# What's The Largest World City You've Never Heard Of? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 3, 2010, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-largest-world-city-youve-never-heard-of/531131 "2010-03-03T15:32:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2010, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-largest-world-city-youve-never-heard-of/531131/21 "2010-03-03T17:40:22Z")
> [@WarmNPrickly](#): > > It was Contantinople now it’s Istanbul, not Constantinople. So, if you’ve a date in Constantinople, she’ll be waiting in Istanbul. Why’d they change it? I can’t say. That’s nobodies business but the Turks. Thanks for that, Mr. Flansburgh. ---
**Author:** ![Malthus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2010, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-largest-world-city-youve-never-heard-of/531131/22 "2010-03-03T17:44:28Z")
Kinshasa ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2010, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-largest-world-city-youve-never-heard-of/531131/23 "2010-03-03T17:51:49Z")
I scratched my head over Wuhan as well, until looking it up I see it was formed from the merger of the three adjacent cities of Wuchang, Hanyang and Hankou. Oddly enough I am at least somewhat familiar with those more historical place names. The only other one I had to think about was Busan, until I realized Busan probably equals _P_usan, which I do know. With the letter change I bet more Americans would recognize it, especially those that have any interest in the Korean War. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2010, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-largest-world-city-youve-never-heard-of/531131/24 "2010-03-03T18:05:19Z")
Wuhan. It was almost Mumbai, but I’ve been reading news reports from India lately, so I knew it was what I call Bombay. ---
**Author:** ![Infovore](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/infovore/32/420_2.png) [@Infovore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Infovore)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2010, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-largest-world-city-youve-never-heard-of/531131/25 "2010-03-03T18:28:13Z")
Wuhan. ---
**Author:** ![Haunted\_Pasta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/94ad74/32.png) [@Haunted\_Pasta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Haunted_Pasta)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2010, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-largest-world-city-youve-never-heard-of/531131/26 "2010-03-03T18:33:10Z")
Another vote for Wuhan. Damn, that place needs a PR department. Karachi is #3 in the world? Wow, I had no idea. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2010, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-largest-world-city-youve-never-heard-of/531131/27 "2010-03-03T19:10:23Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > #14, Wuhan. > > My mother was born in Pune. _snicker_😃 ---
**Author:** ![Covered\_In\_Bees](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7ab992/32.png) [@Covered\_In\_Bees](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Covered_In_Bees)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2010, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-largest-world-city-youve-never-heard-of/531131/28 "2010-03-03T19:12:41Z")
#3 Karachi for me. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2010, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-largest-world-city-youve-never-heard-of/531131/29 "2010-03-03T19:20:01Z")
> [@Covered\_In\_Bees](#): > > #3 Karachi for me. ☹ You are not alone. I got to #3, and thought, “Clearly, I should have heard of Karachi.” No. I’ve certainly heard the city name before, but I could never have told you it was in Pakistan. If I can’t tell you the country, I’ve not heard of it. After that, it was Wuhan. ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Fun\_Ball](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_fun_ball/32/17664_2.png) [@Happy\_Fun\_Ball](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Fun_Ball)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2010, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-largest-world-city-youve-never-heard-of/531131/30 "2010-03-03T19:47:59Z")
Kolkata, India for me. I had to Google it. It doesn’t look that big on the map… Anyway, I have only been to 5 of the cities on that list. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Scud](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f08c70/32.png) [@Tom\_Scud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Scud)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2010, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-largest-world-city-youve-never-heard-of/531131/31 "2010-03-03T19:59:24Z")
Another Wuhan. First non-Chinese city, Surat; first non-Chinese, non-Indian city, Yangon. My mother was also born in Pune. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2010, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-largest-world-city-youve-never-heard-of/531131/32 "2010-03-03T20:07:15Z")
So is Pune pronounced “pooneh” or “poon”? Or even “pyoon”? ---
**Author:** ![Haunted\_Pasta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/94ad74/32.png) [@Haunted\_Pasta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Haunted_Pasta)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2010, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-largest-world-city-youve-never-heard-of/531131/33 "2010-03-03T20:10:48Z")
Yangon was formerly known as Rangoon and Kolkata was Calcutta, if that makes a difference. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2010, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-largest-world-city-youve-never-heard-of/531131/34 "2010-03-03T20:14:55Z")
Wuhan, too. I checked the Wiki article to see if it had been renamed and I might recognize its earlier name, but no. It’s bigger than freakin’ New York City (9.1m vs. 8.3m people), and I’d never heard of it before today! ---
**Author:** ![Girl\_From\_Mars](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/3da27b/32.png) [@Girl\_From\_Mars](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Girl_From_Mars)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2010, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-largest-world-city-youve-never-heard-of/531131/35 "2010-03-03T21:22:17Z")
Number 32 - Kolkata. I’ve been to 15 on the list. ---
**Author:** ![Wilson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/96bed5/32.png) [@Wilson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wilson)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2010, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-largest-world-city-youve-never-heard-of/531131/36 "2010-03-03T21:24:21Z")
Surat for me. I had no idea there was that large a city between Mumbai and Ahmadabad. ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2010, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-largest-world-city-youve-never-heard-of/531131/37 "2010-03-03T21:33:19Z")
> [@L. G. Butts](#): > > Kolkata, India for me. I had to Google it. It doesn’t look that big on the map… > > Anyway, I have only been to 5 of the cities on that list. You probably know it as Calcutta. Took me a moment to figure it out too. I also got stuck at Wuhan, but I have heard of Hankou (under the nom de plume Hankow), one of its component cities. I also didn’t recognize Guangzhou, but I know it under both its alternative names Canton and Kwangchow (though I did not realize they are the same place :o). I don’t think I have heard of Tianjin at all though. Did that used to have a different anglicized name? ---
**Author:** ![KennerTheGreat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/a8b319/32.png) [@KennerTheGreat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KennerTheGreat)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2010, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-largest-world-city-youve-never-heard-of/531131/38 "2010-03-03T21:34:36Z")
Another one for Wuhan. I had no idea Madras changed its name to Chennai ---
**Author:** ![Sternvogel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bc79bd/32.png) [@Sternvogel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sternvogel)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2010, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-largest-world-city-youve-never-heard-of/531131/39 "2010-03-03T21:35:54Z")
> [@wolfman](#): > > Some of the ones earlier than that I needed a second to think about due to the fact that we used a different variation of the name back in school. Like Yangon and Kolkata. I didn’t recognize Surat (#38), but checked to see if it was a new name. It is, but I didn’t recognize the older designation (Suryapur) either. Only other city on the list that I hadn’t heard of was #55 (Kanpur). Guess I need to study India more… ---
**Author:** ![Angel\_of\_the\_Lord](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/angel_of_the_lord/32/2949_2.png) [@Angel\_of\_the\_Lord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Angel_of_the_Lord)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2010, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-largest-world-city-youve-never-heard-of/531131/40 "2010-03-03T21:38:39Z")
I didn’t know #27, Lahore. I also didn’t know #48, Abidjan and #54, Pune. The rest, I could at least tell you the country they’re in. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-largest-world-city-youve-never-heard-of/531131.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-largest-world-city-youve-never-heard-of/531131.md?page=3)