List of metropolitan areas by population
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The question of which are the world's largest cities is a complex one to which there is no single correct answer as there are many different ways of defining a city, and it is not easy to apply theoretical definitions to complex facts on the ground. One concept is the metropolitan area, which is based on the concept of a labor market area and is typically defined as an employment core (an area with a high density of available jobs) and the surrounding areas that have strong commuting ties to the core. See the metropolitan area article for comments on the difficulties and inconsistencies of that concept.
The following is a list of the top twenty largest metropolitan areas in 2003 as defined by one source.[1] It should be seen as an interpretation, not as hard fact. All of the numbers are debatable, and it is in the nature of a metropolitan area that this should be so.
| Rank | Metropolitan area | Country | Population | Area (km²) | Population Density (People/km²) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tokyo |  Japan |
32,450,000 | 8,014 | 4,049 |
| 2 | Seoul-Incheon |  South Korea |
20,550,000 | 5,076 | 4,048 |
| 3 | Mexico City[2] |  Mexico |
20,450,000 | 7,346 | 2,784 |
| 4 | New York City[3] |  United States |
19,750,000 | 17,884 | 1,104 |
| 5 | Mumbai |  India |
19,200,000 | 2,350 | 8,170 |
| 6 | Jakarta |  Indonesia |
18,900,000 | 5,100 | 3,706 |
| 7 | Sao Paulo |  Brazil |
18,850,000 | 8,479 | 2,223 |
| 8 | Delhi | India |
18,600,000 | 3,182 | 5,845 |
| 9 | Osaka-Kobe-Kyoto | Japan |
17,375,000 | 6,930 | 2,507 |
| 10 | Shanghai |  China |
16,650,000 | 5,177 | 3,216 |
| 11 | Metro Manila |  Philippines |
16,300,000 | 2,521 | 6,466 |
| 12 | Hong Kong-Shenzhen[4] | China |
15,800,000 | 3,051 | 5,179 |
| 13 | Los Angeles | United States |
15,250,000 | 10,780 | 1,415 |
| 14 | Kolkata | India |
15,100,000 | 1,785 | 8,459 |
| 15 | Moscow |  Russia |
15,000,000 | 14,925 | 1,005 |
| 16 | Cairo |  Egypt |
14,450,000 | 1,600 | 9,031 |
| 17 | Buenos Aires |  Argentina |
13,170,000 | 10,888 | 1,210 |
| 18 | London |  United Kingdom |
12,875,000 | 11,391 | 1,130 |
| 19 | Beijing | China |
12,500,000 | 6,562 | 1,905 |
| 20 | Karachi |  Pakistan |
11,800,000 | 1,100 | 10,727 |
Contents |
[edit] References and notes
- ^ R.L. Forstall, R.P. Greene, and J.B. Pick, "Which are the largest? Why published populations for major world urban areas vary so greatly", City Futures Conference, (University of Illinois at Chicago, July 2004) – Table 5 (p.34)
- ^ Consists of two separate zona metropolitanas: the Zona Metropolitana del Valle de Mexico (ZMVM) and the Zona Metropolitana de Toluca (ZMT)
- ^ Consists of two separate metropolitan statistical areas (MSA): the New York-Northern New Jersey Long Island MSA and the Bridgeport-Stamford-Norwalk MSA.
- ^ There are some restrictions on the movement of labor between Hong Kong and mainland China.
[edit] See also
- World's largest urban agglomerations
- List of urban areas by population
- List of cities by population
- Larger Urban Zone - for an attempt at a harmonized definition for certain EU cities
