The question is more complicated than it first appears. But either way, the numbers make you dizzy. And it’s not over. Because in 2100, the largest city in the world could have around 90 million inhabitants.
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To determine which is the “largest city” in the world, we must agree on the term. “Larger” in terms of population or area?
In terms of surface area, Eeyou Istchee Baie-James (Canada) seems to want to win the prize. This municipality indeed extends over no less than 335,818 km2. This is equivalent to the area of a country like Norway or Finland. Compared to only 105.40 km2 in which the city of Paris, it’s stunning. And even a little more when we know that Eeyou Istchee Baie-James only had 1,589 inhabitants during the 2016 census! What, according to certain definitions, does not allow him to reach the statute of city. Because yes, we must also think about establishing the definition of a city.
The question of the city of Chongking then arises. Or rather, of the municipality of Chongking which extends over some 82,000 km2 of inland China. The size of Austria, more or less. But above all, today it is also the most populous city — or municipality — in the world. It has 34 million inhabitants. While the agglomeration itself would not have more than 14 million.
From Asia to Africa, the biggest cities
Some, therefore, could argue that the largest city in the world is called Tokyo (Japan). But again, this will depend on the definition one chooses to adopt. Because intramural, the tokyo city only has nearly 13.5 million inhabitants. But if we consider the agglomeration – or the urban area – of Tokyo as a whole, we actually go to more than 42 million inhabitants.
It is also important to note that cities are in movement perpetual and that, even if we manage to agree on the limits to be set, it remains difficult to determine exactly which is the largest in the world.
In the years to come, a study announces that the population of the tokyo city will go on decreasing, because of its aging. The same study predicts that in 2050, Bombay (India) will be the largest city in the world with 42.4 million inhabitants. And if we project ourselves a little further, in 2100, it is the city of Lagos, the largest city in the Nigeriawhich should be ahead of all the others with… more than 88 million inhabitants.
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