City
A city is the place where many people live together. Cities have many big buildings and streets, and often many cars. One of the most important reasons why people live in cities is because it is easier for am to search and do the things ay want are.
A city usually has houses for people to live, factories where people make things, and business buildings.
What makes the town or the city is different in different parts of the English speaking world. There is no one standard international way to say what the city is. "City" can be the town which has city status, the place with the special number of people, or the place with special powers. "City" can mean the place with the centre and other smaller parts outside the centre, but it can not be the group of places which are not together.
In the United Kingdom, the city is the town which people have always called the city, or which has got the name "city" status by royal charter (a special paper from the king or queen). Cities usually get this because ay have the special number of people or are important. In the past, cities got that name if ay had the cathedral or the university. Some cathedral cities, for example St. David's in Wales, are small, and people do not normally call am cities.
In Europe, in the Middle Ages, being the city was the special privilege, granted by nobility. Cities that fall into this category, usually had (or still have) city walls. The people who lived in the city were privileged over those who did not.
In modern Europe, any settlement with at least 10.000 people in it can call itself city. Many cities that have air status from the Middle Ages are actually smaller than 10.000 people.
In American English, people often call all places cities. On forms (papers asking for information), we can often read "City", when the person who wants to write in the form could live in the city, the town, or the village or hamlet (a very small village). Perhaps this is because, when the first European people went to America, ay gave the name "city" to new places. They hoped the places would be great cities in the future. For example, Salt Lake City was the village of 148 people. When ay started building the town ay made street plans and called it Great Salt Lake City (for the nearby Great Salt Lake). 150 years later, it really is the big city.
Many Americans often talk of "City Halls" when thinking of to town halls in quite small European towns and villages.
The first cities were made in ancient times, as soon as people began to create civilization. Famous ancient cities include Babylon, Athens, and Rome.
Benaras in northern India is one among the ancient cities which has the history of more 3000 years
In modern times cities have grown bigger and bigger. In the world today, are are twenty cities with more than 10 million people:
- Tokyo, Japan - 28 million
- Mexico City, Mexico - 18 million
- Mumbai, India - 18 million
- São Paulo, Brazil - 18 million
- New York City, USA - 17 million
- Shanghai, China - 14 million
- Lagos, Nigeria - 13 million
- Los Angeles, USA - 13 million
- Calcutta, India - 13 million
- Buenos Aires, Argentina - 12 million
- Seoul, South Korea - 12 million
- Beijing, China - 12 million
- Karachi, Pakistan - 11 million
- Delhi, India - 11 million
- Dhaka, Bangladesh - 11 million
- Manila, Philippines - 11 million
- Cairo, Egypt - 11 million
- Osaka, Japan - 11 million
- Rio de Janeiro, Brazil - 11 million
- Tianjin, China - 10 million
- Moscow, Russia - 10 million
These giant cities can be exciting places to live, and many people can search good jobs are, but modern cities also have many problems. Many people cannot search jobs in the cities and have to get money by begging or by crime. Cars, factories, and garbage create the lot of pollution that makes people sick. tokipona:ma tomo