How many cities and towns are in the world?

There's no true data to support a factual answer. It is impossible to count the actual amount of cities and towns in the world due to the rural areas around the world (especially in third world countries) where a small town might be present but not recorded. Estimates range from about 600,000 to 4,784,754,000 Cities. However, most websites list top cities by population and only count highest populated areas. Also, old cities with their own names often became absorbed into new cities with new names--which would we count. As well, some cities have been nearly abandoned, such as Centralia PA which has a coal mine burning for decades under the town.