The world population is made up of more than 7.7 billion people. Of these, the United Nations (UN) estimates that 55% live in cities. We can, therefore, consider the current world as being urbanized. The biggest urban agglomerations are in the Asian continent, highlighting:
Tokyo, Japan);
Delhi (India); and
Shanghai (China).
São Paulo ranks fourth on the world stage and first in Brazil, and the capital of Rio de Janeiro also appears in the list of the biggest cities in the world.
Read too: The 10 poorest countries in the world
The 20 most populous cities in the world
According to the UN World Urbanization Perspectives report (2018), the largest agglomerations The world's urban areas are located in countries on the Asian continent, with emphasis on China, India and Japan. Among the 20 largest megacities on the planet, two are in Brazil: São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro.
megacity |
Parents |
Population |
Tokyo |
Japan |
37.468.000 |
Delhi |
India |
28.514.000 |
Shanghai |
China |
25.582.000 |
Sao Paulo |
Brazil |
21.650.000 |
Mexico City |
Mexico |
21.581.000 |
Cairo |
Egypt |
20.076.000 |
Mumbai |
India |
19.980.000 |
Beijing |
China |
19.618.000 |
Dhaka |
Bangladesh |
19.578.000 |
Osaka (Kinki M.M.A.) |
Japan |
19.281.000 |
New York |
U.S |
18.819.000 |
Karachi |
Pakistan |
15.400.000 |
Buenos Aires |
Argentina |
14.967.000 |
Chongqing |
China |
14.838.000 |
Istanbul |
Turkey |
14.751.000 |
Calcutta |
India |
14.681.000 |
Manila |
Philippines |
13.482.000 |
lakes |
Nigeria |
13.463.000 |
Rio de Janeiro |
Brazil |
13.293.000 |
Tianjin |
China |
13.215.000 |
Source: World Urbanization Perspectives Report. UN, 2018.
Annually, several rankings are produced, classifying the most populous cities around the world. However, we need to pay attention to the fact that most of them are referring to what we call urban agglomerations.
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The definition of this concept that is adopted by the United Nations (UN) establishes urban agglomerations as being the population contained in a continuous territory that exceeds the administrative limits of a single city. As defined by the IBGE, this structure is linked to a central city and refers to the process of metropolization.
Urban agglomerations with ten million inhabitants or more are also called megacities.
Least Populated City in the World
There is one small town in Croatia which is considered the smallest in the world in population: Hmm, which currently counts with only 30 inhabitants. However, there is some controversy regarding this title due to the fact that Hum belongs to the municipality of Buzet, which currently has about 6,000 inhabitants.
It is also necessary to remember that the definition of city is not the same in all countries, which can cause the title of smallest city in the world to vary by location. In the United States, for example, there is a city in the state of Nebraska with only one resident, which is Monowi.
See too: The 20 biggest countries in the world
The 5 most populous cities in Brazil
The five largest cities in Brazil in terms of population are located in the following regions:
Southeast;
Midwest; and
North East.
The ranking is composed of four state capitals and the federal capital, which took third place, according to IBGE estimates for the year 2020.
City |
Population |
Sao Paulo |
12.325.232 |
Rio de Janeiro |
6.747.815 |
Brasilia |
3.055.149 |
savior |
2.886.698 |
strength |
2.686.612 |
Source: IBGE (2020).
It is noteworthy that the IBGE information presented above refers to the population of the municipalities, hence the divergence with the UN data referring to the capitals of São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro.
Difference between populated and populated
The term populous is used in reference to the total number of inhabitants of a given location, that is, it concerns the absolute population. With more than 12 million inhabitants, we can say that São Paulo is the most populous city in Brazil. On a global scale, we have the Japanese capital, Tokyo, as the most populous megacity in the world.
The term town refers to population distribution over a given area. In other words, it concerns the relative population or demographic density. Continuing with the same example, we have that São Paulo is also the most populated city in the territory national, as it has a high population density (7,398.26 inhab/km²), according to the last census of the IBGE (2010).
By Paloma Guitarrara
Geography teacher
Would you like to reference this text in a school or academic work? Look:
GUITARRARA, Paloma. "The 20 most populous cities in the world"; Brazil School. Available in: https://brasilescola.uol.com.br/geografia/cidades-mais-populosas-mundo.htm. Accessed on June 27, 2021.
