CITIES

Likewise, also as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded.

—Luke 17:28

707 “Millionaire” Cities

The United Nations has predicted that by AD 2000, 60% of the world will be living in large cities. More people now live in Tokyo than in the whole of Australia.

In The King is Coming, Homer Duncan gives the following statistics:

“In 1800 only 2.4 percent of the people in the world lived in cities of over 20,000 population. By 1950 that number had jumped to 20.9 percent. In 1900 there were only eleven cities in the world with a population of over a million. Now there are at least 125 such cities.

“Cities with a population of over a million are referred to as “millionaire cities.” In 1935 Europe had twice as many millionaire cities as Asia, now Asia has more. Europe (not counting Russia) has over 30 millionaire cities. Russia has 11 millionaire cities. The United States has 23, China, 27, Latin America, 11, India, 7, Indonesia, 3, Africa, 4, Canada, 2, Australia, 2, Korea, 2 and Pakistan, 2.”

708 Jumping Growths Of Cities

The population of London during the sixteenth century was 150,000. It is now 11 million. Paris had 200,000 people in the seventeenth century, now, 7 million. New York City was a town of 64,000 in 1800. It is now a big city of 10 million.

709 The Most People Around World

Europe is the most densely populated continent in the world where live 159 persons per square mile. By comparison, Asia has 119 people to the square mile.

The most densely populated state in the United States is New Jersey, with an average of 774 persons to every square mile.

Shanghai is the most populous city in the world, with a 1971 population of 10.8 million.

710 Overnight: 1,000 Years Older

Basel, Switzerland’s second largest has just found out it is 1,000 years older than it thought.

In 1957, the 213,000 inhabitants celebrated Basel’s 2,000th anniversary. But now city archaeologist Rudolf Moorsburgger says Basel, in the northwest corner of Switzerland, bordering France and Germany, dates back 3,000 years.

Moorsburgger unearthed foundations of a massive Roman fortress which in turn was part of an older defense system running along the south bank of the Rhine River.

At the time Basel was not known as Basilea as the Romans called it, but “Robur,” meaning strong as an oak in pre-Roman times and dating back to well before 1,000 B.C.

See also: Babylon . Buildings . Zeph. 1:16; Rev. 16:19.