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Urban population growth from now to 2030
World's largest cities
and their mayors 2011

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Ranking of countries
by urban population

Research by Alidad Vassigh and Tann vom Hove

7 August 2012: The urban population of China accounts for close to 45 per cent of the country’s total number of people, while in India the corresponding figure is just over 30 per cent. With only eleven per cent of its citizens living in towns, Burundi is the least urbanised country in the world.

2017: LARGEST CITIES IN THE
WORLD AND THEIR MAYORS


Table 1: Urbanisation in selected countries between 1950 and 2030
Table 2: Urban population in 122 countries together with their largest cities
Table 3: Countries with the largest number of people living in urban areas
Table 4: Countries with the highest proportion of people living in urban areas

Between now and 2030, the percentage of people living in urban areas will increase strongly in countries like Morocco, from 57 to 73 per cent; Indonesia, from 54 to 69 per cent; Nigeria, from 50 to 66 per cent; Bosnia, from 49 to 62 per cent; China, from 45 to 60 per cent; Sierra Leone, from 38 to 60 per cent; Pakistan from 37 to 50 per cent; Vietnam, from 29 to 42 per cent; Bangladesh, from 28 to 40 per cent and India, from 30 to 41 per cent.

Urban population in 122 countries

Country
Total population (millions)
Urban population (millions)*
Urban population as percentage of total (2010)*
Urban population as percentage of total (2030 estimate)*
Largest city (population, 2010)**
Afghanistan
34.4m
8.5m
24.8
36.3
Kabul : 3,731,000
Albania
3.2m
1.5m
48.0
62.7
Tirana: 421,286 (2011)
Algeria
35.5m
23.6m
66.5
76.2
Algiers: 2,800,000
Angola
19.1m
11.2m
58.5
68.2
Luanda: 4,772,000
Argentina
40.4m
37.3m
92.4
93.2
Buenos Aires: 13,074,000
Armenia
3.1m
2.0m
63.7
69.1
Yerevan: 1,112,000
Australia
22.3m
19.9m
89.1
91.9
Sydney: 4,429,000
Austria
8.4m
5.7m
67.6
73.1
Vienna: 1,706,000
Azerbaijan
9.0m
4.7m
52.2
59.2
Baku: 1,972,000
Bahrain
1.3m
1.1m
88.6
98.9
Manama: 157,000+ (2010-11)
Bangladesh
148.7m
41.8m
28.1
39.9
Dhaka: 14,648,000
Belarus
9.5m
7.1m
74.3
81.7
Minsk: 1,852,000
Belgium
10.9m
10.6m
97.4
97.8
Brussels: 1,715,000
Bolivia
9.9m
6.6m
66.5
75.2
La Paz: 1,673,000
Bosnia-Herzegovina
3.8m
1.8m
48.6
61.7
Sarajevo: 460,000 (2009)
Botswana
2.0m
1.2m
61.1
72.7
Gaborone: 192,000 (est.)
Brazil
194.9m
168.6m
86.5
91.1
Sao Paulo: 20,262,000
Bulgaria
7.5m
5.4m
71.7
77.8
Sofia: 1,196,000
Burkina Faso
16.5m
3.4m
20.4
32.5
Ouagadougou: 1,908,000
Burundi
8.4m
0.9m
11.0
20.8
Bujumbura: 331,000 + : (2010, est.)
Cambodia
14.1m
3.2m
22.8
37.0
Phnom Penh: 1,562,000
Cameroon
19.6m
11.4m
58.4
71.5
Douala: 2,125,000
Canada
34.1m
27.5m
80.6
84.4
Toronto: 5,449,000
Chad
11.2m
3.1m
27.6
41.2
M'Djamena: 829,000
Chile
17.1m
15.2m
89.0
92.3
Santiago: 5,952,000
China
1,338.3m
600.9m
44.9
60.3
Shanghai: 16,575,000
Colombia
46.3m
34.8m
75.1
80.3
Bogotá: 8,500,000
Congo, Democratic Republic of
66.0m
23.2m
35.2
49.2
Kinshasa: 8,754,000
Costa Rica
4.7m
3.0m
64.3
73.8
San José: 1,461,000
Cote d'Ivoire
19.7m
9.9m
50.1
n/a
Abidjan: 4,125,000
Croatia
4.4m
2.6m
57.8
66.5
Zagreb: 686,568 (2011)
Cuba
11.3m
8.5m
75.7
77.3
Havana: 2,130,000
Czech Republic
10.5m
7.7m
73.5
78.0
Prague: 1,164,000
Denmark
5.5m
4.8m
87.2
89.1
Copenhagen: 1,186,000
Dominican Republic
9.9m
7.0m
70.5
80.0
Santo Domingo: 2,180,000
Ecuador
14.5m
9.7m
66.9
74.2
Guayaquil: 2,690,000
Egypt
81.1m
34.7m
42.8
53.9
Cairo: 11,001,000
El Salvador
6.2m
3.8m
61.3
69.8
San Salvador: 1,565,000
Eritrea
5.3m
1.1m
21.6
34.4
Asmara: 649,000 : (est. 2009)
Ethiopia
82.9m
14.6m
17.6
27.1
Addis Ababa: 2,930,000
Finland
5.4m
3.4m
63.9
68.8
Helsinki: 1,117,000
France
64.9m
50.5m
77.8
82.9
Paris: 10,485,000
Georgia
4.5m
2.4m
52.9
60.4
Tblisi: 1,120,000
Germany
81.7m
60.3m
73.8
80.0
Berlin: 3,450,000
Ghana
24.4m
12.6m
51.5
64.8
Accra: 2,342,000
Greece
11.3m
6.9m
61.4
67.4
Athens: 3,257,000
Guatemala
14.4m
7.1m
49.5
60.6
Guatemala City: 1,104,000
Haiti
10.0m
5.0m
49.6
56.0
Port-au-Prince: 2,143,000
Honduras
7.6m
3.7m
48.8
60.3
Tegucicalpa: 1,028,000
Hungary
10.0m
6.8m
68.3
76.1
Budapest: 1,706,000
India
1,170.9
352.5m
30.1
40.7
Delhi: 22,157,000
Indonesia
239.9m
128.8m
53.7
68.9
Jakarta: 9,210,000
Iran
74.0m
51.4m
69.5
77.9
Tehran: 7,241,000
Iraq
32.0m
21.3m
66.4
71.3
Baghdad: 5,891,000
Ireland
4.5m
2.8m
61.9
70.4
Dublin: 1,099,000
Israel
7.6m
7.0m
91.7
93.0
Tel Aviv-Jaffa: 3,272,000
Italy
60.5m
41.4m
68.4
74.6
Rome: 3,362,000
Jamaica
2.7m
1.5m
53.7
64.3
Kingston-St. Andrew: 650,000 (est. 2011):
Japan
127.5m
85.1m
66.8
73.7
Tokyo: 36,669,000
Jordan
6.0m
4.7m
78.5
88.5
Amman: 1,105,000
Kazakhstan
16.3m
9.5m
58.5
66.9
Almaty: 1,383,000
Kenya
40.5m
9.0m
22.2
33.0
Nairobi: 3,523,000
North Korea (North)
24.3m
15.4m
63.4
72.4
Pyongyang: 3,255,000+ (est. 2008)
Korea (South)
48.9m
40.0m
81.9
86.3
Seoul: 9,773,000
Kuwait
2.7m
2.7m
98.4
98.7
Kuwait City: 2,305,000
Lebanon
4.2m
3.7m
87.2
90.0
Beirut: 1,937,000
Liberia
4.0m
2.5m
61.5
31.3
Monrovia: 827,000
Libya
6.4m
5.0m
77.9
90.0
Tripoli: 1,108,000
Madagascar
20.7m
6.3m
30.2
39.3
Antananarivo: 1,879,000
Malaysia
28.4m
20.5m
72.2
81.9
Kuala Lumpur: 1,519,000
Mali
15.4m
5.1m
33.3
47.4
Bamako: 1,699,000
Mauritania
3.5m
1.4m
41.4
51.7
Nouakchott: 709,000 (2009)
Mexico
113.4m
88.2m
77.8
82.8
Mexico City: 19,460,000
Morocco
32.0m
18.1m
56.7
72.7
Casablanca: 3,284,000
Mozambique
23.4m
9.0m
38.4
53.7
Maputo: 1,655,000
Myanmar (Burma)
48.0m
16.3m
33.9
48.4
Rangoon: 4,350,000
Nepal
30.0m
5.5m
18.2
30.6
Kathmandu: 1,037,000
Netherlands
16.6m
13.8m
82.9
88.6
Amsterdam: 1,049,000
New Zealand
4.4m
3.8m
86.8
89.5
Auckland: 1,404,000
Nicaragua
5.8m
3.3m
57.3
67.9
Managua: 944,000
Niger
15.5m
2.6m
16.7
27.0
Niamey: 1,048,000
Nigeria
158.4m
78.9m
49.8
66.0
Lagos: 10,578,000
Norway
4.9m
3.8m
77.6
81.9
Oslo: 888,000
Oman
2.8m
2.0m
71.7
76.4
Muscat: 634,000 (2009)
Pakistan
173.6m
64.2m
37.0
49.8
Karachi: 13,125,000
Panama
3.5m
2.6m
74.8
83.6
Panama City: 1,378,000
Paraguay
6.5m
4.0m
61.5
71.9
Asunción: 2,030,000
Peru
29.1m
20.8m
71.6
79.3
Lima: 8,941,000
Philippines
93.3m
61.9m
66.4
76.7
Manila: 11,628,000
Poland
38.2m
23.4m
61.2
70.0
Warsaw: 1,712,000
Portugal
10.6m
6.5m
60.7
71.4
Lisbon: 2,824,000
Qatar
1.8m
1.7m
95.8
96.9
Doha: 427,000 (2009)
Romania
21.4m
11.7m
54.6
63.1
Bucharest: 1,934,000
Russia
141.8m
103.2m
72.8
75.7
Moscow: 10,550,000
Saudi Arabia
27.4m
22.9m
83.6
86.2
Riyadh: 4,848,000
Senegal
12.4m
5.3m
42.9
53.2
Dakar: 2,863,000
Serbia
7.3m
3.8m
52.4
62.8
Belgrade: 1,117,000
Sierra Leone
5.9m
2.3m
38.4
59.5
Freetown: 901,000
Singapore
5.1m
5.1m
100.0
100.0
Singapore: 4,837,000
Slovakia
5.4m
3.1m
56.8
64.7
Bratislava: 428,000 (2009)
South Africa
50.0m
30.8m
61.7
71.3
Johannesburg: 3,670,000
Spain
46.1m
35.7m
77.4
81.9
Madrid: 5,851,000
Sri Lanka
20.9m
3.1m
15.1
21.4
Colombo: 681,000 (2009)
Sweden
9.4m
7.9m
84.7
87.5
Stockholm: 1,285,000
Switzerland
7.8m
5.8m
73.6
83.1
Zurich: 1,150,000
Syria
20.4m
11.2m
54.9
61.0
Aleppo: 3,087,000
Tanzania
44.8m
11.8m
26.4
38.7
Dar es Salaam: 3,349,000
Thailand
69.1m
23.5m
34.0
45.8
Bangkok: 6,976,000
Tunisia
10.5m
7.1m
67.3
75.1
Tunis: 767,000
Turkey
72.8m
50.6m
69.6
77.7
Istanbul: 10,525,000
Uganda
33.4m
4.4m
13.3
20.7
Kampala: 1,598,000
Ukraine
45.9m
31.2m
68.1
75.2
Kiev: 2,805,000
United Arab Emirates
7.5m
5.9m
78.0
80.5
Dubai: 1,567,000
UK
62.2m
56.1m
90.1
92.2
London: 8,631,000
USA
309.1m
254.3m
82.3
87.0
New York-Newark: 19,425,000
Uruguay
3.4m
3.1m
92.5
94.3
Montevideo: 1,635,000
Uzbekistan
28.2m
10.4m
36.9
46.1
Tashkent: 2,210,000
Venezuela
28.8m
27.1m
94.0
97.1
Caracas: 3,090,000
Vietnam
86.9m
25.0m
28.8
41.8
Ho Chi Minh City: 6,167,000
Yemen
24.1m
7.6m
31.8
41.7
Sanaa: 2,342,000
Zambia
12.9m
4.6m
35.7
44.7
Lusaka: 1,451,000
Zimbabwe
15.5m
5.9m
38.3
50.7
Harare: 1,606,000
* World Bank figures for 2010
** These figures taken either from UN estimates for 2010 or Internet sources, citing official statistics where available, or the CIA's World Factbook (for 2009).


Table 1: Urbanisation in selected countries between 1950 and 2030
Table 3: Countries with the largest number of people living in urban areas
Table 4: Countries with the highest proportion of people living in urban areas





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