What is the difference between a town and a city?

[frededwards]

Cities are usually bigger.

 

St. David's in Wales has a population of less than 1800 people but is a city by virtue of it's cathedral, Reading is a town and has a population of nearly a quarter of a million.

[WeX]

So Islamabad isn't a city?

 

there is always one

[Plain Talker]

I don't think the rules apply abroad, they have their own system.

 

It used to be the presence of a cathedral - which was confusing as heck, because you'd end up with a situation like in Cambridgeshire where the City was Ely (pop 15K) but nearby Cambridge was a town (with nearly 10x the population)

Cambridge was made a city back in the 50's

 

Sheffield had city status, by royal decree (Victoria gave the decree in 1893) but the cathedral was not given cathedral status until 1914.

 

Leeds Nottingham and Swansea are all cities, but they don't have cathedrals.

 

Other UK cities without cathedrals include:

Bath, Cambridge, Hull, Lancaster, Newport, Plymouth, Salford, Southampton, Stoke-on-Trent and Wolverhampton.

 

Interestingly, UK towns (and one village) with cathedrals that aren't cities include:

Bury St Edmunds, Chelmsford, Blackburn, Guildford and Southwell.

[Eater Sundae]

What is the difference between a town and a city? I have no idea.

 

Does this mean that you’re going to become Upcitygirl?

 

I was told that it was whether or not there was a cathedral. My mother told me this, but as it was the same mother that used to explain that when you see windows that were bricked up it was because of the window tax. This was despite the buildings usually being much younger than the date of the tax. So I always treated her “facts” with a big pinch of salt.

[willman]

Apparently its honorific in title. Thats why Donny keeps loosing out the Queen never picks them.

 

The placement of a cathedral may influence the decision.