The term "red-light district" is said to have originated with early railroaders. The men carried lit red lanterns when they left the train so in case of an emergency the crew caller would be able to find them. These lanterns were left outside bordellos when crew members stopped to pay the ladies a visit and sometimes were brought inside to be placed in a window.

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See also: Top 10 Red-Light Districts in The World



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Here is a list of world red-light districts. Most of these red light districts are official ones, but you can find also unofficial ones from this list. Please fill in alphabetical order:

Africa

Cairo Wagh el Birket (defunct)



Nairobi Koinange Street Westlands Road



Casablanca Around the Boulevard Hassan Seghir and Rue Mohammed Smiha.



Tangier Petit Socco



Lagos Ipodo



Cape Town Nelson Mandela square

Durban Point Road



Harare The Avenues (3rd, Baines Ave, 5 Ave, Solange Court) Most Ghetto Bars have prostitutes around e.g. Kuwadzana, Highfields, W.Park Jongwe Corner (Hatfield bar) Epworth (as low as $0.20 for a round)

Chitungwiza Paramount Chikwanha



Asia

Phnom Penh Svay Pak



Beijing Dashilan (defunct)

Hong Kong Portland Street Mong Kok Wan Chai

Shanghai Simalu (also called Huileli) (pre-People's Republic) Chaojiadu Fengzhuang road Xianan road New railroad station East Baoxing Road Qibao Golden Bridge

Shenzhen Xiang Xi Cun



Jakarta Blok M



Hyderabad (Pakistan) Serey Ghat

Karachi Napier Road

Lahore Hira Mandi

Multan Ghanta Ghar



Australia and Oceania

Brisbane Fortitude Valley, Queensland|The Valley

Melbourne St Kilda, Victoria|St Kilda

Sydney Kings Cross, New South Wales|Kings Cross Darlinghurst, New South Wales|Darlinghurst/East Sydney, New South Wales|East Sydney



Auckland Karangahape Road

Christchurch Manchester Street

Wellington Vivian Street



Europe

Prague Perlovka



Copenhagen Istedgade



Bordeaux Quartier de la gare Saint Jean : Belcier, quai de paludate Quartier Saint-Rémi : rue du pont de la mousque, rue courbin Les quinconces Passage Birly, rue de Ruat : massages

Le Havre Cours de la République

Lille Quartier Peuple Belge (Place de Gand, Rue de Courtrai, Place aux Bleuets)

Lyon Quartier Mermoz

Mantes-la-Jolie Quartier du Val Fourré

Marseille Rue Thubaneau Bd du Prado

Paris Bois de Boulogne Boulevard de Clichy Porte de Vincennes Quartier Pigalle Rue de la Gaité Rue Saint-Denis

Rouen Boulevard des belges

Toulouse Rue Bayard Quartier du Canal Boulevard de Strasbourg



Helsinki Vaasankatu Kallio

Lahti Rautatienkatu



Aachen Antoniustraße

Bochum Im Winkel

Berlin Ku’damm (Kürfurstendamm) Oranienburger Strasse Potsdamer Strasse

Cologne Pascha (brothel) Hornstraße

Dortmund Linienstraße

Düsseldorf Industriestraße

Essen Stahlstraße

Frankfurt Bahnhofsviertel

Hamburg St. Pauli (Reeperbahn)

Mannheim Lupinenstraße

Munich Hansastraße

Nuremberg Frauentor-Mauer

Stuttgart Drei-Farben-Haus (brothel)

Oberhausen Flaßhofstraße



Dublin Gropecunt Lane (defunct) "The Monto" (Montgomery Street) (defunct)



Milan Navigli (defunct)



Gżira (defunct) Testaferrata Street

Valletta Strait Street (defunct)



Alkmaar Achterdam

Amsterdam De Wallen Down by museum quarter (Pijp) Singel

Deventer Bokkingshang

Doetinchem Roerstraat

Heerenveen Munnikstraat

The Hague Geleenstraat / Hunstraat Doublestraat (in the old town) Poeldijksestraat - defunct since 1999.



Bergen Vågen harbour

Oslo Tollbugata Skippergata

Stavanger The Harbour



Lisbon Cais do Sodré Intendente

Porto Trindade



Gothenburg Rosenlund

Stockholm Malmskillnadsgatan



Geneva Rue de Bern



Bolton Breightmet Street/Shiffnall Street

Bradford Manningham Lane

Bristol St.Pauls Stapleton Road, Easton

Doncaster Netherall

Leeds Spencer Place, Chapeltown, West Yorkshire|Chapeltown Harehills Lane, Harehills

Leicester Highfields, Leicestershire|South Highfields

London Gropecunt Lane (possible; defunct) Kings Cross, London|King's Cross Piccadilly Circus (defunct) Soho

Manchester Roberts House co-owned by Ben B. Balls., Canal Street

Plymouth Millbay, Plymouth|Millbay Union Street (defunct)

Sheffield Broad Lane/Shalesmoor

Shrewsbury Grope Lane (possible; defunct)

Swindon Manchester Road, Swindon|Manchester Road/Gorse Hill

Wolverhampton All Saints/Parkfield, Wolverhampton



Belfast Linenhall Street







Edinburgh Rose Street/Leith Walk/Coburg Street/Salamander Street (all defunct)

Glasgow Blythswood Square (defunct)



North America

Vancouver Downtown Eastside Seymour Street, Downtown Vancouver|Downtown



Windsor, Ontario|Windsor Drouillard Avenue / Ford City Neighbourhood

Thunder Bay, Ontario|Thunder Bay Simpson Street

Toronto Dundas Square Yonge Street



Montreal Saint Catherine Street



Mexico City La Merced Zona Rosa

Nuevo Laredo Zona de tolerancia

Tijuana

Zona Norte

Anchorage, Alaska|Anchorage Spenard Road

Ketchikan Creek Street (defunct)



Phoenix Van Buren Street

Prescott Whiskey Row (defunct after 1956)



Denver East Colfax Avenue



Orlando Orange Blossom Trail (OBT)



Atlanta Metropolitan Parkway (formerly known as Stewart Avenue)

Macon Broadway

Savannah River Street

Warner Robins Front Street



Honolulu Hotel Street



Chicago The Levee (defunct)



Terre Haute Wabash Avenue (defunct)



New Orleans Storyville (defunct) Bourbon Street



Baltimore The Block



Boston Ann Street (defunct) Combat Zone (defunct) Scollay Square (razed)



Grand Rapids Division Avenue



Minneapolis Washington & Central Avenue



St. Paul Payne Avenue



Butte Venus Alley (defunct) pavilion n5445



Reno Fourth Street



New York City Hunt's Point Tenderloin (defunct) Times Square (defunct)



Oklahoma City South Robinson Avenue (between 29th and 44th Streets)



Philadelphia Northern Liberties (defunct)



Pittsburgh Liberty Avenue (largely defunct)



Nashville Dickerson Pike (somewhat defunct)



Austin 6th Street (defunct; '60s & '70s) South Congress Avenue (defunct; '70s and '80s)

Waco The Reservation (defunct)



Salt Lake City Commercial Street (defunct)



Washington, D.C. 14th Street Northwest and Southwest (Washington, D.C.)|14th Street (defunct) Pennsylvania Avenue (between 10th and 15th Streets) (defunct) Vermont Avenue, NW



South America

Minas Gerais

Belo Horizonte Zona Boêmia



Vila Mimosa (defunct)

Praça Mauá

Avenida Atlântica, Copacabana

Itatinga - Campinas

Rio Grande do Sul

Porto Alegre Avenida Farrapos



Bogotá Santa Fe (Tolerance zone)

