The Biggest Cities in the World

Interesting Facts: Biggest Cities in the World

This page contains some interesting facts and figures having to do with cities, countries, and population. The United States Census Bureau maintains a Population Clock which shows the current world population by minute.

Urban Area / City Name	Country	Estimated population (in millions)
1. Tokyo	Japan	34.2
2. Mexico City	Mexico	22.8
3. Seoul	South Korea	22.3
4. New York	USA	21.9
5. Sao Paulo	Brazil	20.2
6. Bombay	India	19.9
7. Delhi	India	19.7
8. Shanghai	China	18.2
9. Los Angeles	USA	18.0
10. Osaka	Japan	16.8
11. Jakarta	Indonesia	16.5
12. Calcutta	India	15.7
13. Cairo	Egypt	15.6
14. Manila	Philippines	15.0
15. Karachi	Pakistan	14.3
16. Moscow	Russia	13.8
17. Buenos Aires	Argentina	13.5
18. Dhaka	Bangladesh	13.3
19. Rio de Janeiro	Brazil	12.2
20. Beijing	China	12.1
21. London	England	12.0
22. Tehran	Iran	11.9
23. Istanbul	Turkey	11.5
24. Lagos	Nigeria	11.1
25. Shenzhen	China	10.7
26. Paris	France	10.0
27. Chicago	USA	9.8

I like big cities. I also like interesting facts, geography, and statistics. Occasionally, I wondered what the biggest cities in the world are. I found the following statistics online, from Thomas Brinkhoff, Principal Agglomerations and Cities of the World. Web: www.citypopulation.de , Jan 28, 2006.

The list above is sort of vague by nature, since it includes in the population the "surrounding urban agglomeration", which is hard to define. But even if it's vague, it gives you some idea of the size of these cities. Here's another list: http://www.geobop.com/World/Facts/Geography/Cities/

And yet another, published by World Atlas: http://www.worldatlas.com/citypops.htm (By the way, they have some other interesting facts online, here)

Finally, this list ranks the cities based on population within the city limits: http://www.nationsonline.org/oneworld/bigcities.htm

Largest Countries (Land Area)

1	Russia	6.6 million mi² (17 million km²)
2	Canada	3.9 million mi² (9.9 million km²)
3	United States	3.7 million mi² (9.6 million km²)
4	China	3.7 million mi² (9.6 million km²)
5	Brazil	3.3 million mi² (8.5 million km²)
6	Australia	3 million mi² (7.6 million km²)
7	India	1.2 million mi² (3 million km²)
8	Argentina	1.1 million mi² (2.7 million km²)
9	Kazakhstan	1,050,000 mi² (2.7 million km²)
10	Sudan	966,000 mi² (2.4 million km²)

This list is unlikely to change any time soon.

You can find these random facts, statistics, and interesting figures in online almanacs, such as Fact Monster or Infoplease.

Largest Countries (Population)

1	China	1,306,000,000
2	India	1,080,000,000
3	United States	299,000,000
4	Indonesia	242,000,000
5	Brazil	186,000,000
7	Pakistan	162,000,000
8	Bangladesh	144,000,000
6	Russia	143,000,000
9	Nigeria	129,000,000
10	Japan	127,000,000
11	Mexico	106,000,000
13	Philippines	88,000,000
14	Vietnam	84,000,000
12	Germany	82,000,000
15	Egypt	78,000,000

These figures are estimates only, but I think the order is correct.

This list from http://www.prb.org//Content/ContentGroups/Datasheets/wpds2002/2002_World_Population_Data_Sheet.htm

There's another list at: http://www.countrywatch.com/@school/largest_countries_pop.htm

Largest City by Land Area - Chongqing

See the Wikipedia list at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_cities_by_surface_area
Mount Isa used to claim it was the biggest:
From: http://www.walkabout.com.au/locations/QLDMountIsa.shtml
Located 1829 km from Brisbane, 883 km from Townsville and 356 m above sea-level, Mount Isa proudly claims to be the largest city in the world; a fact born out by its accreditation in the Guinness Book of Records. The argument is that the city extends for 40 977 sq. km, and that the road from Mount Isa to Camooweal, a distance of 189 km, is the longest city road in the world.

Other Sites

City Population, an entire site dedicated to large cities. Maps, statistics, etc.
Fascinating article on Population Density. You'll never guess what continent the least densely populated country is in.
Houses for Rent site.

Montebello Bus Lines