List of metropolitan areas in Asia explained

Asia is one of the world's fastest-growing continents, with increasing urbanisation and a high growth rate for cities. Tokyo, in Japan, is the world's largest metropolitan area by population.

The populations of the given cities are obtained from five sources:

• Cities
• World Atlas
• National Official Estimate (NOE)

Out of these five sources, the highest estimate is shown in bold. The cities are ranked on the basis of their highest estimate of population. Some remarks:

• The official statistics for Chinese cities are for municipalities which usually extend well beyond the urban areas and comprise a substantial rural population. When such statistics exceed the estimated figures, as in the case for Chongqing, Wuhan and Shenyang, they are not taken into account.
• The figure for Shanghai from City Population includes the city of Suzhou (some 100 km or 62 miles northwest of Shanghai), which is not included in other estimates or in the official statistics and therefore is not taken into account.
• The figure for Guangzhou from City Population is for the urban population of the Guangdong province, also which includes the cities Shenzhen, Dongguan, Zhongshan, Jiangmen and Huizhou. The area has not yet been developed into a single metropolitan area and therefore this figure is not taken into account. Shenzhen and Dongguan are listed separately in this table.
• Demographia and world Atlas give figures for the contiguous cities of Quanzhou, Jinjiang and Shishi. City Population includes these three cities in its figures for Xiamen (population 4-4.8 million), giving a total population of 10,000,000. However, Xiamen is not actually contiguous with the three other cities and this statistic is not taken into account.
• The figure for Delhi from City Population includes the cities of Faridabad, Ghaziabad, Gurgaon, which are not included in other estimates or in the official statistics and therefore is not taken into account.
• The figure for Mumbai from City Population includes the cities of Bhiwandi, Kalyan, Thane, Ulhasnagar, Vasai-Virar which are not included in other estimates or in the official statistics and therefore is not taken into account.

The table is color-coded to show which region of Asia each city is in. The color-code key is as follows:

With twenty cities, East Asia accounts for half of cities under this list, with China having the most with fifteen cities, South Asia comes second with ten cities, seven of which are in India. Southeast Asia accounts for seven cities and West Asia with just four cities.

List

Area	Image	Country	Metro Population (2024 est.)^[1]	Demographia (2017 est.)^[2]	UN WC (2016 est.)^[3]	World Atlas (2017 est.)^[4]	Official or Other	Est. Year
Guangzhou			70,100,000^[5]	19,075,000	Guangzhou 13,070,000^[6] Foshan 7,089,000	20,597,000	12,700,800^[7]	–
Jakarta			29,200,000	35,386,000	32,594,159	30,539,000	54,842,885^[8]	2023
Mumbai			27,100,000	23,355,000	21,357,000	17,712,000	47,800,000^[9]	2001
Delhi			34,600,000	29,617,000	26,454,000	24,998,000	41,034,555 ^[10] ^[11]	2011
Tokyo			41,000,000	37,977,000	38,140,000^[12]	37,843,000	31,714,000^[13]	2005
Shanghai			40,800,000	23,390,000	24,484,000	23,416,000	23,019,148^[14]	2010
Manila			27,200,000	24,245,000	13,131,000	24,123,000	11,553,427^[15]	2007
Seoul			25,100,000	21,794,000	Seoul 9,979,000 Incheon 2,711,000	23,480,000	26,015,868 ^[16]	2007
Dhaka			22,500,000	16,820,000	18,237,000	15,669,000	12,797,394^[17]	2008
Beijing			21,200,000	20,415,000	21,240,000	21,009,000	19,612,368^[18]	2010
Bangkok			21,200,000	15,645,000	9,440,000	14,998,000	8,249,117 ^[19]	2010
Osaka-Kobe-Kyoto (Keihanshin)			17,700,000	17,075,000	20,337,000	17,440,000	16,663,000	2005
Surabaya			5,900,000	6,556,000	9,958,656	6,251,766	19,659,028^[20]	2023
			18,560,853	18,560,853	18,560,853	18,560,853	–	–
Chengdu			17,300,000	11,050,000	7,820,000	10,376,000	–	–
Tehran			16,500,000	13,805,000	8,516,000	13,532,000	13,422,366	2006
Istanbul^[21]			15,900,000	15,154,000	14,365,000	14,163,989	15,519,267^[22]	2019
Bangalore			14,200,000	10,535,000	10,456,000	8,728,906	8,499,399	2011
Ho Chi Minh City			13,900,000	10,380,000	7,498,000	8,957,000	7,955,000	2016
Hangzhou			13,900,000	6,820,000	–	7,275,000	–	–
Chongqing			10,900,000	7,990,000	13,744,000	7,217,000	28,846,170^[23] ^[24]	2010
Tianjin			11,500,000	13,245,000	11,558,000	10,920,000	12,938,224^[25]	–
Shenzhen			included in Guangzhou	12,775,000	10,828,000	12,084,000	10,357,938^[26]	–
Chennai			12,600,000	12,395,000	10,163,000	9,714,000	8,696,010	2022^[27]
Wuhan			12,200,000	7,895,000	7,979,000	7,509,000	9,785,392^[28] ^[29]	–
Hyderabad			11,400,000	9,305,000	9,218,000	8,754,000	–	–
Nagoya			10,500,000	10,070,000	9,434,000	10,177,000	9,046,000	2005
Taipei			9,950,000	8,550,000	2,669,000	7,438,000	8,916,653 ^[30]	2010
Zhengzhou-Xingyang			9,800,000	7,005,000	4,539,000	4,942,000	–	–
Ahmedabad			9,600,000	7,645,000	7,571,000	7,186,000	–	–
Kuala Lumpur			9,300,000	7,590,000	7,047,000	7,088,000	1,768.00 ^[31] ^[32]	2015
Nanjing			9,300,000	6,320,000	–	6,155,000	–	–
Bandung			6,950,000	7,203,000	–	6,251,766	9,054,175^[33]	2023
Shenyang			8,700,000	7,935,000	6,438,000	6,078,000	8,106,171^[34]	–
Dongguan			Included in Guangzhou	8,310,000	7,469,000	8,442,000	–	–
Singapore			7,850,000	5,825,000	5,717,000	5,624,000	5,607,300 ^[35]	2017
Hanoi			7,150,000	7,785,000	3,790,000	3,715,000	–	–
Baghdad			7,650,000	6,960,000	6,811,000	6,625,000	–	–
Riyadh			7,500,000	6,030,000	6,540,000	5,666,000	6,506,000	2014
Hong Kong			7,250,000	7,330,000	–	7,246,000	7,246,000	–
Quanzhou-Shishi-Jinjiang			Included in Xiamen ^[36]	6,480,000	1,469,000	6,710,000	–	–

See also

Notes and References

1. Web site: Brinkhoff . Thomas . 1 January 2024 . The Principal Agglomerations of the World . 4 March 2024 . CityPopulation.
2. Web site: Demographia World Urban Areas 13 Th Annual Edition: 2017:04. 2 August 2017.
3. Web site: World cities in 2016: Data Booklet . The United Nations: Population Division. 2 August 2017.
4. Web site: World's Largest Cities. 2 August 2017 . https://web.archive.org/web/20170828095658/http://www.worldatlas.com/citypops.htm . 28 August 2017 . live.
5. This figure is for the urban population of the Guangdong province, which includes Shenzhen, Dongguan, Zhongshan, Jiangmen, and Huizhou, which has not yet been developed into a single metropolitan area
6. Urban Agglomeration
7. Web site: http://www.gzstats.gov.cn/tjgb/glpcgb/201105/t20110517_25227.htm. zh:广州市2010年第六次全国人口普查主要数据公报. Statistics Bureau of Guangzhou. 16 May 2011. zh. 25 May 2011. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20110720104913/http://www.gzstats.gov.cn/tjgb/glpcgb/201105/t20110517_25227.htm. 20 July 2011.
8. Kemendari 2023 census
9. Web site: Basic Statistics for Mumbai. MMRDA: Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority. 7 November 2009.
10. City proper
11. Web site: Delhi Population 2022 | Sex Ratio & Literacy rate 2024. www.census2011.co.in.
12. Metropolitan Area
13. Web site: Table 2.10 Population of Three Major Metropolitan Areas. Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications (Japan). 7 November 2009. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20091113183457/http://www.stat.go.jp/english/data/handbook/pdf/t2_10.pdf. 13 November 2009.
14. Web site: Shanghai sixth national census in 2010 Communiqué on Major Data, Chinese: 上海市2010年第六次全国人口普查主要数据公报 . Shanghai Municipal Statistics Bureau . 3 May 2011 . 16 August 2011 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20111126121536/http://sh.gov.cn/shanghai/node2314/node2319/node12344/u26ai25463.html . 26 November 2011 .
15. Web site: Metro Manila at a glance . Metropolitan Manila Development Authority . 25 August 2009.
16. Web site: Seoul National Capital Area Statistics. Korean National Statistical Office. ko. 6 November 2009.
17. Web site: Statistical Pocket Book, 2008. Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics. 28 August 2009. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20090419080055/http://www.bbs.gov.bd/dataindex/pby/pk_book_08.pdf. 19 April 2009.
18. Web site: Communiqué of the National Bureau of Statistics of People's Republic of China on Major Figures of the 2010 Population Census . . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20130727021210/http://www.stats.gov.cn/english/newsandcomingevents/t20110429_402722516.htm . 27 July 2013 .
19. Web site: National Statistical Office of Thailand . 3 August 2017 . https://web.archive.org/web/20160501184202/http://popcensus.nso.go.th/upload/popcensus-08-08-55-E.pdf . 1 May 2016 . dead .
20. Kemendari 2023 census
21. Istanbul is a transcontinental city straddling Eurasia. The majority of its residents live in the commercial and historical centre on the European side, and about a third of its population lives in suburbs on the Asian side of the Bosphorus, however the population figure includes the whole city.
22. Web site: The Results of Address Based Population Registration System (2019). Turkish Statistical Institute. 31 December 2019. 9 August 2020.
23. 2010 Census
24. Figure for the municipality which extend well beyond the urban area (31,816 sq mi)
25. Web site: Communiqué of the National Bureau of Statistics of People's Republic of China on Major Figures of the 2010 Population Census[1] (No. 2) ]. National Bureau of Statistics of China . 29 April 2011 . 18 November 2011 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20130727021210/http://www.stats.gov.cn/english/newsandcomingevents/t20110429_402722516.htm . 27 July 2013 .
26. Web site: http://www.sztj.com/main/xxgk/tjsj/tjgb/pcgb/201105127231.shtml . zh:深圳市2010年第六次全国人口普查主要数据公报[1] . 28 July 2011 . 12 May 2014 . Shenzhen Municipal Statistic Bureau . zh . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20110804212313/http://www.sztj.com/main/xxgk/tjsj/tjgb/pcgb/201105127231.shtml . 4 August 2011 .
27. Web site: Provisional Population Totals, Census of India 2011 - Urban Agglomerations/Cities having population 1 lakh and above . https://web.archive.org/web/20160101065902/http://censusindia.gov.in/2011-prov-results/paper2/data_files/India2/Table_3_PR_UA_Citiees_1Lakh_and_Above.pdf . 1 January 2016.
28. Web site: 武汉市2010年第六次全国人口普查主要数据公报 . Wuhan Statistics Bureau . 10 May 2011 . 31 July 2011 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20111025103716/http://www.whtj.gov.cn/Article/ShowArticle.aspx?id=6417 . 25 October 2011 .
29. Figure for the municipality which extend well beyond the urban area (3,279.71 sq mi)
30. Web site: Monthly Bulletin of Interior Statistics 2011.4 . Department of Statistics, Ministry of the Interior, Taiwan/R.O.C. . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20140329071215/http://sowf.moi.gov.tw/stat/month/m1-01.xls . 29 March 2014 .
31. Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur
32. https://web.archive.org/web/20160212125740/http://pmr.penerangan.gov.my/index.php/info-terkini/19463-unjuran-populasi-penduduk-2015.html Population projections for 2015
33. Kemendari 2023 census
34. Web site: 武汉市2010年第六次全国人口普查主要数据公报. Shenyang Statistics Bureau. 20 May 2011. 18 November 2011. https://web.archive.org/web/20130815234421/http://sysinet.gov.cn/news.aspx?id=5706. 15 August 2013. dead.
35. Statistic Singapore http://www.singstat.gov.sg/statistics/latest-data#14 retrieved 2014/08/02
36. City Population includes these three cities in its figures for Xiamen (population 4-4.8 million), giving a total population of 10,000,000. However Xiamen is not actually contiguous