The city area has a population of 4,000,000 people by 2001. Liberty City in the 3D Universe is loosely based on a series of East Coast and Midwestern cities, including New York City, Philadelphia, Detroit and Baltimore, Chicago, Pittsburgh, as well as the port area of Leith in Edinburgh, Scotland (where the Rockstar North headquarters is located), but with no overall inspiration from one city in particular. Most of the history of the 3D Universe Liberty City does not reflect that of real-life New York City for example, New York City was founded in 1624, making it 174 years older than the 3D Universe Liberty City, and by 1876 New York was a sprawling metropolis of over one million people that ranked as the largest city in the US and second largest in the world (behind London). According to Chatterbox FM host Lazlow, Liberty City was 'a church, a cow pasture and three houses when the telephone was invented' (the first telephone was patented in 1876). Liberty City was established in 1798, 22 years after the Declaration of Independence in the United States. Assuming a significantly different design compared to the previous incarnation in the first Grand Theft Auto, the city plays a role in five games in the series. This is also the only rendition of Liberty City that is not based entirely on the real-life New York City. This rendition of Liberty City has three boroughs: Portland, Staunton Island and Shoreside Vale.

Grand Theft Auto III marks the second appearance of Liberty City in the series, succeeding the 2D Universe rendition in the original 1997 game and preceding the current HD Universe rendition introduced in Grand Theft Auto IV.

8 Differences between GTA III & GTA: Liberty City Stories.

Liberty city map gmod