# What's the Biggest city in Mediterranean?



## Onur (Dec 2, 2004)

I think these
-Barcelona-Spain
-Athens-Greece
-Izmir-Turkey
-Antalya-Turkey
-Mersin-Turkey

Your comments?


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## ZOHAR (Jul 16, 2005)

also Rome,Cairo


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## Zarkon (Dec 22, 2004)

what do u mean for "biggest"? Certainly Cairo is the biggest for number of inhabitants, Rome is the "biggest" for beauty etc..


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## schreiwalker (May 13, 2005)

As long as cairo and rome don't count (not on the mediterranean), I think the largest are Istanbul (a liberal definition of mediterranean), Alexandria, then Algiers. Casablanca, barcelona, Izmir and Athens are all just a bit smaller than algiers.


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## Mekky II (Oct 29, 2003)

Istanbul is not on Mediterranean sea either... the city is between Marmara sea and Black sea...

Alexandria is possibly the biggest yes... After Alexandria, it can be hard to say, Naples is big, it's maybe the second and Algier the 3rd.


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## sebvill (Apr 13, 2005)

Cairo doesn´t have sea..it will be Alexandria. In Europe are: Barcelona, Marseille, Geneve, Naples, Athens. In Asia: Istanbul (if count this will be by far the largest), Izmir, Tel Aviv. In Africa: Alexandria, Argel, Casablanca.


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## Fallout (Sep 11, 2002)

If you count only coastal cities then: 
Istanbul (disputable as it's on Marmara Sea) 9.4 million
Barcelona 4.4 million
Alexandria 3.7 million
Athens 3.2 million
Algiers 3.1 million
Tel Aviv-Jaffa 2.9 million
Naples 2.9 million
Izmir 2.4 million
Tunis 2.0 million


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## Fallout (Sep 11, 2002)

sebvill said:


> Cairo doesn´t have sea..it will be Alexandria. In Europe are: Barcelona, Marseille, Geneve, Naples, Athens. In Asia: Istanbul (if count this will be by far the largest), Izmir, Tel Aviv. In Africa: Alexandria, Argel, Casablanca.


Geneve is even further from sea than Cairo. Casablanca is on Atlantic coast.


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## kids (Dec 12, 2004)

what about marseille?


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## Küsel (Sep 16, 2004)

Rome is a huge municipality and Ostia is just a "neighbourhood" so it actually borders the sea.

Biggest: Istanbul, Barcelona and Athens


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## Aquarius (Aug 3, 2003)

The biggest metropolitan areas in spain

Barcelona 4.667.136 
Valencia 1.875.288 
Málaga 1.019.292 
Alicante 676.237 
Palma de Mallorca 462.010 
Tarragona 348.921


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## hngcm (Sep 17, 2002)

how big is marseille?


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## Onur (Dec 2, 2004)

I talk about Mediterranean seaside city.

BTW
Antalya-800.000(2.500.000 with tourists)Kemer and Serik are on Metro area
Mersin-500.000(1 million with Metro)


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## Fallout (Sep 11, 2002)

Rome 2.7 million
Marseille 1.4 million

all this data is urban areas taken from UN site.

Baltic cities for comparison:

Saint Petersburg 5.3 million
Stockholm 1.7 million
Copenhagen 1.1 million
Helsinki 1.1 million
Gdansk 0.9 million
Riga 0.8 million


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## Küsel (Sep 16, 2004)

The 2.7 mio for Rome is the municipality. The metro is some 3.35 mio. 

Other metros > 2mio:

Alexandria: 4.9 mio
Algier: 4.1 mio
Barcelona: 3.8 mio (sometimes also 4.6)
Athens: 3.5 mio
Napoli: 3.05 mio
Tel Aviv: 3.05 mio
Izmir: 2.74 mio
Beirut: 2.25 mio
Tunis: 2.2 mio


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## Justme (Sep 11, 2002)

Rome is certainly a "coastal city", even though the city center is inland (so is Sydney's or LA), but the suburbs do reach the coast, though the density does thin out unlike say Athens.


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## the spliff fairy (Oct 21, 2002)

Doesn't Athens have over 5 million people includingthe 'suburb' of Piraeus (ie the contiguous urban area)?


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## Medo (Apr 7, 2004)

/\ that's what I thought too, and please don't include Istanbul, it's nowhere near the Mediterranian :|


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## Effer (Jun 9, 2005)

I think its Barcelona.


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## ZOHAR (Jul 16, 2005)

Tel Aviv metro(!!) has 3 million.....


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## earthJoker (Dec 15, 2004)

Look said:


> Geneve is even further from sea than Cairo. Casablanca is on Atlantic coast.


Maybe he wanted to write Genova :dunno:


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## Cee_em_bee (May 12, 2004)

Justme said:


> Rome is certainly a "coastal city", even though the city center is inland (so is Sydney's or LA), but the suburbs do reach the coast, though the density does thin out unlike say Athens.



Sydneys very close to the sea...


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## Küsel (Sep 16, 2004)

The municipality of Rome borders the sea over many kilometers and Ostia, the port belongs to the city - so why shouldn't it be a coastal city then? Athens on the other hand borders the sea only on short distance - the port Piraeus is a municipality of its own in the metro. If you count (old) city centers directly by the sea then it's for sure Alexandria, Algier and Barcelona with some 4+ mio metros AND big city propers.


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## 909 (Oct 22, 2003)

If Cairo and Istanbul are controversial, then i would go for greater Athens, including al the suburbs. The most Greeks are living in and near Athens.


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## Bitxofo (Feb 3, 2005)

Look said:


> If you count only coastal cities then:
> Istanbul (disputable as it's on Marmara Sea) 9.4 million
> Barcelona 4.4 million
> Alexandria 3.7 million
> ...


Barcelona Metro, nowadays with 5 million inhabitants!!
:wink2:


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## Küsel (Sep 16, 2004)

But then you define it til the Spanish border, including Figueras etc. It's the economical area (Wirtschaftsraum) including also the surrounding countryside, not the metro per se. Same with Milano 3.5mio vs 5.5-7mio, Toronto 3.6mio vs 7mio or Zürich 1.8 vs 3.1mio etc.


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## Köbtke (Jun 29, 2005)

Look said:


> Rome 2.7 million
> Marseille 1.4 million
> 
> all this data is urban areas taken from UN site.
> ...


Copenhagen has 1.7 or 1.8 in its metroarea. You could say we have about 3 million, if you count the Øresund region (closer together than many single cities) as a "city".


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## Giorgio (Oct 9, 2004)

istanbul isnt on the mediteranean. 
But yea its the bggest if you insisit to include it.

Athens Metro is now bigger than barcelona last time i checked a month ago...


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## Giorgio (Oct 9, 2004)

909 said:


> If Cairo and Istanbul are controversial, then i would go for greater Athens, including al the suburbs. The most Greeks are living in and near Athens.


40% of them thats not most! but yea its alot.


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## Justme (Sep 11, 2002)

Kuesel said:


> But then you define it til the Spanish border, including Figueras etc. It's the economical area (Wirtschaftsraum) including also the surrounding countryside, not the metro per se. Same with Milano 3.5mio vs 5.5-7mio, Toronto 3.6mio vs 7mio or Zürich 1.8 vs 3.1mio etc.


Actually, you don't have to go anywhere near the French/Spanish border to cross 5million. The Province of Barcelona covers some 7600km² (similar to Melbourne's metropolitan area) and has some 5.3million estimated for 2005.

Of cause, this is not actually Barcelona's metro area, which is only a 3,200km~ area (the one based on commuter percentage), although with the fast rising prices of housing, the metropolitan area is certain to increase quickly, and could soon cover close to the provincial area. People are already looking further afield to buy cheaper houses.


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## HoustonianRob (Feb 5, 2019)

Very interesting conversation.


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## Little Spoon (Apr 1, 2020)

Wow, that is quite the thread bump! Imagine those posters from 2005 being able to add comment to a conversation from 1988! 

And I’ve just bumped from a month on anyway! Lol


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