Information about major cities of the world. The largest cities in Russia

The role of the city in the life of a modern person is growing: many people no longer see development prospects for themselves outside of it. Scientists call this phenomenon urbanization. What are the most populated cities in the world? In this article you will find a list of the largest cities in the world.

Urbanization and its current scale

Urbanization refers to the growing role of the city in society. The word urbanus is translated from Latin as "urban".

Modern urbanization can take place in three ways:

1. The transformation of villages and villages into small and medium-sized cities.
2. The outflow of population from villages to cities.
3. Formation of extensive suburban residential areas.

The world's most populated cities are often held hostage to their oversized size. Bad ecology, a huge amount of transport on the streets, a lack of green spaces and recreation areas, constant noise pollution - all this, of course, negatively affects the health (physical and mental) of a person, a resident of a metropolis.

The processes of urbanization, according to scientists, began around the middle of the 19th century. But then they were local, local in nature. They reached the global level a century later - in the 50s of the twentieth century. At this time, the urban population of the planet is growing rapidly, the largest megacities of our time are being formed.

If in 1950 the share of the urban population on the planet was only 30%, then in 2000 it had already reached 45%. Today, the level of global urbanization is about 57%.

The most urbanized countries on the planet are Luxembourg (100%), Belgium (98%), Great Britain (90%), Australia (88%) and Chile (88%).

The most populated cities in the world

In fact, it is quite difficult to determine the population of a large city. Firstly, researchers are not always able to obtain up-to-date and reliable statistical information (especially when it comes to megacities of third world countries - Asia, Africa or Latin America).

Secondly, the approaches to counting the number of city residents can be different. Thus, some demographers do not take into account people living in the suburban area, while others ignore temporary labor migrants. That is why it is very difficult to name exactly the most populated city in the world.

Another problem faced by demographers and statisticians is the problem of defining the boundaries of a metropolitan area. To solve it, a very interesting method has recently been invented. To do this, a picture of the settlement is taken from the air, in the evening. Then the boundaries of the city can be easily drawn along the edge of the distribution of urban lighting.

Top most populated cities in the world

In ancient times, Jericho was considered the largest (in terms of population) city on the planet. About 2 thousand people lived in it nine thousand years ago. Today, this is the number of inhabitants in a large village and a small European town.

The total number of inhabitants living in the ten most populated cities on the planet is almost 260 million people! In other words, this is 4% of the total population of the Earth.

1. Tokyo (Japan, 37.7 million people);
2. Jakarta (Indonesia, 29.9);
3. Chongqing (China, 29.0);
4. Delhi (India, 24.2);
5. Manila (Philippines, 22.8);
6. Shanghai (China, 22.6);
7. Karachi (Venezuela, 21.7);
8. New York (United States of America, 20.8);
9. Mexico City (Mexico, 20.5).

Six out of ten of these cities are located in Asia, with 2 in China. It is worth noting that the largest city in Europe, Moscow, would take only 17th place in this rating. About 16 million people live in the capital of the Russian Federation.

Tokyo, Japan)

The capital of Japan is by far the most populated city in the world, with a population of at least 37 million people. For comparison: this is the number of inhabitants in all of Poland!

Today Tokyo is not only the largest metropolis, but also the most important financial, industrial and cultural center of East Asia. The world's largest subway operates here: it transports at least 8 million passengers a day. Tokyo will amaze any traveler with a huge number of faceless, gray streets and alleys. Some of them don't even have their own names.

Surprisingly, the largest metropolis on the planet is located in a seismically unstable zone. About a hundred fluctuations of different intensity are recorded in Tokyo every year.

Chongqing (China)

Chinese Chongqing belongs to the absolute world championship among cities in terms of territory. It occupies the same area as the state of Austria in Europe - 82,000 square kilometers.

The metropolis has an almost perfect round shape: 470 by 460 kilometers. About 29 million Chinese live here. However, since a large number of them live in the suburban area, some extras sometimes do not include Chongqing in the lists of the most populated cities in the world.

In addition to its colossal size, the city also boasts an ancient history. After all, it is over 3,000 years old. Chongqing arose at the confluence of two Chinese rivers, surrounded by three picturesque hills.

New York, USA)

New York, although not the largest city in terms of population on the planet, but it can be considered the most popular world metropolis.

The city is often referred to as the Big Apple. Why? Everything is very simple: according to one of the legends, it was the apple tree that was the first to take root within the boundaries of the future metropolis.

New York is an important financial center of the world; about 700 thousand (!) different companies are located here. At least 6,000 subway cars and about 13,000 taxi cars serve the residents of the city every day. By the way, it is no coincidence that local taxis are painted yellow. The founder of a shipping company once did a special study trying to determine which color is the most pleasing to the human eye. It turned out that it was yellow.

Conclusion

An amazing fact: if you collect all the inhabitants of the 10 most populated cities in the world, you get a number that is almost twice the total population of Russia! In addition, these already huge metropolitan areas continue to grow.

The most populated cities in the world are Tokyo, Jakarta, Chongqing, Delhi and Seoul. All of them are located in Asia.

What does "big city" mean to you? A million inhabitants, two, maybe ten or even thirty? See the photo gallery of the 20 largest cities in the world by population.

(Total 20 photos)

1. In 20th place in terms of population is Dhaka - the capital of Bangladesh.

2. Buenos Aires occupies 19th place, 14.3 million people live in the capital of Argentina.

3. 18th place: Kolkata is the largest city in India with 15.7 million people.

4. 17th place: Cairo - the capital of Egypt - the number of inhabitants is 17.3 million.

6. Beijing has 16.4 million inhabitants, placing the Chinese capital in 15th place in the ranking.

7. 14th place: Osaka - 16.8 million people live in one of the largest cities in Japan.

8. Los Angeles is in 13th place in terms of population with 17 million residents.

9. The capital of the Philippines - Manila - in 12th place among the largest cities in the world with 20.7 million inhabitants.

10. The Indian city of Bombay, which is home to 20.8 million people, ranks 11th in the ranking.

11. On the 10th place is the largest city in Pakistan - Karachi. It is home to 21.1 million people.

12. 9th place: the Brazilian city of Sao Paulo, it is home to 21.1 million people.

14. 7th place: Indian Delhi - 23 million inhabitants.

15. The 6th place in terms of population is occupied by the Mexican capital - Mexico City - 23.2 million inhabitants.

16. The 5th most populated city in the world is Shanghai. This largest Chinese city has 25.3 million inhabitants.19. In 2nd place, Guangzhou is the largest Chinese city with 25.8 million people.

20. The largest city in the world in terms of population is Tokyo. The capital of Japan is home to 34.5 million people. Tokyo is the undisputed leader in our ranking and will remain so for a long time to come.

The largest settlements of the Russian Federation are traditionally chosen according to two criteria: the occupied territory and the population. The area is determined by the master plan of the city. Population - by the All-Russian population census, or Rosstat data, taking into account births and deaths, if they are relevant.

The largest cities in Russia by population

There are 15 largest cities in Russia with a population of more than 1 million people. According to this indicator, Russia ranks third in the world. And their number continues to grow. More recently, Krasnoyarsk and Voronezh have been included in this category. We present you the top ten most densely populated Russian cities.

Population: 1,125 thousand people.

Rostov-on-Don became a million-plus city relatively recently - only thirty years ago. It is the only one among the ten largest cities in Russia that does not have its own subway. Its construction in 2018 will only be discussed. While the administration of Rostov is busy preparing for the upcoming World Cup.

Population: 1,170 thousand people.

In the penultimate place in the list of the largest cities in Russia in terms of population is the administrative center of the Volga region - Samara. True, starting from 1985, the population preferred to leave Samara as soon as possible, until the situation improved by 2005. And now the city even has a small migration increase.

Population: 1,178 thousand people.

The situation with migration in Omsk is not brilliant - many educated Omsk residents prefer to move to Moscow, St. Petersburg and neighboring Novosibirsk and Tyumen. However, since 2010 the population in the city has been steadily growing, mostly due to the redistribution of the population in the region.

Population: 1,199 thousand people.

Unfortunately, Chelyabinsk is experiencing problems with amenities: residents complain about the abundance of dirt, giant puddles in spring and summer, when, due to non-functioning storm sewers, entire microdistricts turn into something like Venice. It is not surprising that about 70% of Chelyabinsk residents are thinking about changing their place of residence.

Population: 1,232 thousand people.

The capital of the Republic of Tatarstan rightfully bears the title of one of the most comfortable cities in Russia. This is probably one of the reasons why the city has experienced a steady population growth since the mid-90s. And since 2009, Kazan has become a plus not only due to migration, but also in terms of natural growth.

Population: 1,262 thousand people.

The ancient and very beautiful city is going through hard times in terms of the number of residents. The peak was in 1991, when its population exceeded 1,445 thousand people, and since then it has only been falling. A slight increase was observed only in 2012-2015, when the population increased by about 10 thousand people.

Population: 1,456 thousand people.

"The Capital of the Urals" became a million-plus city exactly 50 years ago, in 1967. Since then, having experienced a population decline in the "hungry 90s", the city's population has been growing slowly but steadily. It is rising, as in all large cities of Russia, mainly due to migrants. But not the ones you think about - the replenishment of the population mainly (more than 50%) comes from the Sverdlovsk region.

Population: 1,602 thousand people.

The third place in the list of the largest cities in Russia is occupied by the center of the Novosibirsk region. In addition to the status of "millionaire", the city can also boast of entering the top 50 cities in the world with the longest traffic jams. True, Novosibirsk is hardly happy with such a record.

However, unlike traffic jams, things are more or less successful with the demographic situation in the city. Novosibirsk is implementing a number of regional and state programs aimed at increasing the birth rate and reducing mortality. For example, at the birth of a third or subsequent child, a family is awarded a regional certificate for 100,000 rubles.

According to the city authorities, if the current dynamics of population growth continues, then by 2025 the number of residents of the Novosibirsk region will increase to 2.9 million people.

Population: 5,282 thousand people.

The cultural capital of Russia, where polite intellectuals bow to each other, raising their berets, and where such beasts as “bun” and “curb” live, demonstrates a steady increase in both area and population.

True, it was not always so; starting from the end of the USSR, the population preferred to leave St. Petersburg. And only since 2012, positive dynamics began to be observed. In the same year, the five millionth inhabitant was born in the city (for the second time in its history).

1. Moscow

Population: 12,381 thousand people.

It is unlikely that the answer to the question: "What is the largest city in Russia?" came as a surprise to some. Moscow is the largest city in Europe in terms of population, but is not included in the first.

More than 12 million people live here, and if we add to this the population of the Moscow region, which regularly travels to Moscow for work and shopping, the figure is more than impressive - 16 million. Due to the current economic situation in the country, the population as a modern Babylon and the territories adjacent to it will only increase. According to experts' forecasts, by 2030 this number may reach 13.6 million people.

Muscovites are traditionally not happy with "come in large numbers", and "come in large numbers" shrug their shoulders: "I want to live, and I even want to live well."

The largest cities in Russia by area

It would seem that the list of the largest cities in Russia in terms of area should coincide with the list of the most populated cities, but this is not so. In addition to the simple population, the area of ​​the city is influenced by many factors - from the historical way of increasing the territory up to the number of industrial enterprises in the city. Therefore, some positions in the ranking can surprise the reader.

Area: 541.4 km²

Opens the top 10 largest cities in Russia Samara. It stretches along the western bank of the Volga River for more than 50 km with a width of 20 km.

Area: 566.9 km²

The population of Omsk exceeded one million people back in 1979, the territory near the city is large and, according to the Soviet tradition, the city had to acquire a metro. However, the nineties broke out, and construction has been going on neither shaky nor rolls since then, but in general nothing at all. There is not even enough money for conservation.

Area: 596.51 km²

Voronezh became a million-plus city quite recently - in 2013. Some areas in it are almost exclusively a private sector - houses, from comfortable cottages to village ones, garages, vegetable gardens.

Area: 614.16 km²

Thanks to the historically established radial-ring building Kazan is a fairly compact city with a convenient layout. Despite its size, the capital of Tatarstan is the only one millionaire in Russia that fully recycles its waste and has managed to maintain a more or less favorable environmental situation.

Area: 621 km²

The only regional city that is not an administrative center and a millionaire, Orsk seems to have been included in this rating by mistake. Its population is only 230 thousand people, which occupy an area of ​​621 km2, with a very low density (only 370 people per km2). The reason for such a vast territory with a small number of inhabitants is a large number of industrial enterprises within the city.

Area: 707.93 km²

Residents of Ufa live spaciously - each has 698 m2 of the total area of ​​the city. At the same time, Ufa has the lowest density of the street network among Russian megacities, which often manifests itself in huge multi-kilometer traffic jams.

Area: 799.68 km²

Perm became a millionaire in 1979, then in the nineties, due to a general decline in the population, it lost this status for more than 20 years. Only in 2012 was it possible to return it. Permians live freely (population density is not too high, 1310 people per km2) and green - the total area of ​​green spaces is more than a third of the citywide.

Area: 859.4 km²

Although Volgograd became a million-plus city relatively recently - in 1991, however, in terms of the size of the territory, it has long been one of the top three. The reason is the historically developed uneven urban development, where apartment buildings, village houses with plots and empty steppe spaces alternate with each other.

Area: 1439 km²

Unlike the compact radial-beam "old" Moscow, St. Petersburg is freely spread out at the mouth of the Neva. The length of the city is more than 90 km. One of the features of the city is the abundance of water spaces, occupying 7% of the entire territory.

1. Moscow

Area: 2561.5 km²

And unconditional first place among the largest cities in Russia is given to Moscow. Its area is 1.5 times larger than the area of ​​the second place in the rating, St. Petersburg. True, until 2012 the territory of Moscow was not so impressive - only 1100 km2. So it has grown significantly due to the annexation of the southwestern territories, the total area of ​​​​which reaches 1480 km2.

What does big city mean to you? A million inhabitants, two, maybe ten or even thirty? See the photo gallery of the 20 largest cities in the world by population.

In 20th place in terms of population is Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh.

Buenos Aires occupies 19th place, 14.3 million people live in the capital of Argentina.

18th place: Kolkata is the largest city in India with a population of 15.7 million.

17th place: Cairo - the capital of Egypt - the number of inhabitants is 17.3 million.

Beijing has 16.4 million inhabitants, placing the Chinese capital in 15th place in the ranking.

Los Angeles is in 13th place in terms of population with 17 million inhabitants.

The capital of the Philippines - Manila - is in 12th place among the largest cities in the world with 20.7 million inhabitants.

The Indian city of Bombay, which has a population of 20.8 million, is ranked 11th in the ranking.

9th place: the Brazilian city of Sao Paulo, it is home to 21.1 million people.

7th place: Indian Delhi - 23 million inhabitants.

The 6th place in terms of population is occupied by the Mexican capital - Mexico City - 23.2 million inhabitants.

The 5th most populous city in the world is Shanghai. This largest Chinese city has 25.3 million inhabitants.

In 2nd place: Guangzhou is the largest Chinese city with 25.8 million people.

The largest city in the world by population is Tokyo. The capital of Japan is home to 34.5 million people. Tokyo is the undisputed leader in our ranking and will remain so for a long time to come.