What is a primate city?
Q: What is a primate city?
A: A primate city is a city in a country that has far more people and influence than any other city in the same country. To be considered a primate city, it must have more than two times as many people and two times as much influence (such as in the country's economy, resources, education, health care, etc.) than the second largest city.
Q: Are all countries with primate cities equally developed?
A: No, countries with primate cities can have varying levels of development. Both richer and poorer countries can have primate cities.
Q: Can sub-national divisions also have primate cities?
A: Yes, sub-national divisions such as states or provinces can also have their own respective primate cities. For example New York City is New York State's primate city because its population is 32 times bigger than the second largest city of that state.
Q: Is Bangkok the world's most populous primate city?
A: Yes, Bangkok is currently the world's most populous and influential primate city because its population is 9 times bigger than Thailand's second largest city and 70% of the country's resources go to Bangkok.
Q: Does the United States have a national level primate city?
A: No, due to its decentralized nature and because its second largest city isn't far behind in population or GDP, the United States has never had a national level primate city. The metropolitan area of New York City has 21 million residents while Los Angeles has 16 million residents so neither are considered to be national level prime cities for this reason.
Q: How does London compare to Birmingham in terms of population size?
A: London has more than 8 times as many people as Birmingham making it an example of a rich country having a large inequality in its development due to having a single dominant metropolis or "primate"city within it.
