Who is #1 in Countries whose largest city has the most people?

Japan is #1 with 37.0k thousand people, as of 2026-11-02. India is #2.

How often is this ranking updated?

It refreshes on a fixed schedule from World Bank Open Data. The latest snapshot was captured on 2026-11-02.

Where does the data come from?

World Bank Open Data. Source: World Bank Open Data (CC BY 4.0). The raw payload for every refresh is stored unchanged so any number can be traced back.

World and society · ranked by Population in largest city

Countries whose largest city has the most people

Name: Countries whose largest city has the most people — snapshot history
Creator: Top10Earth
License: https://www.worldbank.org/en/about/legal/terms-of-use-for-datasets

50 ranked · updated 2026-11-02

Number oneJapan37.0k thousand people

Ranking by Population in largest city
#	Name	Population in largest city	Change
1	Japan	37.0k thousand people	new
2	India	34.7k thousand people	new
3	China	30.5k thousand people	new
4	Bangladesh	24.7k thousand people	new
5	Egypt, Arab Rep.	23.1k thousand people	new
6	Brazil	23.0k thousand people	new
7	Mexico	22.8k thousand people	new
8	United States	19.2k thousand people	new
9	Pakistan	18.1k thousand people	new
10	Congo, Dem. Rep.	17.8k thousand people	new

Show positions 11–50

11	Nigeria	17.2k thousand people	new
12	Turkiye	16.2k thousand people	new
13	Argentina	15.8k thousand people	new
14	Philippines	15.2k thousand people	new
15	Russian Federation	12.7k thousand people	new
16	Colombia	11.8k thousand people	new
17	Indonesia	11.6k thousand people	new
18	Peru	11.5k thousand people	new
19	Thailand	11.4k thousand people	new
20	France	11.3k thousand people	new
21	Angola	10.0k thousand people	new
22	Korea, Rep.	10.0k thousand people	new
23	United Kingdom	9,840.74 thousand people	new
24	Viet Nam	9,816.32 thousand people	new
25	Iran, Islamic Rep.	9,729.74 thousand people	new
26	Malaysia	9,000.28 thousand people	new
27	Tanzania	8,561.53 thousand people	new
28	Iraq	8,141.12 thousand people	new
29	Saudi Arabia	7,952.86 thousand people	new
30	Hong Kong SAR, China	7,768.51 thousand people	new
31	Chile	6,999.46 thousand people	new
32	Spain	6,810.53 thousand people	new
33	Sudan	6,754.18 thousand people	new
34	Canada	6,491.29 thousand people	new
35	South Africa	6,444.58 thousand people	new
36	Singapore	6,157.27 thousand people	new
37	Cote d'Ivoire	6,056.88 thousand people	new
38	Ethiopia	5,956.68 thousand people	new
39	Myanmar	5,813.19 thousand people	new
40	Kenya	5,766.99 thousand people	new
41	Australia	5,391.89 thousand people	new
42	Afghanistan	4,877.02 thousand people	new
43	Cameroon	4,854.26 thousand people	new
44	Israel	4,568.53 thousand people	new
45	Italy	4,347.1 thousand people	new
46	Uganda	4,265.16 thousand people	new
47	Madagascar	4,228.98 thousand people	new
48	Ghana	4,036.23 thousand people	new
49	Morocco	4,012.31 thousand people	new
50	Senegal	3,658.64 thousand people	new

Can you name the top 10?

History

How the top 10 has moved

Positions of today's top 10 across every published snapshot.

History appears once this ranking has at least two published snapshots.

About this ranking

Countries whose largest city has the most people, explained

Countries whose largest city has the most people is a live ranking of the top 50 entries in world and society by Population in largest city, built from public data published by World Bank Open Data. It was last refreshed on 2026-11-02. This is the first published snapshot; from the next refresh onwards the page will also show movers, new entries and a rank history chart.

Japan currently holds #1 with 37.0k thousand people. India is second with 34.7k thousand people, which puts the leader 7% ahead. China completes the top three with 30.5k thousand people. Together the top three account for about 41% of the combined top-10 total, which gives a quick sense of how concentrated this ranking is.

How it is measured: Urban population living in the country's largest metropolitan area. World Bank indicator EN.URB.LCTY; most recent year available per country, regional and income aggregates excluded. Caveat: Countries report in different years; each shows its latest available figure. Source: World Bank Open Data (CC BY 4.0). The full top 50 is on this page, with positions 11 to 50 one click away, and each entry links to its own profile showing every ranking it appears in.

Use this page to check who is number one right now, compare any two entries head to head, or test yourself with the quiz, which asks you to name all ten in three minutes. Year-end archives are available for 2026, freezing the ranking as it stood at the close of each year. Top10Earth never estimates or edits a value: each number is fetched from its source, hashed, stored and ranked by software, then checked by a quality gate before it is published. If a refresh fails the gate, the previous snapshot stays live and the problem is reviewed by a person.

Frequently asked questions

Who is #1 in Countries whose largest city has the most people?: Japan is #1 with 37.0k thousand people, as of 2026-11-02. India is #2.
How is Countries whose largest city has the most people ranked?: By Population in largest city. Urban population living in the country's largest metropolitan area. World Bank indicator EN.URB.LCTY; most recent year available per country, regional and income aggregates excluded.
How often is this ranking updated?: It refreshes on a fixed schedule from World Bank Open Data. The latest snapshot was captured on 2026-11-02.
Where does the data come from?: World Bank Open Data. Source: World Bank Open Data (CC BY 4.0). The raw payload for every refresh is stored unchanged so any number can be traced back.