Informationen zu Creative Commons (CC) Lizenzen, für Pressemeldungen ist der Herausgeber verantwortlich, die Quelle ist der Herausgeber
Berlin Crowned World’s Best Capital City for Bookworms, According to Data
From classic fiction to mysteries, the ever-rising popularity of books means readers are able to dive into more enticing page-turners than ever before—with global book sales expected to exceed 129 billion USD by 2023. Still, the impending question lingers—which cities are home to the biggest booklovers?
Interested to find out, TheKnowledgeAcademy.com identified the number of libraries and bookshops across the world’s most populated capital cities using Openstreetmap’s API Overpass, to create a final aggregated score revealing the best cities to be a bookworm.
Top 10 best capital cities to be a bookworm
Rank |
Capital City |
Country |
Library score (/10) |
Bookshop score (/10) |
Overall bookish score (out of 10) |
1 |
Berlin |
Germany |
8.42 |
10.00 |
9.21 |
2 |
Tokyo |
Japan |
8.95 |
8.42 |
8.69 |
3= |
Buenos Aires |
Argentina |
7.89 |
9.47 |
8.68 |
3= |
Rome |
Italy |
9.47 |
7.89 |
8.68 |
5 |
Madrid |
Spain |
6.84 |
8.95 |
7.90 |
6 |
London |
UK |
7.37 |
7.37 |
7.37 |
7 |
Seoul |
South Korea |
10.00 |
4.21 |
7.11 |
8 |
Singapore |
Singapore |
5.79 |
6.32 |
6.06 |
9 |
Mexico City |
Mexico |
5.26 |
5.79 |
5.53 |
10 |
Lima |
Peru |
3.68 |
6.84 |
5.26 |
= symbol means joint in ranking |
Please find the full breakdown of the result and all listed countries analysed in the data sheet.
TheKnowledgeAcademy.com can reveal that the world’s best capital city for booklovers is Berlin, Germany—boasting the highest overall index score (9.21/10). With its perfect bookshop score (10/10) bumping the capital to first place, a high library score (8.42/10) is also guaranteed to make book-obsessed German readers proud.
Securing second place is Tokyo, Japan with an impressive bookish score of 8.69/10 overall. Famously known as the birthplace city of manga, Tokyo claimed third best for its libraries (8.95/10) and fourth for its bookshops (8.42/10), which gained its rightfully high score.
Following close in third is Buenos Aires, Argentina which scored a stellar 8.68/10—only 0.01 less than Tokyo in second. The Argentine capital earned its highest score from its bookshops (9.47/10), whilst claiming a score of 7.89/10 for its libraries.
Also in joint third is Rome, Italy (8.68/10). Rome’s scores peaked at 9.47/10 for its libraries—second in the category, and achieved a notable score of 7.89/10 for its bookshops confirming its overall ranking.
Top five worst capital cities to be a bookworm
Rank |
Capital City |
Country |
Library score (/10) |
Bookshop score (/10) |
Overall bookish score (out of 10) |
1 |
Kinshasa |
Democratic Republic of the Congo* |
0 |
0 |
0.00 |
2 |
Jakarta |
Indonesia |
0.53 |
0.53 |
0.53 |
3 |
Riyadh |
Saudi Arabia |
1.05 |
1.05 |
1.05 |
4 |
Amman |
Jordan |
1.58 |
2.63 |
2.11 |
5 |
Hong Kong |
Hong Kong |
2.63 |
2.11 |
2.37 |
*See methodology for further notes. |
Please find the full breakdown of the result and all listed countries analysed in the data sheet.
Out of all the cities analysed for the study, TheKnowledgeAcademy.com can reveal that the world’s worst capital city for booklovers is Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo. It was unable to score anything above zero in both library and bookshop categories in the study, as its data showcased 0.40 libraries per capita (per one million people*) and 0.46 bookshops per capita*.
Subsequently, Jakarta, Indonesia follows as the second worst capital for booklovers according to the study. Jakarta earned a final bookish score of a mere 0.53/10, as it tallied the same underwhelming scores for both its libraries and bookshops.
For the full breakdown, please see the study here: https://www.theknowledgeacademy.com/blog/the-best-capital-cities-in-the-world-for-book-lovers/
Methodology
*Note: for Brazil, its capital Brasilia was changed to São Paulo due to it being a denser area, more akin to a true capital. The same was done for Switzerland (Bern to Zurich).
**The percentrank formula goes off a range of values, and since Democratic Republic of the Congo’s capital, Kinshasa, displayed low scores on each category—0.40 for its libraries and 0.46 for its bookshops per capita (one million people), it scored a zero on both therefore earning a final score of zero.