61 Cities Around the Globe That Start With L

There are an overwhelming number of cities in the world, and how a city is defined changes by country. In this article, a city is a population center with over ten thousand people living in it. We have compiled a list of 61 global cities that start with L, including a few extra details on ten of these locations.

1. Lagos, Nigeria

Lagos is a large city of around 16 million people in Nigeria. It’s the largest city in the country, and it’s also considered an international megacity. It also has the tallest buildings in Nigeria.

This city was named Lagos by Portuguese colonizers in the fifteenth century. Lagos means Lakes in Portuguese, and this reflects the Lagos Lagoon, which is a key feature of Lagos’s geography.

2. Lahore, Pakistan

Lahore in Pakistan has over 11 million inhabitants. It is the biggest city in the province and the capital of Punjab. It was also one of the biggest cities during the late Middle Ages. Lahore is a UNESCO City of Literature and the country’s leading cultural focal point.

The story behind how the city of Lahore got its name is ancient and steeped in oral tradition. A Hindu god named Rama had a son named Lava, who founded Lahore, and Lahore is named after the son who founded the city.

3. La Paz, Bolivia

La Paz in Bolivia has a population of about 817 thousand people. It has one of the biggest cable car networks, called Mi Teleférico, on Earth. It is also the primary manufacturing city in the country. La Paz is short for Nuestra Señora de La Paz, which means Our Lady of Peace.

4. Las Vegas, Nevada, United States

Las Vegas means The Meadows in Spanish, as that’s what the first Europeans to the area found when they got there. It officially became a settlement when the railroad between Salt Lake City and Los Angeles opened in the area.

Las Vegas is a city in the Mohave desert of Nevada in the United States with 650 thousand permanent residents. Its wider metropolitan area is home to over two million people. Also known as Sin City, Las Vegas is famous for its lax laws, which allow tourists to indulge in their vices like gambling.

5. Lima, Peru

Lima, Peru, is a city in South America with about 11.5 million people calling it home. It is the capital and it is also the biggest city in the country. The largest concentration of museums in Peru is in Lima, with some of them being the Museum of Art, Museo Nacional de Arqueologia e Historia del Peru, Museum of Gold, and the Museum of the Nation.

The name Lima comes from one of two places. It may be the word Limaq as pronounced by the Spanish in the sixteenth century, or it may be after the Rimac River. The Rimac River is a freshwater lifeline to the region.

6. Linyi, China

More than eleven million people call Linyi, China, home. It’s a prefecture-level city which is similar to the concept of a wider metro area in the United States. Their economy is based on wholesale exports in industries like machinery, chemicals, electronics, fertilizers, and other consumer goods.

The name Linyi actually means Close to the Yi River. This river runs through the center of the city.

7. London, England, United Kingdom

Around 10 million English people are also residents of London. It is the largest metropolitan area in Western Europe and the third largest in all of Europe. Adding on its wider metropolitan area, London is so big that it’s considered one of the world’s megacities.

According to legend, the city of London got its name from King Lud who was a pre-Roman king that founded a settlement in the area. Later, the Romans came and called it Londinium.

8. Los Angeles, California, United States

Almost 19 million people live in the greater Los Angeles (LA) area, with about 4 million people living within the city. LA is the second-largest metropolitan region in the United States, behind the New York City metro area. It is also the largest city in California and the third most popular destination within the United States for tourists and travelers.

Los Pobladores, a group of settlers that founded Los Angeles, originally named their settlement El Pueblo de Nuestra Señora la Reina de los Ángeles. This translates to The Town of Our Lady, the Queen of the Angels.

9. Lucknow, India

Lucknow in India is the capital of Uttar Pradesh and has a bit over four million residents. The Lucknow Zoo in the city is more than one hundred years old, and it is also the oldest in India. It’s also an up-and-coming city with fast-growing manufacturing and information technology industries.

No one is sure how Lucknow got its name, as its origins are ancient. Some guesses relate to Hindu inspiration, while others believe the city is named after old merchants.

10. Luxor, Egypt

About 1.5 million people live in Luxor, Egypt, in North Africa. It’s a very old city that dates back to the Ancient Egyptians, with many artifacts and architecture from that era within its boundaries.

Luxor’s first name was Thebes, and that’s what it was called for centuries during the ancient period and beyond. Today, it goes by its Arabic name, Palaces.

61 Cities That Start With L

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