Even though a lot of people are interested in exploring some of the largest cities in the world, such as Tokyo, Seoul, London, New York City, and Chonqing, there are some people who are interested in the smallest city in the world. Famously, Vatican City is the smallest city in the world. It only has a population of about 450 people, and it is completely encircled by Rome, located in Italy. Even though the Vatican is a very small city, it is still bustling with a tremendous amount of activity. People are welcome to walk from Rome into the Vatican to explore its roots and ties to Catholicism, even though the Vatican is its own city. Furthermore, the Vatican is only 0.15 to 0.20 miles in size. It became an independent city in 1929.
When we discuss small towns and cities, a lot of people are wondering if towns are being included on the list. In general, a town is smaller than a city. A town tends to have less infrastructure than a city, and it might not have as many public services available. At the same time, there are some towns that have a lot of people. Even though a town is usually smaller than a city, that is not always the case. There are some very small cities in the world, and many of them attract a lot of tourists every year.
For a long time, the least populated city in the United States was Maza. It had a population that you can count on your fingers, despite being founded in 1893. While it had a fair number of people for a while, its official status as a city was dissolved in 2002. There are a lot of hypotheses regarding why this city never grew in size, but given that it dissolved more than twenty years ago, interest in it has since waned. There are still plenty of very small cities located in the United States.
When people are interested in geographically small cities, they often point to the city of London; however, it is easy to get the city of London confused with greater London itself. London is one of the largest cities in the world. It encompasses more than 600 square miles and has more than 8 million people; however, the city of London is something very different. The city of London itself is only approximately one square mile in size. Essentially, the city of London refers to London as it was known during the Medieval era. If you envision knights, castles, and walls, it is easier to protect a city that is smaller instead of a city that is larger. Since that time, London has expanded significantly, but when people talk about the city of London, they refer to its medieval borders.