Main Page | See live article | Alphabetical index

List of metropolitan areas by population

This page lists the 100 largest metropolitan areas of the world by population. This is a controversial and difficult to define quantity. 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 (e.g. Washington-Baltimore).

Figures are all rounded to three significant digits (four in cases of populations above ten million), as these can only be rough estimates.

RankMetropolitan area namePopulation estimate
1Tokyo-Yokohama-Kawasaki-Chiba, Japan (Greater Tokyo Area) 33,750,000
2Mexico City-Nezahualcóyotl-Ecatepec-Naucalpan, Mexico21,850,000
3New York City, New York-Newark, New Jersey-Paterson, New Jersey, United States (New York Metropolitan Area) 21,750,000
4Seoul-Incheon-Bucheon-Goyang-Seongnam-Suweon, South Korea21,700,000
5São Paulo-Guarulhos, Brazil20,200,000
6Mumbai-Kalyan-Thane-Ulhasnagar, Maharashtra, India (Brihanmumbai/Greater Mumbai)18,800,000
7Delhi, Delhi-Faridabad, Haryana-Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh, India18,100,000
8Los Angeles-Riverside-Anaheim, California, United States (The Southland) 17,450,000
9Osaka-Kobe-Kyoto, Japan 16,700,000
10Jakarta-Bekasi-Bogor-Depok-Tangerang, Indonesia (Daerah Jabotabek/Jabotabek Area)16,300,000
11Cairo-Al-Jizah-Shubra al-Khaymah, Egypt 15,600,000
12Moscow, Russia15,350,000
13Kolkata-Haora, West Bengal, India14,950,000
14Manila-Kalookan-Quezon City, Philippines (Metro Manila) 14,000,000
15Buenos Aires-San Justo-La Plata, Argentina13,900,000
16Karachi, Pakistan13,100,000
17Shanghai Municipality, People's Republic of China12,500,000
18Rio De Janeiro-Nova Iguaçu-São Gonçalo, Brazil12,150,000
19Dhaka, Bangladesh 12,050,000
20London, United Kingdom (London commuter belt) 11,900,000
21Tehran-Karaj, Iran10,800,000
22Istanbul, Turkey10,900,000
23Beijing Municipality, People's Republic of China 9,900,000
24Paris, France 9,850,000
25Chicago, Illinois, United States (Chicagoland) 9,650,000
26Lagos, Nigeria9,600,000
27Hong Kong Special Administrative Region-Shenzhen, Guangdong, People's Republic of China8,600,000
28Lima, Peru8,150,000
29Bogota, Colombia8,000,000
30Nagoya, Japan5,130,000
31Washington, DC-Baltimore, Maryland, United States (Baltimore-Washington Metropolitan Area) 7,900,000
32Johannesburg-Soweto-East Rand-West Rand, South Africa 7,750,000
33Bangkok, Thailand7,650,000
34Chongqing Municipality, People's Republic of China7,650,000
35Chennai-Tambaram-Avadi-Manali, Tamil Nadu, India7,300,000
36San Francisco-Oakland-San Jose, California, United States (San Francisco Bay Area) 7,250,000
37Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo6,950,000
38Lahore, Pakistan6,950,000
39Taipei, Taiwan, Republic of China6,800,000
40Toronto-Hamilton, Ontario, Canada (Extended Golden Horseshoe) 6,700,000
41Bangalore, Karnataka, India 6,650,000
42Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh, India6,350,000
43Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States (Delaware Valley) 5,950,000
44Saint Petersburg, Russia 5,850,000
45Tianjin Municipality, People's Republic of China5,580,000
46Essen (Rhein-Ruhr), Germany5,800,000
47Detroit, Michigan, United States-Windsor, Ontario, Canada 5,800,000
48Boston, Massachusetts, United States5,700,000
49Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas, United States (Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex) 5,700,000
50Miami-Fort Lauderdale, Florida, United States 5,400,000
51Khartoum, Sudan 5,350,000
52Belo Horizonte, Brazil 5,300,000
53Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India 5,250,000
54Santiago, Chile5,250,000
55Baghdad, Iraq 5,200,000
56Madrid, Spain5,200,000
57Riyadh, Saudi Arabia 5,150,000
58Houston, Texas, United States 5,150,000
59Alexandria, Egypt 5,050,000
60Atlanta, Georgia, United States 4,850,000
61Yangon, Myanmar 4,850,000
62Guangzhou, Guangdong, People's Republic of China 4,800,000
63Wuhan, Hubei, People's Republic of China 4,800,000
64Harbin, Heilongjiang, People's Republic of China 4,550,000
65Caracas, Venezuela 4,500,000
66Shenyang, Liaoning, People's Republic of China 4,450,000
67Singapore City, Singapore 4,400,000
68Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam 4,450,000
69Pune-Pimpri-Chinchwad, Maharashtra, India 4,250,000
70Algiers, Algeria 4,200,000
71Guadalajara-Zapopan, Mexico 4,200,000
72Sydney, New South Wales, Australia 4,200,000
73Berlin, Germany 4,150,000
74Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire 4,050,000
75Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 4,050,000
76Porto Alegre, Brazil 3,950,000
77Chittacong, Bangladesh 3,900,000
78Casablanca, Morocco 3,850,000
79Barcelona, Spain 3,800,000
80Milan, Italy 3,800,000
81Monterrey, Mexico 3,800,000
82Busan, South Korea 3,750,000
83Chengdu, Sichuan, People's Republic of China 3,750,000
84Recife, Brazil 3,750,000
85Jeddah, Saudi Arabia 3,650,000
86Phoenix, Arizona, United States (Valley of the Sun) 3,650,000
87Seattle, Washington, United States 3,650,000
88Ankara, Turkey 3,600,000
89Montreal, Quebec, Canada 3,600,000
90Pyongyang, North Korea 3,600,000
91Medellin, Colombia 3,550,000
92Melbourne, Victoria, Australia 3,550,000
93Athens, Greece 3,500,000
94Salvador, Brazil 3,400,000
95Brasília, Brazil 3,500,000
96Surat, Gujarat, India 3,500,000
97Fortaleza, Brazil 3,300,000
98Minneapolis-Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States 3,300,000
99Rome, Italy 3,300,000
100Kiev, Ukraine 3,250,000
101Upper Silesian Metropolitan Area, Poland 2,930,800

See also Largest European cities, United States metropolitan area, Megacity

Sources

Other lists of metropolitan areas

Further Reading

To be merged