The chart above shows the population of each urban area with a population over 1,900,000 while the charts below show all urban areas with a population between 940,000 and 1,900,000, between 640,000 and 940,000 people, and between 500,000 and 640,000 people. The urban areas have been normalized so as to avoid any inconsistencies with how cities and their metropolitan areas are defined by their governments. Each urban area has similar characteristics making this the definitive method with which to compare cities across various countries. Tokyo has the largest population by far.
Findings
- The difference between the urban area with the greatest population, Tokyo, and the urban areas with the least, Fuyang (Hangzhou), Zoucheng (Jining), and Nakhon Ratchasima, is 37,477,000 people.
- Tokyo has 75.95 times the population that Fuyang (Hangzhou), Zoucheng (Jining), and Nakhon Ratchasima do.
- The median population of urban areas with a minimum population of 500,000 in Asia is 919,000 people and the mean 2,227,185.64 people.
Caveats
- Data is from 2020.
- The methodology for how these urban areas have been defined can be found in the source link below. As of this writing this is the most reliable way to compare urban areas throughout the world.
- Some of these urban areas span several states, and the state that is being used here is the one where the core of the urban area is located. For instance, Milan's urban area spans both Italy and Switzerland, but since the core of the urban area is in Italy it would be listed as an Italian urban area and not a Swiss one.
- All figures are rounded to the nearest whole.
Details
Only 46 of the 54 Asian states have urban areas with at least 500,000 people. Of these, China has 248; India has 108; Indonesia has 24; Japan has 21; Iran and Turkey each have 16; Pakistan has 14; South Korea has 11; Iraq and Saudi Arabia each have ten; the Philippines has nine; Vietnam has eight; Bangladesh, Malaysia, and Thailand each have six; Syria and Taiwan each have five; Israel, Kazakhstan, and Yemen each have four; Afghanistan, North Korea, the United Arab Emirates, and Uzbekistan each have three; Jordan and Myanmar each have two; and Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Cambodia, Georgia, Hong Kong, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Lebanon, Macao, Mongolia, Nepal, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan each have one.
Of the 571 urban areas with a population over 500,000, 262 have a population of over 1 million. Forty-nine have a population of more than 5 million, and 23 have a population of more than 10 million.
Hong Kong has the largest mean population in its urban areas over 500,000 people with a mean of 7,347,000 people distributed among its one urban area. Singapore has the second largest mean population in its urban areas over 500,000 people with a mean of 5,745,000 people distributed among its one urban area.
Bhutan, the British Indian Ocean Territory, Brunei, Christmas Island, the Cocos (Keeling) Islands, Cyprus, Maldives, and Timor-Leste do not have any urban areas with a population over 500,000 inhabitants.
Sources
Demographia. 2021. "Demographia World Urban Areas: 16th Annual Edition." Accessed March 9, 2021. http://demographia.com/db-worldua.pdf.