In the United States, I’d probably name Oregon City, the famous end of the Oregon Trail and the first city founded west of the Rocky Mountains during the pioneer era. Its population is only 37,000.
Puerto Hurraco. Population 100. Everybody in Spain recognises its name because of a shooting that got burned into the collective mind.
World recognition or in-country?
If world I’d guess Huskvarna (pop 24 000) for Sweden.
Known for having a company making chainsaws (among other things) named after it (Husqvarna). It is one of the two main brands of professional chainsaws (the other being Stihl).
I definitely recognized “Huskvarna” for some reason, but didn’t know its location or why I would have recognized it before reading your comment. I haven’t lived in Sweden or a place that would have been very easy for me to get to Sweden from.
How about Jokkmokk?
Strong contender! Definitely less populated, but I think also less well known?
Hell, Michigan in the US definitely has a shot.
It might not count as a city but Nome Alaska has the Iditarod with only, 3700 people. Or maybe some famous battlefield, Gettysburg has 7100 people. A ski resort like Aspen could count with 7000. We all had to memorize state capitals so maybe somewhere like Montpelier, Vermont has more recognition but has 7800 people.
Sturgis also has a population of around 7,000, and has a pretty significant cultural awareness because of its annual motorbiking event
Jeez, I had no idea Aspen and Montpelier were so small.
Aspen has been experiencing a deep housing crisis for years. They have to bus in most of their workers from nearby towns because no one who has to work for a living can afford to live in Aspen. Now there’s a worker shortage because no one can afford to live in the outlying towns either.
Idk about Montpelier but Aspen is kind of connected to a more populated area in the Roaring Fork valley.
Vulcan, Alberta.
Famous because of a spaceship that landed there once, I think.
Some people with pointed ears may have also been involved, but I would replicate that with a grain of salt. I haven’t really looked into it.
It’s a total aside, but I feel like more people should know about Shag Harbour, NS for similar reasons. That and The Shag Harbour Incident would make an excellent band name.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shag_Harbour_UFO_incident
They have a little museum which is kinda fun.
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Lajitas, Texas, which once elected as their mayor a goat that drank beer, has a population of 75.
Terlingua, Texas, as made famous by Jerry Jeff Walker and home of the Terlingua International Chili Cook-off, has a population of 78.
Luckenbach, Texas, as made famous by Waylon Jennings and Willie Nelson, has a population of 3.
Gruyères, Switzerland. 2000 inhabitants. Famous for the famous Swiss cheese of the same name.
ottawa
I think a decent number of people know about Dildo, NL
In the UK it’s got to be the City of London. Famous for being an ancient city established by the Romans and awash with history, now one of the world’s biggest financial centers with a modern skyline of famously distinctive skyscrapers. It’s home to some world-famous landmarks like Saint Paul’s Cathedral and Tower Bridge, and has a population of about 10,000.
The City of London is not to be confused with London, London, London or London.
PANAMA!
Van Halen, spring break, population 35,600.
I legitimately though Oregon was a State, I didn’t know it was also a city.
From my country I’m going to be generous and say Barcelona. Second biggest city here. I doubt next bigger cities are universally known.
I think Seville and Pamplona are well known, for the Barber of Seville and the running of the bulls respectively.
I’m in the US and I can’t say I’d heard of Oregon City before this post…
For real. I’d think many more people could name Panama city in Florida. Famous spring break and vacation city every kid who’s gone through college or listened to Van Halen knows of. Also has a population of less than 36,000 people.
Oregon City would be my answer to ‘what’s the capital of Oregon?’
Just a standard, since I never heard of the capital I’ll try the state name plus city guess.
I take it it’s not Portland?
I just looked it up. Salem is the capital. Portland is the largest city.
I am not in the US. Never heard of Oregon City. But Atlantic City sounds really familiar.
Fairly big city and a tourist destination if you are too trash to go to Reno, which is where you go if you are too trash to go to Vegas.
Ocean City is the new Atlantic City anyway.
I thought the Oregon Trail was a pretty standard part of US history curriculum.
I too have never heard of Oregon City. I can only assume it’s in Oregon. The only thing I remember about the Oregon Trail is that I died from dysentery every time I followed the trail.
But most of the world did not have the US education system. I’d say only some Americans have heard of Oregon City, and very few non Americans.
Oregon trail, yes, Oregon city, no. I remember learning that it went from independence Missouri to the Willamette Valley. If I had to guess where I thought it ended, I would have said Portland.
From US, played Oregon trail for hundreds of hours, didn’t remember Oregon City.
I think the game ended in The Dalles didn’t it?
Nantucket Massachusetts 10k
Aspen Colorado 7k
Jackson Hole Wyoming 10k
Key West Florida 25k
Probably all more famous and smaller population.
Tombstone, AZ has a population of 1,313.
And every one of them is hot.
We were taught about it, but most Americans don’t view westward expansion with the same… Reverence? Notoriety?
Like, I remember learning about it across multiple grades, but… Oregon City being the final destination, that’s not something I would probably remember a year or two later, nevermind a decade or more.
Not really, not in our school district anyways. They did allow us to play the game based on that on their ancient computers, but never really gave us historical context, nor were we required to play the game.
I didn’t learn shit about it back then, and barely get it today. I’m 42 years old for reference.
It was popular, but I think most folks who played it remember dying of dysentery, not the cities 😆
Dildo, Newfoundland.
Not really though.
Off the top of my head I’d say places like Gander, Churchill, Iqaluit - places known maybe for their location as much as their people and unique situations?
The smallest Canadian city that I’d think most people around the world might know about is Niagara Falls, although they might only know about the falls and not know that it’s also a city.
Edit: I thought the question meant people around the world but I guess it could also mean just the people in your own country…
Nope
Yellowknife has a population of 20,000. Is that considered small enough?
I’d say no in the context of the OP. That’s one of our major cities in our own way. And a territorial capital.
Banff is what I was looking for in this list (pop ~8300). Not many places in this country are ‘acting Canadian’ anymore.
Man, I was struggling with this. The one I landed on is Halifax, just given its role as a port city and the story of the Halifax Explosion. But I’m having a hard time justifying that position.
There’s much smaller, even more interesting places but not much about them that’d attract international notice unless you’re visiting here or specifically curious about Canada.
Charlottetown is a good answer actually. Bigger than I thought though, 40k people.
Omg…i spent 4 hours in Gander one evening, so it took about 20 hours to go Dallas -> Chicago -> Gander-> Chicago.
“A week in Gander one day.”
I think people really overestimate how much everybody knows about the US.
I’d say there’s a large population that only know NYC, LA, and Chicago.
Used to be Dallas was pretty famous- Kennedy shooting, cheerleaders, and a titular TV show.
I’d say Salem, Massachusetts (pop just under 45k) is pretty famous thanks to the witch trials.
Van Halen and Spring Break dictates that everyone knows Panama city.
Population of under 36,000.
“Panama isn’t about a city, it’s the stage name of a stripper from Albuquerque!”
- David Lee Roth
It doesn’t matter that it isn’t actually about the city. That doesn’t change that people think of and know Panama the city due to the song. They either know it because they think it’s about the city, or they know it because they’re like you with their “actually”, which shows that you and anyone else who knows it’s about a stripper still knows of the city.
I thought it was about the country
