It’s hard to tell with all the junk characters, but Belo Horizonte Brazil (58) was the first one that didn’t ring any bells.
A few of the ones higher on the list I’ve only heard of as they were mentioned in passing in novels or newscasts, I know nothing of them other than the name sounds familiar.
if Chongqing = Chunking, then I’ve heard of that. If Essen = Ruhr, then I’ve heard of that as well. The next one would be Tianjin. I’m pleased to say that I’ve heard of almost all of these places, except for some of the Chinese and Brazilian cities.
As others have noted, Essen stands in for the entire Ruhr. The figure for New York includes Newark, which isn’t in the same state; Detroit includes Windsor, which isn’t even in the same country.
31 Al-Khartūm [Khartoum] Sudan 7200000
Can’t say as I’m familiar with this one. Back to school.
I’m out at #12: Jakarta, Indonesia. I’m quite geographically illiterate, as my former high school history teacher would say.
numbah tres (Sŏul)
BULLSHIT, BULLSHIT, BULLSHIT!!! We’re bigger than D.C., they should be included with US, not vice versa! The whole list is a crock!
Ohhh! Well, in that case, I can get all the way to # 49, Tianjin. Unless it has another spelling.
Obviously, I am very ignorant about China…
You shock me Tony. You did realise that was one of the ones with the bad characters in? Seoul. Capital of South Korea? They had the Olympics there in '88?
Anyway, I checked your profile to see where you lived and I don’t know where AK is or what a const does for a living, so don’t feel too bad.
What would interest me further is why some people know some of the more obscure ones. Some posters have already said they know them through work, or due to classes they happen to have taken recently. Any other reasons?
I’d bet that people in the UK know about places in Africa or Burma 'cos we used to own them, or places in the Indian sub-continent because we still play cricket matches there.
That’s an ugly phrase. Can I take that back or insert a smiley or something? No offence intended.
Originally, the first city on the list that I’ve never heard of is #38 Chongqing, China (6,450,000), but then I read how the Western world might also know it as Chunking, which I have heard of.
So the next one after that is Essen, but I’ve seen the objections to that here.
After that is #49, Tianjin. Guess I’m like the Fretful Porpentine in this regard.
Dhaka, #22. Damn, and here I thought I was going to get into at least the 60s. Oh, well.
By the way, this site has translations from Pinyin to Wade-Giles, and it seems that “Tianjin” is “Tientsin” in the Wade-Giles system, if that changes anyone’s score.
Unknown from the full list:
58 Belo Horizonte Brazil 4400000
73 Guadalajara Mexico 3900000 incl. Zapopan
74 Abidjan Côte d Ivoire 3800000
75 Medellín Colombia 3800000
77 Porto Alegre Brazil 3650000
86 Pune (Poona) India 3450000
87 Recife Brazil 3450000
96 Cali Colombia 3100000
97 Chittagong Bangladesh 3050000
100 Fortaleza Brazil 3000000
Hey, guess who needs to do some work on his South American geography and general knowledge?
Doesn’t change mine.
For some reason when I read that I thought of Tinactin. Just what I need, my brain to associate a large Chinese city with athlete’s foot.
I stop at #57 Wuhan, China.
I studied for several geography bees as a kid (county champion in '93 and '94 :)), which is where I learned most of the international places.
I got stopped early, at #2
Let’s try that again.
I got stopped early, at #22.
Not #2, I meant #22. I have heard of New York.
I had not heard of #22 Dhaka (Dacca) Bangladesh 9800000.
Another vote for #49: Tianjin/Tientsin
After that, 60, 61, 77, 81, 86, 87, 95, and 100 stumped me.
Another for Lahore, Pakistan, #43.
#38 Chongqing. I thought I would get much further down the list than I did.