User:Matthewmayer/sandbox/Primate City

A primate city (Latin: 'prime', 'first rank' ) is a city which has a population and importance far greater than any other city in a country, province, state, or region. Aside from size and economic influence, a primate city will usually have precedence in all other aspects of its country's society, such as being a center of politics, media, culture and education and receive most internal migration.

History
The law of the primate city was first proposed by the geographer Mark Jefferson in 1939 in a paper published in Geographical Review.

Jefferson gave three examples in the introduction to his paper: London, Copenhagen and Mexico City. Jefferson outlined the reasons why for example Copenhagen would be a center for urban migration within Denmark: "Why does the ambitious Dane go to Copenhagen? To attend the university, to study art or music, to write for the press, to attend the museum and the theater, to buy or sell if he has unusual wares or wants unusual wares. Because he keeps hearing and reading of men who live there, men whom he is keen to meet face to face. Perhaps he means to try his wits against them. Or his business capacity has outgrown his home city, and he hopes to find more opportunity in the capital, to make more money."