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, their metropolitan regions, or the extent of their urban area. A complicating factor is that many large cities in the world have not only homeless or the unhoused, but also vast slum communities. This leads to official census data being less accurate in representing the actual number of residents in a given area.

Definitions City proper (administrative unit)

A city can be defined by its administrative boundaries, otherwise known as 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 from the urban area population figure, as many cities are amalgamations of smaller municipalities, and conversely, many Chinese cities govern territories that extend well beyond the core urban area into suburban and rural areas. The Chinese municipality of Chongqing, which is the largest city proper in the world by population, comprises a huge administrative area of 82,403 km2, around the size of Austria. However, around 30% of its 30-million population are agricultural workers living in a rural setting.

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 as a local administrative 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). 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.

Urban area

A city can be defined as a conditionally contiguous urban area, with relatively less regard to territorial or administrative boundaries. 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.

List

There are 85 cities in the world with a population exceeding 5 million people, according to 2025 estimates by the United Nations.

City Country UN 2025 population estimates City proper Urban area Metropolitan area Definition Population Area Density Population Area Density Population Area Density Jakarta Indonesia 41,913,860 Special region Dhaka Bangladesh 36,585,479 Capital city Tokyo Japan 33,412,512 Metropolis prefecture Delhi India 30,222,405 National Capital Territory Shanghai China 29,558,908 Municipality Guangzhou China 27,563,372 City (sub-provincial) Cairo Egypt 25,566,102 Urban governorate Manila Philippines 24,735,305 National Capital Region Kolkata India 22,549,738 Municipal corporation Seoul South Korea 22,490,482 Special city Karachi Pakistan 21,422,590 Metropolitan city Mumbai India 20,203,056 Municipal corporation São Paulo Brazil 18,949,790 Municipality Bangkok Thailand 18,180,280 Special administrative area Mexico City Mexico 17,734,212 City-state Beijing China 17,013,303 Municipality Lahore Pakistan 15,156,430 Metropolitan city Istanbul Turkey 15,014,763 Metropolitan municipality Moscow Russia 14,524,753 Federal city 20,004,462 Ho Chi Minh City Vietnam 14,052,713 Municipality Statistical Handbook of Vietnam 2014 , General Statistics Office Of Vietnam Buenos Aires Argentina 14,017,736 Autonomous city New York City United States 13,920,148 City 23,143,097 12,093 1,665 Shenzhen China 13,878,396 City (sub-provincial) Bengaluru India 13,187,098 Municipal corporation Osaka Japan 12,964,145 Designated city Lagos Nigeria 12,791,699 Metropolitan city Los Angeles United States 12,740,420 City 18,372,48512,5591,058 Chennai India 11,153,205 Municipal corporation Kinshasa DR Congo 10,943,641 City-province Bogotá Colombia 10,624,315 Capital District Lima Peru 10,580,241 Metropolitan municipality London United Kingdom 10,416,420 Administrative area 14,372,596 8,382 1,715 Rio de Janeiro Brazil 9,500,336 Municipality Paris France 9,381,921 Commune Hyderabad India 9,190,795 Municipal corporation Tehran Iran 9,174,964 Capital city Taipei Taiwan 9,137,000 Special municipality Luanda Angola 9,051,000 Municipality Bandung Indonesia 8,909,104 City Kuala Lumpur Malaysia 8,443,731 Capital city (Federal territory) Dar es Salaam Tanzania 7,795,114City Suzhou China 7,731,101 Prefecture-level city Ahmedabad India 7,632,408 Municipal corporation 6,300,000 Hangzhou China 7,500,208 City (sub-provincial) Wuhan China 7,363,548 City (sub-provincial) Tianjin China 7,285,342 Municipality Alexandria Egypt 7,266,957 Urban governorate 5,441,866 2,300 2,366 Nagoya Japan 7,146,160 Designated city Johannesburg South Africa 7,077,175 Metropolitan municipality 4,803,262 1,643 2,924 Chongqing China 7,071,073 Municipality Riyadh Saudi Arabia 6,916,417 Municipality Surat India 6,908,925 Municipal corporation Surabaya Indonesia 6,843,503 City Pune India 6,817,951 Municipal corporation Khartoum Sudan 6,809,355 1,410,858 Nanjing China 6,800,676 City (sub-provincial) Santiago Chile 6,726,045 City (commune) Chicago United States 8,864,000 City 9,806,18418,640516 Chengdu China 8,813,000 City (sub-provincial) Xi'an China 7,444,000 City (sub-provincial) Hong Kong Hong Kong SAR 7,429,000 City Dongguan China 7,360,000 Prefecture-level city Foshan China 7,236,000 Prefecture-level city Shenyang China 6,921,000 City (sub-provincial) Baghdad Iraq 6,812,000 Urban governorate Addis Ababa Ethiopia 6,706,000 Capital city Madrid Spain 6,497,000 Municipality 6,641,649 Harbin China 6,115,000 City (sub-provincial) Houston United States 6,115,000 City Dallas United States 6,099,000 City Toronto Canada 6,082,000 City Miami United States 6,036,000City Belo Horizonte Brazil 5,972,000City Singapore Singapore 5,792,000 Country Philadelphia United States 5,695,000 Consolidated city-county 7,381,187 Atlanta United States 5,572,000City Fukuoka Japan 5,551,000 Designated city Barcelona Spain 5,494,000 Municipality 5,474,482Population on 1 January by broad age group, sex and metropolitan regions - Eurostat, 2017 Saint Petersburg Russia 5,383,000 Federal city 5,601,911 1,400 4,001 Qingdao China 5,381,000 City (sub-provincial) 10,071,722 11,229 897 Dalian China 5,300,000 City (sub-provincial) 7,450,785 13,742 542 Washington, D.C. United States 5,207,000 Federal district Yangon Myanmar 5,157,000 City 4,728,524 Jinan China 5,052,000 City (sub-provincial) Guadalajara Mexico 5,023,000 Municipality

See also

Historical urban community sizes List of largest cities throughout history List of cities with over 1 million inhabitants List of towns and cities with 100,000 or more inhabitants

Notes

References

External links UNSD Demographics Statistics – City population by sex, city and city type Nordpil World Database of Large Urban Areas, 1950–2050