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Category Elimination - Cities

In each group, name any city which matches the first category to reveal the second category, then name any city which applies to both categories to reveal a third, and so on.
Only urban areas with a population of 1 million or more are included.
Thanks to the creator of the original Category Elimination quizzes, Stewart, for helping me make this!
According to citypopulation.de as of February 2021
Answer must correspond to the highlighted yellow box
Also try the U.S. Metro Areas version!
Quiz by Jeremy
Rate:
Last updated: August 7, 2021
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First submittedAugust 8, 2019
Times taken34,105
Average score60.0%
Rating4.25
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Green Categories
321
Cities in Asia or Oceania
91
with a population over 3 million
43
not in China or India
6
beginning with a vowel
1
starting and ending with the same letter
Ankara
 
Orange Categories
310
Cities starting with letters from A-L
215
that are not coastal
43
in the Americas
10
South of the equator
1
with an elevation over 10,000' (3000m)
La Paz
Blue Categories
421
Cities that are not national capitals
156
outside of Eurasia
32
with a population over 4 million
7
East of London
1
with more than 50 skyscrapers
Melbourne
 
Purple Categories
313
Cities with a population under 2 million
85
that are coastal
31
in the Western Hemisphere
6
in Africa
1
named after a US president
Monrovia
+11
Level 71
Sep 9, 2019
Could you at least put metric in brackets, for the 7+ billion people using that?
+2
Level 59
Nov 27, 2019
I agree, but in his defense, a lot of the people on Jetpunk are American or just don't care.
+1
Level 65
Sep 16, 2019
Extra hard this cities version.

Hope it get featured! (and that more are coming)

+2
Level 95
Oct 24, 2019
The final answer for the second (or yellow) category doesn't work as a type-in for the second answer; fun quiz, I love these category quizzes
+1
Level 79
Nov 10, 2019
I didn't get the city I live in (Melbourne) because my house and the rest of my suburb is at an elevation of ~50 m above sea level and as such it never occurred to me that Melbourne could be the answer.
+1
Level 78
Nov 11, 2019
I think Ankara has more than 5 million people
+1
Level 74
Nov 11, 2019
According to citypopulation, Ankara has a population of 4,975,000
+1
Level 82
Nov 12, 2019
Wouldn't Sydney also work for the clues about Melbourne?
+1
Level 74
Nov 12, 2019
Too high of an average elevation
+3
Level 73
Nov 13, 2019
the first clue for the yellow one is not accurate. It should say "starting with L" and not containing. Otherwise there are a lot of possibilities (Dallas, Orlando...), and far more than just 67..
+6
Level 62
Nov 13, 2019
You'll always have a better quiz experience if you read the instructions.
+1
Level 59
Nov 16, 2019
Lyon & Lille did not appear to be 'not coastal' (starting or containing l)

Must have been size. As said, read instructions at top of page, even though I have no idea what size either are I now know smaller than whatever the minimum is. Sigh.

+1
Level 74
Nov 16, 2019
Both too small
+1
Level 56
Nov 13, 2019
Great quiz, I really enjoyed it!
+3
Level 82
Nov 14, 2019
Nice quiz idea. Like other quizzes about city populations, though, I would suggest adding in the instructions that this one is based on the population of each metro/urban area, not city proper. The distinction doesn't matter as much in certain countries, but in the U.S. it makes a huge difference. Las Vegas, for instance, has only about 650,000 people in the city itself, as compared with more than 2 million in the metro area.
+2
Level 74
Nov 14, 2019
I don't know how I didn't think to do that! Added in the instructions and caveat, thanks :)
+1
Level 82
Nov 14, 2019
Cheers
+1
Level 57
Nov 18, 2019
Geussed Blue from that start its my city
+2
Level 66
Nov 25, 2019
Some of the clues are so general that they can't possibly include all the cities. For instance, we entered Manchester, Birmingham and Leicester for cities under 3 million, but none of these were considered cities even though they obviously fit the criteria. This issue affected us on all but one of the sections.
+3
Level 81
Jan 26, 2020
These are not among the 250 largest in the world, are they?
+1
Level 67
Jan 26, 2020
Apparently not, but nobody knows where exactly that line is, which is what kills this quiz. The quizmaker should at least put a note in the top telling us what the 251st biggest metro is, so we have some reference point. If you stopped me on the street and asked if Manchester was among the top 250 metros in the world, I'd have no idea whether it is, and how close it comes. I suspect most people wouldn't. I'd believe you if you said it is 245th, and I'd believe you if you said it is 807th. It becomes a total guessing game.
+4
Level 68
Jan 26, 2020
The note in the description clearly states the cut off is 2.125m people. This is more than sufficient than providing the 251st metro (Vadodara by the way). This turns your Manchester example into "Does Manchester have more than 2.125 million people?" Which is far more useful and answerable than "Is it in top 250" or your suggestion of, "Is Manchester bigger than Vadodara".

I think the quiz is fine as it is, with more than enough answers for each category. The reference point of 2,125,000 million people is far superior than another metro as most people can guess a city's population, but not whether it's bigger or smaller to a metro they haven't heard of.

+2
Level 74
Jan 26, 2020
Also, both Birmingham and Manchester are included in this quiz - both just have a population over 3 million
+1
Level 38
Nov 26, 2019
I think Tashkent should be included for cities with a population of 2-5m (2,898,500 - 2019 citypopulation.de), cities with an elevation over 150m (varying sources say 400-500m) & cities not in India or China if I'm not mistaken?
+1
Level 74
Nov 26, 2019
You're right! Fixed, pending approval.
+1
Level 72
Jan 27, 2020
Still not fixed - it was one of my guesses today and it didn't work.
+2
Level 64
Dec 10, 2019
I've been living for some time in Kuala Lumpur. It has an L on its name and it is not coastal, so it should work on the second yellow box
+2
Level 72
Jan 27, 2020
I think the metro area for KL includes Klang, which has a seaport. Considered a coastal city.
+1
Level 51
Dec 17, 2019
Victoria can also be a correct answer to the last question.
+2
Level 74
Dec 22, 2019
Too small
+1
Level 65
Dec 22, 2019
For the one with the L and not coastal, what about Delhi?
+1
Level 74
Dec 22, 2019
Delhi does work for those
+1
Level 37
Jan 10, 2020
Magenta category - apparently Tallinn (400k), Riga (600k) and Vilnius (500k), all have a population over 3 million.

Tried all three, spelled correctly.

+1
Level 62
Jan 26, 2020
Almaty, Kazakhstan also fits all the criteria for the first question.
+1
Level 81
Jan 26, 2020
No, Almaty is not large enough to be in this.
+1
Level 73
Jan 26, 2020
I like the concept of the quiz, but the city population limit of 2.15 Million makes this quiz much harder than it should've been. There are many cities commonly seen as cities which may be sufficient for many categories, especially for the broader categories, such as Lyon (third biggest city in France) for category 3-2. I know that it practically will be impossible to add all the cities (if we can even define them) which are sufficient for each of the categories, but I think you've could have added much more cities for each categories.
+2
Level 74
Jan 26, 2020
While I would've liked to, the quiz as it is took more than a week to make. I originally planned to do every 1M city, but it became clear a few hours in that it would take too long. I may increase the number of cities when I update the quiz for new population figures.
+2
Level 74
Feb 21, 2020
And done, much sooner than I expected to!
+1
Level 72
Jan 26, 2020
For group 3, I started with Lagos and kept going until it did not work for elevation. Lagos is one of the cities most vulnerable to rising sea levels. According to http://eaumega.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/EN-Lagos-Monograph.pdf, the average elevation is

less than 15m above sea level. According to Britannica.com, the highest point on Lagos Island being only 22 feet (7 metres) above sea level. I question the Wikipedia figure of 41m and wonder if that may be the maximum elevation.

+1
Level 74
Feb 21, 2020
Changed that question
+1
Level 56
Jan 26, 2020
I don't really get how Hamburg is a coastal city. I suppose by metro area? But does this mean that London is coastal to? (As it's roughly the same distance to the next sea)
+3
Level 60
Jan 26, 2020
Didn't know Hamburg has a L in it.
+2
Level 28
Jan 26, 2020
I think that Little Rock, AR should be an acceptable answer, especially since the city is US based. Pretty sure it has an L, and isnt coastal.
+1
Level 72
Jan 26, 2020
Also Indianapolis.
+1
Level 71
Jun 23, 2020
And Orlando. Little Rock's urban population is under 1 million though..
+1
Level 69
Jan 26, 2020
Shouldn't Yantai (China) be accepted for the purple category?

It's population is 2.15 m according to citypopulation.de, it's coastal, in the northern hemisphere, and starts in a country that starts with C or S

+2
Level 74
Jan 26, 2020
It seems Yantai was left off the list altogether. I've added it in where it was missing now.
+1
Level 61
Jan 27, 2020
You missed quite a few major U.S. cities that are not the state capital, are not coastal and contain the letter L. After trying Buffalo, Milwaukee and Tulsa and not being allowed any of those, I kinda ran out of time trying to think of others. :|
+1
Level 63
Jan 27, 2020
Is there a reason that Philadelphia doesn't count for that are not the capital of their state? Even though its near the coast its not on it
+1
Level 74
Jan 27, 2020
The urban area of Philadelphia includes several suburbs which do touch the coast. Same reason that Kuala Lumpur or Rome are considered coastal.
+1
Level 37
Jan 28, 2020
The last one could be Vancouver
+2
Level 65
Jan 30, 2020
Stockholm fits all the clues for the pink one as it is located on 14 islands.
+2
Level 74
Jan 30, 2020
Changed the last clue to make it more specific
+1
Level 57
Nov 2, 2021
It still fits the first 2 clues but doesn't work.
+2
Level 46
Feb 24, 2020
Glasgow should still count for not in the Americas??
+1
Level 74
Feb 24, 2020
You're right, I forgot to change that clue when I updated the quiz. Fixed now
+1
Level 64
Feb 24, 2020
Ljubljana is not a coastal city and didn't unlock the next clue.
+5
Level 55
Feb 24, 2020
boi
+1
Level 55
Feb 27, 2020
shouldn't Amman work for the first one?
+1
Level 69
Apr 8, 2020
Lisbon doesn't work for the last box and it is a city and has a population less than 2 million.
+1
Level 74
Apr 8, 2020
Lisbon has a population of 2.475 million, so no.
+1
Level 51
Apr 24, 2020
I think Barcelona should count as a city with a population under 2 million. The metropolitan area has more, but there are less than 2 million inhabitants within the city limits.
+3
Level 74
Apr 24, 2020
This quiz uses urban area populations, not city proper. Please read the instructions before you complain.
+1
Level 51
Sep 14, 2020
The instructions say that only urban areas with a population of 1 million or more are included. That is semantically different from what you are implying in your reply (i.e., that the clues refer to urban areas when they mention cities).
+1
Level 76
Sep 15, 2020
(@Chris19) I'm very confused about this, Cringe mentioned urban area population in the caveats and in the reply here, and hence I don't see how he is trying to imply separate things. To add to that, he has written a blog about this topic(click here), and I highly doubt that this quiz and that blog would've been featured if those mistakes were to be made.

- Edit: Just to make it clearer, please read carefully before complaining

+1
Level 57
Apr 24, 2020
Los Angeles also fits within the same peramiters as Las Vegas so there are multiple answers.
+1
Level 74
Apr 24, 2020
Because everyone knows Los Angeles isn't coastal
+1
Level 72
Apr 24, 2020
San Jose, California (Population 1.03 mio.) should work for the first two answers in the light blue category and the first answer in the magenta category.
+2
Level 74
Apr 24, 2020
citypopulation counts San Jose as part of the San Francisco urban agglomeration.
+1
Level 68
Apr 24, 2020
I typed in Halifax (Nova Scotia) for a coastal city under 2 million and the answer was not accepted.
+2
Level 60
Aug 19, 2020
Too small.
+1
Level 69
May 8, 2020
I'm still confused how Dallas doesn't work for the bottom left one. Especially since Las Vegas doesn't have a population of 1 million according to the website in the description. Also why does everyone keep mentioning Melbourne lol did one of the answers change? Cool quiz btw
+1
Level 74
May 8, 2020
Dallas doesn't have enough tourists to fulfill the last category. According to citypopulation, Las Vegas has a population of 2.275 million.
+1
Level 47
Jun 1, 2020
Hobart has less than 2 million
+2
Level 60
Aug 19, 2020
And less than 1 million. Too small to be in the quiz.
+3
Level 53
Aug 12, 2020
Shouldn't Johannesburg work for the fourth question in the blue category? It's not a national capital, it isn't in Asia or Europe, it has a pop of 4m+, and it's in the southern hemisphere!
+2
Level 74
Aug 12, 2020
I decided to count it as a capital because the urban area includes Pretoria. This is the same reason Rawalpindi doesn't work.
+1
Level 53
Aug 12, 2020
Oh, ok. Good quiz by the way!
+2
Level 33
Sep 29, 2020
Canterbury is a city and that is not on the answers so I personally think you should add it other wise you killed a puppy which is kind of rude!!!
+1
Level 77
May 17, 2021
Not a population of >1M. Canterbury has a population of ~55K.
+1
Level 56
Oct 28, 2020
I'm so confused. There are more than 2 million people that live in the Portland metro area??? I looked it up to confirm. I'm not saying you have an error just to be clear. But wow, it doesn't seem like that many people. That is unless you count all the homeless people which probably makes up half of it. XD
+1
Level 69
Oct 31, 2020
Orlando for the yellow category?
+2
Level 52
Mar 12, 2021
south of the equator, no, over 3k meters, nope
+1
Level 74
Mar 12, 2021
The clues changed because of updated population information. Though still wrong, significantly less so.
+1
Level 56
Nov 18, 2020
Porto Alegre is my state's capital and I still couldn't get it, I'm very disappointed with myself
+2
Level 84
Mar 12, 2021
how is melbourne west of london?
+2
Level 74
Mar 13, 2021
Am I missing something? Aren't NYC, Philadelphia, Chicago, Los Angeles, ... all not national capitals? Shouldn't they work?? What on Earth am I not seeing here?!
+3
Level 60
Mar 20, 2021
Not to be nitpicky, but I noticed that, for the Blue Answer, New York City does not work for the first subanswer, but does for the second and third.
+1
Level 69
Apr 15, 2021
I don't think there is any part of Africa in the Western Hemisphere, or maybe I read it all wrong...
+4
Level 74
May 13, 2021
Why post this comment when you could just look it up?
+1
Level 64
May 2, 2021
New York does not work for "cities that are not national capitals"
+2
Level 71
May 4, 2021
+1
+2
Level 74
May 13, 2021
As other commenters have said, there is definitely something wrong with the "cities that are not national capitals" box. I tried answers like Los Angeles, Chicago, and Sheffield before it accepted Mombasa. Also, the numbers for the orange categories seem to be wrong or out of order because it increases from 38 to 43 even though this is supposed to be category elimination.
+1
Level 74
Aug 7, 2021
This has finally been fixed, no cities from countries starting with a U were working on that one.
+1
Level 61
May 25, 2021
Blue Catagory: how does new york not work for the first clue, but works for the second?
+1
Level 65
Jul 30, 2021
Chicago didn't work for the frist blue category
+1
Level 48
Nov 22, 2022
Only urban areas with a population of 1 million or more are included....

munich? Cologne? just two examples missing.

+1
Level 49
Nov 13, 2023
A whole heap of cities not included in the first part of the purple question!
+1
Level 74
Nov 13, 2023
No they're all there
+1
Level 52
Dec 6, 2023
I'm pretty sure that Amsterdam isn't coastal (unless lakes count), but it doesn't count as a non-coastal city in the orange category.