If you are a fan of urban life and love to explore different cultures, cuisines, and lifestyles, you might be interested in knowing which are the largest cities in the world by population.
You might be surprised by some of the names on the list, as well as by the diversity and dynamism of these megacities.
In this article, I will tell you how they compare and what makes them unique, based on the latest data from the United Nations and other sources.
What are the 10 biggest cities?
According to the United Nations Population Division, there are 81 cities in the world with a population exceeding 5 million people, as of 2018.
The U.N. figures include a mixture of city proper, metropolitan area, and urban area.
However, for the sake of simplicity and consistency, I will use the urban area definition, which refers to the continuous urbanized area around a city’s core.
Using this definition, here are the 10 biggest cities in the world by population, as of 2018:
- Tokyo, Japan: 37.4 million
- Delhi, India: 28.5 million
- Shanghai, China: 25.6 million
- Sao Paulo, Brazil: 21.7 million
- Mexico City, Mexico: 21.6 million
- Cairo, Egypt: 20.1 million
- Mumbai, India: 20 million
- Beijing, China: 19.6 million
- Dhaka, Bangladesh: 19.6 million
- Osaka, Japan: 19.2 million
As you can see, Asia dominates the list, with seven out of the 10 largest cities located on this continent.
India and China alone account for five of them. Japan is the only country that has two cities in the top 10.
Which city has the highest population in the world?
The answer to this question depends on how you define a city.
If you use the city proper definition, which is based on administrative boundaries, then Chongqing, China, is the largest city in the world by population, with over 30 million residents.
ou use the metropolitan area definition, which is based on the economic and social integration of adjacent municipalities, then Tokyo, Japan, is the largest city in the world by population, with over 37 million residents.
If you use the urban area definition, which is based on continuous urbanization around a city’s core, then Tokyo is still the largest city in the world by population, with over 37 million residents.
What are the 20 largest metropolitan areas in the world?
Using the metropolitan area definition, here are the 20 largest metropolitan areas in the world by population, as of 2018:
- Tokyo-Yokohama (Japan): 37.4 million
- Jakarta (Indonesia): 34.5 million
- Delhi (India): 28.5 million
- Manila (Philippines): 24.1 million
- Seoul-Incheon (South Korea): 23.5 million
- Shanghai (China): 23.4 million
- Karachi (Pakistan): 22 million
- Beijing (China): 21.7 million
- New York-Newark (USA): 21.6 million
- Guangzhou-Foshan (China): 20.6 million
- Sao Paulo (Brazil): 20.5 million
- Mexico City (Mexico): 20.4 million
- Mumbai (India): 20 million
- Osaka-Kobe-Kyoto (Japan): 19.3 million
- Moscow (Russia): 16.9 million
- Dhaka (Bangladesh): 16.8 million
- Cairo (Egypt): 16.3 million
- Los Angeles (USA): 15.9 million
- Bangkok (Thailand): 15.3 million
- Kolkata (India): 14.9 million
Again, Asia dominates the list with half of them located on this continent.
China has four cities in the top 20; India has three; Japan has two; Indonesia
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