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United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmonizi ...
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 Chongqing ( or ; ; Sichuanese pronunciation: , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ), alternately romanized as Chungking (), is a municipality in Southwest China. The official abbreviation of the city, "" (), was approved by the State Cou ...
, 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 A city proper is the geographical area contained within city limits. The term ''proper'' is not exclusive to cities; it can describe the geographical area within the boundaries of any given locality. The United Nations defines the term as "the sin ...
). 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 Chongqing ( or ; ; Sichuanese pronunciation: , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ), alternately romanized as Chungking (), is a municipality in Southwest China. The official abbreviation of the city, "" (), was approved by the State Cou ...
, 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 Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous c ...
. 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 Contiguity or contiguous may refer to: *Contiguous data storage, in computer science *Contiguity (probability theory) *Contiguity (psychology) * Contiguous distribution of species, in biogeography * Geographic contiguity of territorial land *Conti ...
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 In the United States, a metropolitan statistical area (MSA) is a geographical region with a relatively high population density at its core and close economic ties throughout the area. Such regions are neither legally Incorporated town, incorporate ...
(MSA) is defined by the
U.S. Office of Management and Budget The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) is the largest office within the Executive Office of the President of the United States (EOP). OMB's most prominent function is to produce the president's budget, but it also examines agency programs, poli ...
(OMB) for statistical purposes. In the Philippines, metropolitan areas have an official agency, such as
Metropolitan Manila Development Authority The Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA; fil, Pangasiwaan sa Pagpapaunlad ng Kalakhang Maynila) is a government agency of the Philippines responsible for constituting the regional government of Metro Manila, comprising the capita ...
(MMDA) which manages Manila metropolitan area. Similar agencies exist in Indonesia such as Jabodetabekjur Development Cooperation Agency for
Jakarta metropolitan area The Jakarta metropolitan area or Greater Jakarta, known locally as Jabodetabek (an acronym of Jakarta–Bogor–Depok–Tangerang–Bekasi), and sometimes extended to Jabodetabekjur (with the acronym extended to include part of Cianjur Regency) ...
.


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 Chongqing ( or ; ; Sichuanese pronunciation: , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ), alternately romanized as Chungking (), is a municipality in Southwest China. The official abbreviation of the city, "" (), was approved by the State Cou ...
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 } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 2 ...
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 This article lists historical urban community sizes based on the estimated populations of selected human settlements from 7000 BC – AD 1875, organized by archaeological periods. Many of the figures are uncertain, especially in ancient times ...
* List of largest cities throughout history * List of towns and cities with 100,000 or more inhabitants *
Number of urban areas by country Demographia defines an urban area (urbanized area agglomeration or urban centre) as a continuously built up land mass of urban development that is within a labor market (i.e. metropolitan area or metropolitan region), without regard for administr ...


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