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List of metropolitan areas by population

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Largest city redirects here; see historical urban community sizes for historical data.
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 [link]. 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) Official metropolitan area (Keihinyo MMA) 13,500 35,197,000 2,610
2 Mexico City (Greater Mexico City) Official metropolitan area (ZMCM) 4,980 19,411,000 3,818
3 New York City (New York metropolitan area) Urban area (FIPS 63217) 8,680 18,718,000 2,131
4 São Paulo (Greater São Paulo Area) Official metropolitan area 8,050 18,333,000 2,277
5 Mumbai (Bombay) (MMRDA) Administrative area (MMRDA) 4,360 18,196,000 4,206
6 Delhi (National Capital Territory of Delhi) Administrative area (NCT) 1,480 15,048,000 10,360
7 Shanghai  China Municipality (urban population) 6,500 14,503,000 1,949
8 Kolkata (Calcutta) (Kolkata Metropolitan Area) Administrative area (KMD) 1,780 14,277,000 8,033
9 Jakarta (Jabotabek Metropolitan Area) Urbanized area 1,360 13,215,000 9,701
10 Buenos Aires (Aglomerado Gran Buenos Aires) Metropolitan area 3,680 12,550,000 3,627
11 Dhaka Do not [Vandalismvandalize] or you will be prevented from editing. Official metropolitan area (Dhaka Megacity) 1,600 12,430,000 7,850
12 Los Angeles–Long Beach–Santa Ana, California (Greater Los Angeles Area) Urbanized area (FIPS 51445) 4,320 12,298,000 2,812
13 Karachi City district 3,530 11,608,000 3,348
14 Rio de Janeiro Official metropolitan area 5,000 11,469,000 2,294
15 Osaka–Kobe (Osaka-Kobe-Kyoto) Urbanized area (administrative boundaries) (excludes Kyoto) 2,070 11,268,000 5,452
16 Cairo–Giza–Shubra El-Khema Metropolitan area 1,310 11,128,000 8,508
17 Lagos Urbanized area 640 10,886,000 17,398
18 Beijing  China Municipality (urban population) 16,810 10,717,000 645
19 Manila (Metropolitan Manila) Administrative area (Metro Manila) 640 10,686,000 16,683
20 Moscow City proper (Federal city) 1,080 10,654,000 9,881
21 Paris Urban area (commune boundaries) 2,720 3,623
22 Istanbul Metropolitan municipality 1,830 9,712,000
23 Seoul (Seoul National Capital Area) City proper (Seoul City) 610 15,725
24 Chicago, Illinois (Chicagoland) Urbanized area (FIPS 16264) 5,500 8,814,000 1,584
25 London (Greater London Urban Area) Urban area 1,620 4,701
26 Guangzhou, Guangdong  China Prefecture-level city (urban population) 7,440 8,425,000  
27 Bogotá–Soacha Metropolitan area 1,980 7,747,000 3,835
28 Tehran City proper 660 7,314,000 11,139
29 Shenzhen  China 7,233,000  
30 Lima (Lima Metropolitan Area) Official metropolitan area 2,810 7,186,000  
31 Wuhan, Hubei  China Prefecture-level city (urban population) 8,490 7,093,000  
32 Hong Kong Special Administrative Region  China Administrative area 1,100 7,041,000 6,529
33 Tianjin  China Municipality (urban population) 11,940 7,040,000 783
34 Chennai (Madras), Tamil Nadu Administrative area (CMDA) 1,180 6,916,000 5,860
35 Bangkok Official metropolitan area (Bangkok Metropolis) 1,570 6,593,000 4,206
36 Rhein-Ruhrgebiet North: Essen, Dortmund, Duisburg, Krefeld, Mülheim an der Ruhr, Oberhausen, Bottrop, Gelsenkirchen, Bochum, Hagen, Hamm and Herne (Ruhr Valley) Urban area (NUTS-3 boundaries) 4,500 6,566,000 1,459
37 Bangalore, Karnataka Administrative area (BDA) 1,280 6,462,000 5,103
38 Chongqing  China Prefecture-level city [pre-1997 borders] (urban population) 14,880 6,363,000 334
39 Lahore, Punjab City district 1,770 6,289,000  
40 Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh Administrative area (HUDA) 1,860 6,115,000  
41 Kinshasa } Province-level city (urban population) 9,960 6,049,000  
42 Baghdad Governorate (province) 730 5,904,000 8,096
43 Santiago (Santiago Metropolitan Region) Metropolitan area 2,350 5,683,000  
44 Madrid Official metropolitan area 1,700 5,608,000  
45 Miami, Florida (South Florida) Urbanized area (FIPS 56602) 2,890 5,434,000 1,880
46 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (Delaware Valley) Urbanized area (FIPS 69076) 4,660 5,392,000  
47 Toronto (Greater Toronto Area) Official metropolitan area (CMA) 5,870 5,312,000  
48 Saint Petersburg Administrative area (Gorod) 1,150 5,312,000  
49 Belo Horizonte Official metropolitan area 9,190 5,304,000  
50 Ahmedabad, Gujarat Administrative area (AUDA) 1,300 5,120,000  
51 Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) Municipality (urban population) 2,090 5,065,000  
52 Barcelona Official metropolitan area 3,240 4,795,000  
53 Shenyang, Liaoning  China Prefecture-level city (urban population) 12,960 4,720,000  
54 Dallas–Fort Worth–Arlington, Texas (Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex) Urbanized area (FIPS 22042) 3,640 4,655,000  
55 Khartoum–Khartoum North–Omdurman Urbanized area (administrative boundaries)   4,518,000  
56 Pune, Maharashtra Urbanized area 700 4,409,000 6,407
57 Boston, Massachusetts (Greater Boston) Urbanized area (FIPS 09271) 4,500 4,361,000  
58 Sydney Metropolitan area (Statistical Division) 12,140 4,331,000  
59 Singapore City City proper 690 4,326,000 6,336
60 Houston, Texas (Greater Houston) Urbanized area (FIPS 40429) 3,350 4,320,000  
61 Dongguan, Guangdong  China 4,320,000  
62 Atlanta, Georgia (Atlanta Metropolitan Area) Urbanized area (FIPS 03817) 5,080 4,304,000  
63 Washington, DC Urbanized area (FIPS 92242) (excludes Baltimore) 3,000 4,238,000  
64 Riyadh City proper 1,550 4,193,000  
65 Hanoi Metropolitan area 2,150 4,164,000  
66 Bandung Urbanized area 220 4,126,000 18,273
67 Chittagong Do not [Vandalismvandalize] or you will be prevented from editing. Official metropolitan area (census definition) 990 4,114,000 4,213
68 Yangon Urbanized area 350 4,107,000 11,663
69 Chengdu, Sichuan  China Prefecture-level city (urban population) 12,350 4,065,000  
70 Detroit, Michigan (Metro Detroit) Urbanized area (FIPS 23824) 3,270 4,034,000  
71 Guadalajara, Jalisco Official metropolitan area 2,730 3,968,000  
72 Xi'an  China Prefecture-level city (urban population) 9,980 3,926,000  
73 Porto Alegre Metropolitan area 9,890 3,795,000  
74 Alexandria, Al Iskandariyah Governorate Governorate 2,970 3,770,000  
75 Rhein-Main–Darmstadt, Frankfurt am Main, Offenbach am Main and Wiesbaden (Greater Frankfurt) Urban area (NUTS-3 boundaries) 3,500 3,721,000  
76 Haerbin  China 3,695,000  
77 Montreal (Greater Montreal Area) Metropolitan area (CMA) 4,050 3,640,000  
78 Melbourne, Victoria Metropolitan area (Statistical Division) 7,690 3,626,000  
79 Nanjing, Jiangsu  China 3,621,000  
80 Monterrey, Nuevo León Official metropolitan area 4,010 3,596,000  
81 Abidjan City proper 550 3,577,000 6,393
82 Ankara Metropolitan municipality 2,500 3,573,000  
83 Surat, Gujarat Urbanized area 200 3,557,000 18,355
84 Busan (Pusan) City proper (Busan City) 760 3,554,000 4,641
85 Recife, Brazil Metropolitan area 2,770 3,527,000  
86 Guiyang  China 3,447,000  
87 Phoenix–Mesa, Arizona (Valley of the Sun) Urbanized area (FIPS 69184) 2,070 3,416,000 1,639
88 Berlin Berlin city state 890 3,389,000 3,739
89 San Francisco–Oakland, California Urbanized area (excludes San Jose) 1,360  
90 Pyongyang City proper 2,110 3,351,000  
91 Rome Urbanized area (administrative boundaries) 1,700 3,348,000  
92 Brasilia Metropolitan area (RIDE) 14,400 3,341,000  
93 Salvador Metropolitan area 2,340 3,331,000  
94 Rhein-Ruhrgebiet Middle–Düsseldorf, Mönchengladbach, Remscheid, Solingen and Wuppertal Urban area (NUTS-3 boundaries) 1,500 3,325,000  
95 Johannesburg Metropolitan municipality (excludes Ekurhuleni and West Rand) 1,640 3,254,000  
96 Fortaleza Metropolitan area 4,950 3,237,000  
97 Athens Urbanized area (administrative boundaries)   3,230,000  
98 Algiers Wilaya (province) 270 3,200,000 12,074
99 Nagoya (Chukyo Metropolitan Area) Urbanized area (administrative boundaries) 670 3,179,000 4,760
100 Casablanca (Region du Grand Casablanca) Administrative area 1,620 3,138,000  

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).
  6. The metropolitan area of Kuala Lumpur (not in the above list) is sometimes defined as the federal district of Kuala Lumpur plus the districts of Gombak, Klang, Petaling and Sepang in state of Selangor. The total population of this area (as of 2000) is 3,860,568.

References

See also

Lists of metropolitan areas by region

External links

Other lists of metropolitan areas

Further reading

 

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