Europe's biggest cities - top 10

What are Europe's biggest cities? We list the ten largest cities in Europe, starting at number ten. Which city would take the top spot on the list was not obvious, as it depends on how you count.

What are Europe's largest cities?

Europe's largest cities may be small compared to the world's largest cities, but they are still big! We have listed the ten largest cities, starting with the tenth largest. Size in this case means population and we have taken the population of the city itself, not the entire metropolitan area.

Europe's largest cities, from 10 - 1

Here is the list of Europe's ten largest cities. We start at number 10 and count down to number 1 - Europe's largest city!

10. Bucharest

The capital of Romania, Bucharest, ranks 10th with 2.1 million inhabitants (2016). Surveys show that the population increased until the 1990s, but the number of inhabitants has decreased slightly since then. The question is how long can Bucharest hold the number ten spot? Minsk, Hamburg and Vienna are not far behind with around 1.9 million inhabitants in each city.

9 Paris

France's capital city just misses Bucharest, with just over 2.1 million inhabitants (2019). If you count the region around Paris, with its suburbs, the situation is different. Paris has almost 11 million inhabitants. The number of inhabitants also increases slightly every year. I (Helena) stopped here on my way to my language course in Bournemouth as a 14-year-old - long before the days of digital cameras.

8th Rome

The 8th largest city in Europe is Italy's capital, Rome with just over 2.8 million inhabitants (2018). If you count the entire region around Rome, including its suburbs, Rome is smaller than Paris, with 4.2 million inhabitants. The population of Rome is also growing. We visited Rome in 2017 and fell in love with this charming city, which feels homely despite its size. You can also be fascinated by both Colosseum and of Vatican City - the smallest country in the world.

7th Kiev

In 7th place comes Ukraine's capital Kiev with over 2.9 million inhabitants (2019). Kiev is a city that has experienced both ups and downs over the years. In terms of population, the city has mostly grown, apart from a minor decline in the 2000s. Now the number of inhabitants is increasing again. We've celebrated New Year here twice (2009/2010 and 2011/2012) - a great city!

6. madrid

With 3.2 million inhabitants (2018), the Spanish capital, Madrid, is the sixth largest city in Europe. If you count the entire metropolitan area, around 6.5 million people live here, making Madrid one of the largest metropolitan areas in Europe by far. And the population is constantly growing. We have never been here yet, even though we have visited Spain many times.

5th Berlin

In fifth place is the German capital Berlin with 3.7 million inhabitants (2018). Including suburbs, the city has around 4.6 million inhabitants. Berlin's population decreased between 1950 and 1980, but since 1985 the population has been increasing. We have been talking about visiting Berlin for many, many years, but it hasn't happened yet. However, we have visited beautiful and charming Potsdam, which is just outside.

4th St Petersburg

One of two non-capital cities on the list is St. Petersburg, which rises to fourth place with its 5.3 million inhabitants (2019). The city is ranked as the 50th largest city in the world, and the population is increasing a little each year, both due to migration and an increase in the number of children born per woman, which is now 1.6. We'd love to visit this city at some point - perhaps on a cruise?

3. london

London is sometimes even considered the largest city in Europe, if you exclude Moscow and Istanbul. Including both of these cities puts London in 3rd place with 9.1 million inhabitants (2018). London is much larger than the second largest city in the country, Birmingham, which has only 1.1 million people. The population of London is also growing steadily. I (Helena) made a short visit here during my language course as a 14-year-old ...

2. Moscow

Russia's capital Moscow Moscow is the second largest city in Europe, with over 13.1 million inhabitants (2017) and, according to some sources, the population may be significantly higher due to illegal immigration. Apart from a decline in the 1920s, the population of Moscow has been growing steadily. We visited this fascinating city for a few days before leaving on the Trans-Siberian railway against Beijing in 2006.

1) Istanbul

At number 1 comes Turkey's largest city Istanbul with an impressive 15 million inhabitants (2017). The city has grown rapidly over the last hundred years and continues to grow. Istanbul feels like an exotic and really exciting city, which we hope to visit at some point in our lives!

What are Europe's biggest cities ... really?

If you google 'Europe's largest city', you may get different answers. This is not so much because the number of inhabitants changes so dramatically, but rather because different judgements have been made about which cities belong to Europe.

Europe's largest cities according to various lists

In our list, Istanbul comes in at number 1 and Moscow at number 2. Both countries where these cities are located (Turkey and Russia) are on two continents, both in Asia and Europe, so some lists have chosen to exclude them. If you do this, London is Europe's largest city. Counting as we have done here, Istanbul is Europe's largest city.

Europe's largest cities by area

When people talk about Europe's largest cities, they usually mean by population, but it is also possible to compare cities by area. If so, Istanbul is also the largest, with an area of 5 343 square kilometres in the entire municipality. Another large city is Belgrade in Serbia, which has an area of 3 227 square kilometres in the municipality.

The world's largest cities

Europe's largest cities may be big, but compared to the world's largest cities, they are of course much smaller. The world's largest city is Tokyo, with around 37 million inhabitants. A list of world's largest cities - top 10 you will find on the blog 4000 miles. We can tell you that many of these are in Asia.

On the same blog you will find a list of the world's largest airports. The most intensive airports are in the US, Asia and Europe, and perhaps it is not surprising that Istanbul airport (Europe's largest city!) is referred to as a rising star among the major airports.

Which of Europe's largest cities have you visited?

We have visited five of Europe's biggest cities ourselves (Paris, Rome, Kiev, London and Moscow). How many - and which ones - have you visited? Which one(s) is your favourite?