List of the largest metropolitan areas in the world
This page lists the largest metropolitan areas in the world , that is, the major cities including the surrounding suburbs and rural areas. The largest cities in the world without a suburban belt are included in the list of megacities.
In contrast to an agglomeration consisting of a core city is and its suburban, densely populated suburban area, the concept of metropolitan region more broadly and also includes large rural areas with one associated with the main centers of the region through economic ties or commuter flows are closely linked .
The definition of the size of a metropolitan area is controversial . There is no globally standardized definition. A lack of comparability in the delimitation of the cities that are included in a metropolitan region, as well as errors and inaccuracies in the updating and extrapolation of the population figures can also lead to deviations in the information for one and the same metropolitan region.
The largest metropolitan areas in the world
The largest metropolitan area in the world is Tokyo-Yokohama , which in 2015 almost 38 million people lived on an area of 13,556 square kilometers, which is two million more than in 2011.
The population density is 2744 inhabitants per square kilometer. The Nile Delta has one of the highest population densities on earth outside of large cities . Over 60 million people live in the approximately 24,000 square kilometer area. The population density of around 2,500 inhabitants per square kilometer is similar to that of the Tokyo metropolitan area.
The Ganges Delta is also densely populated like a metropolitan region. 150 million people live on around 105,000 square kilometers, which corresponds to a population density of 1,430 inhabitants per square kilometer. The formation of a large-scale, extremely high population density is therefore not always linked to the existence of a central metropolis; rather, it can also arise in "rural" areas such as the particularly fertile tropical and subtropical river deltas (although the deltas also have metropolises of millions, such as Cairo am Nile Delta or Calcutta and Dhaka in the Ganges Delta).
If you look only at the administrative city limits, the Chinese city of Chongqing is the largest in the world. As a “government-direct city”, it represents an independent administrative unit with 30.48 million inhabitants (2016). The area of the administrative area of the city is, however, almost as large as the state of Austria (83,871 square kilometers) at 82,403 square kilometers and consists mainly of areas with rural areas Settlement structure. The administrative city limits go far beyond the boundaries of the core city of Chongqing (5472 square kilometers and 6.6 million inhabitants).
The table below lists all metropolitan areas that the source says have more than six million inhabitants, as well as the country and continent in which the region is located. The population figures are calculations based on censuses or official estimates. Other metropolitan regions , for example with more extensive delimitations than the source used here, have more than six million inhabitants, but are not included for reasons of clarity. Sometimes only the name of the metropolis is given, not the name of the metropolitan region, which is another reason why the reference to the spatial delimitation is not always clear. Since, for the reasons mentioned, it is usually not possible to provide precise, generally applicable information, only one area is given, even if there are precise figures for an official metropolitan region.
list
The largest metropolitan regions in the world with at least 5 million inhabitants (88 in total, as of April 2020):
rank | Surname | a million inhabitants | Area in km² | Inhabitants per km² | country | continent |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Tokyo | 37.977 | 8,230 | 4,614 | Japan | Asia |
2 | Jakarta | 34,540 | 3,540 | 9,756 | Indonesia | Asia |
3 | Delhi | 29.617 | 2,232 | 13,266 | India | Asia |
4th | Mumbai | 23.355 | 944 | 24,773 | India | Asia |
5 | Manila | 23.088 | 1,873 | 12,330 | Philippines | Asia |
6th | Shanghai | 22,120 | 4,068 | 5,436 | People's Republic of China | Asia |
7th | São Paulo | 22.046 | 3.116 | 7,076 | Brazil | South America |
8th | Seoul | 21.794 | 2,768 | 7,871 | South Korea | Asia |
9 | Mexico City | 20.996 | 2,386 | 8,802 | Mexico | North America |
10 | Guangzhou | 20.902 | 4,342 | 4,815 | People's Republic of China | Asia |
11 | new York | 20,870 | 12.093 | 1,700 | United States | North America |
12 | Beijing | 19,433 | 4.172 | 4,658 | People's Republic of China | Asia |
13 | Cairo | 19,372 | 2.010 | 9,639 | Egypt | Africa |
14th | Calcutta | 17,560 | 1,351 | 12,988 | India | Asia |
15th | Moscow | 17.125 | 5,891 | 2,908 | Russia | Europe |
16 | Bangkok | 17.066 | 3,199 | 5,336 | Thailand | Asia |
17th | Buenos Aires | 16.157 | 3,221 | 5,015 | Argentina | South America |
18th | Shenzhen | 15,929 | 1,803 | 8,836 | People's Republic of China | Asia |
19th | Dhaka | 15,443 | 456 | 33,878 | Bangladesh | Asia |
20th | los Angeles | 15.402 | 6.351 | 2,310 | United States | North America |
21st | Lagos | 15.279 | 1.965 | 7,772 | Nigeria | Africa |
22nd | Istanbul | 15.154 | 1,375 | 11,019 | Turkey | Asia / Europe |
23 | Kinki ( Osaka - Kobe - Kyoto ) | 14.977 | 3,019 | 4,959 | Japan | Asia |
24 | Karachi | 14.835 | 1,044 | 14,213 | Pakistan | Asia |
25th | Bengaluru | 13,707 | 1,205 | 11,381 | India | Asia |
26th | Tehran | 13.633 | 1,704 | 8,000 | Iran | Asia |
27 | Kinshasa | 13,528 | 473 | 28,542 | Democratic Republic of Congo | Africa |
28 | Ho Chi Minh City | 13,312 | 1,638 | 8,132 | Vietnam | Asia |
29 | Rio de Janeiro | 12.272 | 1.912 | 6,420 | Brazil | South America |
30th | Chennai | 11,324 | 1,049 | 10,795 | India | Asia |
31 | Cheng you | 11.309 | 1,828 | 6,185 | People's Republic of China | Asia |
32 | Lahore | 11.021 | 853 | 12,934 | Pakistan | Asia |
33 | Paris | 11.020 | 2,509 | 4,247 | France | Europe |
34 | London | 10.979 | 1,739 | 5,632 | United Kingdom | Europe |
35 | Tianjin | 10,800 | 2,813 | 3,840 | People's Republic of China | Asia |
36 | Lima | 9,848 | 890 | 11,053 | Peru | South America |
37 | Hyderabad | 9.746 | 1,273 | 7,648 | India | Asia |
38 | Johannesburg - Ekurhuleni | 9.505 | 2,542 | 3,737 | South Africa | Africa |
39 | Bogotá | 9.464 | 584 | 16,240 | Colombia | South America |
40 | Nagoya | 9.113 | 3,704 | 2,461 | Japan | Asia |
41 | Chicago | 9,014 | 7.006 | 1,288 | United States | North America |
42 | Wuhan | 8,962 | 1,646 | 5,441 | People's Republic of China | Asia |
43 | Taipei | 8,918 | 1,076 | 8,297 | Taiwan | Asia |
44 | Luanda | 8,417 | 1,023 | 8,227 | Angola | Africa |
45 | Kuala Lumpur | 8.285 | 2.162 | 3.831 | Malaysia | Asia |
46 | Dongguan | 7.981 | 1,755 | 4,545 | People's Republic of China | Asia |
47 | Pune | 7.764 | 649 | 11,943 | India | Asia |
48 | Chongqing | 7.739 | 1,537 | 5,039 | People's Republic of China | Asia |
49 | Washington - Baltimore | 7.518 | 5,500 | 1,254 | United States | North America |
50 | Nanjing | 7.496 | 1,613 | 4,646 | People's Republic of China | Asia |
51 | Ahmedabad | 7.410 | 359 | 20,583 | India | Asia |
52 | Hong Kong | 7.435 | 291 | 25,327 | Hong Kong | Asia |
53 | Boston - Providence | 7.130 | 9,538 | 727 | United States | North America |
54 | Khartoum | 7.282 | 1,031 | 7,064 | Sudan | Africa |
55 | Shenyang - Fushun | 7.105 | 1,515 | 4,689 | People's Republic of China | Asia |
56 | Bandung | 7.065 | 487 | 14,510 | Indonesia | Asia |
57 | Santiago | 7.007 | 1,148 | 6.107 | Chile | South America |
58 | Riad | 6.881 | 1,672 | 4.113 | Saudi Arabia | Asia |
59 | Toronto | 6.871 | 2,334 | 2,757 | Canada | North America |
60 | Dallas-Fort-Worth | 6.830 | 5,279 | 1,072 | United States | North America |
61 | Zhengzhou | 6.765 | 1,656 | 4,088 | People's Republic of China | Asia |
62 | Dar es Salaam | 6.698 | 604 | 11,099 | Tanzania | Africa |
63 | Xi'an | 6.680 | 1,094 | 6.112 | People's Republic of China | Asia |
64 | Hanoi | 6.576 | 963 | 6,825 | Vietnam | Asia |
65 | Surabaya | 6.499 | 911 | 7.129 | Indonesia | Asia |
66 | Hangzhou | 6.446 | 1,446 | 4,460 | People's Republic of China | Asia |
67 | San Francisco - San Jose | 6.425 | 2,872 | 2,051 | United States | North America |
68 | Houston | 6.406 | 4,930 | 1,073 | United States | North America |
69 | Quanzhou | 6.345 | 2,090 | 3,036 | People's Republic of China | Asia |
70 | Rangoon | 6.314 | 603 | 10,463 | Myanmar | Asia |
71 | Onitsha | 6.269 | 1,942 | 3,227 | Nigeria | Africa |
72 | Miami | 6.144 | 3,313 | 1,661 | United States | North America |
73 | Ruhr area ( Essen - Düsseldorf ) | 6.125 | 2,684 | 2,283 | Germany | Europe |
74 | Dubai | 6.036 | 1,508 | 4,004 | United Arab Emirates | Asia |
75 | Madrid | 6.345 | 1,365 | 4,415 | Spain | Europe |
76 | Nairobi | 6.020 | 851 | 7,065 | Kenya | Africa |
77 | Qingdao | 5.911 | 1,656 | 3,571 | People's Republic of China | Asia |
78 | Surat | 5.807 | 238 | 24,371 | India | Asia |
79 | Baghdad | 5.796 | 693 | 8,350 | Iraq | Asia |
80 | Singapore | 5.745 | 523 | 10,981 | Singapore | Asia |
81 | Philadelphia | 5.684 | 5,430 | 1,022 | United States | North America |
82 | Monterrey | 5.390 | 897 | 6.015 | Mexico | North America |
83 | Atlanta | 5.361 | 7,400 | 633 | United States | North America |
84 | Addis Ababa | 5.320 | 593 | 8,969 | Ethiopia | Africa |
85 | Guadalajara | 5.253 | 810 | 6,480 | Mexico | North America |
86 | St. Petersburg | 5.230 | 1,372 | 3.810 | Russia | Europe |
87 | Belo Horizonte | 5.159 | 1,288 | 4,008 | Brazil | South America |
88 | Accra | 5.138 | 1,222 | 4,203 | Ghana | Africa |
See also
- List of the largest cities in Europe
- List of the largest cities in the European Union
- List of the largest cities in the world (historical)
- List of the largest cities in Asia
- List of the largest cities in Africa
- List of the largest cities in South America
- List of the largest cities in North America
- List of the largest cities in Oceania
- List of city lists by country
- List of major cities in Germany
- List of large and medium-sized cities in Germany
- List of cities in Austria
- List of cities in Switzerland
- List of metropolitan areas in Brazil
Web links
Current numbers
- Detailed statistics and tables (PDF file)
Other demographic lists
- City Population: The largest agglomerations in the world
- UN: World Urbanization Prospects
- World Atlas: Largest Cities of the World - by population
Historical references
Individual evidence
- ↑ The Tokyo region has 36 million inhabitants. In: derstandard.at. March 15, 2011, accessed October 21, 2013 .
- ↑ China Statistical Yearbook 2017: Population at Year-end by Region. National Bureau of Statistics of China, 2017, accessed August 21, 2018 .
- ↑ Chongqing Statistical Yearbook 2017: Households and Population by Region (2016). Chongqing Municipal Bureau of Statistics & NBS Survey Office, 2017, accessed August 21, 2018 .
- ↑ Demographia World Urban Areas (Built-Up Urban Areas or World Agglomerations) 16th annual Edition April 2020. demographia.com, April 2020, accessed on July 17, 2020 .