The Most Populous Cities in the World
The great urban centers, by metro population.
The world's largest urban agglomerations, ranked by metropolitan-area population — sprawling megacities from Tokyo and Delhi to São Paulo and Cairo.
| # | Place | Population |
|---|---|---|
| 1 |
 TokyoJapan's capital and the world's largest metropolis |
37,100,000 |
| 2 |
 DelhiIndia's capital territory and a layered imperial city |
33,800,000 |
| 3 |
 JakartaIndonesia's capital and a sinking megacity |
33,400,000 |
| 4 |
 ShanghaiChina's financial powerhouse on the Yangtze delta |
29,900,000 |
| 5 |
 SeoulSouth Korea's capital and the Han River megacity |
26,000,000 |
| 6 |
 DhakaBangladesh's capital, a dense delta megacity |
23,900,000 |
| 7 |
 Sao PauloBrazil's industrial colossus and the largest city in the Southern Hemisphere |
22,800,000 |
| 8 |
 CairoEgypt's capital, the Arab world's largest city beside the Nile |
22,600,000 |
| 9 |
 Mexico CityMexico's vast high-altitude capital, built on a drained Aztec lake |
22,505,000 |
| 10 |
 BeijingChina's capital and imperial seat for eight centuries |
22,200,000 |
| 11 |
 MumbaiIndia's financial capital and Bollywood's home |
21,700,000 |
| 12 |
 New York CityAmerica's largest city, a global capital of finance and culture |
19,940,000 |
| 13 |
 OsakaJapan's merchant city and kitchen of the nation |
19,000,000 |
| 14 |
 KarachiPakistan's largest city and seaport on the Arabian Sea |
17,600,000 |
| 15 |
 LagosNigeria's commercial capital and Africa's largest city |
17,150,000 |
Figures are drawn from standard government and reference sources and shown in both imperial and metric units. See each entry for full details and citations. Browse all guides or open the explore map.