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List of largest cities

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The United Nations uses three definitions for what constitutes a city, as not all cities in all jurisdictions are classified using the same criteria. Cities may be defined as the cities proper, their metropolitan regions, or the extent of their urban area. A complicating factor is that many large cities in the world have not only homeless or the unhoused, but also vast slum communities. This leads to official census data being less accurate in representing the actual number of residents in a given area.

Definitions

City proper (administrative unit)

Main article: City proper

A city can be defined by its administrative boundaries, otherwise known as city proper. UNICEF defines city proper as, "the population living within the administrative boundaries of a city or controlled directly from the city by a single authority." A city proper is a locality defined according to legal or political boundaries and an administratively recognised urban status that is usually characterised by some form of local government. Cities proper and their boundaries and population data may not include suburbs.

The use of city proper as defined by administrative boundaries may not include suburban areas where an important proportion of the population working or studying in the city lives. The Chinese municipality of Chongqing, which is the largest city proper in the world by population, comprises a huge administrative area of 82,403 km2, around the size of Austria. However, more than 70% of its 30-million population are agricultural workers living in a rural setting.

Metropolitan area

Main article: Metropolitan area

A city can be defined by the inhabitants of its demographic population, as by metropolitan area, or labour market area. UNICEF defines metropolitan area as follows:

In many countries, metropolitan areas are established either as a local administrative organisation or only for statistical purposes. In the United States, metropolitan statistical area (MSA) is defined by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget (OMB). In the Philippines, metropolitan areas have an official agency, such as Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA), which manages Manila metropolitan area. Similar agencies exist in Indonesia, such as Jabodetabekjur Development Cooperation Agency for Jakarta metropolitan area.

Urban area

Main article: Urban area

A city can be defined as a conditionally contiguous urban area, with relatively less regard to territorial or administrative boundaries. UNICEF defines urban area as follows:

According to Demographia, an urban area is a continuously built up land mass of urban development that is within a labor market (metropolitan area or metropolitan region) and contains no rural land.

List

There are 83 cities in the world with a population exceeding 5 million people, according to 2025 estimates by the United Nations.

CityCountryUN 2025 population estimatesCity properUrban areaMetropolitan areaDefinitionPopulationArea
(km)Density
(/km)PopulationArea
(km)Density
(/km)PopulationArea
(km)Density
(/km)JakartaDhakaTokyoDelhiShanghaiGuangzhouCairoManilaKolkataSeoulKarachiMumbaiSão PauloBangkokMexico CityBeijingLahoreIstanbulMoscowHo Chi Minh CityBuenos AiresNew York CityShenzhenBengaluruOsakaLagosLos AngelesLuandaChennaiKinshasaBogotáLimaLondonRio de JaneiroParisHyderabadTehranBandungKuala LumpurDar es SalaamSuzhouAhmedabadHangzhouWuhanTianjinAlexandriaNagoyaJohannesburgChongqingRiyadhSuratSurabayaPuneKhartoumNanjingSantiagoChicagoChengduXi'anHong KongDongguanFoshanShenyangBaghdadMadridHarbinHoustonDallasTorontoMiamiBelo HorizonteSingaporePhiladelphiaAtlantaFukuokaBarcelonaSaint PetersburgQingdaoDalianWashingtonYangonJinanGuadalajara
IDN Indonesia41,913,860Special region
Bangladesh Bangladesh36,585,479Capital city
url=https://www.citypopulation.de/php/bangladesh-dhaka.phptitle=Dhaka (Bangladesh): City Districts and Subdistricts - Population Statistics, Charts and Mapwebsite=City Populationaccess-date=18 June 2017archive-date=30 July 2017archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170730145817/https://www.citypopulation.de/php/bangladesh-dhaka.phpurl-status=live}}
JPN Japan33,412,512Metropolis prefecture
IND India30,222,405National Capital Territory
CHN China29,558,908Municipality
CHN China27,563,372City (sub-provincial)
EGY Egypt25,566,102Urban governorate
PHI Philippines24,735,305Capital city
IND India22,549,738Municipal corporation
KOR South Korea22,490,482Special city
PAK Pakistan21,422,590Metropolitan city
IND India20,203,056Municipal corporation
BRA Brazil18,949,790Municipality
THA Thailand18,180,280Special administrative area
MEX Mexico17,734,212City-state
CHN China17,013,303Municipality
PAK Pakistan15,156,430Metropolitan city
TUR Turkey15,014,763Metropolitan municipality
RUS Russia14,524,753Federal city
last1=Krumsfirst1=L. M.last2=Bykovafirst2=S. V.last3=Sabelnikovafirst3=E. A.last4=Aminovafirst4=Ts V.last5=Polevafirst5=N. I.last6=Gudkovfirst6=R. B.last7=Turaevafirst7=M. B.last8=Parfenovfirst8=A. I.title=Reproductive disorders, osteoporosis and secondary hyperparathyroidism with celiac diseasejournal=Terapevticheskii Arkhivvolume=90issue=10date=2018-11-22pmid=30701802doi=10.26442/terarkh2018901089-93doi-access=freepages=89–93doi-broken-date=12 July 2025issn=2309-5342}}
VNM Vietnam14,052,713Municipality
ARG Argentina14,017,736Autonomous city
12,806,866
USA United States13,920,148City
MSA: 19,557,311;
CSA: 23,143,09712,0931,665
CHN China13,878,396City (sub-provincial)
IND India13,187,098Municipal corporation
JPN Japan12,964,145Designated city
NGA Nigeria12,791,699Metropolitan city
USA United States12,740,420City
MSA: 13,291,486;
CSA: 18,372,485
12,5591,058
AGO Angola11,370,127Municipality
IND India11,153,205Municipal corporation
COD DR Congo10,943,641City-province
COL Colombia10,624,315Capital District
PER Peru10,580,241Metropolitan municipality
GBR United Kingdom10,416,420Administrative area{{efnGreater London is defined by the London Government Act 1963 as an "administrative area",{{multiref
url=http://appsso.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/nui/show.do?dataset=met_pjanaggr3&lang=entitle=Metropolitan Area Populationspublisher=Eurostatdate=18 June 2019access-date=4 December 2019archive-date=1 November 2016archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161101073405/http://appsso.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/nui/show.do?dataset=met_pjanaggr3&lang=enurl-status=live }}8,3821,715
BRA Brazil9,500,336Municipality
FRA France9,381,921Commune
IND India9,190,795Municipal corporation
IRN Iran9,174,964Capital city
INA Indonesia8,909,104City
MYS Malaysia8,443,731Capital city
TZA Tanzania7,795,114City
CHN China7,731,101Prefecture-level city
IND India7,632,408Municipal corporation
6,300,000
CHN China7,500,208City (sub-provincial)
CHN China7,363,548City (sub-provincial)
CHN China7,285,342Municipality
EGY Egypt7,266,957Urban governorate5,441,8662,3002,366
JPN Japan7,146,160Designated city
ZAF South Africa7,077,175Metropolitan municipality4,803,2621,6432,924
CHN China7,071,073Municipality
{{cite weburl = http://cq.cqnews.net/html/2016-01/28/content_36292655.htmscript-title = zh:2015年重庆常住人口3016.55万人 继续保持增长态势trans-title = In 2015, Chongqing's resident population of 30,165,500 people continued to growpublisher = Chongqing Newslanguage = zhdate = 28 January 2016access-date = 2016-02-13archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160129083111/http://cq.cqnews.net/html/2016-01/28/content_36292655.htmarchive-date = 29 January 2016url-status = deaddf = dmy-all
SAU Saudi Arabia6,916,417Municipality
IND India6,908,925Municipal corporation
INA Indonesia6,843,503City
IND India6,817,951Municipal corporation
SDN Sudan6,809,3551,410,858
CHN China6,800,676City (sub-provincial)
CHL Chile6,726,045City (commune)
USA United States8,864,000City
MSA: 9,618,502;
CSA: 9,806,18418,640516
CHN China8,813,000City (sub-provincial)
CHN China7,444,000City (sub-provincial)
HKG Hong Kong SAR7,429,000City
CHN China7,360,000Prefecture-level city
CHN China7,236,000Prefecture-level city
CHN China6,921,000City (sub-provincial)
IRQ Iraq6,812,000Urban governorate
ESP Spain6,497,000Municipality
6,641,649
CHN China6,115,000City (sub-provincial)
USA United States6,115,000City
USA United States6,099,000City
CAN Canada6,082,000City
USA United States6,036,000City
BRA Brazil5,972,000City
SGP Singapore5,792,000Country
USA United States5,695,000Consolidated city-countyMSA: 6,096,120;
CSA: 7,381,187
USA United States5,572,000City
JPN Japan5,551,000Designated city
ESP Spain5,494,000Municipality
url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160822103143/http://appsso.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/nui/show.do?dataset=met_pjanaggr3&lang=endate=22 August 2016 }} - Eurostat, 2017
RUS Russia5,383,000Federal city5,601,9111,4004,001
CHN China5,381,000City (sub-provincial)10,071,72211,229897
CHN China5,300,000City (sub-provincial)7,450,78513,742542
USA United States5,207,000Federal district
MMR Myanmar5,157,000City4,728,524
CHN China5,052,000City (sub-provincial)
MEX Mexico5,023,000Municipality

Notes

References

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