[[File:Kitahiroshima city limit sign.jpg|200px|thumb|right| The [[City proper]] starts and ends at its [[city limits]] ]]

This is a non-exhaustive list of the world's most populous municipalities, defined according to the concept of [[city proper]]. In [[demography]], city proper is one of the three basic concepts used to define urban areas and populations.<ref name=wider/> The other two are [[urban agglomeration]], and the [[metropolitan area]]. This list is limited to clear, unambiguously defined political jurisdictions which fall under the definition of municipality in the general sense of the word. For this list, "city proper" follows the definition of a locality with legally fixed boundaries and an administratively recognized urban status that is usually characterized by some form of local government.<ref>{{cite web|author=klaus kästle |url=http://www.nationsonline.org/oneworld/most_pop_cities_usa.htm |title=United States most populated cities |publisher=Nationsonline.org |date=31 August 2009 |accessdate=2010-07-26}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://esa.un.org/unup/index.asp?panel=6 |title=World Urbanization Prospects: The 2007 Revision Population Database |publisher=United Nations |accessdate=2010-07-26}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://millenniumindicators.un.org/unsd/demographic/sconcerns/densurb/densurbanNotes.htm |title=United Nations Statistics Division – Demographic and Social Statistics |publisher=Millenniumindicators.un.org |accessdate=2010-07-26}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|title=Demographic Yearbook 2005, Volume 57|year=2008 |publisher= United Nations|isbn=92-1-051099-2 |page=756 |url=http://books.google.com/?id=OwfGJtkpCbwC&pg=PA241&lpg=PA241&dq=locality+with+legally+fixed+boundaries+and+an+administratively+recognized+urban+status+that+is+usually+characterized+by+some+form+of+local+government&q=locality%20with%20legally%20fixed%20boundaries%20and%20an%20administratively%20recognized%20urban%20status%20that%20is%20usually%20characterized%20by%20some%20form%20of%20local%20government|accessdate=2010-07-19}}</ref> For this list, "Municipality" is defined as an administrative entity composed of a clearly defined territory, it commonly denotes a city, town, or village, or a small grouping of them. A municipality is typically governed by a mayor and a [[city council]] or [[municipal council]].<ref name=merriam/> This list does not include metropolitan areas which may include multiple cities under the jurisdiction of separate city councils which do not come under a common government of that metropolitan area. The list does not count statistical areas. This list contains some of the world's most populous urban municipal units and their resident population.

==Municipality==

[[File:Singapore Skyline.jpg|200px|thumb|right| Singapore is a country, a city, and a municipality]]

Municipality can take on many meanings throughout the world. In the English language, "municipality" is a generic term for any type of urban unit.<ref name=merriam/> In some [[country|countries]], a municipality is the smallest administrative subdivision to have its own democratically elected [[republic|representative]] leadership. In other countries, such as China, a [[direct-controlled municipality]] is a city with equal status to a [[Province (China)|province]]. Some municipalities, such as Monaco or Singapore are sovereign states. For the purpose of this list, municipality is used in its strictly generic sense, i.e. as "a primarily urban political unit having corporate status and usually powers of self-government."<ref name=merriam>{{cite web|url=http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/municipality |title=Merriam-Webster definition of Municipality |publisher=Merriam-webster.com |date=13 August 2010 |accessdate=2011-03-14}}</ref>

==City==

[[File:Ogasawara LocationBoninIs.PNG|thumb|right|The [[Bonin Islands|Osagawara Island Group]] belong to the Tokyo proper.]]

Most of the entries in this list will be generally recognized as cities. This list of municipalities has become necessary because there is a debate whether certain cities should be called cities. Some examples follow.

*Tokyo is a prefecture-level municipality in Japan that is governed by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.metro.tokyo.jp/ENGLISH/ |title=Tokyo Metropolitan Government website |publisher=Metro.tokyo.jp |accessdate=2011-03-14}}</ref> It itself contains [[Special wards of Tokyo|twenty-three special wards]] ({{lang|ja|特別[[wiktionary:区|区]]}} -ku), which translate themselves to "cities"<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www5.j-server.com/LUCOTAKU/c3/ql.cgi/http%3a//www.city.ota.tokyo.jp/kokusai/kouryu/warbler/kurashinogaido/index.html?SLANG=ja&TLANG=en&XTYPE=0&XCHARSET=Shift_JIS |title=Guide of Ota City living |publisher=.j-server.com |accessdate=2011-03-14}}</ref> Tokyo also includes 26 more cities ([[wiktionary:市|市]] -shi), five towns ({{lang|ja|[[wiktionary:町|町]]}} -chō or machi), and eight villages ({{lang|ja|[[wiktionary:村|村]]}} -son or -mura), each of which has a local government. Numerous outlying islands, which extend as far as 1850&nbsp;km from central Tokyo, belong to Tokyo. All are part of Tokyo proper.

*China has four [[direct-controlled municipality|direct-controlled municipalities]] with a status equal to a province: Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai, and [[Chongqing]]. These cities, especially [[Chongqing]], can be quite large. The same applies to the [[Sub-provincial city in the People's Republic of China|sub-provincial cities]] and the [[Prefecture-level city|prefecture-level cities]] of China. "To cope with growing administrative demands at the local level, China essentially reclassified counties as cities in order to allow local city governments to control the surrounding areas,” as a United Nations University working paper notes.<ref name=wider>{{cite web

|url= http://www.wider.unu.edu/stc/repec/pdfs/wp2010/wp2010-12.pdf

|title= Urban Settlement

|work= Working Paper No. 2010/12

|author= [[David E. Bloom]], [[David Canning]], Günther Fink,Tarun Khanna, Patrick Salyer

|location=Helsinki

|publisher=[[World Institute for Development Economics Research

]]

|accessdate=20 Jul 2010

}}</ref>

* [[List of cities by surface area]] shows cities that are larger than many countries. It is debatable whether these large areas should be called cities or municipalities.

* [[Lagos|Metropolitan Lagos]] has a population of nearly 8 million according to the latest census. Official data by the Lagos State estimate the population of Metropolitan Lagos at more than 14 million.<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.lagosstate.gov.ng/index.php?page=subpage&spid=12&mnu=null|title=Population (Lagos)|accessdate=2010-07-28}}</ref> However, the Municipality of Lagos was disbanded in 1976 and divided into several administratively independent [[Local Government Areas in Nigeria|Local Government Areas]]. As a result, the most populous city in Africa, and one of the most populous and fastest growing cities in the world<ref>[http://www.citymayors.com/statistics/urban_growth1.html World's fastest growing cities and urban areas from 2006 to 2020], by CityMayors.com</ref> is not on this list.

*A similar situation exists in Australia, where large cities are divided into much smaller [[Local government in Australia|Local Government Areas]]. This removes populous cities such as Sydney or [[Melbourne]] from this list. For a detailed discussion, see [[List of cities in Australia by population#25 largest Local Government Areas by population|List of 25 largest Australian LGAs]]. Australia's largest LGA by population, [[Brisbane City Council]], had a population of 1,052,458 in 2009.<ref name="AUS">{{cite web|publisher=Australian Bureau of Statistics |title=3218.0 – Regional Population Growth, Australia, 2008–09 |url=http://www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/abs@.nsf/DetailsPage/3218.02008-09?OpenDocument}}</ref>

*For similar reasons, cities such as [[Santiago, Chile]] or [[Metro Manila|Manila, Philippines]] are not on this list.

*From Singapore to Vatican City, there are several cities that are sovereign countries.

A city can be loosely or narrowly defined, depending on the respective country. This can create controversy. This list therefore uses the more generic term "municipality." In most cases, its entries will be understood as cities.

==State or province==

{{wide image|Wien Am Himmel pan z00.jpg|1800px|alt=[[Vienna]] has the rank of an [[States of Austria|Austrian state]] |[[Vienna]] has the rank of an [[States of Austria|Austrian federal state]] }}

Quite often, the status of a city or municipality can be elevated to the level of a state or province. Tokyo can be considered as a prefecture-level city in Japan, although it calls itself "Tokyo Metropolis". The [[direct-controlled municipality|direct-controlled municipalities]] of China have a similar rank. The Republic of China (ROC) in Taiwan, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea in North Korea, the Republic of Korea in South Korea, and the Socialist Republic of Vietnam in Vietnam also adopt this concept. Other examples can be found throughout the world. [[Vienna]] has the rank of an [[States of Austria|Austrian state]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.wien.gv.at/english/politics-administration/ |title=Administrative structure of the City of Vienna |publisher=Wien.gv.at |accessdate=2011-03-14}}</ref> [[Canton of Geneva|Geneva]] and [[Basel-Stadt]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.basel.ch/index-if?u=bsch |title=Willkommen im Kanton Basel-Stadt und in der Stadt Basel |publisher=Basel.ch |accessdate=2011-03-14}}</ref> have the rank of [[Cantons of Switzerland|Swiss cantons]]. Germany has several cities with the rank of a state: [[Hamburg]], [[Bremen]], and Berlin.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://userpage.chemie.fu-berlin.de/adressen/bl/bundeslaender.html |title=Länder der Bundesrepublik Deutschland ("Bundesländer") |publisher=Userpage.chemie.fu-berlin.de |accessdate=2011-03-14}}</ref> Washington, D.C. is a federally administered municipality of the United States that is effectively treated as equivalent in most respects to one of the actual 50 States of the United States. To an outsider of a particular country, it is sometimes challenging to decide whether the entity can still be called a municipality, or should rather be called a province or state.

One attempt is to determine whether the entity is divided into sub-units with their own government, in which case the entity would not longer be treated as a municipality. This concept fails, because many bona fide cities/municipalities have such subdivisions. For instance, the German [[city-states]] [[Hamburg]], [[Bremen]], and Berlin are divided in districts with some form of a government. Berlin has Bezirke (districts) with their own mayor and borough council. The 16 boroughs of [[Mexico City]] have significant autonomy, and their heads of government are elected. The wards of Tokyo each have their own mayor.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.city.shibuya.tokyo.jp/eng/mayor.html |title=Greetings from the Mayor of Shibuya |publisher=City.shibuya.tokyo.jp |accessdate=2011-03-14}}</ref> This list leaves the final determination of what is called a city or municipality to the sovereign states and the people who live there. If the entity is defined (in its own language) as a municipality or city, then this list counts it as such. If two or more entities form a metropolitan area without a common government, the entities are counted separately. If in doubt, common sense prevails.

{{-}}

==Data sources==

[[File:Volkstelling 1925 Census.jpg|200px|thumb|right|Census taker visits a family living in a [[Mobile home|caravan]], Netherlands 1925]]

This list treats the population data issued by the statistical bureau of the respective municipality as the most reliable source. Next up are statistical data provided by the statistical organizations of the respective countries. If the count differs, the count by the municipality prevails. This list attempts to use data that is as up to date as possible. In countries where there is a difference between the "registered" and the "floating" population, this list recognizes the sum of both, if available.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.china-profile.com/data/tab_rurpop_1.htm |title=Three major problems with urban-rural population data in China |publisher=China-profile.com |accessdate=2011-03-14}}</ref> <br /> It is accepted and recognized that there can be considerable differences between the quality and precision of data. Even if a strict principle such as the administrative area is used, sources can report conflicting data. The following chart shows the differences between data sourced from the China Statistical Yearbook 2009<ref name="2009YB">{{Cite book|title=China Statistical Yearbook 2009 |year=2009 |month=10 |publisher=China Statistics Press |location=Beijing, China |isbn=978-7-5037-5800-3 |page=digital version, file D0304e.xls|page= 1072 |url=http://www.stats.gov.cn/tjsj/ndsj/2009/indexeh.htm |accessdate= 24 June 2010|laysummary= Total Population refers to the total number of people alive on the 3lst of December 2008. The national total population does not include the population of Hong Kong and Macau SARs, as well as Taiwan and Fujian Provinces of the ROC. Data in the table are estimates from the 2008 National Sample Survey on Population Changes. The national total population was adjusted on the basis of sampling errors and survey errors. Similar adjustments were not made to regional figures.}}</ref> and data published by the local municipalities. In June 2007, Chongqing reported on its official web site a population number that was more than 3 million higher than what was reported in the Statistical Yearbook for the end of 2008. Beijing's number, reported in March 2010, was more than 5 million higher than what was reported in the Statistical Yearbook for the end of 2008. The actual census of 2010 came in 2.4 million lower than the 22 million reported earlier in state media.

{| class="wikitable"

|-

! Administrative Division !! Population Yearbook !! Population local!! Source for local

|-

| [[Chongqing]] || 28,390,000 || 31,442,300||<ref name="PopCQ">{{cite web|url=http://english.cq.gov.cn/ChongqingGuide/MountainCity/1918.htm|title=Demographic of Chongqing |publisher=Chongqing Municipal Government}}</ref>

|-

| Beijing || 16,950,000 || 22,000,000 ||<ref name="22 mil China Daily">{{Cite news|title=Beijing's population exceeds 22 million |url=http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2010-02/26/content_9511839.htm |work=China Daily |date=26 February 2010 }}</ref>

|-

| Shanghai ||18,884,600 || 19,210,000 ||<ref name="PopSH">{{cite web|url=http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/90001/90782/90872/6897139.html|title=Shanghai's permanent population approaches 20 mln|work=People's Daily}}</ref>

|}

For a comprehensive study of the challenges presented by a populous country such as China, refer to “Misconceptions and Complexities in the Study of China's Cities: Definitions, Statistics, and Implications,” an article that appeared in the Journal of Eurasian Geography and Economics.<ref name="misconceptions" >{{cite web

|url= http://bellwether.metapress.com/content/d10wn78mqur749g0/fulltext.pdf

|title= Misconceptions and Complexities in the Study of China's Cities: Definitions, Statistics, and Implications

|work= Article

|author= Kam Wing Chan

|location=University of Washington

|publisher=Bellwether Publishing

|accessdate=20 Jul 2010

}}</ref><ref>{{cite web

|url= http://courses.washington.edu/chinageo/ChanCityDefinitionsEGE2007.pdf

|title= Misconceptions and Complexities in the Study of China's Cities: Definitions, Statistics, and Implications – downloadadable version

|work= Article

|author= Kam Wing Chan

|location=University of Washington

|publisher=Bellwether Publishing

|accessdate=27 Jul 2010

}}</ref> This paper says: "Ironically, while journalists and scholars focusing on global urbanization tend to rely upon a set of population figures that overstates the actual population of Chinese cities, in the scholarly community studying Chinese cities, the opposite is true. In fact, almost of all researchers tend to use figures that understate the size of Chinese cities."

Most countries perform a census in regular intervals, commonly every 10 years.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://unstats.un.org/unsd/demographic/sources/census/censusdates.htm |title=Census schedule worldwide, United Nations |publisher=United Nations |accessdate=2011-03-14}}</ref> Some countries provide regular [[Intercensal estimate|estimates]], sometimes based on smaller samples (micro census). This list discourages the usage of independently compiled lists of city populations. These lists are sometimes unreliable or come to misleading results due to differing methodology.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.uic.edu/cuppa/cityfutures/papers/webpapers/cityfuturespapers/session3_4/3_4whicharethe.pdf |title=WHICH ARE THE LARGEST? WHY PUBLISHED POPULATIONS FOR MAJOR WORLD URBAN AREAS VARY SO GREATLY |format=PDF |accessdate=2011-03-14}}</ref> If no government data are available, third party sources may be used, but their usage should be noted in the comments section. This list does not recognize commuters.

{{-}}

==Principle==

The reader should be aware that there is no "right" way to define a city or municipality. "City proper" is one of the different ways. Other methods can be similarly valid, and result in similarly valid lists that show the population of a city from a different perspective. The principle of this list is that the definition of administrative boundaries is a matter of the sovereign states and countries. This list will not redraw borders. For the purpose of this list, a resident who lives within certain administrative boundaries counts as a resident of the municipality or city. As long as the administrative area is that of a bona fide municipality, this list will recognize its population as a whole, regardless of the size of the city or municipality. This list does not include metropolitan areas which may include multiple cities under the jurisdiction of separate city councils which do not come under a common government of that metropolitan area. For instance, Berlin and [[Brandenburg]] are separate, because they do not share a common government.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.wahlen-berlin.de/wahlen/framesets/va-1996.htm |title=Results of referendum about joining Berlin and Brandenburg |publisher=Wahlen-berlin.de |accessdate=2011-03-14}}</ref> For the purpose of this list, the whole [[Tokyo Metropolis]] is counted as a city, because it shares a common Metropolitan Government.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.metro.tokyo.jp/ENGLISH/ |title=Tokyo Metropolitan Government |publisher=Metro.tokyo.jp |accessdate=2010-07-26}}</ref> As outlined in [[city proper]], there can be diverging definitions of "city proper" from country to country, and for the purpose of different reports. For the sake of consistency, this list strives to use one common definition of "city proper", namely the area within the administrative boundaries. The list does not count statistical areas. The population density is calculated given the population and the surface area of the municipality. The list can be sorted. This list enumerates the population within the [[city limits]] of some of the world's most populous municipalities. This list is in no particular order. It can be sorted using the sort button in the column headers.

==Municipalities by population (city proper)==

* [[List of cities proper by population]] (applies inconsistent criteria to [[city proper]])