Though the disastrous earthquake of Sept., 1923, followed by tidal wave and fire practically destroyed Japan's great and beautiful capital, causing a property loss of $2,741,000,000, Tokio is being rapidly rebuilt into one of the finest of modern cities. In the new city residential districts are segregated from commercial and industrial districts. Six new avenues from 100 feet to 150 feet wide cut across the most crowded sections supplementing the old main thoroughfares, while more than one hundred new streets with a minimum width of 36 feet, replace the old narrow crooked lanes and streets. Fire-proof zones have been planned and the government is subsidizing the erection of the fire-proof buildings. Tokio proper has a population of 2,036,000 while Greater Tokio, following the plan of consolidating former suburbs, announced its population in August, 1925, as 3,859,674.
Population, 1,422,000. Rio de Janeiro, the capital with over a million people, is the second largest in South America. Buenos Aires is the largest. Rio is located on the most beautiful harbor in the world, where the largest vessels may anchor safely. This is a place where the land sank and let the ocean waters come in. Over a hundred little islands in the harbor are hills or low mountains with only their tops out of water. The city of Rio de Janeiro is built on narrow plains between the hills. In the older part, which is the business district, the streets are narrow. In the newer part there are wide avenues bordered by rows of beautiful palms, feathery bamboos, and tree ferns. The homes in this part of the city are modern, and many of them are set in gardens of flowering tropical plants.
Budapest, the capital of Hungary lies on both banks of the Danube. A number of great bridges join the old city of Buda on the high western bank of the river to Pest, the newer part of the lowlands bordering the stream on the east. It is one of the most beautiful cities of Europe. It was one of the first of European capitals to adopt modern methods of transportation. It has an electric subway system and well paved streets. It is the shipping point for a rich agricultural region and is one of the chief flour mill centers of Europe. The present population of Budapest is 1,184,616.
Population, 780,220. Naples is the largest city in Italy. It is located near a fertile lowland where a very dense population is supported. The climate is warm in this lowland area, and most of the people lead an agricultural life. Nearly all the inhabitants of this region make their homes in the villages near the coast and go into the country each day to work on their farms.