Tokyo, Japan, is the largest city on Earth, with a population of 37.4 million people, which is over four times the population of New York City, USA. In total, the Japanese metropolis covers an area of 13,452km2. There are 2,642 people in each km on average in the whole of the Greater Tokyo Area.
Tokyo is the largest with 37.4 million inhabitants; to get into the top 100 list, a city would need to match the population of Ürümqi in China with 4.4 million. To make the top ten, a city would need 19.2 million. In 1800, London topped the largest 100 list with 1.1 million inhabitants.
In 1827, London passed Beijing to become the largest city in the world with 1.3 million residents. Over the next 100 years, its population increased nearly 7 times, remaining the most populous city until the end of World War I, by which time it was overtaken by New York.
According to these metrics, London scores highly, with its plethora of museums and theatres making it come out on top for culture. Plus, the opening of the new Elizabeth line has given London's transport network another jewel in its crown.
As of 2022, London's population was about 9.5 million vs. New York's 8.1 million. Size-wise, New York City is 783.8 square kilometers and London is 1,572. London is bigger than New York by nearly double!
Over time, Westminster became a separate city to the west. It took hundreds of years before the cities grew together. Remains of the old City of London lie in the small area around Liverpool Street station. This area is sometimes called the 'Square Mile' because it is about 1 mile wide by 1 mile long.
Why is London so much bigger than other UK cities?
London is nearly 8 times larger than the next biggest city
This is because London is not just the capital of the UK, it is also the centre of its wealth, power and culture. London has 12.5% of the UK population (8.6 million people) – but it creates 22% of the country's Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
Its cities each have their own industrial strengths, and in order – from the largest first – the 25 biggest cities in the UK are London, Birmingham, Glasgow, Liverpool, Bristol, Manchester, Sheffield, Leeds, Edinburgh, Leicester, Coventry, Bradford, Cardiff, Belfast, Nottingham, Hull, Newcastle, Stoke, Southampton, ...
New York City has been found to be the world's wealthiest city by research that ranks the number of 'high-net-worth individuals', with London coming fourth.
In fact, we're even bigger than all these countries combined: Come to think of it, London is also more populous than Israel, Switzerland, Denmark, Finland, Norway, New Zealand and Jamaica... to name but a few. (If we became our own country, we'd be the 96th largest – just a few thousand people smaller than Austria.)
Officially, London is a city of just over 7 million people. In reality, London sprawls beyond its political boundaries to form a global megacity of over 13 million people.
London's population could soar by a further four million and “irreversibly” change the character of many parts of the city, one of the capital's most senior political leaders warned today.
Many tradesmen from different countries came to London to trade goods and merchandise. Also, more immigrants moved to London making the population greater. More people also moved to London for work and for business making London an altogether bigger and busier city.
The city of London in the United Kingdom had an estimated gross domestic product of 801 billion Euros in 2017/18, the most of any European city. London was followed by the French capital, Paris, which had a GDP of 685 billion Euros, and the Spanish capital, Madrid at 221 billion Euros.
Berlin, which is considered the largest city in Germany is approximately twice lesser in size as London. Let's make it simple. London has a landmass of 1.572km² while Berlin has a landmass of 891.8km².
The city of Madrid is located on the Manzanares River in the centre of Spain and is the country's political, economic and cultural capital. It is the second largest city in the INEQ-CITIES Atlas after London, with 3,155,359 inhabitants (Men: 1,483,175 l Women: 1,672,184) living across an area of 605.8 km squared.
More than half (54%) of European cities have moved up in the Cost of Living ranking, driven by high rates of inflation. The top five is dominated by Switzerland, with Geneva retaining its position as the most expensive city for expatriates, followed by London, Zurich, Bern, and Copenhagen.
