World Megapolises : Delhi NCR set to overtake Mumbai Metro Region

The mighty city of Tokyo, which has already swallowed Yokohama and Kyoto, continues to be the world leader by a big margin. Mexico City maintains its second position while densely populated Seoul has overtaken New York to occupy the third position. While the old warhorses – Sao Paulo and Mumbai have remained static, Delhi NCR has witnessed a rapid surge in population. This urban region has already overtaken Kolkata Metropolitan Area and is now threatening to topple Mumbai Metropolitan Region to become the biggest urban agglomeration in India. China and India have three entries each in the Megapolis List. While South Asia has as many as five entries, including Karachi and Dhaka, Europe, which led the world in the previous century has only three with, Paris just about making it to the list

Following is the list of largest cities (urban agglomerations) in the world. The population figures are 2006 estimates.
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No. Name Country Population (in Million)
1. Tokyo Japan 34.29
2 Mexico City Mexico 22.83
3. Seoul South Korea 22.37
4. New York U S A 21.93
5. Sao Paulo Brazil 20.24
6. Mumbai India 19.85
7. Delhi + NCR India 19.78
8. Shanghai China 18.15
9. Los Angeles U S A 18.11
10. Osaka Japan 16.86
11. Jakarta Indonesia 16.55
12. Kolkata India 15.63
13. Cairo Egypt 15.62

14. Manila Philippines 14.95
15. Karachi Pakistan 14.30
16. Moscow Russia 13.70
17. Buenos Aires Argentina 13.48
18. Dhaka Bangladesh 13.26
19. Rio De Janeiro Brazil 12.14
20. Beijing China 12.13
21. London U K 12.03
22. Teheran Iran 11.80
23. Istambul Turkey 11.57
24. Lagos Nigeria 11.13
25. Shenzen China 10.78
26. Paris France 10.00

Manish Desai, New Delhi 20.2.2007