List of metropolitan areas by population
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- Largest city redirects here. For a list of the most populous cities within administrative limits, see List of cities by population. For a list of urban areas, see List of urban areas by population. See also historical urban community sizes for historical data.
This page lists the 100 largest Metropolitan Areas of the world, ranked by population. This is a controversial issue rather difficult to quantify, as unlike national subdivisions, there are no consistently defined borders for such an area. Many of the figures for individual cities are highly controversial, and in some cases numbers which differ by millions are given by different sources. In some countries there are official definitions, but they are not consistent on a global basis, nor even necessarily within countries. In addition, the underlying structure of different metropolitan areas varies: comparing a highly centralised city with an agglomeration of smaller settlements may not be very meaningful. Commuting patterns and other aspects of urban behaviour which underlie the metro area concept differ greatly around the world. Thus, all population figures for specific metro areas should be treated as interpretations rather than hard facts, and rankings and comparisons of metros should be treated with great caution.
[edit] Three main definitions
Three main definitions for the extent of a city:
- A morphological definition based on the urbanized area, which is usually defined as the continuous built-up area with the maximum allowable gap between structures of typically 200 m. This morphological definition is an efficient way of defining the visible city for inhabitants, especially from satellite or aerial view and because it is independent of political boundaries. For statistical convenience, such areas are sometimes adjusted to appropriate administrative limits, sometimes including rural areas within the adjusted boundaries. The urban area definition is what would traditionally be called "the city" with limits that can easily be delineated from the air and is not dependent on how a country is administratively subdivided.
- A functional definition, which is the traditional concept of a Metropolitan Area. This definition is based on commuting from home to work. Commuter flow thresholds into the core urban area are established by the national census authority to determine which areas are included or not in the metropolitan area. This definition, however, often encompasses large periurban rural areas that are not usually considered as "cities".
- An administrative definition, typically based on a municipality (city proper) or equivalent entity, or sometimes a group of municipalities under a regional government. While statistical data for administrative divisions are easy to collect, they often do not reflect the true extent of the city.
[edit] Definitions used here
Most of the data for this list were compiled from the 2005 urban agglomeration population figures from the United Nations 2005 World Urbanization Prospects Report.[1] These figures include a single urban/employment center and its immediately surrounding suburban areas. Figures with notations are from the indicated sources instead of the UN report.
Unless otherwise specified, figures are based on rough estimates for the year 2005 and rounded to the nearest 1,000. Despite the standing of the organisation behind the figures, the appropriateness and consistency of the boundaries used is controversial and the aforementioned warnings apply.
| Rank | Metropolitan area name | Country | Definition | Area | Population estimate | Population density | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| km2 | mi2 | per km2 | per mi2 | |||||
| 1 | Tokyo (Greater Tokyo Area) |  Japan |
Official metropolitan area (Keihinyo MMA) | 13,500 | 5,210 | 35,500,000 | 2,610 | 6,760 |
| 2 | Mexico City (Greater Mexico City) |  Mexico |
Official metropolitan area (ZMVM) | 7,815[2] | 3,015 | 22,411,000 | 2,484 | 6,433 |
| 3 | Seoul (Seoul National Capital Area) |  Republic of Korea |
Official Metropolitan Area (Special City) | 11,790 | 4,550 | 21,770,000[3] | 1,996 | 5,170 |
| 4 | New York City (New York metropolitan area) |  United States |
Metropolitan Statistical Area | 17,405 | 6,720 | 18,747,320[4] | 1,077 | 2,790 |
| 5 | Osaka–Kobe (Osaka-Kobe-Kyoto) Commonly referred to as Keihanshin. | Japan |
Urban area (administrative boundaries) (excludes Kyoto) | 2,070 | 800 | 18,644,000[5] | 5,452 | 14,121 |
| 6 | São Paulo (Greater Sao Paulo Area) |  Brazil |
Official Metropolitan Area (Grande Sao Paulo ) | 8,050 | 3,110 | 18,333,000 | 2,277 | 5,897 |
| 7 | Mumbai (Bombay) (Mumbai Metropolitan Area) |  India |
Administrative Area (MMRDA) | 4,360 | 1,680 | 18,196,000 | 4,206 | 10,893 |
| 8 | Delhi (National Capital Territory of Delhi) | India |
Administrative area (NCT) | 1,480 | 570 | 15,048,000 | 10,360 | 26,832 |
| 9 | Shanghai |  People's Republic of China |
Municipality (excluding counties in 2000) | 3,920 | 1,514 | 14,503,000 | 3,700 | 9,583 |
| 10 | Kolkata (Calcutta) (Kolkata Metropolitan Area) | India |
Administrative Area (KMD) | 1,780 | 690 | 14,277,000 | 8,033 | 20,805 |
| 11 | Moscow |  Russia |
Urban Area | 2,150 | 830 | 13,400,000[6] | 6,232 | 16,141 |
| 12 | Cairo (Greater Cairo) |  Egypt |
Metropolitan Area | 1,310 | 510 | 13,655,000 [7] | 8,508 | 22,036 |
| 13 | Jakarta (Jabotabek Metropolitan Area) |  Indonesia |
Urban area | 1,360 | 530 | 13,215,000 | 9,701 | 25,125 |
| 14 | Los Angeles (Greater Los Angeles Area) | United States |
Metropolitan Statistical Area | 12,562 | 4,850 | 12,923,547[4] | 1,028 | 2,663 |
| 15 | Buenos Aires (Aglomerado Gran Buenos Aires) |  Argentina |
Metropolitan Area | 3,680 | 1,420 | 12,550,000 | 3,627 | 9,394 |
| 16 | Dhaka |  Bangladesh |
Official Metropolitan Area (Dhaka Megacity) | 1,600 | 620 | 12,430,000 | 7,850 | 20,331 |
| 17 | London (London commuter belt) |  United Kingdom |
Larger Urban Zone[8] | 8,920 | 3,444 | 11,624,807 (2001) |
1,303 | 3,375 |
| 18 | Karachi |  Pakistan |
City District | 3,530 | 1,360 | 11,608,000 | 3,348 | 8,671 |
| 19 | Paris (Ile-de-France) |  France |
Larger Urban Zone[9] | 12,012 | 4,637 | 11,491,000[10] (1.1.2006 est.) |
957 | 2,478 |
| 20 | Rio de Janeiro | Brazil |
Official Metropolitan Area | 5,000 | 1,930 | 11,469,000 | 2,294 | 5,941 |
| 21 | Istanbul |  Turkey |
Istanbul Province | 5,315 | 2,050 | 11,332,000[11] | 2,132 | 5,528 |
| 22 | Lagos |  Nigeria |
Urban Area | 640 | 250 | 10,886,000 | 17,398 | 45,061 |
| 23 | Beijing | People's Republic of China |
Municipality (excluding counties in 2000) | 7,860 | 3,034 | 10,717,000 | 1,363 | 3,530 |
| 24 | Manila (Metro Manila) |  Philippines |
Administrative area (Metro Manila) | 640 | 250 | 10,686,000 | 16,683 | 43,209 |
| 25 | Chukyo Metropolitan Area (Nagoya Metropolitan Area) | Japan |
Metropolitan statistical area | 6,990 | 2,692 | 9,480,000[12] | 1,253 | 3,247 |
| 26 | Chicago (Chicagoland) | United States |
Metropolitan Statistical Area | 18,679 | 7,212 | 9,443,356[4] | 506 | 1,311 |
| 27 | Guangzhou | People's Republic of China |
Prefecture-level city (excluding county-level cities') |
7,260 | 2,803 | 8,425,000 | ||
| 28 | Lima–Callao (Lima Metropolitan Area) |  Peru |
Lima Metropolitana Region | 2,819 | 1,088 | 8,187,398[13] | ||
| 29 | Bogotá–Soacha |  Colombia |
Metropolitan Area | 1,980 | 760 | 7,881,556[14] | ||
| 30 | Tehran |  Iran |
City proper | 660 | 1,709 | 7,314,000 | 11,082 | 28,702 |
| 31 | Shenzhen | People's Republic of China |
Prefecture-level city | 1,950 | 5,050 | 7,233,000 | ||
| 32 | Wuhan | People's Republic of China |
Prefecture-level city (excluding counties) | 8,490 | 3,280 | 7,093,000 | ||
| 33 | Hong Kong | People's Republic of China |
Special Administrative area | 1,100 | 420 | 7,041,000 | 6,529 | 16,910 |
| 34 | Tianjin | People's Republic of China |
Municipality (excluding counties) | 11,920 | 18,467 | 7,040,000 | ||
| 35 | Chennai (Madras) | India |
Administrative area (Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority) | 1,180 | 460 | 6,916,000 | 5,860 | 15,177 |
| 36 | Taipei (Taipei-Keelung metropolitan area) |  Republic of China Taiwan |
Metropolitan Area (Consists of Taipei City, Taipei County, and Keelung City) | 2,457 | 948 | 6,646,503[15] (2000) |
2,748 | 6,970 |
| 37 | Bangkok (Bangkok Metropolitan Area) |  Thailand |
Official Metropolitan Area | 1,570 | 610 | 6,593,000 | 4,206 | 10,893 |
| 38 | Bangalore | India |
Administrative area (BMRDA) | 1,280 | 490 | 6,462,000 | 5,103 | 13,217 |
| 39 | Chongqing | People's Republic of China |
Municipality (excluding counties and county-level cities) |
7,490 | 6,363,000 | |||
| 40 | Lahore | Pakistan |
City district | 1,770 | 680 | 6,289,000 | ||
| 41 | Johannesburg (Greater Johannesburg Metropolitan Area) |  South Africa |
Metropolitan area (Composed of Johannesburg, Ekurhuleni, and West Rand District) | 6,239,745[16] (2001) |
||||
| 42 | Hyderabad | India |
Administrative area (HUDA) | 1,860 | 720 | 6,115,000 | 3,288 | 8,493 |
| 43 | Kinshasa |  Democratic Republic of the Congo |
Province-level city (urban population) | 9,960 | 3,850 | 6,049,000 | ||
| 44 | Madrid (Madrid metropolitan area) |  Spain |
Larger Urban Zone[17] | 8,023 | 6,008,183 (2006 INE estimate) |
|||
| 45 | Baghdad |  Iraq |
Governorate (province) | 730 | 280 | 5,904,000 | 8,096 | 20,969 |
| 46 | Toronto (Greater Toronto Area) |  Canada |
Official Metropolitan Area (GTA) | 7,100 | 2,741 | 5,857,550[18] (2006) |
825 | 2,137 |
| 47 | Philadelphia (Delaware Valley) | United States |
Metropolitan Statistical Area | 11,991 | 5,823,233[4] | 486 | 1,259 | |
| 48 | Dallas (Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex) | United States |
Metropolitan Statistical Area | 23,283 | 60,303 | 5,819,475[4] | 250 | 647 |
| 49 | Santiago |  Chile |
Metropolitan area (Gran Santiago) | 2,350 | 9110 | 5,683,000 | 2,418 | 6,262 |
| 50 | Miami (South Florida) | United States |
Metropolitan statistical area | 13,275 | 34,382 | 5,422,200[4] | 408 | 1,057 |
| 51 | Fukuoka-Kitakyushu Metropolitan Area | Japan |
Metropolitan statistical area | 5,418,537[19] | ||||
| 52 | Ruhr Area |  Germany |
Larger Urban Zone[20] | 4,434 | 11,484 | 5,359,228 (2001) |
||
| 53 | Saint Petersburg | Russia |
Administrative Area (Gorod) | 1,150 | 440 | 5,312,000 | 4,619 | 12,073 |
| 54 | Barcelona | Spain |
Larger Urban Zone[21] | 7,755 | 20,085 | 5,309,404 (2006 INE estimate) |
||
| 55 | Belo Horizonte | Brazil |
Official Metropolitan Area | 9,190 | 3,550 | 5,304,000 | ||
| 56 | Houston (Greater Houston) | United States |
Metropolitan Statistical Area | 23,124 | 59,891 | 5,280,077[4] | 228 | 591 |
| 57 | Washington, D.C. (Washington Metropolitan Area) | United States |
Metropolitan Statistical Area | 5,214,666[4] | ||||
| 58 | Ahmedabad | India |
Administrative area (AUDA) | 1,300 | 500 | 5,120,000 | ||
| 59 | Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) |  Vietnam |
Municipality (urban population) | 2,090 | 810 | 5,065,000 | ||
| 60 | Berlin | Germany |
Larger Urban Zone[22] | 17,405 | 45,079 | 4,935,524 (2001) |
284 | 736 |
| 61 | Atlanta (Atlanta Metropolitan Area) | United States |
Metropolitan statistical area | 4,917,717[4] | ||||
| 62 | Shenyang | People's Republic of China |
Prefecture-level city (excluding counties) | 3,460 | 8,961 | 4,720,000 | ||
| 63 | Khartoum–Khartoum North–Omdurman |  Sudan |
Urban area (administrative boundaries) | 4,518,000 | ||||
| 64 | Detroit (Metro Detroit) | United States |
Metropolitan Statistical Area | 4,488,335[4] | ||||
| 65 | Boston (Greater Boston) | United States |
Metropolitan Statistical Area | 4,411,835[4] | ||||
| 66 | Pune | India |
Urban area | 700 | 270 | 4,409,000 | 6,407 | 16,594 |
| 67 | Kuala Lumpur (Klang Valley) |  Malaysia |
Urban area | 4,400,000[6] | ||||
| 68 | Sydney |  Australia |
Statistical Division | 12,140 | 4,690 | 4,331,000 | ||
| 69 | Singapore |  Singapore |
City proper | 690 | 270 | 4,326,000 | 6,336 | 16,410 |
| 70 | Dongguan | People's Republic of China |
Prefecture-level city | 2,460 | 6,371 | 4,320,000 | ||
| 71 | Riyadh |  Saudi Arabia |
City proper | 1,550 | 600 | 4,193,000 | ||
| 72 | Hanoi | Vietnam |
Metropolitan Area | 2,150 | 830 | 4,164,000 | ||
| 73 | San Francisco (San Francisco Bay Area) | United States |
Metropolitan Statistical Area | 4,152,688[4][23] | ||||
| 74 | Bandung | Indonesia |
Urban area | 220 | 80 | 4,126,000 | 18,273 | 47,327 |
| 75 | Chittagong | Bangladesh |
Official Metropolitan Area (census definition) | 990 | 380 | 4,114,000 | 4,213 | 10,912 |
| 76 | Yangon (Rangoon) |  Myanmar |
Urban area | 350 | 140 | 4,107,000 | 11,663 | 30,207 |
| 77 | Chengdu | People's Republic of China |
Prefecture-level city (excluding counties) | 2,130 | 4,065,000 | |||
| 78 | Guadalajara | Mexico |
Official Metropolitan Area | 2,730 | 1,050 | 3,968,000 | ||
| 79 | Xi'an | People's Republic of China |
Prefecture-level city (excluding counties) | 3,550 | 3,926,000 | |||
| 80 | Milan |  Italy |
Larger Urban Zone[24] | 2,767 | 7,166 | 3,904,882 (2001) |
||
| 81 | Athens |  Greece |
Larger Urban Zone[25] | 3,807 | 9,860 | 3,894,573 (2001) |
||
| 82 | Alexandria | Egypt |
Governorate | 2,970 | 1,150 | 3,885,000 [26] | ||
| 83 | Phoenix (Valley of the Sun) | United States |
Metropolitan Statistical Area | 3,865,077[4] | ||||
| 84 | Porto Alegre | Brazil |
Metropolitan Area | 9,890 | 3,820 | 3,795,000 | 384 | 993 |
| 85 | Rome | Italy |
Larger Urban Zone[27] | 5,352 | 13,862 | 3,700,424 (2001) |
||
| 86 | Harbin | People's Republic of China |
Prefecture-level city (excluding counties and county-level cities) |
4,280 | 11,085 | 3,695,000 | ||
| 87 | Montreal (Greater Montreal Area) | Canada |
Census metropolitan area | 4,050 | 1,560 | 3,640,000 | 899 | 2,333 |
| 88 | Melbourne | Australia |
Statistical Division | 7,694 | 3,626,000 | |||
| 89 | Nanjing | People's Republic of China |
Prefecture-level city (excluding counties) | 6,600 | 17,094 | 3,621,000 | ||
| 90 | Monterrey | Mexico |
Official Metropolitan Area | 4,010 | 1,550 | 3,596,000 | ||
| 91 | Abidjan |  Côte d'Ivoire |
City proper | 550 | 210 | 3,577,000 | 6,393 | 16,558 |
| 92 | Ankara | Turkey |
Metropolitan Municipality | 2,500 | 970 | 3,573,000 | ||
| 93 | Surat | India |
Urban area | 200 | 80 | 3,557,000 | 18,355 | 47,539 |
| 94 | Busan (Pusan) | Republic of Korea |
City proper (Busan City) | 760 | 290 | 3,554,000 | 4,641 | 12,020 |
| 95 | Recife | Brazil |
Metropolitan Area | 2,770 | 1,070 | 3,527,000 | ||
| 96 | Guiyang | People's Republic of China |
Prefecture-level city (urban population) | 3,447,000 | ||||
| 97 | Pyongyang |  North Korea |
City proper | 2,110 | 810 | 3,351,000 | ||
| 98 | Brasilia | Brazil |
Metropolitan Area (RIDE) | 14,400 | 5,560 | 3,341,000 | ||
| 99 | Salvador | Brazil |
Metropolitan Area | 2,340 | 900 | 3,331,000 | ||
| 100 | Medellín | Colombia |
Metropolitan Area | 3,312,165[14] | ||||
[edit] Distribution by country
| Country | Number of top 100 metropolitan areas | Combined population |
| People's Republic of China |
15 | 96,209,000 |
| United States |
13 | 93,712,840 |
| India |
9 | 80,100,000 |
| Japan |
4 | 68,739,537 |
| Brazil |
7 | 49,100,000 |
| Mexico |
3 | 26,975,000 |
| Republic of Korea |
2 | 26,324,000 |
| Russia |
2 | 19,062,000 |
| Pakistan |
2 | 17,897,000 |
| Egypt |
2 | 17,540,000 |
| Indonesia |
2 | 17,341,000 |
| Bangladesh |
2 | 16,544,000 |
| Turkey |
2 | 14,905,000 |
| Argentina |
1 | 12,550,000 |
| United Kingdom |
1 | 11,624,807 |
| France |
1 | 11,491,000 |
| Spain |
2 | 11,317,587 |
| Colombia |
2 | 11,193,721 |
| Nigeria |
1 | 10,886,000 |
| Philippines |
1 | 10,686,000 |
| Germany |
2 | 10,294,752 |
| Vietnam |
2 | 9,229,000 |
| Canada |
2 | 8,952,000 |
| Peru |
1 | 8,187,398 |
| Australia |
2 | 7,957,000 |
| Italy |
2 | 7,605,306 |
| Iran |
1 | 7,314,000 |
| Republic of China |
1 | 6,646,503 |
| Thailand |
1 | 6,593,000 |
| South Africa |
1 | 6,239,745 |
| Democratic Republic of the Congo |
1 | 6,049,000 |
| Iraq |
1 | 5,904,000 |
| Chile |
1 | 5,683,000 |
| Sudan |
1 | 4,518,000 |
| Singapore |
1 | 4,326,000 |
| Malaysia |
1 | 4,300,000 |
| Saudi Arabia |
1 | 4,193,000 |
| Myanmar |
1 | 4,107,000 |
| Greece |
1 | 3,894,573 |
| Côte d'Ivoire |
1 | 3,577,000 |
| North Korea |
1 | 3,351,000 |
[edit] Notes and references
- ^ United Nations World Urbanization Prospects: 2005 Revision
- ^ Mexico - INEGI: Definitions of metropolitan areas
- ^ Data refers to Seoul, Incheon, and the province of Gyeonggi. This area includes a sizeable rural fringe. Figure from Korean National Statistics Office.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m US Census Bureau 2005 MSA estimates
- ^ Japan Statistics Bureau, [1]
- ^ a b citypopulation.de 2006-11-22 revision
- ^ [2]
- ^ Urban Audit II - Larger Urban Zone for London (based on commuting and employment) is composed of Greater London and 42 surrounding districts. See also Urban Audit page at statistics.gov.uk.
- ^ Urban Audit II - Larger Urban Zone for Paris is defined as the Ile de France region.
- ^ INSEE - Enquetes annuelles de recensement de 2004 a 2006
- ^ Turkstat
- ^ Japan Statistics Bureau, [3]
- ^ Composed of Lima province and Callao province. Figure from INEI - Poblacion proyectada, segun Lima Metropolitana (2005).
- ^ a b DANE 2005 Census Summary
- ^ Taiwan National Statistics - Table 2
- ^ Municipality data from Statistics South Africa
- ^ Urban Audit II - Larger Urban Zone for Madrid is defined as Madrid (province). Go to INE and download "Poblacion de provincias" table.
- ^ "Ontario Population Projections, 2004-2031 (updated April 2006)". Ontario Ministry of Finance.
- ^ Japan Statistics Bureau, [4]
- ^ Urban Audit II - Larger Urban Zone corresponds to the Ruhr Area.
- ^ Urban Audit II - Larger Urban Zone for Barcelona is defined as Barcelona (province). Go to INE and download "Poblacion de provincias" table.
- ^ Urban Audit II - Larger Urban Zone consists of the state of Berlin and immediately surrounding kreise.
- ^ San Francisco is also considered to be part of a combined metropolitan area with the city of San Jose. This metropolitan area is called the "San Jose-San Francisco-Oakland Combined Statistical Area", or the "San Francisco Bay Area". The total population of the combined statistical area is 7,168,176 (2005 estimate).
- ^ Urban Audit II - Larger Urban Zone for Milan is defined as the Province of Milan plus surrounding communes within the contiguous urban area (290 communes total).
- ^ Urban Audit II - Larger Urban Zone for Athens includes the city of Athens and its surrounding nomoi.
- ^ [5]
- ^ Urban Audit II - Larger Urban Zone for Rome is defined as the Province of Rome.
[edit] See also
- List of cities by population (excluding metropolitan areas)
- Megacity
- Global city
- List of metropolitan areas that overlap multiple countries
- List of most expensive cities
- List of cities in the People's Republic of China by population
[edit] By Region
[edit] Cities
- List of most populous cities in Africa
- Largest cities of the European Union by population
- List of the largest Urban Areas of the European Union by population
- List of Statistical Divisions/Districts in Australia by population (equivalent to metropolitan areas)
- List of the 100 largest Brazilian cities and 14 metropolitan areas by population
- List of the 200 largest cities of the United States
[edit] Metropolitan Areas
- List of United States urban areas
- Largest Metropolitan Areas in the Americas
- Largest Metropolitan Areas in Africa
- Largest cities of the European Union by population within city limits
- Largest European Metropolitan Areas by population
- List of the 15 largest Metropolitan Areas of France
- List of metropolitan areas in Japan by population
- Metropolitan Areas of Japan: http://www.stat.go.jp/data/kokusei/2000/final/zuhyou/092.xls
[edit] External links
[edit] Other lists of Metropolitan Areas
- PopulationData.net: all 1M+ inhabitants Metropolitan Areas
- Demographia.com: 50 Largest World Metropolitan Areas
- Citypopulation.de: The Principal Agglomerations of the World
- World Gazetteer: Metropolitan Areas
[edit] Further reading
- Largest Cities Through History
- Canada Metropolitan Areas Census 2001.
- United States Metropolitan Areas County Based Metropolitan Area Estimates Based on Census Bureau Data 2004.
