Primate city

A primate city (Latin: 'prime', 'first rank'[1]) is the largest city in its country, province, state, or region, disproportionately larger than any others in the urban hierarchy.[2] A primate city distribution is a rank-size distribution that has one very large city with many much smaller cities and towns, and no intermediate-sized urban centers: a King effect, visible as an outlier on an otherwise linear graph, when the rest of the data fit a power law or stretched exponential function.[3] The law of the primate city was first proposed by the geographer Mark Jefferson in 1939.[4] He defines a primate city as being "at least twice as large as the next largest city and more than twice as significant."[5] Aside from size and economic influence, a primate city will usually have precedence in all other aspects of its country's society, such as being a center of politics, media, culture and education and receive most internal migration.

Significance

Not all countries have primate cities. In those that do, there is debate as to whether the city serves a parasitic or generative function.[6] The presence of a primate city in a country may indicate an imbalance in development—usually a progressive core and a lagging periphery—on which the city depends for labor and other resources.[7] However, the urban structure is not directly dependent on a country's level of economic development.[2]

Many primate cities gain an increasing share of their country's population. This can be due to a reduction in blue-collar population in the hinterlands because of mechanization and automation. Simultaneously, the number of educated employees in white-collar endeavors such as politics, finance, culture, media, and higher education rises, with those sectors clustered predominantly in the capital where power and money is concentrated.

Examples

Some global cities are considered national or regional primate cities.[5][8] They include the two global cities of London in the United Kingdom (national) and New York City in the United States (regional). The U.S. has never had a primate city on a national scale.[9] Budapest, Jakarta, Lima, Mexico City, Seoul, and Tokyo have also been described as primate cities in their respective countries.[10] Subnational divisions can also have primate cities.

Bangkok, the capital of Thailand, has been called "the most primate city on Earth",[11] being roughly thirty-five times larger than Thailand's second-largest city of Nakhon Ratchasima.[12] Taking the concept from his examination of the primate city during the 2010 Thai political protests and applying it to the role that primate cities play if they are national capitals, researcher Jack Fong noted that when primate cities like Bangkok function as national capitals, they are inherently vulnerable to insurrection by the military and the dispossessed. He cites the fact that most primate cities serving as national capitals contain major headquarters for the country. Thus, logistically, it is rather "efficient" for national targets to be contested since they are all in one major urban environment.[13]

Urban primacy

Urban primacy indicates the ratio of the primate city to the next largest, i.e., the second largest in a country or region. In other words, urban primacy can be defined as the central place in an urban or city network that has acquired or obtained a great level of dominance. The level of dominance is measured by population density and the number of functions offered. Higher functions and population will result in higher dominance.

List

Africa
City / Urban AreaCountryPopulation (metropolitan area)Second largest cityPopulation
Addis Ababa Ethiopia3,352,000 Adama 342,940
Algiers Algeria7,896,923 Oran 1,560,329
Antananarivo Madagascar1,275,207 Toamasina 300,813
Asmara Eritrea650,000 Keren 82,198
Bamako Mali1,810,366 Sikasso 226,618
Bangui Central African Republic622,771 Bimbo 124,176
Banjul-Serekunda area Gambia519,835[14] Brikama 101,119[14]
Bissau Guinea-Bissau492,004 Gabu 48,670
Bujumbura Burundi1,092,859 Gitega 135,467
Cairo[15] Egypt20,439,541 Alexandria 5,200,000
Conakry[16] Guinea1,660,973 Nzérékoré 195,027
Dakar[16] Senegal2,646,503 Touba 753,315
Dar es Salaam Tanzania4,364,541 Mwanza 706,543
Djibouti City Djibouti475,322 Ali Sabieh 37,939
Freetown[16] Sierra Leone1,500,234 Bo 233,684
Gaborone Botswana421,907 Francistown 150,800
Harare Zimbabwe1,619,000 Bulawayo 653,337
Kampala Uganda1,507,080 Nansana 365,124
Kigali Rwanda1,132,686 Butare 89,600
Kinshasa Democratic Republic of the Congo11,855,000 Lubumbashi 1,630,186
Libreville Gabon703,904 Port Gentil 136,462
Lomé Togo1,477,660 Sokodé 118,000
Luanda[16] Angola8,069,612 Lubango 903,564
Lusaka Zambia2,238,569 Kitwe 522,092
Maputo Mozambique1,766,823 Nampula 743,125
Maseru Lesotho330,760 Teyateyaneng 75,115
Monrovia Liberia1,101,970 Ganta 41,106
N'Djamena Chad1,605,696 Moundou 137,929
Nairobi Kenya9,354,580 Mombasa 3,528,940
Niamey Niger1,243,500 Zinder 235,605
Nouakchott Mauritania958,399 Nouadhibou 118,167
Omdurman-Khartoum area Sudan5,490,000 Port Sudan 489,725
Ouagadougou Burkina Faso2,500,000 Bobo Dioulaso 537,728
Port Louis Mauritius149,194 Beau Bassin-Rose Hill 104,610
Cotonou Benin2,401,067 Porto-Novo 264,320
São Tomé São Tomé and Príncipe71,868 Santo Amaro 8,239
Tunis Tunisia2,643,695 Sfax 330,440
Victoria Seychelles26,450 Anse Boileau 4,093
Windhoek Namibia325,858 Walvis Bay 62,096

Asia
City / Urban AreaCountryPopulation (metropolitan area)Second largest cityPopulation
Amman Jordan2,125,000Zarqa635,160
Ashgabat Turkmenistan1,031,992 Türkmenabat 253,000
Bandar Seri Begawan Brunei279,924 Kuala Belait 69,992
Bangkok[15][17][18] Thailand14,626,225Chiang Mai131,000
Beirut[16] Lebanon2,200,000Tripoli361,366
Bishkek[16] Kyrgyzstan1,012,500Osh281,900
Colombo Sri Lanka648,034Kaduwela262,456
Dhaka Bangladesh20,000,000Chittagong8,906,039
Dili Timor-Leste234,331 Baucau 14,961
Doha Qatar1,850,000Al Rayyan956,457
Dushanbe Tajikistan1,051,200Khujand181 600
Jakarta Indonesia34,540,000Surabaya9,570,870
Kabul[16] Afghanistan4,273,200 Kandahar 614,300
Kathmandu   Nepal975,453Pokhara402,995
Kuala Lumpur Malaysia7,200,000George Town2,412,616
Kuwait City[16] Kuwait2,400,000 Al Jahra393,432
Malé Maldives133,412Addu City33,694
Manila[19] Philippines16,500,000Cebu2,849,213
Muscat Oman1,720,000 Salalah 340,815
Phnom Penh[16] Cambodia2,129,371Siem Reap139,458
Pyongyang North Korea3,222,000Hamhung559,056
Seoul South Korea25,600,000Busan9,838,892
Tashkent Uzbekistan2,352,900 Samarkand 509,000
Tbilisi Georgia1,485,293 Batumi 200,000
Thimphu Bhutan114,551 Phuntsholing 27,658
Tehran Iran15,232,564Mashhad3,372,660
Tokyo Japan37,832,892Osaka2,668,586 (metro= 19,302,746)
Vientiane Laos820,940 Savannakhet120,000
Ulaanbaatar[16] Mongolia1,444,669 Erdenet 97,814
Yangon Myanmar7,360,703 Mandalay1,726,889
Yerevan[16] Armenia1,420,000Gyumri121,976

Europe
City / Urban AreaCountryPopulation (metropolitan area)Second largest cityPopulation
Andorra la Vella Andorra36,000[Note 1]Encamp13,521
Athens[16][15] Greece3,753,783Thessaloniki1,084,001
Belgrade Serbia1,659,440Novi Sad341,625
Bucharest Romania2,272,163Cluj-Napoca411,379
Budapest[20] Hungary3,303,786Debrecen237,888
Chișinău Moldova736,100Tiraspol135,700
Copenhagen[15][20] Denmark2,016,285Aarhus330,639
Dublin[16][20] Ireland1,904,806Cork399,216
Helsinki Finland1,441,601Tampere363,546
Ljubljana Slovenia537,712Maribor95,881
London[18][20] United Kingdom13,879,757Birmingham1,137,100
Luxembourg Luxembourg107,247Esch-sur-Alzette32,600
Minsk Belarus2,101,018Gomel526,872
Moscow Russia12,506,468Saint Petersburg5,351,935
Oslo[15] Norway1,717,900Bergen420,000
Paris[15][17][18][20] France12,405,426Lyon2,237,676
Podgorica Montenegro187,085Nikšić72,443
Prague Czech Republic2,156,097Brno810,000
Reykjavík Iceland209,680[Note 2]Akureyri18,191
Riga[16][15] Latvia1,018,295Daugavpils96,818
Sarajevo Bosnia and Herzegovina463,992Banja Luka185,042
Skopje North Macedonia506,926[Note 3]Bitola105,644
Sofia Bulgaria1,681,666Plovdiv544,628
Tallinn Estonia542,983Tartu93,687
Tirana Albania800,986Durrës201,110
Vienna[16][17][20] Austria2,600,000Graz269,997
Zagreb Croatia1,113,111Split349,314

North America & Central America
City / Urban AreaCountryPopulation (metropolitan area)Second largest cityPopulation
Basseterre Saint Kitts and Nevis13,000Sandy Point Town3,140
Belize City Belize60,963San Ignacio21,151
Bridgetown Barbados110,000Oistins3,000
Castries Saint Lucia70,000Gros Islet22,647
Santo Domingo Dominican Republic2,908,607Santiago553,091
Guatemala City[15][20] Guatemala2,749,161Quetzaltenango792,530
Havana Cuba2,106,146Santiago de Cuba433,099
Kingston Jamaica584,627Portmore182,153
Kingstown Saint Vincent and the Grenadines16,500Georgetown1,700
Managua[15] Nicaragua2,560,789León206,264
Mexico City[15][18][20] Mexico20,400,000Guadalajara5,002,466
Nassau Bahamas274,400Freeport26,914
Panama City[16] Panama880,691La Chorrera118,521
Port of Spain Trinidad and Tobago128,026Arima33,606
Port-au-Prince[16] Haiti2,618,894Cap-Haïtien274,404
Roseau Dominica16,582Portsmouth2,977
San José[16][15][20] Costa Rica2,158,898Puerto Limón58,522
San Salvador[15][20] El Salvador1,767,102Santa Ana176,661
St. George's Grenada33,734Grenville2,400
St. John's Antigua and Barbuda81,799Liberta3,301

Oceania
City / Urban AreaCountryPopulation (metropolitan area)Second largest cityPopulation
Apia Samoa36,735Afega1,781
Funafuti Tuvalu6,025Asau650
Honiara Solomon Islands64,609Auki7,785
Koror Palau14,000Airai2,700
Majuro Marshall Islands27,797Ebeye Island15,000
Nukuʻalofa Tonga24,571Neiafu (Vavaʻu)6,000
Port Moresby Papua New Guinea410,954Lae76,255
Port-Vila Vanuatu44,040Luganville16,312
Suva Fiji175,399Lautoka52,220
South Tarawa Kiribati50,182Abaiang5,502

South America
City / Urban AreaCountryPopulation (metropolitan area)Second largest cityPopulation
Gran Asunción[16] Paraguay2,698,401Ciudad del Este293,817
Buenos Aires[18][20] Argentina12,741,364Córdoba1,528,000
Georgetown Guyana118,363Linden29,298
Lima[20] Peru9,752,000Trujillo949,498
Montevideo[16][20] Uruguay1,947,604Salto104,028
Paramaribo Suriname240,924Lelydorp19,910
Santiago[16] Chile6,685,685Valparaíso1,036,127

See also

Notes
  1. including Escaldes-Engordany
  2. refers to Capital Region (Iceland)
  3. based on North Macedonia#Cities

References
  1. "Primate". Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary. Merriam-Webster. Retrieved 2008-07-21.
    From Old French or French primat, from a noun use of Latin primat-, from primus
  2. Goodall, B. (1987) The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography. London: Penguin.
  3. http://www.lboro.ac.uk/gawc/rb/rb186.html GaWC Research Bulletin 186
  4. The Law of the Primate City and the Rank-Size Rule, by Matt Rosenberg
  5. Jefferson. "The Law of the Primate City", in Geographical Review 29 (April 1939)
  6. London, Bruce (October 1977). "Is the Primate City Parasitic? The Regional Implications of National Decision Making in Thailand". The Journal of Developing Areas. 12: 49–68 – via JSTOR.
  7. Brunn, Stanley, et al. Cities of the World. Boulder: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc, 2003
  8. Taşan-Kok, Tuna (2004). Mexico, Istanbul and Warsaw: Institutional and spatial change. Eburon Uitgeverij. p. 41. ISBN 978-905972041-1. Retrieved 2013-05-21.
  9. "The World According to GaWC 2012". Globalization and World Cities Research Network. Loughborough University. Retrieved 11 January 2017.
  10. Pacione, Michael (2005). Urban Geography: A Global Perspective (2nd ed.). Abingdon: Routledge. pp. 83.
  11. Baker, Chris; Pasuk Phongpaichit (2009). A history of Thailand (2nd ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 199. ISBN 978-0-521-76768-2.
  12. ข้อมูลจำนวนองค์กรปกครองส่วนท้องถิ่น [Information on the number of local administrative organizations]. Department of Local Administration (Thailand). 2017-12-01. Retrieved 2019-01-05.
  13. Fong, Jack (May 2012). "Political Vulnerabilities of a Primate City: The May 2010 Red Shirts Uprising in Bangkok, Thailand". Journal of Asian and African Studies. 48 (3): 332–347. doi:10.1177/0021909612453981.
  14. "World Gazetteer: World Gazetteer home". archive.is. 2013-02-09. Archived from the original on 2013-02-09. Retrieved 2020-04-09.
  15. Joseph John Hobbs (2009). World Regional Geography. Cengage Learning. pp. 109–. ISBN 978-0-495-38950-7.
  16. World Urbanization Prospects: The 2003 Revision. United Nations Publications. 1 January 2004. pp. 97–102. ISBN 978-92-1-151396-7.
  17. Michael Pacione (2009). Urban Geography: A Global Perspective. Taylor & Francis. p. 79. ISBN 978-0-415-46201-3.
  18. Kelly Swanson (7 August 2012). Kaplan AP Human Geography 2013-2014. Kaplan Publishing. ISBN 978-1-60978-694-6.
  19. "East Asia's Changing Urban Landscape" (PDF). World Bank. Retrieved March 21, 2019.
  20. Robert B. Kent (January 2006). Latin America: Regions and People. Guilford Press. pp. 144–. ISBN 978-1-57230-909-8.
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