italy
Genoa
1848
United Kingdom
Wolverhampton
1850
Germany
Munich
1850
Spain
Valencia
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53 Comments
Dekkie
+18
Level 56
Oct 7, 2023
* = As you may or may not be aware, Budapest wasn't an unified city until 1873. For the sake of simplicity, I've decided to keep this city merged.
SARVEII
+12
Level 63
Oct 7, 2023
ROMA URBS AETERNA
AlmostAGenius
+6
Level 89
Oct 7, 2023
I know this is super nitpicky but the second “I” in United KIngdom is capitalized in 1846.
Dekkie
+7
Level 56
Oct 7, 2023
Thanks for letting me know. Change pending.
branlito
+18
Level 53
Nov 6, 2023
Do you have a source for that?
Neodymium
+4
Level 63
Jul 10, 2024
wikipedia’s a bad source
Sifhraven
+2
Level 76
Oct 1, 2024
@Neodymium What's your source for that?
Neodymium
+2
Level 63
Nov 8, 2024
It came to me in a dream
Dimby
+8
Level 83
Oct 7, 2023
Your quizzes are always wonderfully informative and thorough. They have plenty of information I don’t already know. I mean, who ever heard of that other Turkish city, or London? Took me forever to remember London existed…!
Dekkie
+12
Level 56
Oct 7, 2023
Thanks! Well, chances are that you kinda have to be history buff to get some of these. Edirne was the first Ottoman capital on European soil in the 14th and 15th century, which rapidly rose to prominence under their rule. Said city went into decline in the late 17th century and dropped under 100,000 again until the late 1970s.
Constantinos
+2
Level 75
Oct 8, 2023
It also boasts a very large mosque.
JonOfKent
+4
Level 61
Nov 6, 2023
I only recently discovered that that other Turkish city is Adrianople, which is (fortunately) a type-in. If that means anything more to you...
brandybuck96
+7
Level 82
Oct 9, 2023
I don't think I would ever have thought to put Rouen or Wolverhampton but on reflection they make total sense... Strange to think so many industrial cities are still significant (in terms of population, manufacturing, etc) but some absolutely are not.
Dekkie
+7
Level 56
Oct 9, 2023
The impact of the Industrial Revolution in the U.K. can definitely be seen here, with the rise of many cities in the north of the country.

Rouen was among France's biggest cities for the longest time, even serving as the 2nd or 3rd largest city in the entire country at times. Eventually though, the city started to fall behind in terms of population and stagnated. By 1900, Rouen had already fallen to being the 12th largest in France compared to being the 4th largest city in 1850.

mf3
+2
Level 90
Oct 13, 2023
Since you generally accept native names, please allow "Siracusa".
Dekkie
+1
Level 56
Oct 14, 2023
That should already work.
bigbywolf
+7
Level 56
Nov 6, 2023
51/53. I knew the missing Russian city was the ancient capital of the Golden Horde. But I couldn't remember its name. Haven't played Civ4 for years.
Velourian
+4
Level 72
Nov 6, 2023
Nice quiz. Since some older names are accepted can you accept Adrianople as well? I feel that name is much better known than the current Edirne given its historical context.
Dekkie
+3
Level 56
Nov 6, 2023
Thanks! Adrianople should already work.
RobertoBancrofth
+2
Level 56
Nov 6, 2023
52/53 I missed Wolwehampton
Geordy
+2
Level 70
Nov 6, 2023
Guessing Sarajevo helped with the Russian one! :D
driehoek25
+2
Level 70
Nov 6, 2023
Why Sarajevo?
TomatosRaafatos
+3
Level 76
Nov 15, 2023
Probably tried to guess random slavic cities in that period of frantic desparation that takes over common sense once the timer gets below 30 seconds. Happens to the best of us ;)
Ernad
+1
Level 34
Nov 7, 2025
Bro hasn't heard of the sack of Sarajevo
vindem
+2
Level 67
Nov 6, 2023
Sarai-Berke was the capital of the Golden Horde (Ulug Ulus or Kipchak Khanate) up until the 15th century. It was no way a Russian city. Russians paid tribute to the Khanate
Dekkie
+9
Level 56
Nov 6, 2023
"Country" indicates the modern-day boundary the corresponding cities were within. Sarai was in fact within modern-day Russia.
Dollyfroggy
+1
Level 63
Nov 6, 2023
Please accept Óbuda if you accept Buda and Pest, it was one of the three cities involved in the merge.
Dekkie
+2
Level 56
Nov 7, 2023
I believe I might've had it added before this quiz got featured. Might've accidentally gotten removed.
HyddenRizz
+3
Level 67
Nov 8, 2023
Got Wolverhampton, missed Milan :/

Anyone else always get Palermo and Parma confused? I was typing Catania and all sorts, need to brush up on my Italian cities... (Great quiz btw)

Lemondance
+1
Level 67
Nov 25, 2023
Huh, I would've expected Stockholm, (Veliky) Novgorod, and maybe Utrecht to be here
MrAnythingman
+1
Level 18
Jan 10, 2024
Well does Leningrad count as a historical name for St. Ptrsbrg?

(I was too lazy to spell the whole thing out)

Fianchetto
+9
Level 79
Apr 11, 2024
But not too lazy to explain your laziness
EcceHomo
+1
Level 86
Mar 7, 2024
49/53. not too bad. Missed Rouen though :/
RJG
+1
Level 63
Aug 21, 2024
i got 47 of them
Anderis
+2
Level 76
Oct 30, 2024
Surprised not to see Thessaloniki here. I've seen some sources claiming it exceeded 100 000 in the middle ages already.
Dekkie
+1
Level 56
Oct 30, 2024
The city was mostly hovering around 30,000 - 60,000 inhabitants from Roman times until the late 18th century. It finally hit 100,000 around 1896.
lodo1899
+1
Level 55
Feb 14, 2025
im him
pewp3w
+1
Level 59
Sep 10, 2025
Why is Bursa not in here, but in the first cities to reach 100k worldwide quiz?
Dekkie
+1
Level 56
Sep 10, 2025
Anatolia is not considered to be in Europe by JetPunk standards.
eurotec
+1
Level 56
Oct 17, 2025
Edirne?! I've tried Adana, Kayseri, Konya, Canakkale, Antalya, Izmir, and more and even thought of typing in Edirne but thought it was a waste of energy since its a small city today. Great quiz.
Davinho215
+1
Level 44
Oct 31, 2025
I’m Italian and I couldn’t guess Syracuse…
JohnnyYeet
+2
Level 66
Nov 7, 2025
Would've thought Kaliningrad (Koenigsberg) would be on here
Dekkie
+1
Level 56
Nov 7, 2025
Missed the cutoff date by a few years. It reached the 100,000 mark somewhere in the 1860s.
sulfuratus
+2
Level 71
Nov 7, 2025
The Wikipedia article about Sarai says there's considerable ambiguity about the name Sarai-Berke.

“Berke had presumably continued the development of the city, [...] leading later Muslim accounts to credit him with the foundation of the city; this probably led to references to the "Sarai of Berke", although it is doubtful that there was ever an entirely separate city called "Sarai of Berke" [...]; it certainly cannot be identified with "New Sarai", which was founded more than six decades after Berke's death.”

Might make sense to change the name in the quiz to Sarai.

Dekkie
+1
Level 56
Nov 7, 2025
I’ll take this into account. Unfortunately this would require a point reset right now, so it’s gonna have to be updated another day.
PeregrineFalcon
+3
Level 79
Nov 7, 2025
I am extremely skeptical about Rome's year. At the very least, a caveat about the uncertainty of these dates would be appropiate.
Dekkie
+3
Level 56
Nov 7, 2025
There's always gonna be doubts about the concensus of some earlier towns here. After all, the greater part of these especially before the 19th century are just from estimates. I generally do double check every single thing and try not to take every figure I see at face value, but here's a secondary source, which makes the 525 BC bit more believable. I'm gonna take a second look for Rome for a future update, especially as estimates as low as 35,000 for the same period exist.
PeregrineFalcon
+3
Level 79
Nov 7, 2025
Thanks for your reply! But I have to say that I am not convinced by a picture on the internet without a source. According to Mary Beard's SPQR, modern estimates give a population of 20,000 to 30,000 at the start of the republic in the late 6th century BC. Perhaps I come across other population figures later in the book, I'll let you know.
Dekkie
+3
Level 56
Nov 7, 2025
Alright, I looked into the book myself, but unfortunately didn't come across anything. I did come across this JSTOR article which goes into detail about it and makes it clear that the 100,000 mark wasn't crossed until the mid-3rd century BC, around the time of the First Punic War. This new information will be considered for the quiz.

Thank you for your scepticism, because this probably just made the quiz more accurate, haha.

Quizmaster
+3
Level ∞
Nov 7, 2025
Good catch. That number seemed wrong to me at first glance as well.
Jertban
+1
Level 37
Nov 7, 2025
Never heard of Sarai, but I'm glad I got Wolverhampton because I started naming English football clubs.
KlizmaVzhope
+1
Level 28
Nov 27, 2025
It was the capital of the Golden Horde first, I guessed it because we learn it in russian schools.
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