Largest cities

Largest Cities in the World

Q: City proper vs metro area — what's the difference?

City proper counts only people inside the official city/municipality boundary; a metropolitan area adds the surrounding commuter region. Metro figures are often 2–5× larger and defined inconsistently between countries.

Shanghai is the world's biggest city proper, home to 24.9 million people — more than entire countries. These rank cities by their administrative population, not sprawling metro areas.

150cities

city propernot metro

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The map

The world's biggest cities, mapped

Each circle is a city; its size is the city-proper population — bigger circle, more people.

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The biggest

Top 10 largest cities

1ShanghaiChina24.9M24,874,500 people
2BeijingChina19.0M18,960,744 people
3ShenzhenChina17.5M17,494,398 people
4GuangzhouChina16.1M16,096,724 people
5KinshasaDemocratic Republic of the Congo16.0M16,000,000 people
6IstanbulTurkey15.7M15,701,602 people
7LagosNigeria15.4M15,388,000 people
8Ho Chi Minh CityVietnam14.0M14,002,598 people
9ChengduChina13.6M13,568,357 people
10LahorePakistan13.0M13,004,135 people

All cities

The full ranking

#	City	Country	Population ▼
1	Shanghai	China	24.9M
2	Beijing	China	19.0M
3	Shenzhen	China	17.5M
4	Guangzhou	China	16.1M
5	Kinshasa	Democratic Republic of the Congo	16.0M
6	Istanbul	Turkey	15.7M
7	Lagos	Nigeria	15.4M
8	Ho Chi Minh City	Vietnam	14.0M
9	Chengdu	China	13.6M
10	Lahore	Pakistan	13.0M
11	Mumbai	India	12.7M
12	São Paulo	Brazil	12.4M
13	Mexico City	Mexico	12.3M
14	Karachi	Pakistan	11.6M
15	Tianjin	China	11.1M
16	Delhi	India	11.0M
17	Wuhan	China	10.4M
18	Moscow	Russia	10.4M
19	Dhaka	Bangladesh	10.4M
20	Seoul	South Korea	10.3M
21	Tokyo	Japan	9.7M
22	Dongguan	China	9.6M
23	Cairo	Egypt	9.6M
24	Xi’an	China	9.6M
25	Johannesburg	South Africa	9.4M
26	Nanjing	China	9.3M
27	Hangzhou	China	9.2M
28	Foshan	China	9.0M
29	London	United Kingdom	9.0M
30	New York City	United States	8.8M
31	Jakarta	Indonesia	8.5M
32	Bengaluru	India	8.5M
33	Hanoi	Vietnam	8.1M
34	Taipei	TW	7.9M
35	Lima	Peru	7.7M
36	Bogotá	Colombia	7.7M
37	Chongqing	China	7.5M
38	Hong Kong	Hong Kong	7.4M
39	Baghdad	Iraq	7.2M
40	Wuzhong	China	7.2M
41	Qingdao	China	7.2M
42	Tehran	Iran	7.2M
43	Shenyang	China	7.0M
44	Hyderabad	India	7.0M
45	Rio de Janeiro	Brazil	6.7M
46	Suzhou	China	6.7M
47	Puxi	China	6.7M
48	Ahmedabad	India	6.4M
49	Abidjan	Ivory Coast	6.3M
50	Pudong	China	5.7M
51	Sydney	Australia	5.6M
52	Singapore	Singapore	5.6M
53	Melbourne	Australia	5.4M
54	Dar es Salaam	Tanzania	5.4M
55	Saint Petersburg	Russia	5.4M
56	Alexandria	Egypt	5.3M
57	Harbin	China	5.2M
58	Bangkok	Thailand	5.1M
59	Hefei	China	5.0M
60	Dalian	China	4.9M
61	Kano	Nigeria	4.9M
62	Santiago	Chile	4.8M
63	Cape Town	South Africa	4.8M
64	Peshawar	Pakistan	4.8M
65	Changchun	China	4.7M
66	Jeddah	Saudi Arabia	4.7M
67	Chennai	India	4.7M
68	Kolkata	India	4.6M
69	Xiamen	China	4.6M
70	Surat	India	4.6M
71	Yangon	Myanmar	4.5M
72	Bao'an	China	4.5M
73	Kabul	Afghanistan	4.4M
74	Nairobi	Kenya	4.4M
75	Wuxi	China	4.4M
76	Giza	Egypt	4.4M
77	Jinan	China	4.3M
78	Taiyuan	China	4.3M
79	Zhengzhou	China	4.3M
80	Bamako	Mali	4.2M
81	Riyadh	Saudi Arabia	4.2M
82	New Taipei City	TW	4.0M
83	New Territories	Hong Kong	4.0M
84	Shijiazhuang	China	3.9M
85	Chattogram	Bangladesh	3.9M
86	Addis Ababa	Ethiopia	3.9M
87	Kunming	China	3.9M
88	Zhongshan	China	3.8M
89	Nanning	China	3.8M
90	Shantou	China	3.8M
91	Los Angeles	United States	3.8M
92	Faisalabad	Pakistan	3.8M
93	Dubai	United Arab Emirates	3.8M
94	Yokohama	Japan	3.8M
95	Fuzhou	China	3.7M
96	Ningbo	China	3.7M
97	Casablanca	Morocco	3.7M
98	Ibadan	Nigeria	3.6M
99	Puyang	China	3.6M
100	Ankara	Turkey	3.5M
101	Shiyan	China	3.5M
102	Berlin	Germany	3.4M
103	Tangshan	China	3.4M
104	Rawalpindi	Pakistan	3.4M
105	Lüliang	China	3.3M
106	Durban	South Africa	3.3M
107	Changzhou	China	3.3M
108	Busan	South Korea	3.3M
109	Madrid	Spain	3.3M
110	Pyongyang	North Korea	3.2M
111	Zibo	China	3.1M
112	Pune	India	3.1M
113	Bursa	Turkey	3.1M
114	Changsha	China	3.1M
115	Quezon City	Philippines	3.1M
116	Jaipur	India	3.0M
117	Guiyang	China	3.0M
118	Ürümqi	China	3.0M
119	Surabaya	Indonesia	3.0M
120	Incheon	South Korea	3.0M
121	Lanzhou	China	3.0M
122	Caracas	Venezuela	3.0M
123	Kyiv	Ukraine	3.0M
124	İzmir	Turkey	2.9M
125	Huizhou	China	2.9M
126	Buenos Aires	Argentina	2.9M
127	Haikou	China	2.9M
128	Taichung	TW	2.9M
129	Kanpur	India	2.8M
130	Toronto	Canada	2.8M
131	Quito	Ecuador	2.8M
132	Brisbane	Australia	2.8M
133	Luanda	Angola	2.8M
134	Osaka	Japan	2.8M
135	Linyi	China	2.7M
136	Baoding	China	2.7M
137	Kaohsiung	TW	2.7M
138	Guayaquil	Ecuador	2.7M
139	Belo Horizonte	Brazil	2.7M
140	Minhang	China	2.7M
141	Bazhong	China	2.7M
142	Salvador	Brazil	2.7M
143	Abuja	Nigeria	2.7M
144	Gazipur	Bangladesh	2.7M
145	Chicago	United States	2.7M
146	Wenzhou	China	2.6M
147	Bekasi	Indonesia	2.6M
148	Dakar	Senegal	2.6M
149	Haiphong	Vietnam	2.6M
150	Yunfu	China	2.6M

150 largest cities by city-proper population · GeoNames · latest year per country

GeoNamesCC BY 4.0City-proper population

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Answer first

Frequently asked questions

What is the largest city in the world?

By city-proper population, Shanghai — about 24.9 million people within its administrative boundaries. By metropolitan area the answer differs (Tokyo's metro is larger), which is why the basis matters.

Why isn't Tokyo number one?

Tokyo leads the world by metropolitan area (~37 million), but this ranking uses city-proper population — the administrative city itself — where Shanghai, Beijing and Delhi come first.

What is the biggest city on each continent?

The biggest cities by continent include Shanghai (Asia), Lagos and Kinshasa (Africa), Moscow and Istanbul (Europe), São Paulo (South America) and New York (North America).

City proper vs metro area — what's the difference?

City proper counts only people inside the official city or municipality boundary; a metropolitan area adds the surrounding commuter region. Metro figures are often 2–5× larger and defined inconsistently between countries.

Where does this data come from?

GeoNames, which compiles city-proper population from national statistical agencies. Figures reflect the latest available year per country and are openly licensed (CC BY 4.0).