The majority of the world’s population live in cities, but what makes a city varies wildly. Though there are numerous cities with populations in excess of ten million people, there are others that are much smaller. And cities can be smaller in more ways than just their population size. How you define ‘smallest’ and how you define ‘city’ results in some unusual answers to the question of the world’s smallest city.

St Asaph, Wales: the newest and second least-populated city in Wales

St Asaph used to be just an ordinary town in North Wales. However, when Queen Elizabeth II celebrated her Diamond Jubilee in 2012, she decided to assign city status to three UK towns. One of the perks of ruling over a nation, I suppose. St Asaph got lucky, meaning all 3,500 residents can now consider themselves city-dwellers. Meanwhile, down in South Wales, St David’s remains the smallest city with just 1,800 residents.

Vatican City: the smallest city by geographical area

Surrounded entirely by the city of Rome, Vatican City is only 0.44 square kilometres in size (0.17 square miles). Though a historic walled-enclave, it only became an independent city-state in 1929. Vatican City has a population of only 800 people, 572 of whom are citizens. Of those citizens, only 5.5% are women – just 32 people.

Adamstown, Pitcairn Islands: the least populated capital

The Pitcairn Islands are located in the southern Pacific Ocean and have a population of only 49. That makes the islands the least-populated jurisdiction on the planet and home to the world’s least populated capital city, in which all 49 of the island’s residents live. Almost all residents descend from the crew of the HMS Bounty – a British merchant vessel that settled on the islands in 1790.

Jericho, West Bank: the lowest city

Jericho is a Palestinian city in the West Bank and, at 258m (846ft) below sea level, the lowest city in the world. One of the oldest inhabited cities in the world, archeologists have found evidence of inhabitation dating back 11,000 years. Its 20,000 residents benefit from a cable car as a form of transportation, connecting the region to the peak of the Mount of Temptation, which is home to a Greek Orthodox monastery and some fantastic panoramic views.

Maza, USA: the former least populated city in the USA

At 20 square kilometres (8 square miles) and a population of five (yes, five), Maza, in North Dakota, was both the least populated city in the USA and its least densely populated city. The reason for the past tense is that, despite its foundation as a city back in 1893, this city status was dissolved in 2002.

Bo, Sierra Leone: the shortest city name

Though often referred to locally as Bo Town, Sierra Leone’s second largest city is officially called Bo, making it the shortest city name in the world. The town is said to be named after the generosity of its people, with the story being that a past elephant killing drew people from surrounding villages to receive a share. The hunter spent many days saying “bo-lor,”as he distributed it, which translates as both “this is yours” and “this is Bo”. Over 230,000 people now call the city home.

City of London, England: a small city within a city

At 1,583 square kilometres (611 square miles) and almost 9 million residents, London is no small city. But within London lies the City of London, known locally as the City or the Square Mile. During the Medieval period, the City of London was pretty much all of London, but as London grew the City of London’s boundaries remained the same. To this day, it still has city status in its own right, with its own Mayor and police force, despite only being 2.9 square kilometres (1.12 square miles) in size

Photo: Yang Jing. This is an updated version of a post originally published in May 2012.