Tokyo is the largest city in the world by some measures.
Watch the race to be the most populous city on earth, from 1500 to the present day. The Financial Time’s John Burn-Murdoch looks at how populations have shifted over time and how the emerging markets have come to dominate
“In the early 1500s most people lived in the east, either the east of Europe and north Africa or the east of the world itself in India and China,” says Burn-Murdoch.
The race for the biggest city begins with Beijing in the lead, then being overtaken by Istanbul around 1600. In the mid-18th century, London joins the biggest three cities in the world, and its population really starts to soar when the Industrial Revolution gets into full gear.
In the 20th century, London is overtaken by New York and then Tokyo, which remains the world’s most populous city.
The animation ends in 2018 with the largest five all in Asia (Tokyo, Delhi, Shanghai, Beijing and Mumbai) and none of the largest 10 in Europe or North America.
The pre-1900 data is from Nasa Earth Data’s Historical Urban Population. From 1900, that is merged with data from the UN and Demographia on urban agglomerations. The chart is dependent on definitions of cities and metro areas that are often inconsistent country by country. Burn-Murdoch keeps a running update of his graphic as corrections and reconsiderations arise.
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