- See historical urban community sizes for historical data.
This is a list of the most populous cities of the world defined according to the concept of city proper. The list ranks the world's urban municipal units (or well-defined statistical groupings of such units) according to population. Note that the populations listed are for the city proper and not for the urban area nor the metropolitan area. It should further be noted that the meaning and role of the political units taken for the purpose of this list to be the "city proper" are not and cannot be wholly consistent due to the differing systems of local government around the world. For a list of the most populous urban and metropolitan areas, see List of urban areas by population and List of metropolitan areas by population. Statistical definitions for each city and approximate surface area are also indicated.
Rank | City | Population | Definition | Area (km²) | Population density (/km²) | Country |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Mumbai | 13,662,885[1] | Municipal corporation | 603.45 | 21,665 | India |
2 | Karachi | 12,130,000[2] | City District | 3,530 | 3,957 | Pakistan |
3 | Delhi | 11,954,217[1] | Municipal corporation | 1,483 | 7,758 | India |
4 | Istanbul | 11,174,257[3] | Municipality | 1,970 | 5,137 | Turkey |
5 | Moscow | 10,452,000[2] | City proper (includes Zelenograd) | 1,081 | 9,644 | Russia |
6 | Seoul | 10,356,202[4] | Special City | 605.41 | 17,213 | South Korea |
7 | São Paulo | 10,238,703[5] | City proper | 1,520 | 7,247 | Brazil |
8 | Dhaka | 10,083,974[1] | Urban area | Bangladesh | ||
9 | Shanghai | 10,030,788[5] (2002-12-31) | Core districts + inner suburbs | 1,600 | 6,775 | China |
10 | Mexico City | 8,609,347[1] | Federal District | 1,550 | 5,626 | Mexico |
11 | Jakarta | 8,576,788[1] | Special capital district | 660 | 12,738 | Indonesia |
12 | Tokyo | 8,535,792[5] | 23 special wards area | 620 | 13,682 | Japan |
13 | New York City | 8,214,426[6] | City proper | 780 | 10,578 | United States |
14 | Cairo | 7,947,121[1] | Governorate | 214 | 37,071 | Egypt |
15 | Lagos | 7,937,932[7] | Administrative area | 1,000 | Nigeria | |
16 | Kinshasa | 7,843,000[2] | City proper | Democratic Republic of the Congo | ||
17 | Tehran | 7,797,520[8] | City proper | 760 | 10,260 | Iran |
18 | Beijing | 7,699,297[5] (2002-12-31) | Core districts + inner suburbs | 1,370 | 5,650 | China |
19 | London | 7,581,052[1] | Greater London[9] | 1,580 | 4,697 | United Kingdom |
20 | Hong Kong | 7,206,000[2] | Special Administrative Region | 1,092 | 6,183 | Hong Kong |
21 | Bogotá | 7,137,849[1] | Distrito Capital | 1,590 | 4,523 | Colombia |
22 | Lima | 6,954,517[5] | Province[10] | 804 | 8,544 | Peru |
23 | Bangkok | 6,704,000[2] | Administrative area | 1,568.7 | 3,630 | Thailand |
24 | Lahore | 6,577,000[2] | City District | 1,010 | 6,329 | Pakistan |
25 | Rio de Janeiro | 6,093,500[5] | City proper | 1,180 | 5,200 | Brazil |
26 | Baghdad | 5,258,383[1] | City proper | Iraq | ||
27 | Bangalore | 5,180,533[1] | Municipal corporation | 230 | 22,426 | India |
28 | Kolkata | 5,021,458[1] | Municipal corporation | 185 | 24,760 | India |
29 | Tianjin | 4,933,106[5] (2002-12-31) | Core districts | China | ||
30 | Yangon | 4,886,305[1] | City proper | Myanmar | ||
31 | Santiago | 4,668,473[11] (2002) | Province[12] | 2,030 | Chile | |
32 | Guangzhou | 4,653,131[5] (2002-12-31) | Core districts | China | ||
33 | Wuhan | 4,593,410[5] (2002-12-31) | Core districts | 400 | 12,868 | China |
34 | Chennai | 4,562,843[1] | Municipal Corporation | India | ||
35 | Riyadh | 4,465,000[2] | City proper | 800 | 1,500 | Saudi Arabia |
36 | Singapore | 4,436,000[2] | Country | 699 | 6,306 | Singapore |
37 | Ho Chi Minh City | 4,331,288[1] | City proper | Vietnam | ||
38 | Alexandria | 4,247,414[1] | Governorate | 2,680 | 1,378 | Egypt |
39 | Chongqing | 4,239,742[5] (2002-12-31) | Core districts | China | ||
40 | Ankara | 4,140,890[3] | Municipality | 2,500 | 1,424 | Turkey |
41 | Saint Petersburg | 4,035,751[1] | City proper | Russia | ||
42 | Shenyang | 3,995,531[5] (2002-12-31) | Core districts | China | ||
43 | Hyderabad | 3,980,938[1] | Municipal corporation | 170 | 21,293 | India |
44 | Ahmedabad | 3,867,336[1] | Municipal corporation | 190 | 19,979 | India |
45 | Los Angeles | 3,849,378[6] | City proper | 1,290 | 2,980 | United States |
46 | Abidjan | 3,802,000[2] | City proper | Ivory Coast | ||
47 | Chittagong | 3,654,939[1] | City proper | Bangladesh | ||
48 | Yokohama | 3,602,758[5] | City proper | 440 | 8,182 | Japan |
See also
- World's largest cities (explaining alternative measures)
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s World Gazetteer estimate for 2008-01-01
- ^ a b c d e f g h i UN world Urbanization Prospects estimate for 2007
- ^ a b TUIK. "Address-based population registration system: City-Village Population By Province And Sex And Population Density" (in Turkish). TUIK. Retrieved 2008-01-21.
- ^ Information System Planning Division 2006, Korean National Statistics Office
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l City and region database of Statistics Finland
- ^ a b U.S. Census Bureau estimates for 2006
- ^ Summing the 16 LGAs making up Metropolitan Lagos (Agege, Ajeromi-Ifelodun, Alimosho, Amuwo-Odofin, Apapa, Eti-Osa, Ifako-Ijaiye, Ikeja, Kosofe, Lagos Island, Lagos Mainland, Mushin, Ojo, Oshodi-Isolo, Shomolu, Surulere) as per:
Federal Republic of Nigeria Official Gazette (15th May, 2007). "Legal Notice on Publication of the Details of the Breakdown of the National and State Provisional Totals 2006 Census" (PDF). Retrieved 2007-06-29.{{cite web}}
: Check date values in:|date=
(help) - ^ Iran 2006 Census
- ^ Composed of 32 independent borough councils
- ^ Composed of 43 independent districts
- ^ Geohive: Statistics for Chile - Santiago
- ^ Composed of 32 independent municipalities