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Demography

The world's biggest megacities

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20. Buenos Aires (1/20)

Urban area: 13.5 million people City: 2.9 million people According to the 2012 edition of Demographia's World Urban Areas index, the capital of ... more
19. Karachi, Pakistan (2/20)

Urban area:13.8 million people City: 13.0 million people Students attend a rooftop evening class in a private school in a slum area in Karachi, the ... more
18. Kolkata, India (3/20)

Urban area: 14.4 million people City proper: 4.5 million people Kolkata, formerly Calcutta, sits on the banks of the River Hooghly which empties ... more
17. Los Angeles, USA (4/20)

Urban area: 14.9 million people City: 3.8 million people Los Angeles is the second biggest city in the United States by land size. An extensive ... more
16. Dhaka, Bangladesh (5/20)

Urban area: 15.4 million people City: 7 million people One of the fastest growing cities in the world, Dhaka has attracted economic migrants from ... more
15. Moscow, Russia (6/20)

Urban area: 15.5 million people City: 11.8 million people By far Europe's biggest city, Moscow has been swelled by rising numbers of migrants from ... more
14. Guangzhou-Foshan (7/20)

Urban area: 16.8 million people City: 11 million people Historically known as Canton, Guangzhou is China’s third largest city and located on the ... more
13. Mumbai, India (8/20)

Urban area: 16.9 million people City: 12.5 million peopleMumbai–called Bombay until the name was changed in 1995–is the commercial and movie capital ... more
12. Osaka-Kobe-Kyoto (9/20)

Urban area: 17 million people City: N/AMade up of the commercial and industrial city of Osaka, the port of Kobe, and the ancient cultural capital of ... more
11. Beijing, China (10/20)

Urban Area: 17.3 million peopleCity: 11.7 million peopleChina’s capital hosted a spectacular if controversial Olympic Games in 2008. Despite spending ... more
10. Cairo, Egypt (11/20)

Urban Area: 17.8 million peopleCity: 6.7 million people Located on the banks of the Nile River, Cairo is the biggest urban area in Africa and in the ... more
9. Mexico City, Mexico (12/20)

Urban area: 19.4 million people City: 8.8 million people Mexico City is ten times the size it was in 1940. The Mexican capital generates a quarter ... more
8. Sao Paulo, Brazil (13/20)

Urban area: 20.2 million people City: 11.2 million people Sao Paulo is Brazil’s richest city and the most important financial center in Latin ... more
7. New York, USA (14/20)

Urban area: 20.4 million people City: 8.2 million people New York City, especially Manhattan, is a role model for balancing dense development with ... more
6. Shanghai, China (15/20)

Urban area: 20.8 million people City: 17.8 million people Shanghai has become China's financial and commercial center and is ranked as the planet's ... more
5. Manila, Philippines (16/20)

Urban Area: 21.9 million peopleCity: 11.8 million people Manila's colonial past is reflected in its architecture. Intramuros, the historic center, ... more
4. Delhi, India (17/20)

Urban Area: 22.2 million people City: 11 million peopleDelhi is India’s capital and recently overtook Mumbai as the biggest city by population size. ... more
3. Seoul-Incheon, South Korea (18/20)

Urban area: 22.5 million people City: 10.5 million people Seoul has grown rapidly since the Korean War (1950-53). Today, nearly half of the ... more
2. Jakarta, Indonesia (19/20)

Urban area: 26 million people City: 9.6 million people Jakarta has been booming since 2005 after suffering economic crises and disasters like ... more
1. Tokyo, Japan (20/20)

Urban area: 37.2 million people City: 8.9 million people Greater Tokyo is the largest urban agglomeration in the world, swallowing up the ... more

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Comments (6)

CJBAB: 30.07.2012, 12:53

Where are London, Paris, and Istanbul?
London has over 14 million, Paris has 12,5 million and Istanbul's population is very close to 13 million!

Cardinalli: 27.06.2011, 09:20

@Loco Bebesi
Same idea. Where is Istanbul?

Raj Yadav: 04.05.2010, 16:21

This list does not contain Delhi Metropolitan Area which should be 7th or 8th in position. It has close to 18 Million population

Mahalia Traveller: 10.03.2010, 11:08

Isn't it important to include the city size as well? That would add to the congestion of the city...

Loco Bebesi: 09.10.2009, 12:09

You should have added Istanbul to your list as well. It has a population of over 10 million.

susan page: 02.05.2009, 01:08

No...that would be Jacksonville, FL

Send to a friend (5) Print

December 3, 2012

Like (10) Send to a friend (5) Print

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Population: 13.5 million. Risks: Droughts, floods. Lightning streaks across the sky in Buenos ... / Credits: Reuters

Population: 13.9 million. Risks: Cyclones, droughts, floods.

Pakistani students carry placards ... / Credits: Reuters

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Garbage floats on the Pinheiros River, one of São ... / Credits: Reuters

Population: 20.2 million. Risks: Cyclones, floods.

A pedestrian in a raincoat squats at the ... / Credits: Reuters

Population: 20.4 million. Risks: Hurricanes, cyclones, floods.

A U.S. flag flies over the ... / Credits: Reuters

Population: 20.4 million. Risks: Droughts, floods, landslides.

Mexican rescue workers light ... / Credits: Reuters

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A cyclist makes his way through ... / Credits: Reuters

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Lights are turned off to save ... / Credits: Reuters

Environment Top ten largest cities exposed to natural disasters

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Demography

The world's biggest megacities

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20. Buenos Aires (1/20)

Urban area: 13.5 million people
City: 2.9 million people

According to the 2012 edition of Demographia's World Urban Areas index, the capital of Argentina is the second largest urban area in South America after Sao Paulo. Its per capita income is among the highest in Latin America and its quality of life is ranked number one in the region, although some estimates say that 4 million people in the area live in poverty. It is also reportedly the most visited city in Latin America.

Urban Detail:
Buenos Aires is known for its European style architecture and culture, a legacy of the Spanish and Italian origins of most of the population. It has the highest concentration of theatres in Latin America and is the birthplace of Tango music and dance. (Source: Reuters)
19. Karachi, Pakistan (2/20)

Urban area:13.8 million people
City: 13.0 million people

Students attend a rooftop evening class in a private school in a slum area in Karachi, the largest city, main seaport and financial center of Pakistan. Karachi is the second largest city proper in the world after Shanghai and accounts for about 20 percent of Pakistan’s GDP. It is growing rapidly due to rural-urban migration.

Urban Detail:
After Pakistan won independence from the British and separated from India Karachi’s population increased hugely as hundreds of thousands of Muslim migrants from India settled there, transforming its demographics and economy. (Source: Reuters)
18. Kolkata, India (3/20)

Urban area: 14.4 million people
City proper: 4.5 million people

Kolkata, formerly Calcutta, sits on the banks of the River Hooghly which empties into the Bay of Bengal. The city is India’s oldest port and the commercial and cultural capital of East India, with the third largest economy in South Asia after Mumbai and Delhi. Here Kolkata students smear each other with colored powder during Holi, the Indian festival of colours heralding the beginning of Spring.

Urban Detail:
Much of the city was originally wetland and swamp. The land was reclaimed over the centuries to accommodate the rapidly increasing population. Kolkata is where Mother Teresa began her work caring for the poor and the sick. (Source: Reuters)
17. Los Angeles, USA (4/20)

Urban area: 14.9 million people
City: 3.8 million people

Los Angeles is the second biggest city in the United States by land size. An extensive grid of freeways, boulevards, and smaller neighborhood roads spans the city.

Urban Detail:
Los Angeles is home to the largest Mexican, Guatemalan, and Korean populations outside of those countries. Almost 40 percent of the city’s population was born outside the United States. (Source: Reuters)
16. Dhaka, Bangladesh (5/20)

Urban area: 15.4 million people
City: 7 million people

One of the fastest growing cities in the world, Dhaka has attracted economic migrants from all over Bangladesh. As many as one quarter of Dhaka’s residents live in crowded slums, according to the World Bank.

Urban Detail:
Dhaka is known as the rickshaw capital of the world as most people get around using cycle rickshaws or autorickshaws. (Source: Reuters)
15. Moscow, Russia (6/20)

Urban area: 15.5 million people
City: 11.8 million people

By far Europe's biggest city, Moscow has been swelled by rising numbers of migrants from other parts of Russia and the former Soviet states, attracted by higher living standards. Russia’s expanding economy has attracted people to the capital which is becoming richer.

Urban Detail:
With more passengers than New York City and London combined, Moscow has the world’s second busiest metro system after Tokyo. It serves more than nine million people a day, has 182 stations, and 301 kilometers (187 miles) of routes. (Source: Reuters)
14. Guangzhou-Foshan (7/20)

Urban area: 16.8 million people
City: 11 million people

Historically known as Canton, Guangzhou is China’s third largest city and located on the Pearl River in southern China about 120 kilometers northwest of Hong Kong. It is a critical trading port and capital of China’s industrial and manufacturing province of Guangdong, which has been one of the fastest urbanizing areas of the world for many years.

Urban Detail:
Ahead of the Asian Games in 2010 many buildings were demolished to make way for more modern developments as property prices soared and developers poured billions into real estate. (Source: Reuters)
13. Mumbai, India (8/20)

Urban area: 16.9 million people
City: 12.5 million people

Mumbai–called Bombay until the name was changed in 1995–is the commercial and movie capital of India and has attracted millions of migrants from the countryside. With high birth rates and the continued influx of migrants, Mumbai’s population is expected to grow rapidly in the future.

Urban Detail:
Over half of the city’s population lives in slums. Poor infrastructure and widespread poverty make it very difficult to meet the demands of an ever-growing population. (Source: Reuters)
12. Osaka-Kobe-Kyoto (9/20)

Urban area: 17 million people
City: N/A

Made up of the commercial and industrial city of Osaka, the port of Kobe, and the ancient cultural capital of Kyoto, the Kansai megacity encompasses all aspects of Japanese life from the neon lit Dotonbori shopping district in Osaka pictured here to the Zen gardens and geisha houses of Kyoto and is home to about 15 percent of Japan’s population.

Urban Detail:
Large parts of the city of Kobe were destroyed in the Great Hanshin Earthquake of 1995 which claimed over 6000 lives and caused about 100 billion dollars in damages. The disaster was widely seen as a major wake up call for the Japanese emergency services and led to improvements in construction that paid dividends during the massive 2011 earthquake. (Source: Reuters)
11. Beijing, China (10/20)

Urban Area: 17.3 million people
City: 11.7 million people

China’s capital hosted a spectacular if controversial Olympic Games in 2008. Despite spending billions to clean the city's air, average air pollution levels remain five times above WHO safety standards.

Urban Detail:
Bicycles are a common means of transportation for most people in Beijing. But the number of cars is increasing by an estimated 15,000 every day. (Source: Reuters)
10. Cairo, Egypt (11/20)

Urban Area: 17.8 million people
City: 6.7 million people

Located on the banks of the Nile River, Cairo is the biggest urban area in Africa and in the Arab world. Bustling bazaars and narrow lanes, the smells of spices and pipe smoke, the call to prayer five times a day and the cacophony of horns–this is Cairo.

Urban detail:
The city is also known by the name “Al-Qahirah”, “The Triumphant” in Arabic. It is home to the oldest and biggest music and film industry in the Arab world. (Source: Reuters)
9. Mexico City, Mexico (12/20)

Urban area: 19.4 million people
City: 8.8 million people

Mexico City is ten times the size it was in 1940. The Mexican capital generates a quarter of the country's wealth. However, with low population growth, the number of people in retirement is expected to rise rapidly.

Urban Detail:
Security, air pollution, and traffic congestion are prime concerns in Mexico City. These problems result from poor resource management and unstructured growth. (Source: Reuters)
8. Sao Paulo, Brazil (13/20)

Urban area: 20.2 million people
City: 11.2 million people

Sao Paulo is Brazil’s richest city and the most important financial center in Latin America. Poverty and crime, however, remain a problem. An average of 6,000 people are murdered annually in Sao Paulo.

Urban Detail:
Sao Paulo is a very young and ethnically diverse city. More than half of its population is under twenty years old, and it is home to the largest Japanese community outside Japan. (Source: Shutterstock)
7. New York, USA (14/20)

Urban area: 20.4 million people
City: 8.2 million people

New York City, especially Manhattan, is a role model for balancing dense development with good public transport and access to open spaces. New York is the only American city where most households do not own a car.

Urban Detail:
New York has been a gateway to America ever since the first immigrants came to the U.S. Over 170 languages are spoken there today. No single nationality or ethnicity dominates the city’s culturally diverse population. (Source: Reuters)
6. Shanghai, China (15/20)

Urban area: 20.8 million people
City: 17.8 million people

Shanghai has become China's financial and commercial center and is ranked as the planet's largest city proper. It has one of the world’s busiest ports and the world’s most extensive bus system with more than one thousand lines.

Urban Detail:
Shanghai has one of the world's most remarkable skylines. Thirty five structures are taller than 200 meters, including two over 450 meters, the Oriental Pearl TV Tower and the Shanghai World Financial Center. (Source: Reuters)
5. Manila, Philippines (16/20)

Urban Area: 21.9 million people
City: 11.8 million people

Manila's colonial past is reflected in its architecture. Intramuros, the historic center, is surrounded by a massive wall built by the Spanish in the 16th century. Its parks and historic buildings have become a major tourist attraction.

Urban Detail:
More than 3 million people in Manila live in slums without electricity, sanitation, and access to drinking water. Population density is extremely high, in some areas more than 100,000 people live on one square kilometer. (Source: Reuters)
4. Delhi, India (17/20)

Urban Area: 22.2 million people
City: 11 million people

Delhi is India’s capital and recently overtook Mumbai as the biggest city by population size. It’s a place of striking contrasts. Mosques, bazaars, and narrow lanes mark the old town. New Delhi, the capital, features grand boulevards, business centers, and shopping malls.

Urban detail:
Twenty languages are spoken in Delhi. The official and most widely spoken language is Hindi, followed by Punjabi. English is used for business and other official purposes. Urdu is common among the Muslim community. (Source: Shutterstock)
3. Seoul-Incheon, South Korea (18/20)

Urban area: 22.5 million people
City: 10.5 million people

Seoul has grown rapidly since the Korean War (1950-53). Today, nearly half of the country’s population lives in and around Seoul. Seoul has made remarkable progress in combating air pollution and is one of the cleanest cities in Asia.

Urban Detail:
Seoul is located 50 kilometers south of the heavily armed border with North Korea. The city is in range of North Korean artillery. Plans to move the capital further south have already caused much debate. (Source: Reuters)
2. Jakarta, Indonesia (19/20)

Urban area: 26 million people
City: 9.6 million people

Jakarta has been booming since 2005 after suffering economic crises and disasters like floods and earthquakes in recent decades. Jakarta's economy has boosted Indonesia’s economy to a growth rate of 6 percent.

Urban Detail:
Despite many wide roads, Jakarta suffers from terrible traffic congestion. To reduce traffic jams, some major roads have a 'three in one' rule during rush hours, prohibiting fewer than three passengers per car. (Source: Reuters)
1. Tokyo, Japan (20/20)

Urban area: 37.2 million people
City: 8.9 million people

Greater Tokyo is the largest urban agglomeration in the world, swallowing up the neighboring cities of Yokohama, Kawasaki, and Chiba. Despite its size, Tokyo has very efficient public transportation, which accounts for almost 80 percent of all journeys.

Urban Detail:
Tokyo Bay has been gradually filled up to create more living space. Odaiba, an island made from waste, has become one of Tokyo’s most interesting tourist spots and destinations for day trippers. (Source: Miki Yokoyama)

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Environment

Top ten largest cities exposed to natural disasters

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Buenos Aires (1/10)

Population: 13.5 million. Risks: Droughts, floods. Lightning streaks across the sky in Buenos Aires during a thunderstorm in April 2010. In 2012, Argentina was struck with severe drought, which reduced crop harvests by 10 million tons. Over the summer, Buenos Aires baked in temperatures over 40 degrees Celsius and with 80% less rain than usual. Ironically, in September and November the area then suffered from flooding due to heavy rains which further damaged farming prospects in a nation that is one the world’s top exporters of soy. (Source: Reuters)
Karachi (2/10)

Population: 13.9 million. Risks: Cyclones, droughts, floods. Pakistani students carry placards requesting relief for children in earthquake-affected area during a rally in Karachi in 2005. Karachi has also suffered from heavy rains and incidents of flooding over the last 20 years, with the effects exacerbated by swift population growth, crushing poverty and government corruption. The risk of flooding has also risen with the melting of nearby glaciers, which in turn has been hastened by pollution from major cities near the Himalayas like Karachi. (Source: Reuters)
Kolkata (Calcutta) (3/10)

Population: 14.4 million. Risks: Cyclones, droughts, floods. Calcutta residents attempt to remove a tree which was uprooted during a severe cyclonic storm with heavy rains in the eastern Indian city of Calcutta in 2009. Cyclone Aila resulted in over 150 deaths in India, with hundreds more missing and hundreds of thousands homeless. At the 2007 U.N. climate conference in Bali, Calcutta was named the most vulnerable city in the world with respect to climate change, as a result of factors such as its high population density, large slum areas, high pollution and frequent incidence of monsoons. (Source: Reuters)
Dhaka (4/10)

Population: 15.4 million. Risks: Cyclones, droughts, floods. An Islamic leader distributes relief to a flood victim at Matuail near Dhaka, Bangladesh, in August 2007 when more than half of the low-lying, densely populated nation of 140 million people was covered by flood waters. Bangladesh will need $10 billion from big polluting nations to help it adapt to the effects of climate change, chief of the parliamentary standing committee on environment and forests has said. As one of the world's most densely populated and poorest countries, Bangladesh is highly vulnerable to cyclones, droughts and floods, which often affect millions of people. (Source: Reuters)
São Paulo (5/10)

Population: 19.9 million. Risks: Floods. Garbage floats on the Pinheiros River, one of São Paulo's biggest, in the wake of flash-flooding that left seven dead in South America's largest city in 1999. The city was in a state of emergency for several days, with rescuers digging through rubble in slum areas where villagers were missing after the destruction from heavy rains. In 2011, over 600 people were killed by flooding and landslides, including dozens in the São Paulo area. While Brazil has been cheered by strong economic growth in recent years, it is also dogged by claims of governmental incompetence and lack of sufficient disaster planning. (Source: Reuters)
Shanghai (6/10)

Population: 20.2 million. Risks: Cyclones, floods. A pedestrian in a raincoat squats at the Bund near the Huangpu River amid strong winds and heavy rainfall as Typhoon Haikui hit Shanghai, August 8, 2012. The typhoon packed winds of up to 110 km per hour (68 mph), prompting officials to evacuate nearly 2 million people and grounding hundreds of flights to and from Shanghai and other cities. It was also reported in August that Shanghai is the world’s most flood vulnerable city, due to its coastal location and a variety of social and economic factors, including the number of elderly living in proximity to water. (Source: Reuters)
New York-Newark (7/10)

Population: 20.4 million. Risks: Hurricanes, cyclones, floods. A U.S. flag flies over the foundation of a home destroyed by the storm surge of superstorm Sandy in the Staten Island borough neighborhood of Oakwood in New York, November 28, 2012. The metropolitan New York area was severely shaken by Hurricane Sandy, a grim reminder of the area’s high vulnerability to storms and flooding. While the city has relatively good infrastructure and disaster planning, it’s coastal location and high population density leaves millions starkly exposed to disasters, as well as to the effects of global warming in the form of rising sea levels. (Source: Reuters)
Mexico City (8/10)

Population: 20.4 million. Risks: Droughts, floods, landslides. Mexican rescue workers light candles during an earthquake anniversary mass in Solidaridad Plaza in Mexico City, September 2005. The devastating aftermath of Hurricane Katrina stirred up memories of the 1985 8.1 earthquake that lasted less than 60 seconds, but reduced parts of Mexico City to rubble and killed thousands. More recently, the city has suffered from deadly landslides, the result of heavy rain combined with poor building construction – like many megacities, Mexico City is home to millions of urban poor who live in “shantytown” housing that is at high risk of disaster. (Source: Reuters)
New Delhi (9/10)

Population: 22.7 million. Risks: Earthquakes, droughts, floods. A cyclist makes his way through water on a flooded street after heavy rains in New Delhi. The Indian capital has experienced exceptional population growth – as much as 55% from 1991 to 2011. The rapid and haphazard growth has put immense pressure on the city’s infrastructure, which contains many structurally unsound buildings and structures which are highly vulnerable to fire and floodwaters. In addition to high population density and poor infrastructure, Delhi’s location in an active seismic zone puts the fragile balance of the city at great risk. (Source: Reuters)
Tokyo (10/10)

Population: 37.2 million. Risks: Cyclones, earthquakes, floods. Lights are turned off to save energy before rolling blackouts in Tokyo, March 2011, after an earthquake and tsunami hit northern Japan. Tokyo Electric Power Co announced the blackouts after its power generation was cut due to damage to the Fukushima Daiichi power plant. While the city mostly escaped any major effects the March 2011 earthquake, scientists fear that another similarly powerful quake within Tokyo is likely, and could be devastating. While the city is well-prepared for natural disasters, its demographics pose a challenge – nearly one-fifth of the city’s residents are over 65; with so many elderly people, evacuations could be difficult. (Source: Reuters)