x.com/History1060/status/2112562868550045823
1 correction found
The largest cities 1,000 years ago.
This is not an accurate global list of the largest cities around 1050. Major Asian cities such as Kaifeng, Kyoto, and Angkor were among the world's biggest cities then, but they are missing from the map.
Full reasoning
Historical population estimates for medieval cities are approximate, but the post's global framing is still incorrect.
The attached image is a regional map of Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East, yet the caption presents it as "The largest cities 1,000 years ago." Reliable historical sources place several Asian cities among the world's largest around this period:
- An Oxford Academic article on urban development states that Kaifeng "was the largest city of the world around 1000–1100AD," with about 400,000 inhabitants.
- A historical population table reproduced in State of the World 2003 lists the world's 10 largest urban areas in 1000 as including Kaifeng (0.40 million), Constantinople (0.30), Angkor (0.20), and Kyoto (0.18).
Because the post omits major cities such as Kaifeng, Angkor, and Kyoto, it cannot accurately be described as showing the largest cities globally 1,000 years ago. At most, the image is a regional subset of large cities in parts of Europe, North Africa, and West Asia.
2 sources
- Urban development in China | Cambridge Journal of Regions, Economy and Society | Oxford Academic
Kaifeng (Henan province), a former capital of the Song dynasty, was the largest city of the world around 1000–1100AD, with a population size of about 400,000 people.
- State of the World 2003 — Table 7-1. World’s 10 Largest Urban Areas, 1000, 1800, 1900, and 2001
The table lists the world’s 10 largest urban areas in 1000 as including Cordova 0.45, Kaifeng 0.40, Constantinople 0.30, Angkor 0.20, Kyoto 0.18, Cairo 0.14, Baghdad 0.13, Nishapur 0.13, Hasa 0.11, and Anhilvada 0.10 (million population).