Europe of population are Saint Petersburg, Madrid, Berlin and Rome, each having over 3 million residents. When considering the commuter belts or metropolitan areas, within the EU (for which comparable data is available) London covers the largest population, followed in order by Paris, Madrid, Barcelona, Berlin, the Ruhr area, Rome, Milan, Athens and Warsaw. "Europe" as a cultural concept is substantially derived from the shared heritage of the Roman Empire and its culture. The boundaries of Europe were historically understood as those of Christendom (or more specifically Latin Christendom), as established or defended throughout the medieval and early modern history of
Largest cities in Japan by population by decade population since the Tokugawa Era, as samurai left the former castle towns after the collapse of the military order. Source data is from "Nihon Chishi Teiyo" (日本地誌提要, the Japanese Topographical Outline). Several major cities and towns actually lost population over the 1870s, as people continued to emigrate out of the former castle towns. Source data is from the Fourth Joint Military-Government Report (第四回共武政表), a requisitioning document listing municipal populations and available resources and provisions. In 1888, the government enacted a sweeping overhaul of the municipal government system, part of which involved a drastic program of municipality mergers. Overall, the "Great