List of urban areas by population 

This is a list of contiguous urban areas of the world ordered according to population as of 2008. The figures here have been compiled by Demographia.1

Contents

Definitions and issues

Demographia defines an urban area (urbanized area agglomeration or urban centre) as a continuously built up landmass of urban development containing a high population density, without regard for administrative boundaries (i.e. municipality, city or commune) or a labor market (i.e. metropolitan area). Except in Australia, the authorities use a minimum urban density definition of 400 persons per square kilometer (or the nearly identical 1,000 per square mile in the United States). Demographia uses maps, satellite photographs to estimate continuous urbanization. Demographia also uses small area population data, where available, to match population estimates to urbanized land area. National census authority data are presented in Australia, Canada, France, the United Kingdom and the United States. Census of India urban agglomerations are not used because the geographical size of constituent units (municipalities) often includes large rural (non-urban) areas. Sources for population estimates and land area definitions are coded by "A", "C", "D", "E", "F", "G" or "H"; and "A", "B" or "H" in the Table below, respectively.

A: National census authority data.
B: Demographia land area estimate based upon map or satellite photograph analysis.
C: Demographia population "build up" from third, fourth or fifth order jurisdictions (NUTS-3, NUTS-4, NUTS-5 or equivalent).
D: Population estimate based upon United Nations agglomeration estimate.
E: Demographia population estimate from national census authority agglomeration data.
F: Other Demographia population estimate.
G: Estimate based upon projected growth rate from last census.
H: Combination of adjacent national census authority agglomerations.

The most reliable population estimates are "A" and "H." Population estimates "C" are generally reliable. Population estimates "D" and "E" are less reliable. Population estimates coded "F" and "G" are the least reliable.

The estimates are quite different from the list of World's largest urban agglomerations produced by the United Nations that reports inconsistently on urban geographic, despite its reference to agglomerations. This is evident, for example, in Manila, Kuala Lumpur, Jakarta, Seoul and Moscow, where the UN data are for political jurisdictions, rather than urban areas. In other cases, metropolitan area data are shown, such as in Brazil.

Urban areas are confined to a single metropolitan area or labor market area. In some cases, urban areas have virtually grown together (e.g. BosWash in the United States and Taiheiyō Belt in Japan), yet are still considered separate urban areas.

Urban areas are confined to a single nation, unless there is freedom of movement (including labor) between the adjacent nations. Currently, this condition is met only between some continental nations of the European Union (e.g. Lille–Kortrijk in both France and Belgium).

Urban areas ranked by 2008 projected population

Rank City Country Population Area (km²) Pop. Growth

Rate (%/yr)

 Sources of

Pop. / Area
1 Tokyo–Yokohama2  Japan 34,400,000 7,835 0.15 C / B
2 Jakarta3  Indonesia 21,800,000 2,720 2.38 F / B
3 New York City4  United States 20,090,000 11,264 0.24 H / H
4 Seoul–Incheon5  South Korea 20,010,000 1,943 0.43 C / B
5 Manila6  Philippines 19,550,000 1,425 2.31 C / B
6 Mumbai (Bombay)7  India 19,530,000 777 2.00 C / B
7 São Paulo8  Brazil 19,140,000 2,590 0.78 C / B
8 Mexico City9  Mexico 18,430,000 2,137 0.60 C / B
9 Delhi10  India 18,000,000 1,425 2.40 C / B
10 Osaka–Kobe–Kyoto11  Japan 17,270,000 2,720 0.04 C / B
11 Cairo12  Egypt 16,750,000 1,269 1.53 E / B
12 Kolkata (Calcutta)  India 15,010,000 984 1.83 A / B
13 Los Angeles13  United States 14,730,000 5,812 0.79 H / H
14 Shanghai  People's Republic of China 14,460,000 2,396 1.54 C / B
15 Moscow14  Russia 13,260,000 4,533 0.20 C / B
16 Beijing (Peking)  People's Republic of China 12,770,000 2,616 1.60 C / B
17 Buenos Aires15  Argentina 12,390,000 2,590 0.46 A / B
18 Guangzhou (Canton)–Foshan16  People's Republic of China 11,810,000 2,590 1.48 E / B
19 Shenzhen16  People's Republic of China 11,710,000 1,295 2.10 F / B
20 Istanbul  Turkey 11,220,000 1,256 1.11 E / B
21 Rio de Janeiro  Brazil 11,160,000 1,580 0.79 C / B
22 Paris  France 10,430,000 3,043 0.09 E / B
23 Karachi17  Pakistan 9,380,000 881 2.54 G / B
24 Nagoya18  Japan 9,250,000 3,302 0.27 C / B
25 Chicago19  United States 9,030,000 5,952 0.54 H / H
26 Lagos20  Nigeria 8,860,000 971 2.99 C / B
27 London21  United Kingdom 8,320,000 1,623 0.07 A / A
28 Bangkok  Thailand 8,290,000 1,502 1.19 C / B
29 Kinshasa22  Democratic Republic of the Congo 8,190,000 622 4.38 D / B
30 Tehran23  Iran 8,000,000 635 1.27 E / B
31 Lima  Peru 7,750,000 648 1.08 C / B
32 Dongguan16  People's Republic of China 7,650,000 1,295 1.79 F / B
33 Bogotá  Colombia 7,440,000 414 1.34 E / B
34 Chennai (Madras)  India 7,320,000 414 1.88 A / B
35 Dhaka24  Bangladesh 7,310,000 311 2.86 C / B
36 Essen (Ruhr)–Düsseldorf25  Germany 7,250,000 2,642 0.00 C / B
37 Tianjin (Tientsin)26  People's Republic of China 7,200,000 1,295 1.28 C / B
38 Hong Kong16  Hong Kong, People's Republic of China 6,950,000 220 0.89 E / B
39 Taipei27  Republic of China (Taiwan) 6,820,000 440 1.20 D / B
40 Lahore  Pakistan 6,810,000 583 2.63 G / B
41 Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon)  Vietnam 6,710,000 609 2.40 E / B
42 Bangalore  India 6,660,000 648 2.25 A / B
43 Hyderabad  India 6,610,000 790 2.07 C / B
44 Johannesburg–East Rand28  South Africa 6,470,000 2,396 1.08 C / B
45 Baghdad  Iraq 6,000,000 596 1.77 D / B
46 Toronto–Hamilton29  Canada 5,790,000 2,279 1.03 H / H
47 Santiago  Chile 5,630,000 790 0.72 C / B
48 Kuala Lumpur30  Malaysia 5,470,000 2,137 2.35 E / B
49 San Francisco–San Jose31  United States 5,450,000 2,497 0.31 H / H
50 Philadelphia4  United States 5,270,000 4,661 0.30 A / A
51 Wuhan  People's Republic of China 5,240,000 712 1.36 E / B
52 Miami32  United States 5,220,000 2,891 0.76 A / A
53 Dallas–Fort Worth33  United States 5,160,000 3,959 1.89 H / H
54 Madrid  Spain 5,130,000 945 0.65 C / B
55 Ahmedabad  India 5,060,000 202 2.26 A / B
56 Boston34  United States 4,750,000 5,501 0.23 H / H
57 Belo Horizonte  Brazil 4,640,000 1,010 1.21 C / B
58 Khartoum  Sudan 4,600,000 583 2.83 D / B
59 Saint Petersburg (Leningrad)35  Russia 4,570,000 1,191 −0.13 D / B
60 Shenyang36  People's Republic of China 4,560,000 777 1.17 E / B
61 Houston37  United States 4,550,000 3,463 1.90 H / H
62 Pune  India 4,470,000 220 2.51 A / B
63 Riyadh  Saudi Arabia 4,460,000 1,321 2.04 E / B
64 Singapore38  Singapore 4,320,000 479 0.96 D / B
65 Washington, D.C.39  United States 4,260,000 2,996 1.00 A / A
66 Yangon (Rangoon)  Myanmar 4,220,000 350 2.02 D / B
67 Milan40  Italy 4,190,000 2,370 −0.02 C / B
68 Atlanta41  United States 4,160,000 5,083 2.19 A / A
69 Alexandria  Egypt 4,150,000 293 1.82 E / B
69 Nanjing (Nanking)  People's Republic of China 4,150,000 686 1.27 E / B
69 Chongqing (Chungking)42  People's Republic of China 4,150,000 570 1.27 E / B
72 Guadalajara  Mexico 4,090,000 712 1.19 E / B
73 Barcelona  Spain 4,040,000 803 0.51 C / B
74 Detroit43  United States 3,860,000 3,267 −0.13 A / A
74 Chengdu (Chengtu)  People's Republic of China 3,860,000 570 1.22 E / B
76 Ankara  Turkey 3,810,000 583 1.48 E / B
77 Abidjan  Côte d'Ivoire 3,790,000 298 2.79 D / B
78 Athens  Greece 3,730,000 684 0.18 C / B
79 Berlin  Germany 3,690,000 984 0.06 C / B
80 Sydney44  Australia 3,680,000 1,788 0.60 C / B
81 Monterrey  Mexico 3,650,000 712 1.21 C / B
82 Phoenix–Mesa45  United States 3,540,000 2,069 2.51 A / A
83 Busan  South Korea 3,510,000 259 −0.33 E / B
84 Recife  Brazil 3,490,000 414 1.20 C / B
85 Bandung  Indonesia 3,470,000 401 1.84 E / B
86 Porto Alegre  Brazil 3,440,000 777 1.12 C / B
87 Melbourne46  Australia 3,420,000 2,152 0.70 C / B
88 Hangzhou (Hangchow)  People's Republic of China 3,410,000 712 1.61 E / B
88 Luanda  Angola 3,410,000 363 4.35 D / B
90 Algiers47  Algeria 3,390,000 453 1.98 D / B
91 Hanoi  Vietnam 3,370,000 194 2.38 E / B
92 Montreal48  Canada 3,360,000 1,676 0.68 A / A
93 Xi'an (Sian)  People's Republic of China 3,340,000 531 1.37 E / B
94 Qingdao (Tsingtao)  People's Republic of China 3,330,000 440 1.32 E / B
94 Pyongyang  North Korea 3,330,000 207 0.61 E / B
96 Surat  India 3,210,000 109 1.91 A / B
97 Fortaleza  Brazil 3,160,000 725 1.21 C / B
98 Medellín  Colombia 3,080,000 189 1.40 C / B
99 Durban (eThekwini)  South Africa 3,070,000 829 1.17 C / B
100 Kanpur  India 3,030,000 142 1.70 A / B
101 Jeddah  Saudi Arabia 3,020,000 842 1.93 E / B
101 Nairobi  Kenya 3,020,000 479 3.80 E / B
101 Addis Ababa  Ethiopia 3,020,000 228 3.83 D / B
104 Naples  Italy 3,010,000 777 0.04 C / B
105 Kabul  Afghanistan 3,000,000 259 4.47 E / B
106 Salvador  Brazil 2,980,000 389 0.95 C / B
106 Harbin49  People's Republic of China 2,980,000 570 1.00 E / B
108 Kano  Nigeria 2,950,000 199 2.61 C / B
109 Casablanca  Morocco 2,930,000 220 1.16 E / B
110 Curitiba  Brazil 2,900,000 842 1.74 C / B
110 Cape Town  South Africa 2,900,000 686 1.02 C / B
112 Surabaya  Indonesia 2,850,000 376 1.84 D / B
113 San Diego50  United States 2,790,000 2,026 0.52 A / A
113 Seattle51  United States 2,790,000 2,470 0.35 A / A
115 Rome52  Italy 2,740,000 855 −0.07 C / B
116 Taichung  Republic of China (Taiwan) 2,700,000 492 1.93 E / B
116 Dar es Salaam  Tanzania 2,700,000 324 3.84 C / B
118 Jaipur  India 2,690,000 168 2.26 A / B
119 Caracas  Venezuela 2,670,000 272 0.94 C / B
120 Dakar  Senegal 2,650,000 181 2.98 E / B
121 Kaohsiung  Republic of China (Taiwan) 2,630,000 363 1.30 E / B
122 Minneapolis–Saint Paul53  United States 2,570,000 2,316 0.91 A / A
123 Lucknow  India 2,560,000 130 1.73 A / B
124 Tel Aviv  Israel 2,530,000 453 1.22 D / B
124 Guayaquil54  Ecuador 2,530,000 220 1.90 D / B
124 Amman55  Jordan 2,530,000 344 1.21 E / B
127 Kiev  Ukraine 2,520,000 544 0.18 D / B
128 Faisalabad  Pakistan 2,510,000 168 2.81 C / B
129 Mashhad  Iran 2,490,000 207 1.91 E / B
130 İzmir  Turkey 2,480,000 272 1.51 E / B
131 Katowice–Gliwice–Tychy  Poland 2,450,000 725 −0.01 C / B
131 Rawalpindi–Islamabad  Pakistan 2,450,000 233 2.85 C / B
131 Tashkent  Uzbekistan 2,450,000 531 1.22 E / B
134 Changchun  People's Republic of China 2,440,000 376 1.87 E / B
135 Campinas  Brazil 2,400,000 958 1.39 C / B
136 Daegu  South Korea 2,390,000 181 −0.03 E / B
136 Changsha  People's Republic of China 2,390,000 389 2.27 E / B
136 Nagpur  India 2,390,000 114 1.70 A / B
139 San Juan  Puerto Rico 2,380,000 2,309 0.91 A / A
140 Aleppo  Syria 2,360,000 210 2.37 D / B
141 Lisbon  Portugal 2,340,000 881 0.58 C / B
142 Frankfurt  Germany 2,320,000 673 0.39 C / B
143 Tampa–St. Petersburg56  United States 2,310,000 2,078 1.44 A / A
143 Birmingham57  United Kingdom 2,310,000 600 0.17 A / A
143 Nanchang  People's Republic of China 2,310,000 155 2.49 E / B
146 Medan  Indonesia 2,300,000 246 1.79 E / B
147 Tunis  Tunisia 2,270,000 363 1.55 F / B
147 Shijiazhuang  People's Republic of China 2,270,000 363 2.26 E / B
147 Dalian  People's Republic of China 2,270,000 570 1.57 E / B
150 Manchester58  United Kingdom 2,250,000 558 0.04 A / A
150 Port-au-Prince  Haiti 2,250,000 171 2.86 C / B
152 Damascus  Syria 2,240,000 207 2.30 D / B
153 Fukuoka59  Japan 2,230,000 583 0.11 C / B
153 Jinan (Tsinan)  People's Republic of China 2,230,000 350 1.35 E / B
155 Santo Domingo  Dominican Republic 2,220,000 246 1.78 C / B
156 Cali  Colombia 2,190,000 155 1.44 C / B
156 Havana  Cuba 2,190,000 285 −0.07 D / B
158 Denver60  United States 2,180,000 1,292 1.17 A / A
159 St. Louis61  United States 2,160,000 2,147 0.48 A / A
159 Colombo  Sri Lanka 2,160,000 223 1.13 E / B
161 Dubai  United Arab Emirates 2,150,000 829 2.48 E / B
161 Baltimore39  United States 2,150,000 1,768 0.45 A / A
163 Sapporo  Japan 2,130,000 648 0.06 C / B
164 Rotterdam–The Hague62  Netherlands 2,090,000 842 0.26 C / B
165 Vancouver63  Canada 2,060,000 1,178 0.89 A / A
165 Pretoria (Tshwane)28  South Africa 2,060,000 673 1.58 C / B
167 San‘a’  Yemen 2,030,000 194 4.55 E / B
167 Patna  India 2,030,000 83 2.51 A / B
169 Warsaw  Poland 2,020,000 544 0.16 D / B
170 Cologne–Bonn25  Germany 2,010,000 932 0.39 C / B
171 Bucharest  Romania 2,000,000 285 0.03 D / B
171 Accra  Ghana 2,000,000 453 2.85 C / B

References and notes

  1. ^ Demographia World Urban Areas & Population Projections
  2. ^ Includes large portions of the prefectures of Tokyo, Kanagawa, Chiba and Saitama; and small portions of Gunma, Tochigi and Ibaraki. Excludes urban areas of Utsunomiya (500,000; 88 km²) and Mito (500,000; 246 km²).
  3. ^ Various international sources limit their population estimates to DKI Jakarta itself (the natinal capital district). However, the urbanization of Jakarta extends into the regencies of Tangerang, Bekasi, Bogor and Karawang and the separate cities of Bekasi, Depok and Bogor. Demographia continues to use the “Jakarta” name instead of Jabodetabek because of its familiarity.
  4. ^ a b Demographia defines urban area of New York as a combinination of New York–Newark, Bridgeport–Stamford, New Haven, Trenton, Danbury and Hightstown urbanized areas. New York and Philadelphia (same with Philadelphia urbanized area) are treated as separate urban areas. Urban areas of Hartford (852,000; 1,216 km²), Allentown–Bethlehem (576,000; 750 km²), Springfield (574,000; 800 km²), Harrisburg (363,000; 540 km²), Poughkeepsie (352,000; 686 km²), Lancaster (324,000; 517 km²), Reading (240,000; 261 km²), Atlantic City (227,000; 313 km²), York (193,000; 307 km²), Waterbury (189,000; 254 km²) and Norwich–New London (173,000; 319 km²) are also excluded.
  5. ^ Includes satellite cities in Gyeonggi Province such as Suwon, Goyang, Seongnam, Bucheon and Ansan which are treated as separate urban agglomerations by the United Nations.
  6. ^ The population is higher than other agglomeration estimates (such as the United Nations), tend to be limited to Metro Manila, which is a province level jurisdiction. The continuous urbanization of Manila extends outward into Bulacan, Cavite, Laguna, Rizal and Quezon provinces. The Demographia population estimate is a “build-up” of municipality population within the continuously developed area (urban area or agglomeration).
  7. ^ Includes Kalyan, Bhiwandi and Panvel. A large part of the municipality of Mumbai is rural, composed of the Sanjay Gandhi National Park and thus not included in the urban area.
  8. ^ Excludes urban area of Santos (1,425,000; 207 km²).
  9. ^ Excludes urban areas of Toluca (1,250,000; 220 km²) and Cuernavaca (675,000; 171km²).
  10. ^ Includes Faridabad, Ghaziabad, Noida and Gurgaon.
  11. ^ Includes Nara and Himeji. United Nations estimates separate Osaka–Kobe and Kyoto and exclude both Nara and Himeji. Excludes urban area of Ōtsu (700,000; 389 km²).
  12. ^ Includes the Governorate of Al-Qahirah (Cairo) and the cities of Al-Jizah (Giza) and Shubra al-Khaymah (Shubra El-Kheima)
  13. ^ Combination of Los Angeles–Long Beach–Santa Ana, Riverside–San Bernardino and Mission Viejo urbanized areas. Excludes urban areas of Oxnard (338,000; 196 km²), Lancaster–Palmdale (264,000; 234 km²), Indio–Palm Springs (255,000; 255 km²), Temecula–Murrieta (230,000; 248 km²), Thousand Oaks (211,000; 223 km²), Victorville–Hesperia (200,000; 321 km²), Santa Barbara (196,000; 155 km²), Santa Clarita (170,000; 141 km²), Hemet (117,000; 108 km²) and Simi Valley (112,000; 70 km²).
  14. ^ The population estimate is suspect, due to the lack of readily available data for local areas outside the city jurisdiction (Moscow Oblast). Demographia is indebted to Richard Forstall, who has provided local authority area population data for portions of Moscow Oblast within the Moscow urban areas. Other estimates (such as the United Nations estimate) include only the municipality of Moscow, which includes only part of the urban footprint.
  15. ^ Excludes urban area of La Plata (675,000; 228 km²) which has been included in the 2007 edition (13,460,000; 2,979 km² in total).
  16. ^ a b c d Hong Kong in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and Shenzhen are treated as separate urban areas because of the lack of freedom of labor movement without trade, immigration or customs barriers. Guangzhou–Foshan, Shenzhen and Dongguan are also treated as separate urban areas which constitute the Pearl River Delta economic zone. Likewise, urban areas of Jiangmen–Xinhui (600,000; 130 km²) and Taishan (350,000; 21 km²) within the prefecture-level city of Jiangmen, Huizhou–Huiyang (500,000; 93 km²) within the prefecture-level city of Huiyang, Zhuhai (530,000; 117 km²), Zhongshan (410,000; 130 km²) and Zhaoqing (310,000; 41 km²) as well as urban area of Macau (525,000; 23 km²) in the Macau Special Administrative Region are excluded. Population estimates for Shenzhen and Dongguan are based upon press reports, since the national census excludes millions of residents who do not have permanent resident status.
  17. ^ The population is lower than other estimates (such as the United Nations), which include metropolitan area population not within the continuously developed urban area.
  18. ^ Includes Toyohashi.
  19. ^ Combination of Chicago, Kenosha and Round Lake Beach–McHenry–Grayslake urbanized areas. Excludes urban areas of Milwaukee (1,309,000; 1,261 km²), South Bend (276,000; 404 km²), Rockford (270,000; 360 km²), Elkhart (131,000; 201 km²) and Racine (130,000; 119 km).
  20. ^ Higher population estimates are indicated by some source. The Demographia population estimate is determined from accumulating smaller area population data from the 2006 census. Excludes urban area of Ikorodu (525,000; 130 km²) within Lagos State.
  21. ^ Greater London urban area. Excludes urban areas of Reading (370,000; 93 km²), Southend-on-Sea (269,000; 67 km²), Crawley (180,000; 54 km²), Slough (142,000; 31 km²), Thanet (119,000; 27 km²), High Wycombe (118,000; 33 km²), St Albans (115,000; 32 km²) and Basildon (101,000; 25 km²).
  22. ^ Excludes urban area of Brazzaville (1,350,000; 142 km²) in the Republic of the Congo.
  23. ^ Excludes urban area of Karaj (1,380,000; 145 km²).
  24. ^ The population is lower than other estimates (such as the United Nations), which include metropolitan area population not within the continuously developed urban area. The Demographia population estimate is determined from accumulating smaller area population data from national census data within the urban footprint.
  25. ^ a b Essen–Düsseldorf and Cologne–Bonn are treated as separate urban areas which constitute the Rhine-Ruhr metropolitan area. Excludes urban area of Aachen–Vaals (585,000; 401 km²) in both Germany and the Netherlands.
  26. ^ The population is lower than other estimates (such as the United Nations), which include metropolitan area population not within the continuously developed urban area. The Demographia population estimate is a “build-up” of sub-municipality population within the continuously developed area (urban area or agglomeration). Excludes urban area of Tangshan (900,000; 168 km²).
  27. ^ The population is higher than other estimates (such as the United Nations), which do not includes all population within the continuously developed urban area (especially in Taipei County). Excludes urban area of Chungli (1,600,000; 414 km²).
  28. ^ a b Johannesburg–East Rand and Pretoria are treated as separate urban areas which constitute the Vaal Triangle. Urban area of Vereeninging (Emfuleni) (600,000; 479 km²) is also excluded.
  29. ^ Combination of Toronto, Hamilton and Oshawa urban areas. Excludes urban areas of Kitchener (423,000; 314 km²), St. Catharines–Niagara Falls (309,000; 383 km²), Barrie (158,000; 172 km²) and Guelph (116,000; 78 km²) which constitute the Golden Horseshoe metropolitan region in Canada as well as urban areas of Buffalo (977,000; 950 km²) and Rochester (694,000; 764 km²) in the United States.
  30. ^ The population is higher than other agglomeration estimates (such as the United Nations), which does not include all of the continuously developed urban area. Continuous urbanization extends well beyond the municipality of Kuala Lumpur, for example to