CINXE.COM

<!DOCTYPE HTML><html lang=en><head><meta charset="utf-8"><title>Mega cities - the biggest cities all over the world</title><link rel=preconnect href="https://js.worlddata.info"><link rel=dns-prefetch href="https://js.worlddata.info"><link rel=preconnect href="https://cdn.worlddata.info"><link rel="dns-prefetch" href="https://cdn.worlddata.info"><link rel=alternate hreflang=de href="https://www.laenderdaten.info/megacities.php"><link rel=alternate hreflang=en href="https://www.worlddata.info/megacities.php"><link rel=alternate hreflang=es href="https://www.datosmundial.com/megaciudades.php"><link rel=alternate hreflang=pt-BR href="https://www.dadosmundiais.com/megacidades.php"><link rel=alternate hreflang=fr href="https://www.donneesmondiales.com/megapoles.php"><link rel=canonical id=canonical href="https://www.worlddata.info/megacities.php"><meta name=description content="Ranking of the biggest cities worldwide. On top: Chongqing, Shanghai and Beijing"><meta name=robots content="index,follow,max-image-preview:large"><meta name=HandheldFriendly content=true><meta name=MobileOptimized content=360><meta name=viewport content="width=device-width,minimum-scale=1,initial-scale=1,user-scalable=yes"><meta name="theme-color" content="#00405D" media="(prefers-color-scheme:light)"><meta name="theme-color" content="#000000" media="(prefers-color-scheme:dark)"><link rel=icon type="image/png" sizes="16x16 24x24 32x32 48x48 64x64" href="//cdn.worlddata.info/pics/favs/64x64.png"><link rel="apple-touch-icon" sizes="72x72 76x76 114x114 120x120 144x144 152x152 180x180 192x192" href="//cdn.worlddata.info/pics/favs/192x192.png"><link rel="apple-touch-icon-precomposed" href="//cdn.worlddata.info/pics/favs/apple-touch-icon-precomposed.png"><link rel=stylesheet href="//cdn.worlddata.info/css/footer12-en.css" media=print onload="this.media='all'"><meta property="og:title" content="Mega cities - the biggest cities all over the world"><meta property="og:description" content="Ranking of the biggest cities worldwide. On top: Chongqing, Shanghai and Beijing"><meta property="og:type" content=website><meta property="og:url" content="https://www.worlddata.info/megacities.php"><meta property="og:locale" content=en_US><meta property="og:site_name" content="Worlddata.info"><meta property="og:image" content="https://cdn.worlddata.info/pics/og/megacity-hongkong.jpg"><meta property="og:image:width" content=1200><meta property="og:image:height" content=628><meta name="twitter:image" content="https://cdn.worlddata.info/pics/og/megacity-hongkong.jpg"><meta name="twitter:title" content="Mega cities - the biggest cities all over the world"><meta name="twitter:card" content=summary><meta name="twitter:description" content="Ranking of the biggest cities worldwide. On top: Chongqing, Shanghai and Beijing"><script defer src="//js.worlddata.info/public28-en.js"></script><style>html,body{background-color:#DBD7D0;margin:0;font-size:9pt;color:#000;font-family:Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,Roboto;line-height:135%}#outer-wrap{position:relative;max-width:990px;margin:0 auto;background-color:#fff}header{padding:80px 0 0 0;background-image:linear-gradient(to bottom,#fff 25%,#e2e2e2)}#navbar{height:13px}#sitetitle{float:left;width:300px;height:35px;text-align:left;padding-left:10px;margin-top:-5px}#topnav a,abbr{text-decoration:none !important}img,table,#searchgo{border:0}#intro1{position:relative;overflow:hidden;height:auto;box-sizing:border-box;color:#fff;padding:0}#intro3{position:relative;background-color:rgba(0,70,99,.75);padding:4% 4% 40px 4%;text-align:left;box-sizing:border-box}#intro3 .floater{padding-bottom:7px}#intro1 a{color:#0ff}#blurbg{position:absolute;top:-20px;left:-20px;right:-20px;bottom:-20px;overflow:hidden;background-position:center center;background-size:cover;filter:blur(3px)}#blurbg.satellite{filter:blur(0px)}#intro3.satellite{background-color:rgba(0,40,40,.7)}.boxwhite{background-color:#fff;padding:30px}.greybg{background-color:#eee}.clear{clear:both}.br3{height:3em}a.langh{padding-left:22px}.center,tr.center th,tr.center td,div.map{text-align:center}.left,tr.left th:not(.right),tr.left td:not(.right){text-align:left !important}.right,tr.right th:not(.left),tr.right td:not(.left){text-align:right}.top,tr.top th:not(.bottom),tr.top td:not(.bottom){vertical-align:top}.bottom,tr.bottom th:not(.top),tr.bottom td:not(.top){vertical-align:bottom}img.right{float:right}img.deko{display:none;max-width:340px;height:auto;float:left;box-shadow:3px 3px 6px #000;margin:0 50px 30px 0}.floater{overflow:hidden}a{color:#3B45BA}h1{font-size:25pt;margin-top:0;font-weight:normal;line-height:30pt;text-shadow:2px 2px 3px rgba(0,0,0,.5)}h2,.h2{font-size:16pt;color:#0D1656;line-height:160%;font-weight:normal}h3,.h3{font-size:13pt;color:#0D1656;line-height:140%;font-weight:normal;margin-bottom:10px}.nowrap{white-space:nowrap}img.graph,picture.graph{max-width:100%;height:auto;margin:0 auto}br.br3{display:block;margin-bottom:3em;content:' '}a.btn,input.btn,button.btn{background-color:#666;color:#fff !important;padding:3px 20px 3px 20px;border:0;border-radius:9px;cursor:pointer;text-align:center;text-decoration:none;white-space:nowrap}#intro1 .btn{background-color:#fff;color:#3B45BA !important}.boxwhite .btn{color:#3B45BA;font-weight:bold}.adtg{min-height:3px;text-align:center}div.hrz,div.bbd{display:block;width:auto;min-width:728px;min-height:90px;margin:5px auto 10px auto}div.bbd{min-width:970px;min-height:325px;margin:0}.cad,.cad-right,.sky{display:block;min-width:300px}ins.adsbygoogle{display:block;margin:0 auto}#menubtn,#searchbtn{font-size:34px;color:#000;margin-right:10px;float:right;width:auto;display:inline-block;cursor:pointer}#searchbtn{font-size:20px;margin-right:18px;filter:grayscale(1)}#sff{display:block;width:auto;padding:1px 1px 0 2px;border:1px solid #02968C;border-radius:5px;float:right;box-sizing:border-box}div.stpd_cmp div.stpd_cmp_wrapper{background-color:rgba(0,0,0,.5) !important;z-index:2147483640 !important}#cmpds{background-color:#fff;padding:5px;position:fixed;left:0;right:0;bottom:0;z-index:2147483645}@media (max-width:630px){html,body{font-size:11pt}main{margin-top:55px}table.std100 tr>*{font-size:10pt}header{display:block;position:fixed;top:0;left:0;right:0;height:23px;padding:16px 7px;z-index:998;background-image:linear-gradient(to bottom,#fff,#e2e2e2);transition:top .5s ease-in-out}#sitetitle{width:240px;height:28px;padding-left:0;margin-bottom:5px}#langsel{border-bottom:1px solid #60A0BD;padding:15px 0;margin-bottom:15px}.ab630,#navbar,#sbtncl{display:none}#topnav{display:block;position:fixed;top:0;bottom:0;left:100%;width:250px;padding:10px;background-color:#ddd;z-index:999;overflow-y:auto;transition:all .2s ease}.boxwhite{padding:10px 4% 30px 4%}h1{font-size:20pt}.cad,.cad-right,.cad-fix,.bbd{min-height:100px}div.cad-right{float:none;margin:10px 0 10px 0}div.hrz{min-width:auto;min-height:50px}div.bbd{min-width:auto;min-height:305px}}@media (max-width:380px){.boxwhite{padding:10px 2% 30px 2%}}@media (min-width:631px){#outer-wrap{box-shadow:0 0 30px 5px rgba(0,0,0,.3)}#langsel, #sfd, #searchcombo{position:absolute;top:15px;right:15px;z-index:1000;text-align:left}#langsel{left:5px;right:unset}a.langh{font-size:8pt;color:#333;margin:0 7px;opacity:.6}#menubtn,.no-desktop,#topnav .subtitle,#searchbtn,#searchcombo,#sbtncl{display:none}#topnav{display:inline-block;width:440px;float:right;text-align:left;padding-top:15px}#topnav a{float:left;width:73px;text-align:center;font-size:11pt;padding-bottom:3px}#topnav a.eu{width:83px}#topnav a.am{width:95px}#topnav a.oz{width:100px}img.deko{display:block}#intro3{min-height:423px;padding-bottom:25px}.cad,.cad-right,.cad-fix{min-height:250px;max-width:336px}.cad-right+h2{margin-top:-5px}.cad-right{float:right;width:300px;margin:0 0 10px 20px}#lng_hnt{position:fixed}#sff #searchcombo{top:40px;right:0;width:auto;min-width:270px;box-shadow:5px 5px 15px rgba(0,0,0,.5);font-size:.9em;padding:7px}#sff #searcht{width:200px;height:20px;font-size:13px;background-color:transparent;outline:none;border:0}}@media (max-width:800px){img.deko{max-width:250px;margin:0 30px 20px 0}}@media(prefers-color-scheme:dark){html,body,#sfd{background-color:#414141;color:#fff}#outer-wrap,.boxwhite{background-color:#000}header{background-image:linear-gradient(to bottom,#000 30%,#333)}a{color:#31E5DB}h2,.h2,h3,.h3{color:#84D8F6}.greybg{background-color:#222}#intro3{background-color:rgba(0,37,48,.77)}div#intro2,#intro3.satellite{background-color:rgba(0,25,25,.77)}#sitetitle{filter:brightness(4) saturate(.7)}#menubtn{color:#fff}#searchbtn{color:#000;filter:grayscale(1) invert(1) brightness(2)}}.std100 tr>*{text-align:left}.std100 tr>*:nth-of-type(1n+4){text-align:right}</style></head><body data-page="Rankings:Megacities" data-nfcp="871"><div id=outer-wrap><header><nav id=menubtn onclick="toggleNav('topnav');">☰</nav><nav id=searchbtn onclick="toggleClass('sff','visi')">🔎︎<div id=sbtncl>x</div></nav><a href="/"><img id=sitetitle src="//cdn.worlddata.info/pics/logo-en750.png" width=300 height=35 alt="Worlddata.info"></a><nav id=topnav class=sidenav data-navbardefault=0><div class=subtitle><b id=navclose onclick="toggleNav('topnav');">✕</b> Countries in...</div><a class=am href="/america/index.php" data-navbar=478>Americas</a><a class=eu href="/europe/index.php" data-navbar=392>Europe</a><a class=as href="/asia/index.php" data-navbar=310>Asia</a><a class=af href="/africa/index.php" data-navbar=240>Africa</a><a class=oz href="/oceania/index.php" data-navbar=155>Oceania</a><div class=no-desktop><div class=subtitle>Geography</div><a href="/the-largest-countries.php">Largest countries</a><a href="/highest-mountains.php">Highest mountains</a><a href="/capital-cities.php">Capital cities</a><a href="/megacities.php">Megacities</a><a href="/biggest-airports.php">Biggest airports</a><a href="/timezones/">Timezones</a><div class=subtitle>Population</div><a href="/populationgrowth.php">Population growth</a><a href="/population-density.php">Population density</a><a href="/average-bodyheight.php">Average body heights</a><a href="/life-expectancy.php">Life expectancy</a><a href="/iq-by-country.php">IQ by country</a><a href="/quality-of-life.php">Quality of life</a><a href="/languages/">Languages</a><a href="/religions/">Religions</a><a href="/refugees-by-country.php">Refugees</a><div class=subtitle>Economy</div><a href="/richest-countries.php">Richest countries</a><a href="/unemployment-rates.php">Unemployment rates</a><a href="/average-income.php">Average income</a><a href="/income-taxes.php">Income taxes</a><a href="/cost-of-living.php">Cost of living</a><a href="/tourism.php">Top travel countries</a><a href="/corruption.php">Corruption</a><a href="/tax-havens.php">Tax havens</a><a href="/currencies/">Currencies</a><div class=subtitle>Climate + Nature</div><a href="/earthquakes.php">Earthquakes</a><a href="/volcanoes.php">Volcanoes</a><a href="/cyclones.php">Cyclones</a><a href="/global-warming.php">Global warming</a><a href="/greenhouse-gas-by-country.php">CO2 emissions</a></div></nav><div class=clear id=navbar data-pos="0" style="background-position:0px 0px;"></div></header><main id=main><div id=intro1><div id=blurbg style="background-image:url(//cdn.worlddata.info/pics/megacity-hongkong.jpg);"></div><div id=intro3><img class=deko src="//cdn.worlddata.info/pics/megacity-hongkong.jpg" loading=lazy width=300 height=254 alt="Mega city Hongkong"><div class=floater><h1>Megacities</h1> They are the largest cities in the world, have several million people and an amazing cultural mixture within their broad levels of population. Governments and politics aren't comparable with those of a small town somewhere in the meadowy countryside. But duties and responsibilities are also immense: Infrastructure and environment are on top of the list of problems each megacity faces.<p>The Asian continent is the obvious leader of our ranking of worldwide megacities. But Asia also provides the largest urban agglomerations worldwide, which consist of a bundle of politically separated cities, such as Tokyo-Yokohama, New York, Manila or Delhi.<p>The biggest US-city is New York City, which comes 48th in the worldwide ranking.<p>Our comparison lists the populations of the actual cities (no summarized metropolitan areas or districts). See also our ranking of <a href="/capital-cities.php">the world's capital cities</a>.</div><div class=clear></div></div></div><div class="adtg bbd" id="adtg-1" data-gptfrmt="bbd" ><ins id=ags1 class=adsbygoogle data-ad-client="ca-pub-0315193065476355" data-ad-slot="2913722277" data-ad-format="horizontal" data-full-width-responsive="true"></ins></div><div class=boxwhite><h2>What is a megacity?</h2> A megacity is, according to the definition of the United Nations, a city with more than 10 million inhabitants. Elsewhere, you can find thresholds between five and eight million. To make matters worse, a city is often confused with a metropolitan area. For example, the area known as "Metro Manila" has about 25 million inhabitants and is often referred to as a megacity. But the city of Manila itself has less than two million inhabitants.<p>Our ranking lists the population of the actual cities with more than five million inhabitants, so no combined metropolitan regions or higher-level government districts.<br><br><div class=tablescroller><table class="std100 hover tabsort sticky"><tr class=no-sort><th class=left>Rank</th><th class=left>Mega city</th><th class=left>Country</th><th class=right>City proper</th><th class=right>Urban population</th></tr><tr><td>1</td><td>Chongqing</td><td><a class="fl_as fl_CHN" href="/asia/china/index.php">China</a></td><td title="as of 2020">32,054,200</td><td title="as of 2020">22,251,500</td></tr><tr><td>2</td><td>Shanghai</td><td><a class="fl_as fl_CHN" href="/asia/china/index.php">China</a></td><td title="as of 2019">24,870,900</td><td title="as of 2019">24,073,000</td></tr><tr><td>3</td><td>Beijing</td><td><a class="fl_as fl_CHN" href="/asia/china/index.php">China</a></td><td title="as of 2019">21,893,100</td><td title="as of 2019">18,522,000</td></tr><tr><td>4</td><td>Chengdu</td><td><a class="fl_as fl_CHN" href="/asia/china/index.php">China</a></td><td title="as of 2019">20,937,800</td><td title="as of 2019">20,937,800</td></tr><tr><td>5</td><td>Guangzhou</td><td><a class="fl_as fl_CHN" href="/asia/china/index.php">China</a></td><td title="as of 2019">18,676,600</td><td title="as of 2019">26,940,000</td></tr><tr><td>6</td><td>Shenzhen</td><td><a class="fl_as fl_CHN" href="/asia/china/index.php">China</a></td><td title="as of 2019">17,494,400</td><td title="as of 2019">17,619,000</td></tr><tr><td>7</td><td>Delhi</td><td><a class="fl_as fl_IND" href="/asia/india/index.php">India</a></td><td title="as of 2021">16,753,200</td><td title="as of 2021">32,226,000</td></tr><tr><td>8</td><td>Lagos</td><td><a class="fl_af fl_NGA" href="/africa/nigeria/index.php">Nigeria</a></td><td title="as of 2018">16,437,400</td><td title="as of 2016">16,637,000</td></tr><tr><td>9</td><td>Istanbul</td><td><a class="fl_as fl_TUR" href="/asia/turkey/index.php">Turkey</a></td><td title="as of 2018">15,519,300</td><td title="as of 2018">14,441,000</td></tr><tr><td>10</td><td>Karachi</td><td><a class="fl_as fl_PAK" href="/asia/pakistan/index.php">Pakistan</a></td><td title="as of 2021">14,884,400</td><td title="as of 2021">15,738,000</td></tr><tr><td>11</td><td>Kinshasa</td><td><a class="fl_af fl_COD" href="/africa/congo-kinshasa/index.php">Democratic Republic of the Congo</a></td><td title="as of 2021">14,565,700</td><td title="as of 2021">12,836,000</td></tr><tr><td>12</td><td>Tianjin</td><td><a class="fl_as fl_CHN" href="/asia/china/index.php">China</a></td><td title="as of 2019">13,866,000</td><td title="as of 2019">10,368,000</td></tr><tr><td>13</td><td>Tokyo</td><td><a class="fl_as fl_JPN" href="/asia/japan/index.php">Japan</a></td><td title="as of 2019">13,515,300</td><td title="as of 2019">37,732,000</td></tr><tr><td>14</td><td>Moscow</td><td><a class="fl_eu fl_RUS" href="/europe/russia/index.php">Russia</a></td><td title="as of 2021">13,010,100</td><td title="as of 2021">18,800,000</td></tr><tr><td>15</td><td>Lahore</td><td><a class="fl_as fl_PAK" href="/asia/pakistan/index.php">Pakistan</a></td><td title="as of 2022">13,004,100</td><td title="as of 2022">12,306,000</td></tr><tr><td>16</td><td>Suzhou</td><td><a class="fl_as fl_CHN" href="/asia/china/index.php">China</a></td><td title="as of 2020">12,748,300</td><td title="as of 2020">6,715,600</td></tr><tr><td>17</td><td>Chengchow</td><td><a class="fl_as fl_CHN" href="/asia/china/index.php">China</a></td><td title="as of 2020">12,600,600</td><td title="as of 2020">6,650,500</td></tr><tr><td>18</td><td>Mumbai</td><td><a class="fl_as fl_IND" href="/asia/india/index.php">India</a></td><td title="as of 2014">12,478,400</td><td title="as of 2020">24,973,000</td></tr><tr><td>19</td><td>Wuhan</td><td><a class="fl_as fl_CHN" href="/asia/china/index.php">China</a></td><td title="as of 2019">12,447,700</td><td title="as of 2019">12,447,700</td></tr><tr><td>20</td><td>São Paulo</td><td><a class="fl_am fl_BRA" href="/america/brazil/index.php">Brazil</a></td><td title="as of 2020">12,400,200</td><td title="as of 2020">22,001,300</td></tr><tr><td>21</td><td>Xi’an</td><td><a class="fl_as fl_CHN" href="/asia/china/index.php">China</a></td><td title="as of 2019">12,183,300</td><td title="as of 2019">12,328,000</td></tr><tr><td>22</td><td>Hangzhou</td><td><a class="fl_as fl_CHN" href="/asia/china/index.php">China</a></td><td title="as of 2019">11,936,000</td><td title="as of 2019">9,523,000</td></tr><tr><td>23</td><td>Shijiazhuang</td><td><a class="fl_as fl_CHN" href="/asia/china/index.php">China</a></td><td title="as of 2020">11,235,100</td><td title="as of 2020">5,758,400</td></tr><tr><td>24</td><td>Linyi</td><td><a class="fl_as fl_CHN" href="/asia/china/index.php">China</a></td><td title="as of 2020">11,018,400</td><td title="as of 2020">3,651,900</td></tr><tr><td>25</td><td>Jakarta</td><td><a class="fl_as fl_IDN" href="/asia/indonesia/index.php">Indonesia</a></td><td title="as of 2022">10,680,000</td><td title="as of 2022">34,540,000</td></tr><tr><td>26</td><td>Harbin</td><td><a class="fl_as fl_CHN" href="/asia/china/index.php">China</a></td><td title="as of 2020">10,636,000</td><td title="as of 2020">3,830,000</td></tr><tr><td>27</td><td>Bangkok</td><td><a class="fl_as fl_THA" href="/asia/thailand/index.php">Thailand</a></td><td title="as of 2020">10,539,000</td><td title="as of 2020">14,626,200</td></tr><tr><td>28</td><td>Dongguan</td><td><a class="fl_as fl_CHN" href="/asia/china/index.php">China</a></td><td title="as of 2019">10,466,600</td><td title="as of 2019">10,646,000</td></tr><tr><td>29</td><td>Changsha</td><td><a class="fl_as fl_CHN" href="/asia/china/index.php">China</a></td><td title="as of 2020">10,420,600</td><td title="as of 2020">5,980,700</td></tr><tr><td>30</td><td>Dhaka</td><td><a class="fl_as fl_BGD" href="/asia/bangladesh/index.php">Bangladesh</a></td><td title="as of 2019">10,295,400</td><td title="as of 2016">18,627,000</td></tr><tr><td>31</td><td>Qingdao</td><td><a class="fl_as fl_CHN" href="/asia/china/index.php">China</a></td><td title="as of 2020">10,071,700</td><td title="as of 2020">6,229,000</td></tr><tr><td>32</td><td>Cairo</td><td><a class="fl_af fl_EGY" href="/africa/egypt/index.php">Egypt</a></td><td title="as of 2020">10,044,900</td><td title="as of 2020">20,296,000</td></tr><tr><td>33</td><td>Seoul</td><td><a class="fl_as fl_KOR" href="/asia/south-korea/index.php">South Korea</a></td><td title="as of 2023">9,617,800</td><td title="as of 2023">26,037,000</td></tr><tr><td>34</td><td>Lima</td><td><a class="fl_am fl_PER" href="/america/peru/index.php">Peru</a></td><td title="as of 2019">9,562,300</td><td title="as of 2019">10,320,000</td></tr><tr><td>35</td><td>Foshan</td><td><a class="fl_as fl_CHN" href="/asia/china/index.php">China</a></td><td title="as of 2019">9,498,900</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>36</td><td>Hefei</td><td><a class="fl_as fl_CHN" href="/asia/china/index.php">China</a></td><td title="as of 2020">9,465,900</td><td title="as of 2020">5,118,200</td></tr><tr><td>37</td><td>Weifang</td><td><a class="fl_as fl_CHN" href="/asia/china/index.php">China</a></td><td title="as of 2020">9,386,700</td><td title="as of 2020">2,511,700</td></tr><tr><td>38</td><td>Ho Chi Minh City</td><td><a class="fl_as fl_VNM" href="/asia/vietnam/index.php">Vietnam</a></td><td title="as of 2023">9,320,900</td><td title="as of 2023">21,281,600</td></tr><tr><td>39</td><td>Nanking</td><td><a class="fl_as fl_CHN" href="/asia/china/index.php">China</a></td><td title="as of 2020">9,314,700</td><td title="as of 2020">9,314,700</td></tr><tr><td>40</td><td>Mexico City</td><td><a class="fl_am fl_MEX" href="/america/mexico/index.php">Mexico</a></td><td title="as of 2021">9,209,900</td><td title="as of 2023">21,977,200</td></tr><tr><td>41</td><td>Jinan</td><td><a class="fl_as fl_CHN" href="/asia/china/index.php">China</a></td><td title="as of 2020">9,202,400</td><td title="as of 2020">8,352,600</td></tr><tr><td>42</td><td>Changchun</td><td><a class="fl_as fl_CHN" href="/asia/china/index.php">China</a></td><td title="as of 2020">9,066,900</td><td title="as of 2020">5,691,000</td></tr><tr><td>43</td><td>Tehran</td><td><a class="fl_as fl_IRN" href="/asia/iran/index.php">Iran</a></td><td title="as of 2016">9,033,000</td><td title="as of 2016">14,148,000</td></tr><tr><td>44</td><td>London</td><td><a class="fl_eu fl_GBR" href="/europe/united-kingdom/index.php">United Kingdom</a></td><td title="as of 2018">8,825,000</td><td title="as of 2018">11,262,000</td></tr><tr><td>45</td><td>Baghdad</td><td><a class="fl_as fl_IRQ" href="/asia/iraq/index.php">Iraq</a></td><td title="as of 2021">8,780,400</td><td title="as of 2021">7,287,800</td></tr><tr><td>46</td><td>Kunming</td><td><a class="fl_as fl_CHN" href="/asia/china/index.php">China</a></td><td title="as of 2020">8,460,100</td><td title="as of 2020">5,950,600</td></tr><tr><td>47</td><td>Bangalore</td><td><a class="fl_as fl_IND" href="/asia/india/index.php">India</a></td><td title="as of 2011">8,443,700</td><td title="as of 2011">15,386,000</td></tr><tr><td>48</td><td>New York City</td><td><a class="fl_am fl_USA" href="/america/usa/index.php">United States of America</a></td><td title="as of 2022">8,335,900</td><td title="as of 2023">19,426,400</td></tr><tr><td>49</td><td>Shenyang</td><td><a class="fl_as fl_CHN" href="/asia/china/index.php">China</a></td><td title="as of 2019">8,294,000</td><td title="as of 2019">7,964,000</td></tr><tr><td>50</td><td>Fuzhou</td><td><a class="fl_as fl_CHN" href="/asia/china/index.php">China</a></td><td title="as of 2020">8,291,300</td><td title="as of 2020">4,094,500</td></tr><tr><td>51</td><td>Heze</td><td><a class="fl_as fl_CHN" href="/asia/china/index.php">China</a></td><td title="as of 2020">8,287,700</td><td title="as of 2020">1,346,700</td></tr><tr><td>52</td><td>Shangqiu</td><td><a class="fl_as fl_CHN" href="/asia/china/index.php">China</a></td><td title="as of 2020">7,816,800</td><td title="as of 2020">1,859,700</td></tr><tr><td>53</td><td>Tangshan</td><td><a class="fl_as fl_CHN" href="/asia/china/index.php">China</a></td><td title="as of 2020">7,718,000</td><td title="as of 2020">3,687,600</td></tr><tr><td>54</td><td>Wuxi</td><td><a class="fl_as fl_CHN" href="/asia/china/index.php">China</a></td><td title="as of 2020">7,462,100</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>55</td><td>Dalian</td><td><a class="fl_as fl_CHN" href="/asia/china/index.php">China</a></td><td title="as of 2020">7,450,800</td><td title="as of 2020">5,736,400</td></tr><tr><td>56</td><td>Hong Kong</td><td><a class="fl_as fl_HKG" href="/asia/hong-kong/index.php">Hong Kong</a></td><td title="as of 2023">7,346,100</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>57</td><td>Bogota</td><td><a class="fl_am fl_COL" href="/america/colombia/index.php">Colombia</a></td><td title="as of 2020">7,181,500</td><td title="as of 2016">10,085,000</td></tr><tr><td>58</td><td>Luoyang</td><td><a class="fl_as fl_CHN" href="/asia/china/index.php">China</a></td><td title="as of 2020">7,056,700</td><td title="as of 2020">2,249,300</td></tr><tr><td>59</td><td>Riyadh</td><td><a class="fl_as fl_SAU" href="/asia/saudi-arabia/index.php">Saudi Arabia</a></td><td title="as of 2022">7,009,100</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>60</td><td>Zhanjiang</td><td><a class="fl_as fl_CHN" href="/asia/china/index.php">China</a></td><td title="as of 2020">6,981,200</td><td title="as of 2020">1,931,500</td></tr><tr><td>61</td><td>Yantai</td><td><a class="fl_as fl_CHN" href="/asia/china/index.php">China</a></td><td title="as of 2020">6,968,200</td><td title="as of 2020">2,511,100</td></tr><tr><td>62</td><td>Hyderabad</td><td><a class="fl_as fl_IND" href="/asia/india/index.php">India</a></td><td title="as of 2011">6,810,000</td><td title="as of 2011">7,749,300</td></tr><tr><td>63</td><td>Chennai</td><td><a class="fl_as fl_IND" href="/asia/india/index.php">India</a></td><td title="as of 2011">6,727,000</td><td title="as of 2017">12,395,000</td></tr><tr><td>64</td><td>Bijie</td><td><a class="fl_as fl_CHN" href="/asia/china/index.php">China</a></td><td title="as of 2010">6,536,400</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>65</td><td>Rio de Janeiro</td><td><a class="fl_am fl_BRA" href="/america/brazil/index.php">Brazil</a></td><td title="as of 2016">6,520,000</td><td title="as of 2016">12,592,000</td></tr><tr><td>66</td><td>Nanchang</td><td><a class="fl_as fl_CHN" href="/asia/china/index.php">China</a></td><td title="as of 2020">6,255,000</td><td title="as of 2020">3,929,700</td></tr><tr><td>67</td><td>Xinyang</td><td><a class="fl_as fl_CHN" href="/asia/china/index.php">China</a></td><td title="as of 2020">6,234,400</td><td title="as of 2020">1,416,800</td></tr><tr><td>68</td><td>Kolkata</td><td><a class="fl_as fl_IND" href="/asia/india/index.php">India</a></td><td title="as of 2022">6,200,000</td><td title="as of 2022">15,333,000</td></tr><tr><td>69</td><td>Guiyang</td><td><a class="fl_as fl_CHN" href="/asia/china/index.php">China</a></td><td title="as of 2020">5,987,000</td><td title="as of 2020">4,506,100</td></tr><tr><td>70</td><td>Jieyang</td><td><a class="fl_as fl_CHN" href="/asia/china/index.php">China</a></td><td title="as of 2020">5,877,000</td><td title="as of 2020">741,700</td></tr><tr><td>71</td><td>Singapore</td><td><a class="fl_as fl_SGP" href="/asia/singapore/index.php">Singapore</a></td><td title="as of 2023">5,637,000</td><td title="as of 2020">5,935,000</td></tr><tr><td>72</td><td>Abidjan</td><td><a class="fl_af fl_CIV" href="/africa/ivory-coast/index.php">Ivory Coast</a></td><td title="as of 2023">5,616,600</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>73</td><td>Saint Petersburg</td><td><a class="fl_eu fl_RUS" href="/europe/russia/index.php">Russia</a></td><td title="as of 2021">5,601,900</td><td title="as of 2021">6,200,000</td></tr><tr><td>74</td><td>Ahmedabad</td><td><a class="fl_as fl_IND" href="/asia/india/index.php">India</a></td><td title="as of 2011">5,570,600</td><td title="as of 2017">5,633,900</td></tr><tr><td>75</td><td>Shantou</td><td><a class="fl_as fl_CHN" href="/asia/china/index.php">China</a></td><td title="as of 2020">5,502,000</td><td title="as of 2020">4,312,200</td></tr><tr><td>76</td><td>Nampula</td><td><a class="fl_af fl_MOZ" href="/africa/mozambique/index.php">Mozambique</a></td><td title="as of 2022">5,483,400</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>77</td><td>Tai’an</td><td><a class="fl_as fl_CHN" href="/asia/china/index.php">China</a></td><td title="as of 2020">5,472,200</td><td title="as of 2020">1,735,400</td></tr><tr><td>78</td><td>Alexandria</td><td><a class="fl_af fl_EGY" href="/africa/egypt/index.php">Egypt</a></td><td title="as of 2023">5,441,900</td><td title="as of 2023">6,100,000</td></tr><tr><td>79</td><td>Dar es Salaam</td><td><a class="fl_af fl_TZA" href="/africa/tanzania/index.php">Tanzania</a></td><td title="as of 2022">5,383,700</td><td title="as of 2022">7,962,000</td></tr><tr><td>80</td><td>Taiyuan</td><td><a class="fl_as fl_CHN" href="/asia/china/index.php">China</a></td><td title="as of 2020">5,305,100</td><td title="as of 2020">4,529,100</td></tr><tr><td>81</td><td>Nanning</td><td><a class="fl_as fl_CHN" href="/asia/china/index.php">China</a></td><td title="as of 2020">5,293,400</td><td title="as of 2020">5,977,200</td></tr><tr><td>82</td><td>Changde</td><td><a class="fl_as fl_CHN" href="/asia/china/index.php">China</a></td><td title="as of 2020">5,279,100</td><td title="as of 2020">1,469,100</td></tr><tr><td>83</td><td>Changzhou</td><td><a class="fl_as fl_CHN" href="/asia/china/index.php">China</a></td><td title="as of 2020">5,278,100</td><td title="as of 2020">3,601,100</td></tr><tr><td>84</td><td>Ankara</td><td><a class="fl_as fl_TUR" href="/asia/turkey/index.php">Turkey</a></td><td title="as of 2023">5,165,800</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>85</td><td>Xiamen</td><td><a class="fl_as fl_CHN" href="/asia/china/index.php">China</a></td><td title="as of 2020">5,164,000</td><td title="as of 2020">5,164,000</td></tr></table></div><div class=clear style="height:30px;"></div><div class="adtg cad-right" id="adtg-2" data-gptfrmt="cad" data-asfrmt="rectangle" style="min-height:250px;width:336px;"><ins id=ags2 class=adsbygoogle data-ad-client="ca-pub-0315193065476355" data-ad-slot="3247214056" data-ad-format="rectangle" data-full-width-responsive="true"></ins></div><h2>The concept of a city</h2> The definition of a city is inconsistent at the international level. In the U.S., the concept of <strong>city limits</strong> or <strong>city proper</strong> has been established, but it cannot be applied to all other countries. In purely substantive terms, a city refers to a uniformly and centrally administered political area with clearly defined boundaries. In many countries, these city limits are indicated by city signs on the streets. Even in the case of centrally administered rural communities, this is no longer quite so simple, because often several localities belong to the administrative area. In visual terms, they consist of several small towns, and between them there are often large agricultural areas.<p>It is even more difficult in countries that have a completely different concept of a city. What is understood as a city administration in the USA refers to entire regions elsewhere. Sometimes municipal tasks are combined over a wide area. But if territorial sovereignty is bundled in one place, this corresponds to the actual definition of a city - even if this administration is dozens of miles away.<p>In the USA in particular, but only a few other countries, the term of the <strong>urban area</strong> exists alongside the term "city proper". It came into being because the visual appearance of a city often deviates far from the administrative city limits. For example, New York City has about 8 million inhabitants within the city limits, but more than twice of it in the urban area.<p>The term "city" is therefore interpreted differently from country to country, and only rarely are population figures precisely ascertainable. In Canada, Thailand, Switzerland or even Colombia, one speaks of agglomerations, which are formed for statistical purposes and also include surrounding areas. The EU tries to use the term "<strong>functional urban area</strong>", which may also include additional areas besides the urban core. But even these two terms cannot be applied to all countries. Japan, for example, has created a separate unit only for Tokyo, because the city does not fit into any of the common patterns.<p>In order to make city sizes comparable, the United Nations is trying to establish the concept of an "<strong>urban agglomeration</strong>", i.e. a coherent urban area. According to this scheme, the city of Tokyo would have 39 million inhabitants, while the actual urban area has only about 14 million. If one were to apply this consideration to other countries, numerous large cities such as Fort Worth near Dallas or more than 2 dozen cities around Los Angeles would no longer exist because they would be absorbed into the agglomeration of another city.<br><br>The bottom line is that it remains difficult to determine the size of cities in a uniform way. <h2>Megacities in China</h2> Among the 85 largest cities in the world, China is represented 47 times. This may seem somewhat unfair, as large cities are "constructed" there disproportionately often. Normally, cities grow and shrink through natural urbanization. However, political decisions - especially in China - often result in cities being merged that were previously located next to each other and existed separately. This creates a common municipal legal structure with a unified administration, which from a political perspective leads to a city. However, as these Chinese "cities" can contain not only districts, but also other towns and administrative districts, they are more comparable to what is called a county or administrative district in other countries.<p><img class=mob-img-right src="//cdn.worlddata.info/pics/megacity-hongkong.jpg" loading=lazy width=300 height=254 alt="Megacity Hongkong"> The Chinese government is currently planning to merge the megacity of Shanghai with 8 surrounding cities to create the planned city of "Jing-Jin-Ji" with 130 million inhabitants. Another super city with a planned population of 40 million is to be built by 2030 on the Pearl River Delta north of Hong Kong around the current cities of Shenzhen and Guangzhou.<p>According to current plans, there will be more than 200 planned cities with over 1 million inhabitants in the coming years.</div><div class=mteaser><div><a href="/the-largest-countries.php"><img src="//cdn.worlddata.info/pics/crowds.jpg" loading=lazy width=284 height=130 alt="Ranking: The largest countries">The 30 largest and most populous countries</a>A list of the largest countries related to population and area. On top: China, India and Russia</div><div><a href="/capital-cities.php"><img src="//cdn.worlddata.info/pics/hauptstaedte.jpg" loading=lazy width=284 height=130 alt="List of all Capital Cities in the world">List of all Capital Cities in the world</a>A listing of all national capitals worldwide including further information to their countries, sorted by continents.</div><div><a href="/population-density.php"><img src="//cdn.worlddata.info/pics/crowds2.jpg" loading=lazy width=284 height=130 alt="Population density by country">Comparison of the global population density</a>A juxtaposition of the population density in 94 countries. USA comes 83rd.</div></div><div class="adtg bbd greybg" id="adtg-3" data-gptfrmt="bbd" style="min-height:90px; margin:0 0;" data-nads=1></div></main><footer id=footer><div id=socials><a href="//twitter.com/share?original_referer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.worlddata.info%2Fmegacities.php&text=Mega+cities+-+the+biggest+cities+all+over+the+world&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.worlddata.info%2Fmegacities.php" target=_blank rel=noopener style="background-position:-31px -29px;" title=Twitter></a><a href="//www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.worlddata.info%2Fmegacities.php&t=Mega+cities+-+the+biggest+cities+all+over+the+world" target=_blank rel=noopener style="background-position:-209px -29px;" title=Facebook></a><a class=ab630 href="//www.linkedin.com/shareArticle?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.worlddata.info%2Fmegacities.php" target=_blank rel=noopener style="background-position:-270px -29px;" title=LinkedIn></a><a class=no-desktop href="fb-messenger://share?link=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.worlddata.info%2Fmegacities.php" rel=noopener style="background-position:-150px -29px;" title=Messenger></a><a class=no-desktop href="whatsapp://send?text=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.worlddata.info%2Fmegacities.php%20Mega+cities+-+the+biggest+cities+all+over+the+world" rel=noopener style="background-position:-116px -29px;" title=WhatsApp></a><a href="//www.reddit.com/submit?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.worlddata.info%2Fmegacities.php&title=Mega+cities+-+the+biggest+cities+all+over+the+world" target=_blank rel=noopener style="background-position:0 -29px;" title=Reddit></a><a href="mailto:?subject=Mega+cities+-+the+biggest+cities+all+over+the+world&body=Mega+cities+-+the+biggest+cities+all+over+the+world%0Ahttps%3A%2F%2Fwww.worlddata.info%2Fmegacities.php" style="background-position:-59px -29px;" title=Email></a></div><div class=breadcrumbs>You are here: <a href="/">Home</a> › <span style="color:#00FFFF;">Mega cities</span></div><script type="application/ld+json">[{"@context": "https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Homepage","item":"https://www.worlddata.info/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Mega cities","item":"https://www.worlddata.info/megacities.php"}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","LastModified":"2024-02-15","headline":"Mega cities - the biggest cities all over the world"}]</script><a href="/quiz/">Country Quiz</a><a href="/countrycodes.php">Country codes</a><a href="/downloads/">CSV downloads</a><a href="/definition-country.php">What is a country?</a><div id=langsel><a href="https://www.laenderdaten.info/megacities.php" title="Ranking: Megacities" class=langh rel=alternate style="background-position:2px 1px;" hreflang=de lang=de>deutsch</a><a href="https://www.datosmundial.com/megaciudades.php" title="Ranking: Megacities" class=langh rel=alternate style="background-position:-348px 1px;" hreflang=es lang=es>español</a><a href="https://www.dadosmundiais.com/megacidades.php" title="Ranking: Megacities" class=langh rel=alternate style="background-position:-1028px 1px;" hreflang=pt-BR lang=pt-BR id=lngpt>português</a><a href="https://www.donneesmondiales.com/megapoles.php" title="Ranking: Megacities" class=langh rel=alternate style="background-position:-518px 1px;" hreflang=fr lang=fr>français</a></div><br><br><a class=legal href="/about.php">About worlddata.info</a><a class=legal href="/privacypolicy.php">Privacy policy</a><a class=legal id=cmp_revoke style="display:none;" href="#" onclick="window.manualCmpResurface();return false">Cookie settings</a><a class=legal href="/report-an-error.php" rel=nofollow onclick="errurl(this)">Report an error</a><br><br>Data without guarantee © WorldData.info, all rights reserved<br>Photo: Sky100 © privat<br>This page was first published in August 2014 and has been continuously updated since then. Last modified: February 2024</footer><div id=sfd><form id=sff action="/search.php" method=get><img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAD/ACwAAAAAAQABAAACADs=" id=sspnr alt="Searching..." width=25 height=25 style="display:none;"><input type=text name=q id=searcht placeholder="search" aria-label="search term" autocomplete=off><button aria-label="start search" id=searchgo>🔎︎</button><div id=searchcombo></div></form></div></div><div id=loadingbar></div><script async src="//cdn.worlddata.info/js/tablesort2.min.js"></script></body></html>