List of smallest cities in the United Kingdom explained

The table displays the 31 smallest of the cities in the United Kingdom across three measures. Most of these appear in all three of the following categories:

• Area (body): This default sort ranks the physically smallest 23 local government areas (parish/community, district, county) and if missing, a built-up locality that has city status
• Area (locale): 24 cities with the smallest same-name built-up area (many cities have much countryside and multiple settlements within their boundaries)
• Census population: 24 cities around 100,000 residents and fewer since the 2001 census

Lichfield, Hereford and Salisbury, in addition to being some of the smallest cities in England, are among the most populous civil parishes.

The least populous cities on all of British territory are Jamestown in St Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha (pop. 629) and Hamilton in Bermuda (pop. 854).

List

City	County/council area (Scotland/Wales)	Area (body/locale)		Body	Area (locale)		Locale/ body %	Census population				Country
		Rank	sq mi (km^2)		Rank	sq mi (km^2)		Rank (2011)	2021	data-sort-type="number"	2011		data-sort-type="number"	2001
data-sort-value="London"	City of London	City of London	1	1.122NaN2	County	3	data-sort-value="1.12"	—	data-sort-value="1000"	—	2	8,583	7,375	7,185^[1]	England
Wells	Somerset	2	2.112NaN2	Parish	4	1.352NaN2	63.99%	3	11,145	10,536	10,406^[2]	England
St Asaph	Denbighshire	3	2.492NaN2	Community	2	0.52NaN2	20.19%	data-sort-value="25"	—	3,485	data-sort-value="116808"	3,355	data-sort-value="110000"	3,491	Wales
Bangor	Gwynedd	4	2.792NaN2	Community	5	1.652NaN2	59.20%	5	15,060	16,358	13,725^[3]	Wales
Ripon	North Yorkshire	5	3.832NaN2	Parish	7	1.972NaN2	51.36%	6	16,590	16,702	15,922^[4]	England
Armagh	County Armagh	6	data-sort-value="3.97"	—	None	11	3.972NaN2	data-sort-value="2000"	—	4		14,749	14,590	Northern Ireland
Chichester	West Sussex	7	4.122NaN2	Parish	9	3.322NaN2	80.77%	9	29,407	26,795	23,731^[5]	England
Truro	Cornwall	8	4.152NaN2	Parish	8	2.832NaN2	68.25%	7	21,046	18,766	17,431^[6]	England
Lichfield	Staffordshire	9	5.412NaN2	Parish	10	3.352NaN2	61.84%	11	32,580	32,219	27,900^[7]	England
Newry	County Armagh/Down	10	data-sort-value="5.43"	—	None	16	5.432NaN2	data-sort-value="2001"	—	10	TBC	26,967	data-sort-value="115000"	27,433	Northern Ireland
Perth	Perth & Kinross	11	data-sort-value="6.71"	—	None	19	6.712NaN2	data-sort-value="2004"	—	data-sort-value="26"	—	TBC	data-sort-value="117000"	46,970^[8]	data-sort-value="120000"	43,450	Scotland
Salisbury	Wiltshire	12	7.142NaN2	Parish	12	4.362NaN2	61.04%	12	41,552	40,302	39,726^[9] ^[10]	England
Lisburn	County Antrim/Down	13	data-sort-value="7.53"	—	None	20	7.532NaN2	data-sort-value="2005"	—	13	TBC	45,370^[11]	data-sort-value="125000"	71,465	Northern Ireland
Bangor	CountyDown	14	data-sort-value="7.55"	—	None	21	7.552NaN2	data-sort-value="2005.5"	—	data-sort-value="27"	—		data-sort-value="120000"	61,011	data-sort-value="123000"	58,388	Northern Ireland
Hereford	Herefordshire	15	7.852NaN2	Parish	17	6.582NaN2	83.82%	15	53,113	58,896^[12]	50,154^[13]	England
Stirling	Stirling	16	data-sort-value="7.91"	—	None	23	7.912NaN2	data-sort-value="2006"	—	14	TBC	45,750	data-sort-value="122000"	45,115	Scotland
data-sort-value="Westminster"	City of Westminster	Greater London	17	8.292NaN2	District	data-sort-value="24"	24	data-sort-value="8.29"	—	data-sort-value="2006.5"	—	data-sort-value="43"	—	204,236	219,396	data-sort-value="181286"	181,286	England
Inverness	Highland	18	data-sort-value="10.28"	—	None	data-sort-value="27"	—	10.282NaN2	data-sort-value="2007"	—	16	TBC	61,235^[14] ^[15]	71,000	Scotland
data-sort-value="Carlisle"	City of Carlisle	Cumbria	data-sort-value="19"	19	10.382NaN2	Trustee	22	7.762NaN2	74.75%	23	74,428	107,524	100,739	England
Dunfermline	Fife	20	data-sort-value="10.85"	—	None	data-sort-value="28"	—	data-sort-value="10.28"	10.852NaN2	data-sort-value="2007.7"	—	data-sort-value="28"	—		data-sort-value="131028"	68,426^[16]	data-sort-value="115001"	39,320^[17]	Scotland
Worcester	Worcestershire	21	12.852NaN2	District	data-sort-value="24"	—	9.522NaN2	74.12%	22	103,872	98,768	93,353^[18]	England
Derry	County Londonderry	22	data-sort-value="13.10"	—	None	data-sort-value="31"	—	13.12NaN2	data-sort-value="2008"	—	18	TBC	85,016	83,652	Northern Ireland
Lincoln	Lincolnshire	23	13.782NaN2	District	data-sort-value="30"	—	12.612NaN2	91.48%	20	103,813	93,541	85,595^[19]	England
St Davids	Pembrokeshire	data-sort-value="26"	—	17.882NaN2	Community	1	0.233NaN3	1.29%	1	1,751	1,841	1,797^[20]	Wales
Ely	Cambridgeshire	data-sort-value="29"	—	22.862NaN2	Parish	6	1.842NaN2	8.04%	8	20,574	20,256	15,102^[21]	England
City of Bath	Somerset	data-sort-value="34"	—	28.682NaN2	Trustee	data-sort-value="29"	—	11.072NaN2	data-sort-value="2009"	—	19	97,066	88,859	83,992^[22]	England
data-sort-value="Canterbury"	City of Canterbury	Kent	data-sort-value="57"	—	119.252NaN2	District	15	5.092NaN2	4.27%	data-sort-value="35"	—	157,432	151,145	135,278	England
data-sort-value="Durham"	City of Durham	County Durham	data-sort-value="64"	—	186.682NaN2	Trustee	14	4.962NaN2	data-sort-value="2010"	—	21	101,372	94,375	87,709^[23]	England
Wrexham	Wrexham	data-sort-value="65"	—	194.512NaN2	District	18	6.72NaN2	3.45%	data-sort-value="30"	—	135,117	134,884	128,476	Wales
data-sort-value="Winchester"	City of Winchester	Hampshire	data-sort-value="67"	—	255.22NaN2	District	13	4.762NaN2	1.86%	24	127,444	116,595	107,222	England
data-sort-value="Chester"	City of Chester	Cheshire	data-sort-value="69"	—	448.042NaN2	Trustee	data-sort-value="25"	—	9.852NaN2	data-sort-value="2044"	—	17	TBC	79,645^[24]	77,040^[25]	England

Notes

• Statistics in italics have been added for completion of the table. These are in numerical but non-ranking order.
• English cities prefixed 'City of...' are districts so named to distinguish them from a namesake settlement area which does not have city status, with the City of London having additional county status. All of these except London have several communities and suburbs within their boundaries, with most containing large swathes of countryside, extra settlements and sometimes parishes/communities.

References

• England and Wales area figures are taken from the ONS Geography Linked Data, DEFRA, AND NOMIS sites.
• Scotland cities post-2000 area and population figures are taken from the Scotland Census site and settlement size used as local government areas there are not required to hold the city designation for their full areaWeb site: Department for Culture Media and Sport - civic honours competitions. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20160428050646/http://old.culture.gov.uk/what_we_do/honours/7610.aspx. 2016-04-28. 2017-05-02. old.culture.gov.uk. en. .
• Northern Ireland (NI) area and population figures taken from the NISRA site.

Notes and References

1. http://www.neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/dissemination/LeadTableView.do?a=3&b=276743&c=city+of+london&d=13&g=325264&i=1001x1003x1006&k=population&m=0&r=1&s=1243769484276&enc=1&domainId=16&dsFamilyId=75 Census 2001 : City of London
2. http://www.neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/dissemination/viewFullDataset.do?instanceSelection=03070&productId=779&$ph=60_61&datasetInstanceId=3070&startColumn=1&numberOfColumns=8&containerAreaId=790506 Census 2001 : Mendip
3. http://www.neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/dissemination/viewFullDataset.do?instanceSelection=03070&productId=779&$ph=60_61&datasetInstanceId=3070&startColumn=1&numberOfColumns=8&containerAreaId=790560 Census 2001 : Gwynedd
4. http://www.neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/dissemination/viewFullDataset.do?instanceSelection=03070&productId=779&$ph=60_61&datasetInstanceId=3070&startColumn=1&numberOfColumns=8&containerAreaId=790484 Census 2001 : Harrogate
5. http://www.neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/dissemination/viewFullDataset.do?instanceSelection=03070&productId=779&$ph=60_61&datasetInstanceId=3070&startColumn=1&numberOfColumns=8&containerAreaId=790544 Census 2001 : Chichester
6. http://www.neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/dissemination/viewFullDataset.do?instanceSelection=03070&productId=779&$ph=60_61&datasetInstanceId=3070&startColumn=1&numberOfColumns=8&containerAreaId=790339 Census 2001 : Carrick
7. http://www.neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/dissemination/viewFullDataset.do?instanceSelection=03070&productId=779&$ph=60_61&datasetInstanceId=3070&startColumn=1&numberOfColumns=8&containerAreaId=790513 Census 2001 : Lichfield
8. Web site: Perth & Kinross Council - Census 2011 (3 Perth wards). 2017-04-02. www.pkc.gov.uk. en.
9. http://www.neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/dissemination/LeadTableView.do?a=3&b=277143&c=salisbury&d=13&g=498191&i=1001x1003x1006&k=population&m=0&r=1&s=1243770196474&enc=1&domainId=16&dsFamilyId=75 Census 2001 : Salisbury (Former Local Authority)
10. http://www.neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/dissemination/viewFullDataset.do?instanceSelection=03070&productId=779&$ph=60_61&datasetInstanceId=3070&startColumn=1&numberOfColumns=8&containerAreaId=790551 Census 2001 : Salisbury
11. Web site: Key Statistics. www.niassembly.gov.uk.
12. Web site: 2011 CENSUS KEY STATISTICS - Hereford City. factsandfigures.herefordshire.gov.uk/about-your-area/2011-census-market-town-profiles.aspx.
13. http://www.neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/dissemination/viewFullDataset.do?instanceSelection=03070&productId=779&$ph=60_61&datasetInstanceId=3070&startColumn=1&numberOfColumns=8&containerAreaId=790292 Census 2001 : Herefordshire
14. Web site: Butlin. Heather. Highland profile - key facts and figures. 2017-04-02. www.highland.gov.uk. en.
15. Web site: Council. The Highland. The Highland Council download - Briefing notes Planning and building standards Planning - policies, advice and service levels. 2017-04-02. www.highland.gov.uk. en.
16. Web site: 2011 census table data: Settlement 2010 . Scotland's Census . en.
17. Web site: Team . National Records of Scotland Web . National Records of Scotland - 2001 population of urban areas . National Records of Scotland . English . 31 May 2013.
18. http://www.neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/dissemination/LeadTableView.do?a=3&b=277148&c=worcester&d=13&g=499664&i=1001x1003x1006&k=population&m=0&r=1&s=1243769721212&enc=1&domainId=16&dsFamilyId=75 Census 2001 : Worcester
19. http://www.neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/dissemination/LeadKeyFigures.do?a=3&b=277039&c=lincoln&d=13&e=15&g=467793&i=1001x1003x1004&m=0&r=1&s=1258917235862&enc=1 Office for National Statistics : Census 2001 : Key Statistics : City of Lincoln
20. http://www.neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/dissemination/viewFullDataset.do?instanceSelection=03070&productId=779&$ph=60_61&datasetInstanceId=3070&startColumn=1&numberOfColumns=8&containerAreaId=790567 Census 2001 : Pembrokeshire
21. http://www.neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/dissemination/viewFullDataset.do?instanceSelection=03070&productId=779&$ph=60_61&datasetInstanceId=3070&startColumn=1&numberOfColumns=8&containerAreaId=790328 Census 2001 : East Cambridgeshire
22. http://www.bathnes.gov.uk/BathNES/councilanddemocracy/statisticsandcensusinformation/default.htm Bathnes.gov.uk
23. http://www.neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/dissemination/LeadTableView.do?a=3&b=276944&c=durham&d=13&g=440194&i=1001x1003x1006&k=population&m=0&r=1&s=1243769675353&enc=1&domainId=16&dsFamilyId=75 Census 2001 : Durham
24. Web site: Locality Chester People and Population Profile Census 2011. inside.cheshirewestandchester.gov.uk.
25. Web site: Demographics. https://web.archive.org/web/20080626191831/http://www.cheshire.gov.uk/NR/rdonlyres/601CE006-8690-485A-BD90-6372EB093CB6/0/ChesterDistrict.pdf. June 26, 2008. 27 September 2008. Cheshire County Council.