Most popular world cities per Wikipedia article views

[New Brisavoine]

An interesting new way to look at the popularity of cities around the world. For each city I've looked at the number of views on the city's article in all language versions of Wikipedia in the past 12 months. The figures here are the sums of views in all language versions (English, German, French, Spanish, Japanese, etc).

I'm not including Singapore (10,526,668 views) and Hong Kong (8,837,355 views) because these two are independent countries/quasi-sovereign entities, and not just cities, which could explain their higher number of views (for example the GDP per capita article will link directly to Singapore and Hong Kong, etc). I'm also not including Brussels because the concept of what is Brussels is blurry and several languages have various articles for Brussels (Brussels Capital Region, Brussels, Brussels metro area), and it's not clear which article is the main one in each language. Brussels seems to have surprisingly few views anyway (surprising for the capital of the EU, headquarters of NATO, etc).

Only cities with more than 1.8 million views in the past year are included. If you want to see other cities, let me know (I do not guarantee that all cities with more than 1.8 million views are included).

Number of views in the past 12 months:
New York City: 9,705,800
London: 5,998,530
Paris: 5,608,985
Washington, D.C.: 5,115,370
Los Angeles: 5,032,370
Tokyo: 5,010,648
Dubai: 4,893,391
Jerusalem: 4,789,523
Rome: 4,688,811
Istanbul: 4,671,155
Berlin: 4,497,370
Chicago: 4,362,535
Moscow: 4,337,937
Saint Petersburg: 4,248,889
Barcelona: 3,705,897
Prague: 3,595,695
Vienna: 3,577,585
Mexico City: 3,553,223
Milan: 3,519,730
Budapest: 3,412,227
Madrid: 3,182,478
Beijing: 3,177,313
Venice: 3,166,338
Shanghai: 3,106,673
Munich: 3,055,617
Boston: 2,959,125
Seattle: 2,944,343
Mumbai: 2,900,310
Toronto: 2,880,569
Hamburg: 2,877,690
Amsterdam: 2,840,103
Philadelphia: 2,793,795
Naples: 2,788,712
Tehran: 2,786,677
San Francisco: 2,780,212
Warsaw: 2,733,460
Bangkok: 2,607,698
Gaza City: 2,591,819
Mecca: 2,553,550
Athens: 2,543,822
Florence: 2,511,952
Jakarta: 2,488,352
Atlanta: 2,485,743
Kyiv: 2,483,266
Edinburgh: 2,461,218
Dublin: 2,447,946
Rio de Janeiro: 2,420,761
Seoul: 2,417,368
Copenhagen: 2,397,236
Valencia: 2,365,781
Buenos Aires: 2,351,319
Vancouver: 2,350,758
Montreal: 2,337,606
Birmingham: 2,330,840
Lisbon: 2,277,064
Cologne: 2,270,900
Frankfurt: 2,270,751
São Paulo: 2,265,556
Melbourne: 2,257,325
Sydney: 2,250,446
Lyon: 2,237,986
Oslo: 2,233,386
Miami: 2,223,745
Minneapolis: 2,211,056
Krakow: 2,144,310
Stockholm: 2,131,955
Guangzhou: 2,094,014
Marseille: 2,068,392
Osaka: 2,051,535
Abu Dhabi: 2,017,096
Cairo: 2,007,258
Detroit: 2,004,116
Tel Aviv: 1,999,655
New Orleans: 1,998,776
Houston: 1,933,622
Casablanca: 1,907,218
Riyadh: 1,889,975
Dallas: 1,887,698
Liverpool: 1,886,194
Delhi: 1,880,475
Geneva: 1,879,864
Manchester: 1,871,019
Beirut: 1,834,577
Nice: 1,830,818

[New Brisavoine]

Number of views for the top 7.

In the past month:
1- New York City: 729,873
2- Paris: 452,227
3- London: 444,382
4- Los Angeles: 432,595
5- Washington, D.C.: 400,919
6- Tokyo: 318 120
7- Dubai: 191,368

In the past year:
1- New York City: 9,705,800
2- London: 5,998,530
3- Paris: 5,608,985
4- Washington, D.C.: 5,115,370
5- Los Angeles: 5,032,370
6- Tokyo: 5,010,648
7- Dubai: 4,893,391

In the past 5 years:
1- New York City: 64,725,475
2- London: 45,395,012
3- Paris: 40,969,414
4- Los Angeles: 37,301,159
5- Dubai: 32,475,990
6- Washington, D.C.: 31,617,642
7- Tokyo: 31 ,204,589


In the past 10 years:
1- New York City: 140,481,808
2- London: 100,896,713
3- Paris: 88,651,742
4- Los Angeles: 78,332,987
5- Washington, D.C.: 69,702,197
6- Dubai: 69 060 245
7- Tokyo: 63,435,356

[iheartthed]

Do these numbers include all languages, or just English?

[New Brisavoine]

^^It's written at the beginning of the first post.

[sopas ej]

Interesting; kind of surprised where Bangkok ranks, considering that it's the most visited city in the world, at least according to Condé Nast and Travel US News.

[New Brisavoine]

Originally Posted by sopas ej

Bangkok ranks, considering that it's the most visited city in the world, at least according to Condé Nast and Travel US News.

That stat was always bogus.

[wwmiv]

Do San Antonio and Austin not rank? Dallas and Houston are unsurprising quite low for their size, but I expected both of the others on the list as well.

[harls]

Gee, wonder why Gaza City and Kyiv are so high?

[pj3000]

Originally Posted by wwmiv

Do San Antonio and Austin not rank? Dallas and Houston are unsurprising quite low for their size, but I expected both of the others on the list as well.

I'm surprised that Austin does not rank.

I'm surprised that Houston and Dallas do rank.

I'm not surprised that San Antonio does not rank.

Originally Posted by harls

Gee, wonder why Gaza City and Kyiv are so high?

Same for Minneapolis... unfortunately.

[wwmiv]

Originally Posted by pj3000

I'm surprised that Austin does not rank.

I'm surprised that Houston and Dallas do rank.

I'm not surprised that San Antonio does not rank.

[New Brisavoine]

Both Austin and San Antonio are under 1.8 million views in the past year. I'm adding Strasbourg which very curiously ranks as the 2nd most visited French city on Wikipedia. I'm also adding Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon).

Number of views in the past 12 months:
New York City: 9,705,800
London: 5,998,530
Paris: 5,608,985
Washington, D.C.: 5,115,370
Los Angeles: 5,032,370
Tokyo: 5,010,648
Dubai: 4,893,391
Jerusalem: 4,789,523
Rome: 4,688,811
Istanbul: 4,671,155
Berlin: 4,497,370
Chicago: 4,362,535
Moscow: 4,337,937
Saint Petersburg: 4,248,889
Barcelona: 3,705,897
Prague: 3,595,695
Vienna: 3,577,585
Mexico City: 3,553,223
Milan: 3,519,730
Budapest: 3,412,227
Madrid: 3,182,478
Beijing: 3,177,313
Venice: 3,166,338
Shanghai: 3,106,673
Munich: 3,055,617
Boston: 2,959,125
Seattle: 2,944,343
Mumbai: 2,900,310
Toronto: 2,880,569
Hamburg: 2,877,690
Amsterdam: 2,840,103
Philadelphia: 2,793,795
Naples: 2,788,712
Tehran: 2,786,677
San Francisco: 2,780,212
Warsaw: 2,733,460
Bangkok: 2,607,698
Gaza City: 2,591,819
Mecca: 2,553,550
Athens: 2,543,822
Florence: 2,511,952
Jakarta: 2,488,352
Atlanta: 2,485,743
Kyiv: 2,483,266
Edinburgh: 2,461,218
Dublin: 2,447,946
Strasbourg: 2,430,490
Rio de Janeiro: 2,420,761
Seoul: 2,417,368
Ho Chi Minh City: 2,409,287
Copenhagen: 2,397,236
Valencia: 2,365,781
Buenos Aires: 2,351,319
Vancouver: 2,350,758
Montreal: 2,337,606
Birmingham: 2,330,840
Lisbon: 2,277,064
Cologne: 2,270,900
Frankfurt: 2,270,751
São Paulo: 2,265,556
Melbourne: 2,257,325
Sydney: 2,250,446
Lyon: 2,237,986
Oslo: 2,233,386
Miami: 2,223,745
Minneapolis: 2,211,056
Krakow: 2,144,310
Stockholm: 2,131,955
Guangzhou: 2,094,014
Marseille: 2,068,392
Osaka: 2,051,535
Abu Dhabi: 2,017,096
Cairo: 2,007,258
Detroit: 2,004,116
Tel Aviv: 1,999,655
New Orleans: 1,998,776
Houston: 1,933,622
Casablanca: 1,907,218
Riyadh: 1,889,975
Dallas: 1,887,698
Liverpool: 1,886,194
Hanoi: 1,883,304
Delhi: 1,880,475
Geneva: 1,879,864
Manchester: 1,871,019
Beirut: 1,834,577
Nice: 1,830,818

[SIGSEGV]

Bucharest is at 1,706,454 (measuring July 13, 2025 to July 12, 2026)

Almost in the big leagues...

[New Brisavoine]

+ Turin, Belgrade, Babylon (!), Constantinople (!), Alexandria, Seville, Malaga, Carthage (!).

Number of views in the past 12 months:
New York City: 9,705,800
London: 5,998,530
Paris: 5,608,985
Washington, D.C.: 5,115,370
Los Angeles: 5,032,370
Tokyo: 5,010,648
Dubai: 4,893,391
Jerusalem: 4,789,523
Rome: 4,688,811
Istanbul: 4,671,155
Berlin: 4,497,370
Chicago: 4,362,535
Moscow: 4,337,937
Saint Petersburg: 4,248,889
Barcelona: 3,705,897
Prague: 3,595,695
Vienna: 3,577,585
Mexico City: 3,553,223
Milan: 3,519,730
Budapest: 3,412,227
Babylon: 3,410,742
Constantinople: 3,252,522
Madrid: 3,182,478
Beijing: 3,177,313
Venice: 3,166,338
Shanghai: 3,106,673
Munich: 3,055,617
Boston: 2,959,125
Seattle: 2,944,343
Mumbai: 2,900,310
Toronto: 2,880,569
Hamburg: 2,877,690
Amsterdam: 2,840,103
Philadelphia: 2,793,795
Naples: 2,788,712
Tehran: 2,786,677
San Francisco: 2,780,212
Warsaw: 2,733,460
Bangkok: 2,607,698
Gaza City: 2,591,819
Mecca: 2,553,550
Athens: 2,543,822
Florence: 2,511,952
Jakarta: 2,488,352
Atlanta: 2,485,743
Kyiv: 2,483,266
Edinburgh: 2,461,218
Dublin: 2,447,946
Strasbourg: 2,430,490
Rio de Janeiro: 2,420,761
Seoul: 2,417,368
Ho Chi Minh City: 2,409,287
Copenhagen: 2,397,236
Valencia: 2,365,781
Buenos Aires: 2,351,319
Vancouver: 2,350,758
Montreal: 2,337,606
Birmingham: 2,330,840
Lisbon: 2,277,064
Cologne: 2,270,900
Frankfurt: 2,270,751
São Paulo: 2,265,556
Belgrade: 2,260,635
Melbourne: 2,257,325
Sydney: 2,250,446
Lyon: 2,237,986
Oslo: 2,233,386
Seville: 2,229,005
Miami: 2,223,745
Minneapolis: 2,211,056
Carthage: 2,192,029
Malaga: 2,181,063
Krakow: 2,144,310
Stockholm: 2,131,955
Guangzhou: 2,094,014
Marseille: 2,068,392
Osaka: 2,051,535
Abu Dhabi: 2,017,096
Cairo: 2,007,258
Detroit: 2,004,116
Tel Aviv: 1,999,655
New Orleans: 1,998,776
Turin: 1,997,016
Houston: 1,933,622
Casablanca: 1,907,218
Alexandria: 1,893,753
Riyadh: 1,889,975
Dallas: 1,887,698
Liverpool: 1,886,194
Hanoi: 1,883,304
Delhi: 1,880,475
Geneva: 1,879,864
Manchester: 1,871,019
Beirut: 1,834,577
Nice: 1,830,818

[wwmiv]

Would love to know Austin and San Antonio’s numbers.

[New Brisavoine]

Austin: 1,390,352 views (about the same as Honolulu, Calgary, Marrakesh, and Lagos)
San Antonio: 1,035,487 views (about the same as Algiers, Nairobi, and Grenoble)

[Nouvellecosse]

Biggest surprises for me are probably Sydney and SF ranking as low as they do. If I had guessed without seeing their placement, I'd have assumed both would be around the 3,500,000 range.

[New Brisavoine]

Originally Posted by Nouvellecosse

Biggest surprises for me are probably Sydney and SF ranking as low as they do. If I had guessed without seeing their placement, I'd have assumed both would be around the 3,500,000 range.

Yeah. There are quite a few surprises. Sydney, Montreal, SF pretty low. I imagined the French language Wikipedia would boost Montreal's viewership, but it didn't. Strasbourg #2 in France is also quite a surprise. And cities long disappeared like Babylon, Constantinople, and Carthage still being top researched cities is also a surprise. But Wikipedia tends to be quite Western, so very important ancient cities like Chang'an, Luoyang, Angkor do not rank very high (less than 1.8 million views). Keep in mind that 1.4 billion Chinese people do not have access to Wikipedia.

[UrbanImpact]

Originally Posted by wwmiv

Do San Antonio and Austin not rank? Dallas and Houston are unsurprising quite low for their size, but I expected both of the others on the list as well.

I don't think people outside the United States know about San Antonio. I would say Austin isn't that known either, but, more so than San Antonio. Perhaps Mexicans and Canadians know, but, not outside of them.

[wwmiv]

You should expand the list to be 1 million flat plus.

[wwmiv]

Originally Posted by UrbanImpact

I don't think people outside the United States know about San Antonio. I would say Austin isn't that known either, but, more so than San Antonio. Perhaps Mexicans and Canadians know, but, not outside of them.

The average European also likely knows about Austin. San Antonio probably not.