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.

  • @[email protected]English
    15•1 month ago

    By population, and not land area, certain more remote geographic places are well known but have quite a low population. ‘Everyone’ is a high bar, but most adults in Australia would know the following places (ordered from smaller population but slightly less known to higher population):

    • Wittenoom, WA - population 0 - well known in Australia for being heavily contaminated with dangerous blue asbestos (which used to be mined there until the 60s), and having been de-gazetted and removed from maps to discourage tourism to it.
    • Coober Pedy, SA - population 1437 - well known in Australia for its underground homes and opal production.
    • Alice Springs, NT - population 25,912 - well known for being near the centre of Australia in the rangelands (outback) - most larger population centres in Australia are coastal.
    • @[email protected]
      7•1 month ago

      I reckon Port Arthur is a solid contender with its low population of 251 (known for being the site of a mass shooting that led to significant changes in Australian gun laws). It is fading in name recognition as time goes on though, after all that was approaching 30 years ago and lots of people have been born since then.

      My top pick however would be Bega with its population of 5013 and the name recognition the cheese factory has brought. It’s hard to go past a name that’s printed on cheese (and assorted other products now) in the vast majority of supermarkets across Australia, and they even export overseas to get a bit of international cachet.

    • @[email protected]English
      2•1 month ago

      Wittenoom, WA - population 0

      I didn’t instantly recognise the name, but I’ve heard the story.

      Coober Pedy, SA - population 1437

      This is a very solid one.

      @[email protected] beat me to the punch with Port Arthur, and I think they’ve hit the nail on the head there. Although, as they note, maybe the name recognition isn’t there for younger generations.

      Here’s some suggestions that haven’t been made yet:

    • @evasive_chimpanzee
      2•1 month ago

      As a non Australian, I didn’t know wittenoom, but I’m pretty sure I know of it from the old videos of asbestos shoveling competitions that went around a few years back.

      I think the smallest Australian town I know is oodnadatta, but I don’t know why I know it. I also had to look up if “nullarbor” was a city, or just a place name, so idk if that counts.