The second city of a country is the city that is (or was) the second-most important, usually after the capital or first city.

Criteria for second city status include population size, economic or commercial importance, political importance, or some cultural sense.

Australia

In Australia, Melbourne is usually referred to as the second city, behind the largest city Sydney. Neither of the two is the national capital, which is the comparatively small city of Canberra. Sydney and Melbourne are both state capitals and are the largest cities in their states.

Brazil

Rio de Janeiro is Brazil's second city, but was its first until the 1950s. It was the capital until 1960 and the center of the nation. São Paulo has since come to dominate Brazil's economic, social, and political scene, although Rio is still an important cultural center, and Brasília has been the country's capital since 1960.

Canada

In Canada, Montreal is commonly considered to be the country's second city. Until the late 1970s, this title had belonged to Toronto. It was during that time, amidst political and social unrest caused by the growing Quebec sovereignty movement, that it replaced Montreal, the first city, as the centre of the financial industry, which would move from St. James Street in Montreal to Bay Street in Toronto, as well as its economic centre. Also at this time, both cities split cultural leadership along linguistic lines. However, the population of the metropolitan area of Toronto overtook that of Montreal in the mid 1960s, and Toronto became the dominant industrial and transport centre of Canada in the early 1960s after the completion of the St. Lawrence Seaway (both before and despite the Quebec sovereignty movement). For more on the rivalry between the country's two largest cities see Toronto-Montreal rivalry

Each province may have a second city, but this is controversial. For example in British Columbia, Victoria is secondary in population to Vancouver despite being the provincial capital, as in the case with Quebec City and Montreal in the province of Quebec as well as Toronto and Ottawa in the province of Ontario, despite Ottawa's being the nation's capital. In some provinces, however, cities are more evenly matched. In Alberta, Calgary and Edmonton are nearly equal in population, and while Edmonton is the capital, Calgary is a more important business centre (see Battle of Alberta). Similarly Saskatchewan's Regina and Saskatoon are of a similar size, while New Brunswick has three similarly sized cities, Saint John, Moncton, and Fredericton. In the provinces of Manitoba, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland & Labrador and Prince Edward Island the capital city is also the largest city by a significant margin.

Colombia

Medellín is the second city of Colombia, and has been for most of the 20th century. As the most important city in the coffee-growing region known as the eje cafetero, for decades the economic surplus of a very profitable export trade accumulated here. The National Federation of Coffee Growers of Colombia, which provided credit, extension education, and marketing services for the individual small farmers, invested its surpluses in diversifying the local economy. This led to a thriving textile and fashion industry, so Medellín is sometimes called the Manchester of South America, after England's textile capital. The cultural, economic and political influence of the paisas, as the people of the region are called, has traditionally been very strong in Colombia; businessmen once complained "even the Banco Alemán (German Bank) is owned by paisas". Recently the cultural influence of the Caribbean coastal region has grown, so that the status of second city is now disputable between Medellín and Cartagena. Cartagena, which began as a walled city and major seaport in colonial times, was the traditional second city of the country, a power rival to the capital, Bogotá.

Greece

Thessaloniki is often referred to as a co-capital of Greece. It is the second most important economic and cultural center of the country, and serves as a link between the peninsular country and the center of Europe. In the Middle Ages, Thessaloniki was regarded as the "co-queen" of the Byzantine Empire, second in importance only to the empire's capital, Constantinople.

Japan

Osaka is the city in Japan with the third largest population, following Tokyo and Yokohama. Yokohama is, however, one of the satellite towns of Tokyo,^[1][2] and is considered a part of the Greater Tokyo Area. After the 7th century A.D., the Japanese capital was moved to Osaka a few times. In the 16th century, at about the time Tokyo (then called Edo) was established as Japan's de facto capital, Osaka was rezoned, which gave it the advantage of the largest port and access to many tradesmen.

Like Tokyo, Osaka is now part of a larger metropolitan area (Osaka-Kobe-Kyoto), and it has all the top level infrastructure and social systems except a national legislative organ. It was in the late 1980s and early 1990s among the top 5 largest metropolitan areas of the world, and still is second to only Tokyo worldwide for public rail infrastructure, with more than 10 million daily riders, and over 70 rapid transit rail lines.

Here is a list of Islands in Japan and their first and second cities.

Mexico

From colonial times,^[3] and until the beginning of the 20th century,^[4] Puebla was considered the second city in Mexico; it was the first to industrialize and the second most important cultural and academic centre.^[5] Throughout the 20th century, Guadalajara has been traditionally considered the second city given its initial rapid industrialization^[6] and population growth. Nowadays, it continues to be the second most important cultural centre hosting prestigious international literary, music and film events.^[7] It was selected to be the "Cultural Capital of the Americas" on one occasion, and at the same time remains an important industrial hub for all Mexico, and it remains the country's second most populous city.

Netherlands

The first city and official capital city of the Netherlands is Amsterdam. The status of 'second city', however, can be awarded to more than just one city. The title is usually awarded to Rotterdam, which is Amsterdam's natural opposite and the second city of the country by population number. Rotterdam also features one of the world's largest sea ports and is a major economical center in the Netherlands. However, the title of 'second city' could also be awarded to the Hague, which is the official seat of government and the nation's third city by population number. The Hague is also an important international city: it is, for example, the seat of the International Court of Justice.

New Zealand

New Zealand's second city is considered to be its capital Wellington after the country's largest city Auckland. Wellington, aside from being able to claim itself as the national capital, is also seen as the cultural capital, much like other second cities such as Montreal and Melbourne. People from Christchurch often claim their position as the second largest city in the country and largest in the South Island should make them the second city.

In terms of islands,

Philippines

Cebu City is regarded at the Philippines' second city because of it's economic prominence and prevalence as an international tourist destination outside of Metro Manila.^[8] The Mactan-Cebu International Airport is the country's second busiest airport.

Although larger cities than Cebu exist surrounding the City of Manila, Metro Manila as a whole is generally regarded as the country's first city.

Baguio City, in Luzon is the Philippine "summer capital", where government departments have a resthouse.

Russia

The second city of Russia is St.Petersburg. It is the country's second largest city, the former capital, and the largest port. And conversely, when St. Petersburg was the capital of the Russian Empire, Moscow was the second city.

South Africa

Cape Town is still regarded as South Africa's second city, because of its economic importance, its prevalence as an international tourist destination, and its airport, which is the second-busiest in the country after OR Tambo International Airport near Johannesburg. However, in the same way that Los Angeles outgrew Chicago in the 1980s, Durban outgrew Cape Town in the 1990s in terms of population. Durban International Airport, however, does not handle as much traffic as Cape Town International Airport. Moreover, Durban does not function as either a provincial or national capital as Cape Town does, and is not as economically strong as Cape Town.^[9] As such, it is generally still regarded in the lexicon of the South African urban hierarchy as South Africa's third city.

As for South Africa's provinces , most have a certain first city while many have a certain second city. In many occasions , the second city is often the seat of administration in that province, if not it the first city is. Second cities are often judged not on the population or geographical size but the economic and historical importance.

Sweden

Gothenburg is Sweden's second city in population, past the capital Stockholm. It contains the largest port^[10], and several industries of great historical importance, notably automobile manufacturer Volvo Cars and ball-bearing manufacturer SKF.

Thailand

Chiang Mai is often cited as Thailand's second city by foreigners, however, the reality is Thailand doesn't really have a definitive second city, like many other nations. No other city even comes close in comparison to Bangkok, culturally, politically, economically, or otherwise. Among the second tier cities after Bangkok include Chiang Mai, Chon Buri, Phuket and Korat (Nakhon Ratchasima), each of which may have claims to second city. Hat Yai/Songkhla is also a major southern hub, large enough in size, but lacks character and isn't considered really "Thai".

In terms of former capitals, Chiang Mai is the largest, in terms of population, Korat has the largest provincial population and gateway to the Isan, in terms of city limits, Chon Buri leads in population of all cities outside of Greater Bangkok, as well as the province having significant economic importance as being part of the Eastern Seaboard of Thailand. Phuket can be seen as the country's premier tourist destination.

Before the 1970s, Thon Buri City was Thailand's second city, but it has since merged with Bangkok.

United Kingdom

Since the formation of the UK, Norwich,^[11] Dublin,^[12] Bristol,^[13] Glasgow,^[14] and Liverpool^[15] have all been identified as the second city by various sources, and indeed Glasgow was often described as the second city of the entire British Empire in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.^[16] Dublin was the second most populous city at the time of the formation of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland in 1801, though it and the rest of the now Republic of Ireland, ceased to be a part of the UK in the 1920s, when it became the Irish Free State. These cities were prominent because of their economic importance, especially the central role which they played in overseas trade, and (excluding Dublin) are still among the largest cities in the country.

Birmingham, the second-largest city both by geographical size and population, was described as the second city of the UK since around the First World War.^[17][18][19]

More recently, many sources have claimed that Manchester deserves the distinction,^[20][21] and it has often been described as the second city in published media and public opinion polls.^{[22][23][24][25][26]}

Scotland

The capital city of Scotland is Edinburgh, having been so since 1437. However, the largest city in Scotland in terms of population is Glasgow. Glasgow's famous nickname is the "Second City of the Empire", (the first city in this context being London).^[27]

Northern Ireland

The capital city of Northern Ireland is Belfast. The second city of Northern Ireland is Derry. Until 2002 Northern Ireland's only other city was Armagh, the ecclesiastical capital of the island of Ireland. That year, Queen Elizabeth granted city status to Lisburn and Newry.^[28]

Wales

Cardiff is the capital city of Wales and the largest city by population. The second most populous city is Swansea.

United States

In the United States, the term has long been a nickname for Chicago^[29], which has a history as the largest urban area second to New York City. Due to its population being second to New York, many people incorrectly believe this is the source of the nickname second city. In fact, the moniker "Second City" was created after the Great Chicago Fire devestated the original city and from the ashes was built the new Chicago...the second Chicago. The name is a sense of pride for Chicagoans heralding their success in the massive rebuilding of the city and is no way meant to refer to Chicago as being secondary to New York in population. However, in the 1980s, Chicago was displaced by Los Angeles as the second largest city in the United States (if considering the metropolitan area, it could be argued that this had taken place in the early 1970s). Chicago has embraced its "Second City" moniker and has widely accepted it as a shorthand name for the city; this is the origin of the name of The Second City comedy troupe.

Other countries

See also

• List of countries whose capital is not their largest city
• List of largest cities and second largest cities by country
• Satellite city

References

es:Segunda ciudad ja:????