Wikipedia

List of city nicknames

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This partial list of city nicknames compiles the aliases, sobriquets and slogans that cities are sometimes known by, officially and unofficially, to locals, outsiders or their tourism boards.

Patterns

There are some common types of city nicknames.

Agricultural or Industrial Capitals

Many cities have nicknames which claim that the international or, less commonly, the national or regional capital of a particular industry, hobby or other phenomenon, especially the agricultural production of a certain plant. These include:

Self-proclaimed Capitals of the World

Many cities and towns (particularly in North America) claim to be a "Capital of the World" of a certain subject or other item. These nicknames are usually based on the city's cultural heritage or history. Here is an incomplete list of those cities.

Australia and New Zealand

Canada

Japan

Mexico

United Kingdom

United States

The capital of the world

Birthplace

Some cities take nicknames based on an industry, invention or other phenomenon which allegedly arose there. These include:

Natural characteristics

These are usually self-explanatory.

Comparative nicknames

Some cities have nicknames which refer to other cities with established reputations. For example, a city might bill itself as the "Athens of ..." to establish a similarity with the major cultural contributions of Athens in Antiquity.

'Athens of ...'

'Paris of ...'

'Venice of ...'

Many places have been compared with Venice in Italy, usually due to a high density of waterways (especially inner city canals) and/or maritime trade connections.

'... the North'
'... the South'
'... the East'
'... the West'
by country
Others

See also Places named Venice. There is also Venise-en-Québec, Quebec. Also, the name of Venezuela means "little Venice".

'Little Vienna'

Several cities around the world have been named the 'Little Vienna' due to their characteristic Vienna-inspired architecture. These include:

other Cities

Folk heroes

The American folk hero Paul Bunyan, and his blue ox Babe, have at least three towns vying for being considered his homeland. These include Bemidji, Minnesota, Brainerd, Minnesota and Westwood, California.

Paradises

  • Hong Kong - gourmet paradise, shopping paradise, adventurers' paradise

Complete list

Cities in Argentina

Rosario

    • "La Chicago argentina" (Chicago of Argentina)in reference to maffia connections of Rosario at 1920.
    • La mejor ciudad para vivir (The best city to live in)
    • "Capital nacional de las potras" (National Capital of the pretty girls)
  • Ushuaia
    • The End of the World

Cities in Australia

  • Adelaide
    • City of Churches
    • City of Trees
    • Athens of the South
    • City of Churches and Chappells, as the Chappell brothers (cricketers) come from there
  • Brisbane
  • Canberra
    • The Bush Capital
    • The City Of Lights
  • Geelong
    • Sleepy Hollow
    • City By The Bay
  • Gold Coast
    • Hollywood On The Gold Coast
    • Australia's LA
    • The Theme Park Capital Of The World
  • Melbourne
    • That's Me!bourne (official promotion, note the "!" symbol in place of "L")
    • Bleak City (by residents of Sydney)
    • Sporting Capital of Australia/The World (both due to Melbournians love of sport and many sporting events)
    • Marvellous Melbourne (particularly during the city's 1880s boom)
    • Melbin (translated to Melbun for Kiwis)
    • Cultural/Musical Capital of Australia
    • Multicultural Capital of the World (due to its massive population of migrants from other nations)
    • Smellbourne (in the early days of settlement there was a lack of sewerage)
    • Paris of the Southern Hemisphere
    • The City of 'Four seasons in one day'
    • The true Capital of Australia
    • Garden City (after Garden State - Victoria, Australia)
    • Europe of Australia
  • Sydney
    • The Harbour City
    • Emerald City
    • City Of Lights
    • Sin City
    • Steak and Kidney
    • The Unplanned Estuary (so named for its unfortunate lack of planning after the arrival of the first fleet)
    • Australia's New York
  • Wollongong, New South Wales
    • 'The Gong'
  • Rockhampton, Queensland
  • Perth

Cities in Belgium

Cities in Belarus

Cities in Brazil

Cities in Canada

Cities in Chile

  • Arica
    • La Ciudad de la eterna primavera (The city of the eternal spring).
  • Iquique
    • Tierra de Campeones (Land of the Champions, sport related).
  • Panguipulli
    • Ciudad de las Rosas (City of Roses)
  • La Serena
    • Ciudad del Pisco (City of Pisco)
  • Puerto Montt
    • Estación Final (Final Station, (its the end of Pan american highway and Chiles railroads))
    • Puerto (Just Port)
    • Puerco Montt (Pork Montt)
    • Muerto Montt (Dead Montt)
  • Punta Arenas
    • Punta (An abbreviation)
    • Magallanes
    • La ciudad más austral del Mundo (Southernmost city of the world)
  • Quilpué
    • Ciudad del Sol (Sunny City)
  • Santiago
    • Santiasco (derogatory, a play on the Spanish word asco which refers to something disgusting)
  • Valdivia
    • Ainil (Name of the prehispanic settlement in the same place)
    • La Ciudad de Los Rios (City of Rivers)
    • La Ciudad más linda de Chile (Chiles most beautiful city)
    • La Perla del Sur (The Pearl of the South)
    • La Llave del Pacífico (The key of the Pacific, refering to its colonial fortresses)
    • Valdilluvia (A mix with the spanish word for rain)
  • Valparaíso
    • La Joya del Pacífico (The Jewel of the Pacific)
    • Valpo (An abbreviation)
  • Viña del Mar
    • Ciudad Jardín (Garden City)

Cities in China

Cities in Colombia

  • Bogotá
    • La Atenas suramericana (The Southamerican Athenes).
  • Medellín
    • La Bella Villa (The Beauty city), La ciudad de la eterna primavera (The city of eternal spring).
  • Cali
    • La Sultana del Valle (The sultan of the Valley).
  • Barranquilla
    • La Arenosa (The sandy), Curramba la Bella (Curramba the Beauty).
  • Pereira
    • La perla del Otún (The Otun's pearl).
  • Popayán
    • La ciudad blanca (The white city).
  • Bucaramanga
    • La ciudad de los parques (The city of the parcs).

Cities in Croatia

Cities in the Czech Republic

  • Prague [9]
    • The Golden City
    • The City of Hundred Spires
    • The City of Thousand Spires
    • The Heart of Europe
    • The Paris of the 20´s in the 90´s
    • The Pearl of Europe
  • Ostrava
    • The Steel Heart of the Republic (historically)
    • The city of golden penises

Cities in Denmark

  • Århus
    • City of Smiles (Smilets By)
    • The World's Smallest Metropolis (Verdens mindste storby)
  • Copenhagen
    • The King's Copenhagen (Kongens København)
    • Kjøben (In Norway)
    • Københavnstrup (Sometimes used to refer to Copenhagen in "funny" way)
    • Staden (a short form of Hovedstaden, meaning Capital)
  • Aalborg
    • Capital of Nortern Jutland (Den Nordjyske Hovedstad)

Cities in Egypt

  • Alexandria
    • Pearl of the Mediterranean
  • Cairo
    • Mother of the World
    • Paris on the Nile

Cities in Finland

Cities in France

  • Angers
    • The Black City (for its slate roofs)
    • City of Flowers
    • Athens of the West
  • Bordeaux
    • City of wine
  • Grenoble
    • Capital of the Alps
  • Le Havre
    • The Ocean Gate (La Porte Océane)
  • Lyon
    • Capital of the Gauls
  • Marseille
  • Nice
    • Angels City ("La cité des anges", after La Baie des Anges, the name of the bay, by which the city is built)
  • Paris
    • City of Light
    • City of Lights
    • City of Love
    • Paname
    • Pantruche
  • Reims
    • Crowning City ("La cité des sacres", as French kings were crowned in the local cathedral until Louis XVI)
  • Toulouse
    • Pink City ("La ville rose") after the colour of the roof tiles on many buildings

Cities in Germany

  • Berlin
    • Spree-Athens (Spree river)
    • The Grey City ("die graue Stadt")
    • The Parted City (during Berlin's partition; "die geteilte Stadt")
    • The Parvenue City (during its rise to international importance around 1900)
  • Bonn
    • The Federal Hamlet (Das Bundesdorf)
  • Bremen
    • The Key to the World (Der Schlüssel zur Welt)
  • Dresden
    • Florence on the Elbe (Elbflorenz) (because of the Elbe river)
  • Düsseldorf
    • Little Paris (Petit Paris) (coined by Napoleon)
  • Frankfurt
  • Freiburg im Breisgau
    • Germany's southernmost metropolis (Deutschlands südlichste Großstadt)
  • Göttingen
    • City of Scholarship [or Science] ("Stadt der Wissenschaft")
  • Hamburg
    • Gateway to the World (Tor zur Welt)
  • Husum
    • The Grey Town at the sea (die graue Stadt am Meer)
  • Leipzig
    • Klein Paris
    • Bimbo Town
  • Lübeck
    • Queen of the Hanseatic League (Königin der Hanse)
    • City of the Seven Towers (Stadt der de:Sieben Türme)
    • Gate to the North (Tor zum Norden)
  • Munich (München)
    • Village of a million inhabitants (Millionendorf)
    • World City with Heart (Weltstadt mit Herz)
    • Italy's northern most city (nördlichste Stadt Italiens)
  • Ribnitz-Damgarten
    • Bernsteinstadt
  • Wittenberg
    • Luther's City ("Lutherstadt")

Cities in Guatemala

Cities in Hungary

  • Budapest
    • The Pearl of the Danube
  • Debrecen
    • The Calvinist Rome (for its leadership in Hungarian protestantism)
  • Sopron
    • The City of Fidelity (in 1921 the city voted to remain the part of Hungary not Austria)

Cities in India

Cities in Indonesia

Cities in Iran

Cities in the Republic of Ireland

Cities in Israel

Cities in Italy

  • Alba, Italy
    • City of a Hundred Towers
  • Anagni
    • City of Popes
    • City of the Slap
  • Ancona
    • Doric City
    • Princess of the Adriatic
  • Aosta, Italy
    • Rome of the Alps
  • Aquileia
    • Rome of the North
  • Asolo
    • City of a Hundred Horizons
  • Bari
    • Small Paris
  • Bergamo
    • City of Garibaldi's Thousand
  • Bitonto
    • City of Olives
  • Bologna
    • The Fat One (because it's well renowned for its many gourmet treats)
    • The Learned One (because it hosts the oldest university in the world)
    • The Red One (because it's the traditionally communist stronghold of the nation)
  • Bolzano, Italy
    • The Door to the Dolomites (wherever in the world)
    • Vineyard city (in the German-speaking countries)
    • City of Walther (von der Vogelweide, in the German-speaking countries)
    • Capital of the Christmastime (in Italy)
    • Capital of the Speck (tipical and famous ham from South Tyrol, in the countries in which Speck is known)
    • The German one (because it's the capital city of the region it's most populated by German-speaking people, in Italy)
    • Sentinel of Italy (antiquated and nationalist, in Italy)
  • Bordighera
    • City of Palms
  • Brescia
    • Lioness of Italy
  • Caccamo, Italy
    • Carthage of Sicily
  • Caltanissetta
    • City of Sulphum
  • Caserta
    • Versailles of Italy
  • Catanzaro
    • Eagles Nest
  • Cherasco
    • City of Peace
  • Chieti, Italy
    • The Aerial City
  • Empoli
    • Granary of Tuscany
  • Fabriano
    • City of Paper
  • Faenza
    • City of Pottery
  • Feltre
    • The Small City of Big Men
  • Florence
    • Athens of Italy
    • City of Lilies
  • Gaeta
    • Venice of the Tyrrhenian
  • Genoa
    • The Superb
  • Grado
    • Mother of Venice
  • Gubbio
    • City of Silence
  • Jesi
    • City of Silk
  • L'Aquila
    • City of Frederick II
  • Lecce
    • Athens of Apulia
  • Legnano, Italy
    • Bethlehem of Italy
  • Lugo
    • Mother of the Italian Flag
  • Matera
    • Underground City
  • Messina
    • Rebirthing City
  • Milan
    • City with heart in a hand
    • Drinkable City
    • Factory of the Future
    • The Fashion Capital of the World
    • The Moral Capital of Italy
    • The Design World Capital
    • The Economic Capital of Italy
  • Montagnana
    • Embattled City
  • Naples
    • Capital of the South
    • City of Sea
    • City of Sun
  • Rome
    • Capital of the World (Caput Mundi)
    • City of Cats
    • City of Love
    • The City of the Seven Hills
    • The Eternal City (Latin: Urbs aeterna)
  • Rovereto
    • Bulwark of Italy
  • San Gimignano
    • The Towered City
  • Sanremo
    • City of Dreams
  • Savona
    • The Most Faithful One
  • Schio
    • Manchester of Italy
  • Sirmione
    • Flower of Italy
  • Susa
    • The Birthplace of the House of Savoy
  • Taranto
    • City of the two Seas
  • Terni
    • City of Weapons
  • Tivoli
    • City of Delights
  • Todi
    • City of Mars
  • Trento
    • Daughter of Rome
  • Turin
    • Capital of the Alps
    • The First Capital of Italy
    • The Regal City
  • Udine
    • Capital of the Great War
  • Venice
    • Bride of the Sea
    • Queen of the Adriatic
    • The Most Serene One
  • Ventimiglia
    • City of Flowers
  • Vicenza
    • City of Gold
  • Volterra
    • City of Wind and Boulders

Cities in Japan

"Syo-Kyoto"（Little Kyoto） in Japan

"Ko-Edo"（Little Edo） in Japan

Cities in Lebanon

Cities in Malaysia

Cities in Mexico

  • Celaya, Guanajuato
    • The city of the strawberries.
    • The city of the “cajeta” (milk candy).
  • Cuernavaca, Morelos
    • La Ciudad de la Eterna Primavera
    • The City of Eternal Springs
  • Guadalajara, Jalisco
    • La Perla de Occidente
    • The Pearl of the West
    • La Perla Tapatía
    • The “tapatian” pearl
    • "Guanatos" (slang name)
    • The city of roses.
    • The San Francisco of Latinamerica.
    • The city of Fountains.
  • Izamal
    • The Yellow City
  • León, Guanajuato
    • The Shoe Capital of México
  • Mazatlán
    • La Perla del Pacífico
    • The Pearl of the Pacific
  • Mérida, Yucatán
    • La Ciudad Blanca
    • The White City
  • Mexicali
    • The City who captured the sun
  • Mexico City
    • La Ciudad de lo Palacios
    • The City of Palaces
    • La Venecia de Indias
    • The Venice of Indies
    • "Mexicalpan" (slang name)
    • "Chilangolandia" (slang name)
  • Monterrey, Nuevo León
    • La Sultana del Norte
    • The Sultaness of the North
  • Pachuca, Hidalgo
    • La Bella Airosa
    • The Beautiful Windy
  • Parral, Chihuahua
    • The Capital of the World
  • Puebla, Puebla
    • The city of the sweet potatoes ("camotes")
    • The city of “talavera” (tiles)
    • The city of Angels
  • Taxco
    • The Silver Capital of the World
  • Tijuana
    • Television Capital of the World
    • T.J.
  • Valladolid, Yucatan
    • The Sultaness of the East

Cities in Nepal

Cities in the Netherlands

  • Alkmaar
    • Kaasstad (City of Cheese)
  • Amsterdam
    • Mokum
    • Gateway to Europe
    • Gayway to Europe
    • Venice of the North
    • 020 (telephone city code)
  • Deventer
    • Koekstad (City of Cook)
  • Eindhoven
    • Lichtstad (City of Light - after the Philips factory))
  • Enschede
    • Pluskut
  • Gouda
    • Kaasstad (City of Cheese)
    • Kaarsenstad (City of Candles)
  • Groningen
    • Grunn
    • Stad (City)
  • The Hague
    • De Residentie (the residence)
    • De Hofstad (Court City - it's the Dutch seat of government)
    • City of Peace and Justice (the International Court of Justice resides here)
  • Leiden
    • Sleutelstad (City of Keys)
  • Maastricht
    • Oldest city of the Netherlands (dispute with Nijmegen)
  • Nijmegen
    • Waalstad (Waal City)
    • Keizerstad (Emperor City)
    • Oldest city of the Netherlands (dispute with Maastricht)
    • Havana aan de Waal (Havana on the Waal - for its left-wing government)
  • Rotterdam
    • Manhattan aan de Maas (Manhattan upon Meuse)
    • Rotjeknor
    • Maasstad (Meuse City)
    • 010 (telephone city code)
  • Utrecht
    • Domstad (Cathedral City)
  • Zutphen
    • Torenstad (City of Towers)
  • Zwolle
    • Blauwvingerstad (City of the Blue Fingers)

Cities in New Zealand

Cities in Norway

  • Bergen
    • Hansabyen -- The Hanseatic City
  • Egersund
    • Okka by -- Our Town
  • Fredrikstad
    • Plankebyen -- The Plank Town
  • Halden
    • Festningsbyen -- The Fortress Town
  • Haugesund
    • Sildabyen -- The Herring Town
  • Molde
    • Rosenes by -- Town of Roses
  • Oslo
    • Tigerstaden -- Tiger Town
  • Røros
    • Bergstaden -- The Mining Town
  • Sandnes
    • Sykkelbyen -- The Bicycle Town
  • Stavanger
    • Oljebyen -- The Oil City
  • Tromsø
    • Nordens Paris -- Paris of the North

Cities in Peru

Cities in the Philippines

Cities in Poland

Cities in Portugal

Cities in Puerto Rico

(note: almost every city in Puerto Rico has a nickname)

Cities in Romania

Cities in Russia

  • Moscow
    • The Financial Capital of Russia
    • The Scientifical Capital of Russia
    • The Spiritual Capital of Russia
    • The Spirit of Russia
    • The Third Rome
    • Big Village
  • St. Petersburg
    • The Nothern Capital of Russia
    • The Cultural Capital of Russia
    • The Naval Capital of Russia
    • The proposed in early 1990s Capital of Russia
    • The planned Justice Capital of Russia after moving of Constitutional Court
    • The proposed Parliamential Capital of Russia according to unrealized plans of moving of Parliament
    • The Mind of Russia
    • The Head of Russia
    • The Cradle of Russians Revolutions
    • Venice of the North
    • The Northern Palmira
    • Peater (familiar)
  • Sochi
    • The Summer or Resort Capital of Russia due to summer residence of President and most popular resort
  • Togliatti
    • The Automobile Capital of Russia, or Russian Detroit, due to largest autoproducting plant
  • Nizhniy Novgorod
    • The Pocket of Russia
    • The Cash of Russia
    • The proposed in 1990s Capital of Russia
    • Simply "Nizhniy"
  • Kazan
    • The Ethnical Capital of Russia as the capital of Tatarstan, most developed and precedential republic of Russian Federation
    • The Temporary Scientifical Capital of Soviet Union during WWII
  • Kuybyshev, now Samara
    • The proposed Temporary Capital (in case of occupation of Moscow) and Temporary Administrative and Diplomatic Capital of Soviet Union during WWII (due to evacuation of control structures and foreign )
    • The Town of Most Beautiful Russian Girls
  • Sverdlovsk, now Yekaterinburg
    • The Temporary Industrial Capital of Soviet Union during WWII
    • The proposed in 1990s Capital of Russia
  • Tyumen
    • The Temporary Spiritual Capital of Soviet Union during WWII
    • The Oil-Gaz Capital of Russia
  • Obninsk
    • The Town of Peace Atom
  • Ladoga
    • The historically original Capital of Russia
  • Vladimir
    • The former Capital of Russia
  • Novosibirsk
    • The proposed in 2000s Capital of Russia
    • The Capital of Siberia
  • Syzran
    • The proposed in early 1990s Capital of Russia
  • Ivanovo
    • City of brides
  • Zelenograd
    • Zelik
    • Greencity, Greentown (Russian: зелёный город)
    • Russian Silicon valley

Cities in Serbia

Cities in Slovakia

Cities in South Africa

Cities in South Korea

  • Suwon
    • The City of Filial Piety

Cities in Spain

  • Barakaldo
    • La localidad fabril, "the factory locality"
  • Barcelona
    • Barna
    • BCN
    • Ciudad Condal, "Count city"
  • Cádiz
    • La tacita de plata, "the little silver cup"
  • Eibar
    • The gunmaking town
  • Valladolid
    • Fachadolid - pejorative: facha means fascist
    • Pincia
    • Pucela
  • Vitoria-Gasteiz
    • Pretoria-Gasteiz, by critics of the Basque Government.
    • Siberia-Gasteiz, for its colder climate.
  • Oviedo
  • San Sebastián
    • Easo
    • The Beautiful Easo
    • The Pearl of the Bay of Biscay, it is located on the Bahía de la Concha (Shell Bay).
    • Ñoñosti (a blend of ñoño, "childish" in Spanish, and its Basque name Donosti)
  • Madrid
    • Los Madriles (in plural)
    • Capital del reino (Kingdom's capital)
    • El Foro, "The forum"
    • Rompeolas de las Españas, "tidebreaker of the Spains"
    • La Villa y Corte, "the villa (town) and royal court"
  • Bilbao

Cities in Sweden

Cities in Switzerland

Cities in Thailand

Cities in Ukraine

  • Kiev
    • Mater’ Gorodov Rrus'kih -- The Mother of Rus' Cities
  • Lviv
    • Misto Leva -- City of Lion or City of Leo after prince Lev/Leo
  • Odessa
    • Odessa-mama -- Odessa-Mother
    • Pearl of the Black Sea
  • Sevastopol
    • Gorod geroi -- The Hero City

Cities in the United Kingdom

Cities in the United States

Main article: List of city nicknames in the United States

Cities in Venezuela

  • Caracas - la ciudad de los techos rojos, the city of red roofs, a poetic metaphor from the XIX century
  • Maracaibo - capital of the Republic of Zulia, a sarcastic reference to the traditional rivalry between the cities of Caracas and Maracaibo
  1. ^ http://purl.pt/768/1/vap/sintra.html
  2. ^ http://purl.pt/768/1/vap/sintra.html
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