Belgium:
The Five Largest Cities in Belgium:
1. Brussels
2. Antwerp
3. Gent
4. Charleroi
5. Liège
Population of Largest City:
Brussels: 1,143,638 people
Rank-Size Rule "estimate" of the Other Large Cities:
2. Antwerp: "571,819 people"
3. Gent: "381,213 people"
4. Charleroi: "285,910 people"
5. Liège: "228,728 people"
Actual Populations of the Other Large Cities:
2. Antwerp: 499,792 people
3. Gent: 251,081 people
4. Charleroi: 203,401 people
5. Liège: 196,605 people
Rank-Size Rule... Valid or Invalid?
The rank size rule is invalid in Belgium. Each of the city's estimated population was not in the range of the actual population. The third largest city, Gent, in fact, had a difference of 130,132 people! Each city decreased at different amounts, and not a general trend, but with large population gaps. There is not to be a proportional difference in the top five cities. This goes against the definition of the rank-size rule.