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Urban Settlement · Ranked

The Most Populous Cities in the World

The world's largest cities ranked by metropolitan population, with country, administrative region and capital status.

How this is ranked: Figures are metropolitan-area populations, which is why they often far exceed the population inside a city's legal boundary. Comparing a metro figure for one city against a municipal figure for another is the most common error in rankings like this.

Entries Ranked
50
Top Ranked
35.68 million
Tokyo
Runner-Up
19.04 million
New York
Ranked By
Population
The Most Populous Cities in the World
#NamePopulationMap
1Tokyo35.68 million
2New York19.04 million
3Mexico City19.03 million
4Mumbai18.98 million
5São Paulo18.84 million
6Delhi15.93 million
7Shanghai14.99 million
8Kolkata14.79 million
9Dhaka12.80 million
10Buenos Aires12.79 million
11Los Angeles12.50 million
12Karachi12.13 million
13Cairo11.89 million
14Rio de Janeiro11.75 million
15Ōsaka11.29 million
16Beijing11.11 million
17Manila11.10 million
18Moscow10.45 million
19Istanbul10.06 million
20Paris9.90 million
21Seoul9.80 million
22Lagos9.47 million
23Jakarta9.13 million
24Chicago8.99 million
25Guangzhou8.83 million
26London8.57 million
27Lima8.01 million
28Tehran7.87 million
29Kinshasa7.84 million
30Bogota7.77 million
31Shenzhen7.58 million
32Wuhan7.24 million
33Hong Kong7.21 million
34Tianjin7.18 million
35Chennai7.16 million
36Taipei6.90 million
37Bangalore6.79 million
38Bangkok6.70 million
39Lahore6.58 million
40Chongqing6.46 million
41Hyderabad6.38 million
42Santiago5.72 million
43Miami5.58 million
44Belo Horizonte5.58 million
45Madrid5.57 million
46Philadelphia5.49 million
47Ahmedabad5.38 million
48Ho Chi Minh City5.31 million
49Toronto5.21 million
50Singapore5.18 million

Rankings cover entities indexed in YearMaps and are derived from open geospatial data. See data sources.

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