Talk:List of highest towns by country

name change
How come there are two "world's highest cities"??? Can we Change the name... I think it sounds grammatically painful...

That whole article looks like it was slapped together haphazardly. Why would you list the world's highest mines in a list of the world's highest cities? And it's got like 4 highest cities in the world... Peru, Tibet, Bolivia, the city in Nepal is higher than the one in Bolivia... I hope somebody re-writes the whole thing.

This list is towns right? Well in that case Denali in Alaska is the highest point in the US, but it is in fact not a town.

Leadville, Colorado is the highest incorporated city in the United States at 10,152ft(3,094m), Climax, Colorado is the highest settlement in the United States at 11,360ft.

Also, Lake Louise (which is officially a hamlet, not even a town) is marked as the highest on the continent, despite many being higher in Colorado. Not to mention the comment about "Many ski towns and villages are higher" is quite confusing. Finally, the elevation of LL doesn't even match their official elevation on the wikipedia page for them. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 207.216.211.183 (talk) 17:59, 11 December 2013 (UTC)


 * I've given this a pretty severe trime; removing all but the highest claim for each country and rewording the intro to stress that any permanent settlement is accepted. Citations are needed for the heights and for the claims to be the highest place in the nation. Warofdreams talk 23:30, 29 August 2006 (UTC)

Alma
I've moved Alma up in the rankings because the original link went to information that is outdated (and maybe inaccurate). Alma is still the highest city in the US, but the new source puts it a few feet higher, which is all it needs to go from #21 to #17 and the source seems more legitimate than the old one. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 67.165.192.163 (talk) 20:56, 24 March 2014 (UTC)

Highest populated place in Europe?
It is claimed here that Juf (Switzerland) is the highest populated place in Europe (2126 m) This is probably not correct. There should be places in the Caucasus mountains higher than this, for example Kurush (Dagestan, Russian Federation) which also appears in this page (2480 m). The part of Caucasus that belongs to the Russian Federation is actually a part of Europe, and the highest peak of Europe is Elbruz in this area. Antipoeten 21:33, 30 August 2007 (UTC)

Quito, Ecuador is not the highest capital of the world; La Paz, Bolivia is widely known as it. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 200.105.222.22 (talk) 04:07, 24 October 2007 (UTC)

Listing Quito as the highest capital may have merit, as La Paz is not strictly (or not the only) capital of Bolivia. La Paz is the administrative capital, but the Judicial capital is Sucre (roughly 2700m if I remember right.) —Preceding unsigned comment added by 190.129.26.84 (talk) 17:10, 17 May 2008 (UTC)

Majdal Shams
Although controlled by Israel, according to public international law this place is still part of Syria. --81.62.68.243 (talk) 00:41, 1 February 2008 (UTC)
 * You are right. I have corrected it. --Supreme Deliciousness (talk) 13:32, 1 November 2021 (UTC)

Altitude of La Paz is inaccurate
The altitude claimed here for the city of La Paz, Bolivia is way too high. I was unable to find the correct authoritative value(s) so I leave that to someone else. Take care to use the average value not the highest point, on this city in particular. Also take care to use numbers for the actual city, not entire La Paz Department.

This page currently says: Bolivia El Alto Departamento de La Paz 4100 (13488 ft)[citation needed] [4] Citation [4] is a dead link to http://www.elalto.gob.bo/ (and should be fixed or replaced)

whereas: The page for La_Paz,_Bolivia says Elevation 3,640 m (11,942 ft)

and a casual websearch shows a range of numbers cited between ~3100-3820m, with 3510m and ">3600m" being commonly cited. According to a couple of sources the airport is at 3900-4100m (higher than the city). Another source claims the lowest point is 3100m and highest is 4060m, but that sounds like La Paz Department. Smcinerney (talk) 12:15, 4 November 2008 (UTC)

=== I know La Paz well, I can tell you El Alto is not related (attached to the city itself) it's a different village. La Paz is not flat, it 's all in a slope, the bus station lies at 3670m, i can tell you that because it's written on a sign. From the bus station you can walk down about 100m what it's the "core" of La Paz and its cathedral, which is about 3550m. Than, there are lower quarters at elevations as low as 3200-3300m.

Is the highest town in Japan really Matsumoto at 590m? According to Google Earth, Fujikawaguchiko lies at 875m altitude and, having 23,097 inhabitants (2003), it seems likely that there may be smaller settlements at higher elevation in Japan. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Stiivyn (talk • contribs) 09:48, 4 September 2010 (UTC)

Highest town in Bolivia
When I saw this list I thought it was highly doubtful that a city of 1 million inhabitants was also the highest city in Bolivia. However, the bolivian government does not list official elevations for the 300+ municipalities on record. I've been scouring through geonames.org to look for populations in La Paz, Potosi and Oruro. The highest I found that was also listed in the Instituto Nacional de Estadisticas (http://www.ine.gob.bo/indice/atlasmunicipal.aspx) was Colquechaca, Chayanta, Potosi. There are various other localities in geonames that are higher but I have no other confirmation that they are permanent populations. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Djescalera (talk • contribs) 19:53, 12 October 2010 (UTC)

Re: Highest town in Bolivia
El Alto - has more than 1.000.000 habitants, 4.150 meters above sea level.

La Paz - around 900.000 habitants, 3.640 meters above sea level at the center of the city.

They used to be consider one city, but El Alto became a separated city in 1985.

Towns or villages?
You put together cities, towns, villages and hamlets!. Usually a city or town is defined by a minimum amount of inhabitants. You should write two different articles: " list of highest settlements" and "list of highest cities and towns". The way the did with northest settlements. Lele giannoni (talk) 13:10, 27 January 2011 (UTC) Flash, Staffordshire, England, is a village not a town. Derekjc (talk) 22:10, 17 March 2013 (UTC)

Re:Towns or villages?
I agree. This list should only contain only towns with at least 10.000 habitants. Otherwise, any small settlement could be included.

Besides - this lists losses a lot of accuracy below the 2.000 m mark, since the list is obviously incomplete. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Izelpii (talk • contribs) 00:28, 17 March 2011 (UTC)

Population column
This article needs a population column. Some settlements are too small to be on this list (some even less than 100 people). — Preceding unsigned comment added by Izelpii (talk • contribs) 00:33, 17 March 2011 (UTC)


 * Agree Darwwin (talk) 06:53, 13 April 2018 (UTC)

Top-50/Top-100
Cities at 300m are obviously very nice, but do not make any sense whatsoever. I mean there are like a dozen villages in the Alps around 1500+ meters. Therefore I think that this list should become a list of the highest 100 towns/cities in the world and then one could maybe make a separate list of the 5 highest villages/towns of each country, but the current list does not seem to make much sense, except if you want to have all villages above sea level on your, then extremely immense, list. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Mythicism (talk • contribs) 23:53, 6 April 2011 (UTC)

====SAN MARINO CAPITAL IS MUCH HIGHER THAN ACQUAVIVA !This list is full of terrible mistakes and missing. Somebody who knows something about geography, please do something !!

It's a work in progress, but needs help by virtue of constant updates from us!
The list is obviously being built over time, and there are many glaring omissions. For instance, Denver, Colorado was not on the list (I've since added Denver and Leadville). I think we need to constantly move the list around since it was obviously user-generated and no single user could be expected to know all of the world's highest cities.

Constructive suggestion: we don't need 80+ places listed, especially when the bottom entries are well under a half-mile high. The "highest towns" moniker should be saved for truly high altitude towns/cities, of which there are plenty in the world. Also, the list should not be longer than 50 in my opinion. — Preceding unsigned comment added by ABTsportsline (talk • contribs) 19:57, 11 August 2011 (UTC)

Nepal towns
I disagree with places like Gorak Shep, Dingoboche, etc. as not being inhabited year round. In the past, this was true, but not anymore. Gorak Shep may be too small to be a town though. This is not true of Dingboche though. It's probably the 2nd largest town in the Khumbu, after Namche Bazaar, though I'm not 100% sure on this. For sure it is large enough to be considered a town. It is cultivated.

Chukkhung is probably large enough too. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 216.82.251.229 (talk) 16:31, 24 July 2013 (UTC)

Dominica
Laudat (pronounced as rhymes with "Yoda") is the highest town in Dominica. It is about 600-620 meters in elevation.

Davos is missing, should be "highest city in Europe"
Davos — Preceding unsigned comment added by Dragentsheets (talk • contribs) 23:20, 4 October 2013 (UTC)

Dependencies
Northern Ireland is part of the UK ('United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland'), not a dependency. There are many permanent settlements in Antarctica - research stations - do these not count? Pgdave (talk) 10:37, 15 November 2013 (UTC)

Nenthead, Cumbria vs Flash Staffordshire
Uk's highest village appears to be in dispute, these links [|The telegraph] [|Peak district info] [|the independent] [|Macclesfield Express] all claim Flash as the highest. [|Visit Cumbria], [|The Independent] and [|English Heritage] claim Nenthead as the highest. The independent, you'll notice goes both ways, within a couple of days with one report claiming Nenthead and on claiming Nenthead artificially increased its elevation. I would say that so far the sources make me lean towards Flash as having the more verifiable claim but would love the views of other editors For a little more on this conversation I was discussing it with (Asheshouse (talk)) on my talk page. I'll refrain from editing either way for the next week. SPACKlick (talk) 10:46, 24 January 2014 (UTC)


 * When considering different sources the authority of the source needs to be carefully considered. In this respect the English Heritage report carries considerable clout. Another important source which should not be ignored is Ordnance Survey Mapping which supports the Nenthead claim. The claim by Flash is supported by work commissioned by the BBC in 2007, but at this time Nenthead was not even considered, which might be considered a major omission. The greatest difficulty in considering the Nenthead claim is in deciding the limits of the village. Within the area there are a number of residential properties at considerable elevation however many of these are outside of the village. Current Nenthead claims are based on properties on the main road and within the village limits as defined by the highway authority, which gives a highest property at 482m. Reasonably similar to the figure of 475m provided by English Heritage.
 * The English Heritage Report No 054-2010 The Parish of Alston Moor - Historic Assessment. The report may be downloaded here: http://services.english-heritage.org.uk/ResearchReportsPdfs/064_2010WEB.pdf
 * I quote from the introduction, page 1 and 2;

Alston and Nenthead are both sited on a considerable gradient, Alston lies at between 265 and 330 metres above sea level,allowing it to claim to be the highest market town in England (an assertion disputed by Buxton, Derbyshire), Garrigill is at about 345 metres and Nenthead at between 430 and 475 metres, giving Nenthead the accolade of being the highest village in England and having the highest parish church.


 * Another link supporting the Nenthead claim. http://www.hexhamcourant.co.uk/news/high-hopes-for-nenthead-1.1060444 (Asheshouse (talk) 11:07, 24 January 2014 (UTC)).


 * The last link doesn't support Nenthead's claim. It says that the people of Nenthead think they have a chance. The OS map you have quoted several times is also not a source because it doesn't state one or other is highest, the reader has to do WP:OR to make the determination. I think the Guiness Records (referred in your second link), The fact that the OS and the BBC came to the conclusion that Flash was the highest village leaves little doubt that it has more sources, with more "clout" in its favour.
 * On a purely WP:OR level Having looked at both Flash and Nenthead's claims, Flash's buildings are all within one settlement. The building Nenthead is using to claim highest status is about a quarter of a mile outside the villages continuous settlement. So there is definitely room to dispute whether it counts in terms of this statistic. If you only look at buildings within the continuous settlement area of the village Nenthead is 20 metres or so lower than Flash SPACKlick (talk) 11:45, 24 January 2014 (UTC)


 * The fact that BBC and/or OS never even considered the possibility of Nenthead having a claim seriously undermines their authority. The programme was made purely for entertainment. Ordnance Survey were not directly involved, the survey work being done by an external contractor Starnet Geomatics. The details of their work have not been audited or published. I know this having spoken to the company.


 * The BBC programme was made in 2007. The report by English Heritage (EH) is unequivocal in its comments. EH is a national body, experts in conservation of buildings and landscapes. Their report, published in 2010, is more up to date than the BBC activity. Their opinion can only be countered by a source of equal academic and professional standing. None of the sources you quote above fall in this category.


 * The building referred to in Nentheads claim is part of the village settlement as defined by the highway authority. Your interpretation of a "continuous settlement area" is, as you have said, WP:OR. The highway authority signage, including 30mph limits, village signs and other visual markers are a definitive indicator. Not all villages have 30mph limits. The imposition of such a limit by a statutory body is a clear indicator of the village boundary.

Refer here https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Built-up_area_%28Highway_Code%29 and here https://www.gov.uk/speed-limits (Asheshouse (talk) 13:21, 24 January 2014 (UTC)).


 * To Answer your points in turn, You do not know the BBC and OS didn't consider Nenthead, only that it was not a contender by the time of the final edit. The English Heritage report repeats the claim but doesn't make any claim to having determined the claim. You are the one making the claim that the highways entering village marker determines the size of the village which does constitute WP:OR. Nothing in any of the provided links says the area within the speed limit, or the area within the village marker necessarily constitutes a village. Village markers are often out of place to match change in speed limits or to take account visibility caused by gradients or bends in the road. As I said in my paragraph above, My discussion of continuous settlement was WP:OR although the concept of Continuous Settlement for determining the area of settlements is used in various fields (including my own), I was simply using my OR to indicate that there is a legitimate real world dispute here, not simply a dispute on WP.


 * The local council don't include the property used for this height reading in their plans of the village [| in this settlement report], There are several sources claiming to have determined Flash as the highest village, showing their working etc. On the basis of this It still seems like Flash has the more verifiable claim.SPACKlick (talk) 13:41, 24 January 2014 (UTC)


 * As I stated previously, Ordnance Survey were not involved. Nor was BBC directly involved. The technical work was done by Starnet who were commissioned by Kingfisher TV. Starnet advised me that they had only been requested to do work at Flash and Wanlockhead.


 * There is no WP:OR involved in my arguments about the village limits. See reference to government speed limits above. 30mph limit only applies in "built up areas".
 * The eden district council plan you link above is stated to be a plan showing specific development sites within the village, not the entire village, so not a useful source.


 * You state that English Heritage are simply repeating claims. What is your basis for that statement. EH are no fools and would not include such a statement in an official report unless they were satisfied that it was true. They are a national body with impeccable, technical, professional and academic skills, as a pose to one with local/regional interests to serve. Their opinion cannot be simply ignored.


 * This paragraph from EH outlines some of the methodology used in preparing their report.


 * This core research area will be surveyed on the ground by the Landscape Investigation team using methodologies which combine traditional observation and analysis with new and innovative recording techniques, involving real-time use in the field of Ordnance Survey (OS) digital mapping, mapping-grade GPS, GIS database collection, specially-commissioned aerial imagery (including digital orthophotography, LIDAR and hyperspectral datasets). Historic Area Assessments by English Heritage’s Architectural Investigation team will provide finer resolution analyses of the principal town of the area, Alston, and two other major mining settlements, Nenthead and Garrigill, while Characterisation of the farmsteads over a wider area will provide a starting point for the management of this locally distinctive building stock.


 * In other words a pretty comprehensive study including studies of existing and acquisition of new mapping data.


 * You state "There are several sources claiming to have determined Flash as the highest village, showing their working etc." -- but none of the sources you link show working etc, so what are you referring to here?


 * Briefly reviewing the sources in the opening remarks which are said to support the Flash claim. The Telegraph report is a review of a property for sale in the village and simply quotes the height shown on the village sign. The District Report is tourism promotional material. The Independent again simply quotes the height given on the village sign and presumably made no independent assessment of their own. In fact they have the highest town in Wales wrong. Brynmawr is considerably higher (around 390m). The Express is simply reporting the 2007 BBC programme so provides nothing new. Only BBC and English Heritage have reported professional assessments and of these the BBC appears to have only considered Wanlockhead and Flash.

(Asheshouse (talk) 14:30, 24 January 2014 (UTC)).

=
===MOROCCO

Moroccoan highest village is Tacchedirt at over 2400m. It has even electricity since 4-5 years. It should be listed instead Ifrane.

Towns?
This list is a nice mixture of highest settlements (for example: Italy and Switzerland) and highest towns (or communes) - it should be standardized! --PatrickBrauns (talk) 13:20, 21 September 2014 (UTC)

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Irregularities/Original Research
Most of these highest towns are unreferenced. Also by looking at a topography map, I was able to spot towns/villages higher than those listed here. YousefAbdollah (talk) 18:31, 30 January 2020 (UTC)

Israel is not a fully recognized country
It is currently in the "Sovereign, fully recognized countries" list, but it is not a "fully recognized country", there are several countries and organizations that does not recognize it. --Supreme Deliciousness (talk) 13:29, 1 November 2021 (UTC)

Highest village in Liechtenstein
Hello, as far as I know the highest village in Liechtenstein is Malbun at an elevation of 1600m above sea level.--Hogü-456 (talk) 21:36, 9 April 2022 (UTC)