In the United States, I’d probably name Oregon City, the famous end of the Oregon Trail and the first city founded west of the Rocky Mountains during the pioneer era. Its population is only 37,000.
In the UK it’s got to be the City of London. Famous for being an ancient city established by the Romans and awash with history, now one of the world’s biggest financial centers with a modern skyline of famously distinctive skyscrapers. It’s home to some world-famous landmarks like Saint Paul’s Cathedral and Tower Bridge, and has a population of about 10,000.
The City of London is not to be confused with London, London, London or London.
Well there are only really two where I’m at. Smallest one probably most well known for being the setting for a comedy TV show or it’s wall.
The smallest settlement listed on Wikipedia is known for a bridge.
Roswell, NM comes to mind. Tiny and yet most people will think of UFOs when they hear the name.
I can’t think of a smaller city in the US that fits “so many have heard of it”
Tombstone comes to mind as well
Corleone, Sicily, for obvious reasons. Population around 10k.
Gruyères, Switzerland. 2000 inhabitants. Famous for the famous Swiss cheese of the same name.
Back when I was in Russia I’d say it’d be Suzdal, famous for the density of churches and other traditional architecture; or Tarusa, known for that one song that everyone seems to know a couple of lines from, Gorodok (here is a random rendition I found just now), both with just under 10k pop according to the wiki. And, as a bit of a stretch since it’s not a town and most people would call it Solovki, Solovetsky settlement, famous for being a prison, with about 800 people. Also Oymyakon with under 600 people, the coldest settlement on earth if you’re into that sort of thing.
Now in Georgia, I’d say Borjomi with just over 10k pop famous for its water, and Bakuriani (just over 1800 people) for its water and the ski resort. Again a bit of a stretch, but I guess everyone in Georgia at least also knows the ski resort of Gudauri at just under 100 people, as well as mountain resorts of Gomismta and Bakhmaro, both with no permanent residents due to the rough winters. Geography nerds will also be familiar with Ushguli, (arguably) the highest inhabited settlement in Europe, population 220.
In Hungary, Szarvas or Mohács
Definitely Altschauerberg, home of the country’s most prolific performance artist
In the UK and a city? Probably Liverpool and because of The Beatles.
A Town? Well it certainly used to be Lockerbie where Pan-Am flight 103 crashed after a terrorist bombing just before Christmas 1988. It was on it’s way from London to New York.
Probably not known by the younger generations though.
Ramstein, population ~5600
Famous for the Ramstein Air base, the bombing of the air base, the Ramstein air show disaster and the band named after all of that.
For the US, I’d say a pretty strong contender is Woodstock, NY, with a population of around 6,000, and of course famous for the music festival of the same name (even though the actual festival was something like 60 miles away in Bethel)
Chicken, Alaska. Population: 12
I’d argue that everyone recognises “Chicken”.Fun fact: The settlers wanted to name their town “Ptarmigan” after the birds that were abundant in the area.
But none of them knew the correct spelling, and they didn’t want to embarass themselves.Congratulations, you played yourself.
Gergovie. The place where we defeated romans 2000 years ago. Doesn’t even exist anymore
What about Alesia though?
Not my country, but what immediately came to mind was one that has global name recognition, and minimal population: Chernobyl.
It used to have around 12,000 population, but now it’s technically illegal to live nearby, and up to 150 people are estimated to live there today. It’s famous for being toxically irradiated as a result of the worst nuclear disaster in human history
In the Netherlands is probably Giethoorn, the ‘Venice of the North’ which has many canals instead of roads and is very touristy. It has 2.900 inhabitants
