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List of metropolitan areas by population

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This page lists the 100 largest metropolitan areas of the world, listed by population. This is a controversial issue rather difficult to quantify, as unlike national subdivisions, there are no 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. (For example the United States metropolitan areas are based mainly on county boundaries, but counties are generally smaller and more evenly sized in the eastern half of the United States than in the western half). 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 metros should be treated as interpretations rather than hard facts, and rankings and comparisons of metros should be treated with great caution.

The data for this list was compiled from the 2005 urban population figures from the United Nations 2005 World Urbanization Prospects Report [1]. These figures include suburban areas immediately surrounding a major city and sometimes multiple major cities which may be close enough together to function essentially as one area. 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 (km²) Population estimate Population density (/km²)
1 Tokyo (Greater Tokyo Area)  Japan Official metropolitan area (Keihinyo MMA) 13,500 35,197,000 2,610
2 Cairo  Egypt Urban area 25,200,000 25,200,000 15,200,000
3 Mexico City  Mexico 19,000,000
4 New York City, New York–Newark, New Jersey (New York metropolitan area)  United States Urban area (FIPS 63217) 8,680 18,718,000 2,131
5 São Paulo (Greater São Paulo Area)  Brazil Official metropolitan area 8,050 18,333,000 2,277
6 Mumbai (Bombay) (MMRDA) Template:INDIA Administrative area (MMRDA) 4,360 18,196,000 4,206
7 Delhi (National Capital Territory of Delhi) Template:INDIA Administrative area (NCT) 1,480 15,048,000 10,360
8 Shanghai Template:CHINA Municipality (urban population) 6,500 14,503,000 1,949
9 London (Metropolitan area)  United Kingdom Metropolitan area 14,300,000
10 Kolkata (Calcutta) (Kolkata Metropolitan Area) Template:INDIA Administrative area (KMD) 1,780 14,277,000 8,033
11 Jakarta (Jabotabek Metropolitan Area)  Indonesia Urbanized area 1,360 13,215,000 9,701
12 Buenos Aires (Aglomerado Gran Buenos Aires)  Argentina Metropolitan area 3,680 12,550,000 3,627
13 Dhaka  Bangladesh Official metropolitan area (Dhaka Megacity) 1,600 12,430,000 7,850
14 Los Angeles–Long Beach–Santa Ana, California (Greater Los Angeles Area)  United States Urbanized area (FIPS 51445) 4,320 12,298,000 2,812
15 Karachi  Pakistan City district 3,530 11,608,000 3,348
16 Rio de Janeiro  Brazil Official metropolitan area 5,000 11,469,000 2,294
17 Osaka–Kobe (Osaka-Kobe-Kyoto)  Japan Urbanized area (administrative boundaries) (excludes Kyoto) 2,070 11,268,000 5,452
18 Cairo–Giza–Shubra El-Khema  Egypt Metropolitan area 1,310 11,128,000 8,508
19 Lagos  Nigeria Urbanized area 640 10,886,000 17,398
20 Beijing Template:CHINA Municipality (urban population) 16,810 10,717,000 645
21 Manila (Metropolitan Manila)  Philippines Administrative area (Metro Manila) 640 10,686,000 16,683
22 Moscow  Russia City proper (Federal city) 1,080 10,654,000 9,881
23 Paris  France Urban area (commune boundaries) 2,720 9,820,000[3] 3,623
24 Istanbul  Turkey Metropolitan municipality 1,830 9,712,000
25 Seoul (Seoul National Capital Area) Template:SKO City proper (Seoul City) 610 9,645,000[4] 15,725
26 Chicago, Illinois (Chicagoland)  United States Urbanized area (FIPS 16264) 5,500 8,814,000 1,584
27 Guangzhou, Guangdong Template:CHINA Prefecture-level city (urban population) 7,440 8,425,000  
28 Bogotá–Soacha  Colombia Metropolitan area 1,980 7,747,000 3,835
29 Tehran  Iran City proper 660 7,314,000 11,139
30 Shenzhen Template:CHINA 7,233,000  
31 Lima (Lima Metropolitan Area)  Peru Official metropolitan area 2,810 7,186,000  
32 Wuhan, Hubei Template:CHINA Prefecture-level city (urban population) 8,490 7,093,000  
33 Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Template:CHINA Administrative area 1,100 7,041,000 6,529
34 Tianjin Template:CHINA Municipality (urban population) 11,940 7,040,000 783
35 Chennai (Madras), Tamil Nadu Template:INDIA Administrative area (CMDA) 1,180 6,916,000 5,860
36 Bangkok  Thailand Official metropolitan area (Bangkok Metropolis) 1,570 6,593,000 4,206
37 Rhein-Ruhrgebiet North: Dortmund, Duisburg, Krefeld, Mülheim an der Ruhr, Oberhausen, Bottrop, Gelsenkirchen, Bochum, Hagen, Hamm and Herne (Ruhr Valley)  Germany Urban area (NUTS-3 boundaries) 4,500 6,566,000 1,459
38 Bangalore, Karnataka Template:INDIA Administrative area (BDA) 1,280 6,462,000 5,103
39 Chongqing Template:CHINA Prefecture-level city [pre-1997 borders] (urban population) 14,880 6,363,000 334
40 Lahore, Punjab  Pakistan City district 1,770 6,289,000  
41 Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh Template:INDIA Administrative area (HUDA) 1,860 6,115,000  
42 Kinshasa  Democratic Republic of the Congo Province-level city (urban population) 9,960 6,049,000  
43 Baghdad  Iraq Governorate (province) 730 5,904,000 8,096
44 Santiago (Santiago Metropolitan Region)  Chile Metropolitan area 2,350 5,683,000  
45 Madrid  Spain Official metropolitan area 1,700 5,608,000  
46 Miami, Florida (South Florida)  United States Urbanized area (FIPS 56602) 2,890 5,434,000 1,880
47 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (Delaware Valley)  United States Urbanized area (FIPS 69076) 4,660 5,392,000  
48 Toronto (Greater Toronto Area)  Canada Official metropolitan area (CMA) 5,870 5,312,000  
49 Saint Petersburg  Russia Administrative area (Gorod) 1,150 5,312,000  
50 Belo Horizonte  Brazil Official metropolitan area 9,190 5,304,000  
51 Ahmedabad, Gujarat Template:INDIA Administrative area (AUDA) 1,300 5,120,000  
52 Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon)  Vietnam Municipality (urban population) 2,090 5,065,000  
53 Barcelona  Spain Official metropolitan area 3,240 4,795,000  
54 Shenyang, Liaoning Template:CHINA Prefecture-level city (urban population) 12,960 4,720,000  
55 Dallas–Fort Worth–Arlington, Texas (Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex)  United States Urbanized area (FIPS 22042) 3,640 4,655,000  
56 Khartoum–Khartoum North–Omdurman  Sudan Urbanized area (administrative boundaries)   4,518,000  
57 Pune, Maharashtra Template:INDIA Urbanized area 700 4,409,000 6,407
58 Boston, Massachusetts (Greater Boston)  United States Urbanized area (FIPS 09271) 4,500 4,361,000  
59 Sydney, New South Wales  Australia Metropolitan area (Statistical Division) 12,140 4,331,000  
60 Singapore City  Singapore City proper 690 4,326,000 6,336
61 Houston, Texas (Greater Houston)  United States Urbanized area (FIPS 40429) 3,350 4,320,000  
62 Dongguan, Guangdong Template:CHINA 4,320,000  
63 Atlanta, Georgia (Atlanta Metropolitan Area)  United States Urbanized area (FIPS 03817) 5,080 4,304,000  
64 Washington, DC  United States Urbanized area (FIPS 92242) (excludes Baltimore) 3,000 4,238,000  
65 Riyadh  Saudi Arabia City proper 1,550 4,193,000  
66 Hanoi  Vietnam Metropolitan area 2,150 4,164,000  
67 Bandung  Indonesia Urbanized area 220 4,126,000 18,273
68 Chittagong  Bangladesh Official metropolitan area (census definition) 990 4,114,000 4,213
69 Yangon  Myanmar Urbanized area 350 4,107,000 11,663
70 Chengdu, Sichuan Template:CHINA Prefecture-level city (urban population) 12,350 4,065,000  
71 Detroit, Michigan (Metro Detroit)  United States Urbanized area (FIPS 23824) 3,270 4,034,000  
72 Guadalajara, Jalisco  Mexico Official metropolitan area 2,730 3,968,000  
73 Xi'an Template:CHINA Prefecture-level city (urban population) 9,980 3,926,000  
74 Porto Alegre  Brazil Metropolitan area 9,890 3,795,000  
75 Alexandria, Al Iskandariyah Governorate  Egypt Governorate 2,970 3,770,000  
76 Rhein-Main–Darmstadt, Frankfurt am Main, Offenbach am Main and Wiesbaden (Greater Frankfurt)  Germany Urban area (NUTS-3 boundaries) 3,500 3,721,000  
77 Haerbin Template:CHINA 3,695,000  
78 Montreal (Greater Montreal Area)  Canada Metropolitan area (CMA) 4,050 3,640,000  
79 Melbourne, Victoria  Australia Metropolitan area (Statistical Division) 7,690 3,626,000  
80 Nanjing, Jiangsu Template:CHINA 3,621,000  
81 Monterrey, Nuevo León  Mexico Official metropolitan area 4,010 3,596,000  
82 Abidjan  Ivory Coast City proper 550 3,577,000 6,393
83 Ankara  Turkey Metropolitan municipality 2,500 3,573,000  
84 Surat, Gujarat  India Urbanized area 200 3,557,000 18,355
85 Busan (Pusan) Template:SKO City proper (Busan City) 760 3,554,000 4,641
86 Recife, Brazil  Brazil Metropolitan area 2,770 3,527,000  
87 Guiyang Template:CHINA 3,447,000  
88 Phoenix–Mesa, Arizona (Valley of the Sun)  United States Urbanized area (FIPS 69184) 2,070 3,416,000 1,639
89 Berlin  Germany Berlin city state 890 3,389,000 3,739
90 San Francisco–Oakland, California  United States Urbanized area (excludes San Jose) 1,360 3,385,000[2]  
91 Pyongyang Template:NKO City proper 2,110 3,351,000  
92 Rome  Italy Urbanized area (administrative boundaries) 1,700 3,348,000  
93 Brasilia  Brazil Metropolitan area (RIDE) 14,400 3,341,000  
94 Salvador  Brazil Metropolitan area 2,340 3,331,000  
95 Rhein-Ruhrgebiet Middle–Düsseldorf, Mönchengladbach, Remscheid, Solingen and Wuppertal  Germany Urban area (NUTS-3 boundaries) 1,500 3,325,000  
96 Johannesburg  South Africa Metropolitan municipality (excludes Ekurhuleni and West Rand) 1,640 3,254,000  
967 Fortaleza  Brazil Metropolitan area 4,950 3,237,000  
98 Athens  Greece Urbanized area (administrative boundaries)   3,230,000  
99 Algiers  Algeria Wilaya (province) 270 3,200,000 12,074
100 Nagoya (Chukyo Metropolitan Area)  Japan Urbanized area (administrative boundaries) 670 3,179,000 4,760
 


Notes

  1. ^ Eurostat defines a "Larger Urban Zone" or LUZ for London (based on commuting and employment) composed of Greater London and 42 surrounding districts with a total population of 11,624,807 (2001).
  2. ^ San Francisco is more often 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 7,159,693 (2004 estimate), with a combined urban area population of 5,016,000.
  3. ^ The statistical metropolitan area (aire urbaine) of Paris has an official population of 11,174,743 (as of 1999).
  4. ^ The Korean National Statistics Office does not tabulate metropolitan areas. Unofficial definitions of the metropolitan area (see Other Lists section) put the population at around 22 million. The metropolitan area includes Incheon and most of Gyeonggi-do. See Seoul National Capital Area for more information.
  5. The metropolitan area of Taipei (not in the above list) is commonly taken to consist of Taipei City, Keelung City, and Taipei County with a total population of 6,733,843 (as of 2000).

References

See also

Lists of metropolitan areas by region

Other lists of metropolitan areas

Further reading

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