500 Most Populated Cities in the World

Updated On November 12, 2023
Most Populated Cities in the World

The world’s most populated cities make up the urban metropolitans and the cityscapes of our planet.

Living in one of the world’s most populated cities can be more than challenging.

Find out what it takes to move and survive in the world’s fullest cities.

Most Populated Cities in the World

CityCountry2023 Population
TokyoJapan37194105
DelhiIndia32941309
ShanghaiChina29210808
DhakaBangladesh23209616
Sao PauloBrazil22619736
Mexico CityMexico22281442
CairoEgypt22183201
BeijingChina21766214
MumbaiIndia21296517
OsakaJapan19013434
ChongqingChina17340704
KarachiPakistan17236230
KinshasaDR Congo16315534
LagosNigeria15945912
IstanbulTurkey15847768
Buenos AiresArgentina15490415
KolkataIndia15332793
ManilaPhilippines14667089
GuangzhouChina14284353
TianjinChina14238643
LahorePakistan13979390
Rio de JaneiroBrazil13727720
BangaloreIndia13607800
ShenzhenChina13072633
MoscowRussia12680389
ChennaiIndia11776147
BogotaColombia11507960
JakartaIndonesia11248839
ParisFrance11208440
LimaPeru11204382
BangkokThailand11069982
HyderabadIndia10801163
SeoulSouth Korea9988049
NanjingChina9698464
ChengduChina9653772
LondonUnited Kingdom9648110
NagoyaJapan9569328
TehranIran9499781
Ho Chi Minh CityVietnam9320866
LuandaAngola9292336
Xi-an ShaanxiChina8785174
WuhanChina8718250
AhmedabadIndia8650605
Kuala LumpurMalaysia8621724
HangzhouChina8237206
SuzhouChina8074031
SuratIndia8064949
New York CityNY7888121
Dar es SalaamTanzania7775865
BaghdadIraq7711305
Hong KongHong Kong7684801
RiyadhSaudi Arabia7682430
ShenyangChina7680967
FoshanChina7597386
DongguanChina7587049
PuneIndia7166374
SantiagoChile6903392
HaerbinChina6803811
MadridSpain6751374
TorontoCanada6371958
KhartoumSudan6344348
Belo HorizonteBrazil6247889
JohannesburgSouth Africa6198016
SingaporeSingapore6080859
DalianChina6077995
QingdaoChina5986525
ZhengzhouChina5859272
Ji-nan ShandongChina5806031
BarcelonaSpain5687356
AbidjanIvory Coast5686350
YangonMyanmar5610241
AlexandriaEgypt5588477
Saint PetersburgRussia5561294
FukuokaJapan5490271
Addis AbabaEthiopia5460591
GuadalajaraMexico5419880
AnkaraTurkey5397098
ChittagongBangladesh5379660
NairobiKenya5325160
HanoiVietnam5253385
MelbourneAustralia5235407
SydneyAustralia5120894
MonterreyMexico5116647
ChangshaChina4921487
Cape TownSouth Africa4890280
BrasiliaBrazil4873048
UrumqiChina4865038
JiddahSaudi Arabia4862941
KunmingChina4761284
ChangchunChina4710382
HefeiChina4615758
KabulAfghanistan4588666
ShantouChina4573713
NingboChina4537901
YaoundeCameroon4509287
New TaipeiTaiwan4504147
Tel AvivIsrael4420855
ShijiazhuangChina4370473
KanoNigeria4348481
RomeItaly4315671
MontrealCanada4307958
RecifeBrazil4263940
Porto AlegreBrazil4211933
JaipurIndia4207084
FortalezaBrazil4206240
NanningChina4191890
Taiyuan ShanxiChina4145010
EkurhuleniSouth Africa4118327
MedellinColombia4102308
KozhikodeIndia4088555
DoualaCameroon4063200
MalappuramIndia4009087
ChangzhouChina3981658
SalvadorBrazil3958384
LucknowIndia3945409
XiamenChina3935484
Fuzhou FujianChina3922202
NanchangChina3920379
WenzhouChina3919724
CasablancaMorocco3892837
IbadanNigeria3874908
AntananarivoMadagascar3872264
KampalaUganda3846102
AbujaNigeria3839646
Tangshan HebeiChina3814702
CuritibaBrazil3813082
Los AngelesCA3769485
KumasiGhana3768239
BekasiIndonesia3729351
FaisalabadPakistan3710845
GuiyangChina3580904
BerlinGermany3573938
Santo DomingoDominican Republic3523890
AsuncionParaguay3510511
ThrissurIndia3482456
Port HarcourtNigeria3480101
BusanSouth Korea3471949
WuxiChina3437346
DakarSenegal3429536
CampinasBrazil3422796
KochiIndia3406055
MashhadIran3367852
PueblaMexico3344761
IndoreIndia3302077
Kuwait CityKuwait3297759
LanzhouChina3297528
SanaaYemen3292497
KanpurIndia3234160
DurbanSouth Africa3228003
OuagadougouBurkina Faso3203923
LusakaZambia3181250
PyongyangNorth Korea3157538
MilanItaly3154570
AthensGreece3154463
GuayaquilEcuador3142466
Guatemala CityGuatemala3095099
IzmirTurkey3088414
NagpurIndia3046687
SurabayaIndonesia3044413
DepokIndonesia3041229
KievUkraine3016789
ZhongshanChina3010685
CoimbatoreIndia3009047
DubaiUnited Arab Emirates3007583
HandanChina3005409
LisbonPortugal3000536
Port-au-PrinceHaiti2987455
HuaianChina2979893
CaracasVenezuela2972145
ShizuokaJapan2937359
BamakoMali2929373
WeifangChina2917819
AlgiersAlgeria2901810
Mbuji-MayiDR Congo2891746
ThiruvananthapuramIndia2891119
CaliColombia2863730
IncheonSouth Korea2848557
GoianiaBrazil2848473
PretoriaSouth Africa2818100
LubumbashiDR Congo2811959
ShaoxingChina2805654
ManchesterUnited Kingdom2791005
ZiboChina2780142
YantaiChina2764584
HuizhouChina2758593
TaipeiTaiwan2754196
BandungIndonesia2674000
SapporoJapan2666112
BirminghamUnited Kingdom2665100
AccraGhana2660072
VancouverCanada2657088
BrazzavilleRepublic of the Congo2637733
Toluca de LerdoMexico2626368
MogadishuSomalia2610483
ChicagoIL2608425
TashkentUzbekistan2603243
LuoyangChina2602793
DamascusSyria2584771
PatnaIndia2579762
BhopalIndia2564502
TangerangIndonesia2514077
BrisbaneAustralia2504505
NantongChina2492230
TunisTunisia2475446
San JuanPuerto Rico2439564
MedanIndonesia2439054
BakuAzerbaijan2432304
BeirutLebanon2421354
GujranwalaPakistan2415416
PeshawarPakistan2411785
BelemBrazil2409409
HohhotChina2380636
RawalpindiPakistan2377325
ManausBrazil2375636
MaracaiboVenezuela2367626
AgraIndia2367554
BarranquillaColombia2349400
KannurIndia2346137
LiuzhouChina2343452
SendaiJapan2342302
BaotouChina2334878
VisakhapatnamIndia2330928
VadodaraIndia2324084
TaoyuanTaiwan2318850
XuzhouChina2287166
Phnom PenhCambodia2281198
HoustonTX2264876
TijuanaMexico2259787
EsfahanIran2258396
NashikIndia2237369
AmmanJordan2232240
VijayawadaIndia2229765
AleppoSyria2203025
DaeguSouth Korea2180997
NaplesItaly2179384
PutianChina2176022
Grande VitoriaBrazil2170513
MultanPakistan2154600
MeccaSaudi Arabia2149928
HavanaCuba2148930
YangzhouChina2131291
Wuhu AnhuiChina2124797
BrusselsBelgium2121992
PerthAustralia2117997
ConakryGuinea2110937
BaodingChina2107539
KollamIndia2106606
Taizhou ZhejiangChina2102143
BursaTurkey2086324
Linyi ShandongChina2076364
HiroshimaJapan2067591
MinskBelarus2057257
RajkotIndia2043107
HaikouChina2016092
DaqingChina2000656
Yancheng JiangsuChina1993463
AlmatyKazakhstan1987301
LianyungangChina1986439
ValenciaVenezuela1983445
LomeTogo1981615
Panama CityPanama1976866
SemarangIndonesia1975306
ViennaAustria1975271
HyderabadPakistan1967684
RabatMorocco1959388
QuitoEcuador1956995
LudhianaIndia1951085
Davao CityPhilippines1949400
Baixada SantistaBrazil1947785
La PazBolivia1935619
West YorkshireUnited Kingdom1928661
Benin CityNigeria1904631
Leon de los AldamasMexico1898749
ZhuhaiChina1889829
DatongChina1873693
QuanzhouChina1869994
Can ThoVietnam1865172
MatolaMozambique1852405
AdanaTurkey1835895
MaduraiIndia1834279
SharjahUnited Arab Emirates1830858
Santa CruzBolivia1820114
PalembangIndonesia1818421
RaipurIndia1816813
GaziantepTurkey1804704
TurinItaly1801944
MeerutIndia1797805
WarsawPoland1797516
MosulIraq1792020
CixiChina1788871
HamburgGermany1787520
La LagunaMexico1780592
BudapestHungary1778052
BucharestRomania1776385
MontevideoUruguay1774396
JiangmenChina1768511
LyonFrance1761188
VaranasiIndia1754425
BatamIndonesia1748142
XiangyangChina1742706
ShirazIran1720954
YinchuanChina1716591
YichangChina1711244
StockholmSweden1700066
SrinagarIndia1698277
GlasgowUnited Kingdom1698088
JamshedpurIndia1695060
NovosibirskRussia1694765
AnshanChina1689499
AurangabadIndia1683389
QinhuangdaoChina1680962
MonroviaLiberia1678020
TiruppurIndia1677173
AucklandNew Zealand1673220
MakassarIndonesia1673094
UlaanbaatarMongolia1672627
JilinChina1668785
XiningChina1666605
SuqianChina1664968
KanangaDR Congo1664442
HengyangChina1661854
TabrizIran1660737
PhoenixAZ1651344
MuscatOman1650319
AnyangChina1642347
CalgaryCanada1639613
QiqihaerChina1635458
MarseilleFrance1627549
OnitshaNigeria1623382
CordobaArgentina1611651
RosarioArgentina1594096
KarajIran1593608
N-DjamenaChad1592324
JodhpurIndia1586547
Ciudad JuarezMexico1582313
HarareZimbabwe1578128
DaejonSouth Korea1577436
MunichGermany1576416
MedinaSaudi Arabia1572571
KathmanduNepal1571010
Jining ShandongChina1569560
TegucigalpaHonduras1568025
Abu DhabiUnited Arab Emirates1566999
GaoxiongTaiwan1552899
RanchiIndia1547258
EdmontonCanada1544448
ZhangjiakouChina1536171
NatalBrazil1535316
MandalayMyanmar1531860
GwangjuSouth Korea1529472
PhiladelphiaPA1527886
YekaterinburgRussia1527728
Grande Sao LuisBrazil1523629
JabalpurIndia1522121
KotaIndia1516795
HuainanChina1512668
AsansolIndia1505033
ChaozhouChina1496298
NouakchottMauritania1491958
YiwuChina1483320
San AntonioTX1479493
GwaliorIndia1475016
AllahabadIndia1465152
San JoseCosta Rica1461989
GanzhouChina1459678
Chon BuriThailand1454222
AmritsarIndia1451748
BasraIraq1448124
Taizhou JiangsuChina1446810
HomsSyria1443429
MombasaKenya1440396
NiameyNiger1437233
OttawaCanada1437188
ZurichSwitzerland1431538
WeihaiChina1429315
JiaxingChina1424982
KisanganiDR Congo1423395
Hai PhongVietnam1422974
Joao PessoaBrazil1421827
KharkivUkraine1421052
Taian ShandongChina1416064
QueretaroMexico1413474
BelgradeSerbia1408144
KonyaTurkey1407632
CochabambaBolivia1400250
KaifengChina1398262
RizhaoChina1391258
DhanbadIndia1389776
BucaramangaColombia1381498
CopenhagenDenmark1381005
DongyingChina1379377
LiuanChina1378077
NanchongChina1377572
ZunyiChina1376453
San DiegoCA1374076
LiuyangChina1373523
ZhanjiangChina1371998
TaizhongTaiwan1369066
AdelaideAustralia1366783
SuweonSouth Korea1365352
MaceioBrazil1363510
Samut PrakanThailand1358871
QomIran1354174
ShiyanChina1354025
Mianyang SichuanChina1351383
BareillyIndia1348664
JoinvilleBrazil1348521
AntalyaTurkey1347240
HelsinkiFinland1337786
Pointe-NoireRepublic of the Congo1336387
Ad-DammamSaudi Arabia1329291
UyoNigeria1329284
PortoPortugal1324652
PragueCzech Republic1323339
YingkouChina1323174
TengzhouChina1322916
TangerMorocco1314178
AligarhIndia1312369
MwanzaTanzania1310754
SuzhouChina1310433
FreetownSierra Leone1309168
Fushun LiaoningChina1304565
MaomingChina1303900
Pekan BaruIndonesia1303355
MoradabadIndia1301740
Port ElizabethSouth Africa1295928
FlorianopolisBrazil1294486
AhvazIran1293619
KazanRussia1291884
AstanaKazakhstan1291280
FesMorocco1290039
MysoreIndia1288245
SofiaBulgaria1288114
JieyangChina1282479
RuianChina1281790
LilongweMalawi1276316
San Luis PotosiMexico1273325
DublinIreland1270172
Durg-BhilainagarIndia1266034
BaojiChina1261077
DallasTX1259404
JinhuaChina1257941
BhubaneswarIndia1257642
Pingdingshan HenanChina1256581
ZhuzhouChina1254519
BarquisimetoVenezuela1254192
PuningChina1254160
Abomey-CalaviBenin1252890
ChifengChina1252414
Nizhniy NovgorodRussia1251332
Zhenjiang JiangsuChina1250668
BukavuDR Congo1248783
KigaliRwanda1247551
MaracayVenezuela1242945
ChelyabinskRussia1240926
NnewiNigeria1239186
HuaibeiChina1236271
IslamabadPakistan1232447
BogorIndonesia1231445
LiupanshuiChina1230644
MendozaArgentina1226427
Nanyang HenanChina1224629
Xiangtan HunanChina1223912
TiruchirappalliIndia1221960
Da NangVietnam1220634
MeridaMexico1220603
BenxiChina1216852
JinzhouChina1215376
ChandigarhIndia1214775
TasikmalayaIndonesia1213778
Chiang MaiThailand1213348
PizhouChina1207275
BujumburaBurundi1206767
BinzhouChina1200222
LuoheChina1197935
GuilinChina1196841
QuettaPakistan1190348
AbaNigeria1188803
KadunaNigeria1187398
TripoliLibya1183292
XionganChina1183042
Hubli-DharwadIndia1181194
OmskRussia1180745
MexicaliMexico1178477
GuwahatiIndia1176330
BazhongChina1175989
HaifaIsrael1174429
AmsterdamNetherlands1174025
SaharanpurIndia1171689
SalemIndia1169953
YueqingChina1169864
KrasnoyarskRussia1166792
MaputoMozambique1162793
Bandar LampungIndonesia1162242
AguascalientesMexico1161448
SamaraRussia1155732
ShimkentKazakhstan1155073
UfaRussia1144799
CologneGermany1143715
XinxiangChina1140599

About the Most Populated Region in the World

Asia is the most populated region of the world.

Here is where the largest conglomerate of the most populated cities are united.

However, Asia is far more than Japan and the most populated city is Tokyo.

While Tokyo has been the most populated city for years now, Japan is on an island.

This makes for a unique situation.

How can a city that is located on an island locked by water continue to grow to the level of more than 37 million residents?

Land size matters and Tokyo has more than 5,200 square miles of space.

Compare this to New York City and more than 300 square miles of property.

While NYC has 7.8 million people, and is the most populated city in the USA, this is way below the population of Tokyo.

Other Asian countries represented at the top of the 500 most populated cities in the world include:

Living in any of these countries guarantees you will reside near one of the most populated cities in the world.

So how do you go about living in one of the most populated cities on the planet?

Here are some tips on how to choose and move to one of those cities with the densest housing and the highest percentage of people per square inch.

How to Choose the Most Populated Cities to Live In

If you are interested in moving to one of the world’s busiest and fullest cities, prepare in advance with planning and research.

Read and watch videos about the culture and lifestyles of people who permanently reside in the cities you are interested in.

Eat the local cuisine and try to speak their language.

Practicing living as someone living in the city where you want to move can be an eye-opener and game changer.

How Do I Research the Most Populated Cities to Move to One?

Along with learning about flavors and sounds, you also need to adjust to their financial picture.

How much money do the locals earn, and what are the majority of jobs in that city?

Does everyone have enough income or are there poverty issues?

Do you have enough money coming in now with your job and career, or will you have to find a new occupation if you move there?

Is Finding Jobs Difficult in the World’s Most Populated Cities?

These are important questions to ask when moving to any city.

However, if you are going to live in a city that is filled to the max with more than 10 million people, adjustments are in order.

You will not have as much landscape to share or jobs to go around.

Finding a good-paying position will take more work.

You will most likely need to start at the bottom of the slots for housing, work positions, and parking spaces.

If you are already living on Cloud Nine in your current lifestyle, this adjustment to having to start over socially in a new city and culture can be quite shocking.

What Social and Cultural Differences Should I Note When Moving to a Populated City?

Here are some other differences when moving to one of the world’s most populated cities:

  • Electrical outlets and plug-ins vary from the US to Europe.
  • Phone plans and wireless internet services on handheld devices do not have service in other countries and cities.
  • Basic language skills are essential when traveling and working in a major city with a primary language other than your own.
  • A cultural understanding of their foreign customs will go a long way in improving your social standing when moving to the big city.
  • Worry about drinking plain water from the tap, and go for bottled beverages when possible.

Also, try living in the largest and most populated city in your own country before moving to a country and city outside your homeland.

This will improve your odds of surviving and thriving in the new location.

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