# What's the largest city in the world not near water? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 19, 2009, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-largest-city-in-the-world-not-near-water/500323 "2009-06-19T19:13:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2010, 12:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-largest-city-in-the-world-not-near-water/500323/61 "2010-04-21T12:18:26Z")
> [@fandango](#): > > I always thought it was Pretoria, South Africa. No, according to Wiki, it’s Johannesburg, which is a lot bigger:[ > [@](#): > > is also the world’s largest city not situated on a river, lake, or coastline ]([Johannesburg - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johannesburg)) ---
**Author:** ![Sparky812](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eb9ed0/32.png) [@Sparky812](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sparky812)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2010, 12:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-largest-city-in-the-world-not-near-water/500323/62 "2010-04-21T12:34:50Z")
Wow! It took 10 months and 2 days and we have a verifiable answer! ---
**Author:** ![The\_Great\_Philosopher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3ec8ea/32.png) [@The\_Great\_Philosopher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Great_Philosopher)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2010, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-largest-city-in-the-world-not-near-water/500323/63 "2010-04-21T13:06:44Z")
> [@Sparky812](#): > > Wow! It took 10 months and 2 days and we have a verifiable answer! Whether that’s a valid answer depends a bit on what we’re willing to call a ‘major waterway’. Johannesburg has a bunch of springs and streams running through it, which eventually run into large rivers. The hill it’s situated on is called Witwatersrand, meaning “White water’s ridge”. I suppose you can make a case for those not counting as major waterways though. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2010, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-largest-city-in-the-world-not-near-water/500323/64 "2010-04-21T13:12:44Z")
Well **Atlanta** is on a river (the Chattahoochee), but it’s hardly a _major_ river. You can wade across it in places. Atlanta’s relative lack of water resources is a source of considerable consternation, and has spawned a lawsuit over water rights among Georgia, Florida and Alabama. ETA: Atlanta is currently 9th in size among metropolitan areas in the US. ---
**Author:** ![MikeS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/919ad9/32.png) [@MikeS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MikeS)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2010, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-largest-city-in-the-world-not-near-water/500323/65 "2010-04-21T17:00:05Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > No, according to Wiki, it’s Johannesburg, which is a lot bigger:[URL=“[Johannesburg - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johannesburg)”] I hate to keep tooting my own horn, but Tehran is bigger than both Johannesburg and Pretoria put together. ---
**Author:** ![Sparky812](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eb9ed0/32.png) [@Sparky812](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sparky812)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2010, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-largest-city-in-the-world-not-near-water/500323/66 "2010-04-23T16:27:56Z")
> [@MikeS](#): > > I hate to keep tooting my own horn, but Tehran is bigger than both Johannesburg and Pretoria put together. Maybe, but Johannesburg is noted for being founded in a location where the presence of gold outweighed that of a major water source,whereas Tehran seems to have exhausted the water supply it originally was settled on. ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2012, 5:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-largest-city-in-the-world-not-near-water/500323/67 "2012-05-26T05:41:21Z")
Those who nominate Tehran have obviously never heard of Qanats. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-largest-city-in-the-world-not-near-water/500323.md?page=3)