World's largest cities


 * For a list of the most populous cities within administrative limits, see List of cities by population. For a list of urban areas, see List of urban areas by population. See also historical urban community sizes for historical data.

This is a list of the 100 largest urban agglomerations in the world according to the United Nations World Urbanization Prospects report (2005 revision). The term “urban agglomeration” refers to the population contained within the contours of a contiguous territory inhabited at urban density levels without regard to administrative boundaries or commuter flows. It usually incorporates the population in a city or town plus that in the suburban areas lying outside of but being adjacent to the city boundaries. Whenever possible, data classified according to the concept of urban agglomeration are used. However, some countries do not produce data according to the concept of urban agglomeration but use instead that of metropolitan area or city proper. Figures in the tables below are estimates for mid-2005.