major city

The United Nations uses three definitions for what constitutes a city, as not all cities in all jurisdictions are classified using the same criteria. Cities may be defined as the cities proper, the extent of their urban area, or their metropolitan regions. The largest city by population using the city proper definition, which is the area under the administrative boundaries of a local government, is Chongqing, China. The largest city by population using the metropolitan area definition, which is a loose term referring to urban area and its primary commuter areas, is Tokyo, Japan. The largest city by population using the urban area definition, which is a loose term referring to a contiguous area with a certain population density, is also Tokyo, Japan.

Definitions

City proper (administrative)

A city can be defined by its administrative boundaries ( city proper). UNICEF defines city proper as "the population living within the administrative boundaries of a city or controlled directly from the city by a single authority." A city proper is a locality defined according to legal or political boundaries and an administratively recognised urban status that is usually characterised by some form of local government. Cities proper and their boundaries and population data may not include suburbs.

The use of city proper as defined by administrative boundaries may not include suburban areas where an important proportion of the population working or studying in the city lives. Because of this definition, the city proper population figure may differ greatly with the urban area population figure, as many cities are amalgamations of smaller municipalities (Australia), and conversely, many Chinese cities govern territories that extend well beyond the traditional "city proper" into suburban and rural areas. The Chinese municipality of Chongqing, which claims the largest city proper in the world by population, comprises a huge administrative area of 82,403 km², around the size of Austria. However, more than 70% of its 30-million population are actually agricultural workers living in a rural setting.

Urban area

A city can be defined as a conditionally contiguous urban area, without regard to territorial or other boundaries inside an urban area. UNICEF defines urban area as follows:

According to Demographia, an urban area is a continuously built up land mass of urban development that is within a labor market (metropolitan area or metropolitan region) and contains no rural land.

Metropolitan area

A city can be defined by the inhabitants of its demographic population, as by metropolitan area, or labour market area. UNICEF defines metropolitan area as follows:

In many countries, metropolitan areas are established either with an official organisation or only for statistical purposes. In the United States, metropolitan statistical area (MSA) is defined by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for statistical purposes. In the Philippines, metropolitan areas have an official agency, such as Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) which manages Manila metropolitan area. Similar agencies exist in Indonesia such as Jabodetabekjur Development Cooperation Agency for Jakarta metropolitan area.

List

There are 81 cities with a population over 5 million people according to the United Nations 2018 estimates. The UN figures are a mixture of city proper, metropolitan area, and urban area. Several cities such as Jakarta and Seoul have significantly larger metropolitan/urban population figures which are excluded in the UN data.

File:Skyscrapers of Shinjuku 2009 January.jpg, Tokyo has a population of 39 million (urban area)
File:Jakarta_Skyline_Part_2.jpg, Jakarta has a population of 35 million (urban area)
File:Chaotianmen Bridge, Nan'an District of Chongqing.jpg, Chongqing has a population of 32 million (city proper)
File:Skyline at Rajiv Chowk.JPG, Delhi has a population of a 28 million (urban area)
File:Pudong Shanghai November 2017 panorama.jpg, Shanghai has a population of 25.58 million (city proper)
File:Seoul (South Korea).jpg, Seoul has a population of 25.51 million (metropolitan area)
File:Mumbai Skyline at Night.jpg, Mumbai has a population of 24 million (metropolitan area)
File:Manila downtown - Binondo, Quiapo, Quezon Bridge, Pasig River, Arroceros (close-up) (Manila)(2018-02-07).jpg, Manila has a population of 23.97 million (urban area)
File:View of Empire State Building from Rockefeller Center New York City dllu.jpg, New York City has a population of 23.58 million (urban area)
File:Webysther 20190306131041 - Edifício Altino Arantes.jpg, São Paulo has a population of 22.50 million (urban area)
File:Skyline of Beijing CBD with B-5906 approaching (20211016171955).jpg, Beijing has a population of 21.89 million (city proper)
File:Sobrevuelos CDMX HJ2A4913 (25514321687) (cropped).jpg, Mexico City has a population of 21.80 million (metropolitan area)

See also

* Historical urban community sizes
* List of largest cities throughout history
* List of towns and cities with 100,000 or more inhabitants
* Number of urban areas by country

Notes

References

External links

UNSD Demographics Statistics – City population by sex, city and city type

Nordpil World Database of Large Urban Areas, 1950–2050

{{Cities

Cities-related lists of superlatives
Lists of cities (worldwide) by population
Urban geography
Largest things