Edo consequently rapidly grew from what had been a small , virtually unknown fishing village in NUMBER@1 to a metropolis with an estimated population of NUMBER@2 by NUMBER@3 , the largest city in the world at the time .

Edo consequently rapidly grew from what had been a small , virtually unknown fishing village in NUMBER@1 to a big city of NUMBER@2 residents by NUMBER@3 , the largest city in the world at the time .
