With over 37 million residents, Greater Tokyo is the most populous metro area in the world today.
Urban growth is not unique to Japan. By 2030, the United Nations predicts that the world will have 43 megacities, defined as metro areas with more than 10 million people. Most of them will be in developing regions in the Middle East, Asia, and Africa.
The UN recently released its annual World Urbanization Prospects, which estimates which metro areas will have the highest populations by 2030.
On World Population Day this Wednesday, let’s take a look at the top 13:
13. Greater New York, New York — 20 million
Population in 2018: 18.8 million
Note: The NY metro area includes New York City, Long Island, and the Mid and Lower Hudson Valley in New York state; Newark, Jersey City, Paterson, Elizabeth, and Edison in New Jersey; and Bridgeport, New Haven, Stamford, Waterbury, Norwalk, and Danbury in Connecticut.
12. Karachi, Pakistan — 20.4 million
Population in 2018: 15.4 million
11. Lagos State, Nigeria — 20.6 million
Population in 2015: 13.5 million
Note: Lagos State includes eight local municipalities.
10. Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo — 21.9 million
Population in 2015: 13.2 million
Note: Kinshasa includes four districts, which are further divide into 24 communes.
9. Greater Sao Paulo, Brazil — 23.8 million
Population in 2015: 21.7 million
Note: Greater Sao Paulo includes 39 smaller municipalities.
8. Greater Mexico City, Mexico — 24.1 million
Population in 2015: 21.6 million
Note: Mexico City's metro area includes 76 municipalities.
7. Greater Beijing, China — 24.3 million
Population in 2015: 19.6 million
Note: Greater Beijing includes the Beijing and Tianjin municipalities and Hebei Province.
6. Greater Mumbai, India — 24.6 million
Population in 2015: 20 million
Note: Greater Mumbai consists of nine local governing bodies and 15 smaller municipal councils.
5. Greater Cairo, Egypt — 25.6 million
Population in 2015: 20.1 million
Note: Greater Cairo includes the city of Cairo, as well as the surrounding districts of Giza and Qalyubia.
4. Greater Dhaka, Bangladesh — 28.1 million
Population in 2015: 19.6 million
Note: Greater Dhaka includes four districts and 11 smaller sub-units of districts.
3. Shanghai, China — 32.9 million
Population in 2015: 25.6 million
2. Greater Tokyo, Japan — 36.6 million
Population in 2015: 37.5 million
Note: Greater Tokyo includes 23 smaller districts. The metro area is the only one in the top 13 that the UN predicts will see a decrease in population by 2030.
1. Greater Delhi, India — 39 million
Population in 2015: 28.5 million
Note: Greater Delhi includes satellite cities including Faridabad, Gurgaon, Bahadurgarh, Noida, and Ghaziabad.