The Largest Cities Throughout History: Every Year 

Thanks for waiting for this one - I didn't realise how long it would take to finish. The next video will be a normal region video, so hopefully won't take as long! UPDATE 1 : If anyone wants to view the data for this project, you can find it here: docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/13O3IxKSM2VYzAhGA1y206_Pjk6_65syvXZ4O8UQHOew/edit#gid=947955792 (There are multiple tabs) UPDATE 2: A small error - Taxila is actually in modern Pakistan, not India.

Its crazy how Baghdad had 1m population in 860's , and the next city to reach that mark was Beijing in 1800's after nearly a thousand year

I like how this video took into account Black Death in 1346, sack of Vijayanagara in 1565, and two separate sacks of Beijing in 1644. Many other videos just smooth over the data to fit a curve.

This is mesmerizing, beautifully portrayed, and thought provoking. Thank you for posting this! Fascinating!!

This video is a true masterpiece! The music, the effects, the colours, the extreme precision, the attention to details... Congratulations!

Here's a rough guide for you guys in the last 2000 years 1 to 271: Alexandria 271 to 350: Rome 350 to 500: Constantinople 500 to 644: Ctesiphon 644 to 794: Chang'an 794 to 963: Baghdad 963 to 973: Constantinople 973 to 983: Cordoba 983 to 1141: Bian 1141 to 1199: Constantinople 1199 to 1279: Lin'an 1279 to 1316: Hangzhou 1316 to 1379: Cairo 1379 to 1393: Vijayanagara 1393 to 1425: Yingtian/Nanjing 1425 to 1441: Vijayanagara 1441 to 1613: Beijing 1613 to 1678: Constantinople 1678 to 1720: Dhaka 1720 to 1826: Beijing 1826 to 1918: London 1918 to 1954: New York City 1954 to : Tokyo

Starting at 5:55 , look at the middle east and central Asia, you can actually see the cities that got destroyed during the Mongol Invasions.

As an Iraqi I’m proud that I am an Iraqi. People sadly have forgotten just how important we are to human civilisation over the centuries and millenniums that people have been living and venturing for. Baghdad is one of the most important cities in human history, truly a piece of art. My Iraq is a piece of art❤️

Very nice video but I think it would’ve been better if you had a prompt noting major historical events as they happened so we could see how they might’ve effected population centres. For example: - Silk Road established - Mongols invade - Huns reach Europe - Alexander begins conquests - WW1 Etc

The Plague of Justinian really stands out!

It is sad most people associate Iraq with War, but it is quite simply one of the most important place in Human history, alongside Iran. Not just for its history but for its contribution to civilisation eversince from the age of Samarra Culture to the Islamic Golden Age. Unfortunately after the Mongol invasion, the entire country has never recovered for almost a millennium. It is the home of Uruk (Iraq) first city in history, Akkad, the first empire in history and the birthplace of Abraham - father of both Arabs & Jews and one of the most important people in history

I can fully see the effort put into making this video , well done , congrats 👏😊

just incredible... love your work :)

I'm genuinely surprised by how often ancient major cities would just slide off the list. Would be interesting (though probably pretty sad) to go through this video and list off all the causes: something tells me its not that the people just decided country life was better and left...

Absolutely brilliant work

Now THAT was a worthwhile journey through time. A couple times you changed the scale too much, and pushed too many cities off the map, but overall, this was fun.

Last time I was this early, Uruk was the largest city in the world

Video suggestion: The most viewed videos from Ollie Bye Throughout History: Every Month

Mohen jo Daro, Takshashila, Pataliputra, Vaishali, Kannauj, Kalyani, Thanjavur, Vijayanagara, Agra, Kolkata, Delhi, Mumbai 🇮🇳🇮🇳🇮🇳🇮🇳🇮🇳🇮🇳🇮🇳

Very interesting. Thanks for posting this!

The GOAT of mapping is back!

Wow ollie this was just incredible, I've seen other videos like this but this is by far the best!

Fascinating! It's interesting how several cities in the Middle East and Asia became so populated in the past, and the ones in America as well, and the exponential growth of the main western cities at the end of the video, I already saw a similar representation in other economics related videos and human rights development. Really fascinating the humankind history.

The Rise and fall of Patliputra ~ [1:40] Patliputra was the second biggest city in the world in 300 BC, because it was the capital of the great Mauryan Empire, which unified the Indian subcontinent for the very first time. But after the decline of the Maurya Empire, the city also fell. [3:12] Again in the 4th century AD, Patliputra became the third biggest city in the world, being the capital of the great Gupta Empire, during India's golden age. But as the Gupta Empire declined in the 4th century, the city again collapsed never to rise again.

Shout out to Angkor and Bagan, the forgotten great cities of medieval Southeast Asia.

One of the best videos I have seen on this channel! Well done !

This is really well made and very interesting

Tue sack of Vijayanagara was probably the saddest phase in the urban history of India. That was a city beyond comparision.

It's so interesting to see which cities rose and fell, often being a sign of the ruse and fall of the empires they were in

Amazing. Even on a map that doesn't show borders changing the influence of the Mongols can be seen (notice how several cities in the middle east and China just vanish over night around 1200ish)

I saw something very interesting. Thank you!

It's crazy how cities like Uruk lasted for essentially 2,500 years (~3000 to 700 bc), which is about the same lifetime of Rome. Except by the time Rome was founded in 753 bce Uruk was already in it's final, final stages.

Finally!! Thanks for this info, I always thought New Delhi or Shanghai was the first, but Tokyo. Very nice work

It would be cool to see the largest empires throughout History every year, just as a idea

This channel is simply fascinating!

A lot of information Thanks so much

It's so full of data (well) displayed that you can cross data and really get a gist of a lot of processes happening. This kind of thing is a gold mine to me, marvellous. For example, at the end having a detailed look at the largests' numbers you can see cities that the growth has reached a plateau like New York, simultaneous to explosions of growth associated to socioeconomic progress in Tokyo, and when it's Tokyo that reaches its plateau, you spot developing cities inheriting the role of rapid growth, New Delhi, Dhaka. I really don't have a good grasp at how I live in the 4th largest city on the planet, São Paulo. It surprises me how rare this kind of dense society actually is in the world. There are lots to learn.

Great job!

The 5 largest cities in the world in 2022 1°Tokyo 🇯🇵 2°New Delhi 🇮🇳 3°Shangai 🇨🇳 4°São Paulo 🇧🇷 5°Mexico City 🇲🇽

i remember watching this when i was very young, and i really liked it, and this teached me alot of things are a child, so thank you for making thiis wonderful content.

To anyone that might have been confused at what happened at 5:40 Bian (The capital of the Northern Song Dynasty of China) fell to the Jin Dynasty, a lot of people fled to the south, a few years later, the Southern Song Dynasty was founded and Lin’An was its capital

8:29 it’s so surreal seeing Constantinople and New York at the same time

Thank you for this incredible Video ! Can you make the same with countrys ?

I'm glad this uses metro areas too, gives a much better look at the reality of the cities in recent years.

Great video as always, extreme nitpicking though: what about Tenochtitlan? At least in Spanish it is often said it was one of the most populated cities in the world and had more population than London at the moment of the conquest of Mexico

Baghdad reaches 1.1M in 900CE (4:54). The next city to reach 1.1M was Beijing in 1800CE (8:00). Nobody matched Baghdad for 900 years. It was truly a peak of civilisation.

I found similar maps online various times but never did they have so little population in imperial era's Rome. The estimates are of about 1 million people before the plague and the crisis of the third century so those numbers seem pretty low

I hope you follow up with a series that visualizes cities on a continent by continent/ regional basis.

Poor Buenos Aires made it on the list, but didn't make it on the map...

Thanks !! This is the most accurate video so far !!! However, I have sources that would mean other Indian cities like Murshidabad, Fatehpur Sikri, Thanjavur, Vijayapura, Ahmedabad, Srirangapatna etc should also feature in this list

Really puts things into perspective.

I would love to see a video similar to the Rise of the Frenxh Royal Domain video but in Britain. I know that there are alot of sources detailing the small fiefdoms held by Petty nobles and Knights aswell as the large Earldoms and Lordships held by various Norman Nobles. Obviously the Domesday Book is a great reference for that although it's obviously only detailing the territoires held just before the death of William of Normandy. But even just documenting the land grants between the years 1067-1087 would be extremely interesting!

Awesome video! One small thing--I looked up Caracol out of curiosity and apparently it was in what's now Belize, not Mexico.

London went bonkers in the late 19th century. I don't even want to imagine how uncomfortable that must have been living there.

I love how buenos aires was one of the largest cities but its completely hidden by the graph at the bottom.

THANKS YOU FOR NEW VERSION !!!

Hi quick question, i always hear about how Rome was the first city to 1 million people yet in this video i see it peaked at around 500k, any clarification would be much appreciated!

Impressive work. 🌞Mild suggestion - Middle East & North Africa (MENA) for the regional term.

Could you do a part 3 to your 30 Years War series from a year ago?

Would have been cool to add some brief explanation on why the big reductions happened.

Wasn't Angkor estimated to have a population of almost a million at its peak? Same with Ayutthaya

Awesome work Ollie. what's your next project?

Wow that is amazing. Where do you derive your data sets?

5:56 I can't believe that my city FEZ 🇲🇦 was the third largest city in the world one day!

Great job on this video! It's impressive to see how changes in political climate impact which major cities blossom over time; apparently the Indian subcontinent and SE Asia had some large cities a millennium ago!

Very great video. My only problem with it is: before the fall of western rome, the city of rome (im pretty sure) had 1 million, but quickly fell to 50 thousand or 25 thousand.

I'd like to know what numbers you used for counting city population. I love largest cities quizzes, but I've never had the top 7 you ended up with before...

me when he changes the minimum requirement to 5mil as sydney hits 1mil so he doesnt have to add an australia category

You did miss fall of Chang'an in 756 as part of the An Lushan Rebellion. It is almost certain the population of Chang'an would have fell by a bunch in 756.

This is amazing! Just wondering if there is anyway to see this with like a slider, so I can check into a point in history (like 1320AC)?

good work,beatiful to see,and fun

Didn't Rome reach 1 million abitant in ancient times?

A major constant throughout the years was always Constantinople / Istanbul, my city ❤️ you can find a historical landmark dating to different centuries from all the different civilizations that lived in it

Thanks for the video! I didn't know that for a time, New York City was the biggest city in the world!

Hi Ollie, I just wanted to say that your stats for Jiankang seems a little wrong in the 5th century as they recorded over 200k households before Sui dynasty's razing of the city.

Dhaka still in the top 10 till this day Also brilliant work ollie Bye :D

The constant presence of mesoamerican cities in the rakning truly amazes. Such underrated history.

You did show many city’s but beautiful vid

On what studies are the Rome and Alexandria numbers based? Also Syracuse shouldnt be on the List. The city was never as populated as some older studies made it out to be (unless I missremember some stuff)

Great Video. I imagine a lot of work went into it, and I like the layout. Two points though - the figures refer to the Metropolitan Areas going well beyond the city proper. Tokyo Bay for example includes the cities of Yokohama, Chiba and Kawasaki alongside the 23 wards of Tokyo itself. Also 'New Delhi' is a relatively small city at the core of the Indian Capital Territory - about 400,000 people. Delhi is the much larger city surrounding it.

The music reminds me of that old Pandemic II flash game.

Three huge surprises--that Tikal and Caracol were such huge cities by 900 BCE, making Mesoamerican cities pretty big for almost 2,000 years in comparison to Old World cities. What about El Mirador? That settlement dwarfed the likes of Tikal and Caracol by 200 BCE, with about a 200K population and a pyramid that was one of the highest structures in the world for a while (you showed it in an earlier video about highest structures). Surprised El Mirador wasn't on there. Second, that Baghdad was the first city to reach 1 million. Some history demographers have posited that Alexandria, Rome and Chang'an achieved the coveted 1 million populace before Baghdad. Third, that Dhaka, largest city of Bangladesh, for a few decades between 1680 and 1720 was the largest city in the world. Dhaka was a major trading hub during Mughal times, but it was truly that huge, its population eclipsing the likes of contemporary Beijing, Edo, London and Paris?

Love love love the visuals.

5:02 Rip Iraq 😔

A maior cidade de cada tempo: 3000 BCE-2501 BCE:Uruk-Middle East-Iraq 2500 BCE-2251 BCE:Lagash-Middle East-Iraq 2250 BCE-2001 BCE:Girsu-Middle East-Iraq 2000 BCE-1751 BCE:Isin-Middle East-Iraq 1750 BCE-1251 BCE:Babylon-Middle East-Iraq 1250 BCE-1001 BCE:Pi-Ramesses-Middle East-Egypt 1000 BCE-601 BCE:Thebes-Middle East-Egypt 600 BCE-301 BCE:Babylon-Middle East-Iraq 300 BCE-201 BCE:Carthage-Middle East-Tunisia 200 BCE-270 CE:Alexandria-Middle East-Egypt 271 CE-351 CE:Rome-Europe-Italy 352 CE-501 CE:Constantinople-Europe-Turkey 502 CE-641 CE:Ctesiphon-Middle East-Iraq 642 CE-644 CE:Constantinople-Europe-Turkey 645 CE-795 CE:Chang'an-East Asia-China 796 CE-963 CE:Baghdad-Middle East-Iraq 964 CE-975 CE:Constantinople-Europe-Turkey 976 CE-984 CE:Córdoba-Europe-Spain 985 CE-1144 CE:Bian-East Asia-China 1145 CE-1199 CE:Constantinople-Europe-Turkey 1200 CE-1275 CE:Lin'an-East Asia-China 1276 CE-1278 CE:Cairo-Middle East-Egypt 1279 CE-1315 CE:Hangzhou-East Asia-China 1316 CE-1380 CE:Cairo-Middle East-Egypt 1381 CE-1394 CE:Vijayanagara-South and Southeast Asia-India 1395 CE-1426 CE:Nanjing-East Asia-China 1427 CE-1441 CE:Vijayanagara-South and Southeast Asia-India 1442 CE-1612 CE:Beijing-East Asia-China 1613 CE-1678 CE:Constatinople-Europe-Turkey 1679 CE-1720 CE:Dhaka-South and Southeast Asia-Bangladesh 1721 CE-1826 CE:Beijing-East Asia-China 1827 CE-1918 CE:London-Europe-Uk 1919 CE-1954 CE:New York-America and Pacific-United States 1955 CE-Atualmente:Tokyo-East Asia-Japan Regions: Middle East:13× East Asia:8× Europe:8× South and Southeast Asia:3× America and Pacific:1× Africa:0× Top 7(2021): 1-Tokyo-East Asia-Japan 2-New Delhi-South and Southeast Asia-India 3-Shanghai-East Asia-China 4-São Paulo-America and Pacific-Brazil 5-Mexico City-America and Pacific-Mexico 6-Dhaka-South and Southeast Asia-Bangladesh 7-Beijing-East Asia-China

7:34 Dhaka 😍

5:02 It is said that Kyoto came to be called Kyoto after the 12th century. The official name is Heian-kyo. For generations, the word "kyo" has been used for the capital in Japan. "kyo" means the capital. For example, Heijo-kyo (710-740, 745-784), Nagaoka-kyo (784-794), and now Tokyo (1868-) follow that rule. Not only "kyo" but also "kyoto" was a general noun meaning the capital. "Kyoto" became a proper noun because it was the capital for a long time (794-1180, 1180-1868). In this video, if you use Edo and Tokyo properly, I think it is more natural to use Heian-kyo and Kyoto properly.

It would be interesting to see this with overlay of migrations, pandemics and wars.

It's crazy to see that these old cities still stand in some cases.

its interesting to see that since 600ce people are living in the city (dhaka) i am living in. knew its old, like there's still some old architecture left and running shops from like 1700 or 1800 but didn't know the city is that old.

Great video

9:37 im glad Toronto made it onto the final map :) This was an amazing video!

4:59 What happened to Baghdad?

Me: "What the heck happened in 1500?? Oh... the scale changed." Also, would have been nice to see what historical nation each city was from (had to pause the video a few times to look some up), but other than that, fun video.

I love how you showed that Luoyang was gone from the list around after 184 CE, the year when Dong Zhuo burned the city and move the Han capital city to Chang'an in order to flee from Han loyalist coalition. And then you showed that Chang'an was diminishing right after that because of the political turmoil in the new imperial capital. After that, Luoyang is shown to be a little bit stabilized around 230 CE when Wei dynasty took over the north and stabilized the region.

The video looks amazing and I like the music. Unfortunately the numbers are wrong. Its the difference in how different people count the residents of a city. There are roughly three main ways of counting (There are even more - but I wanted to keep it simple). Only city core, agglomeration and metropolis area A few examples: 1900 Paris - The video only shows Agglomeration: 3.3, Metropolos: est. 3.4, City core: 2.7 1920 Berlin - The video only shows city core: 3.7, Agglomeration: est 3.9, Metropolis: est 6.6 2021 Tokyo - The video only shows metropolis: 37.3, Agglomeration: ???, City core: 9.6

Just to note @Ollie Bye, Manila is not at East Asia, it belongs to Southeast Asia. That's all. I like how you researched the entire thing about the cities

Tenochtitlán: Am I a joke to you? I rivalled Paris when Cortez arrived!

6:53 even Indians have no idea about Gauda This city was not only large but extremely well planned and rich European travellers were highly impressed by this ciry and praised for its richness

it shows Georgian golden age and fall of Tbilisi very well, you can actually see reign of king tamar (women) and reconquista of david IV