FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

  
 
What are the n largest cities of the world?
On this web site, you will find a list and a map showing the most populated agglomerations of the world. To compare the population of cities, which have rather arbitrary boundaries, is not really reasonable. If you interested in this topic, please follow the links "World Gazetteer" or "Global Statistics - GeoHive" listed under Refs/Other Links.
If you are interested in the population of cities or agglomerations of special countries, you will find many data here at City Population
 
What is an agglomeration?
For the definition of terms, please consult the glossary.
 
What are the ten largest cities of the world according to their area?
I do not know (and I would be suspicious of any list).
 
Why is not the name of the city given in the familar (English) form?
This is an international web site. Therefore, not the English name of a city, but its native name is used. For names in languages not written in the Roman alphabet, the locally official transliteration system has been used where one exists. For example, for mainland Chinese names the Pinyin system is used. The major source is the "International Atlas" by Rand McNally and Westermann.
This web site uses UTF-8 codes if necessary. Therefore, also special diacritical marks will be displayed if they are supported by the Tahoma font (in case of Windows computers).
 
What is the Spanish / Black / Female portion of the population of a special city?
I do not have these population figures. The statistical offices listed under Links or listed by the US Census Bureau may offer such information.
 
Do you have population figures of 1970 or before?
In the most cases, I do not have such data.
 
How can I load the data of an html page into Excel?
1. Save the page of interest as html page.
2. Open the html file using MS Excel or a similar program.
 
Why donīt the maps show up?
Java and JavaScript must be enabled.
 
High CPU usage occurs while using the web site.
Using Firefox or Netscape Navigator, high CPU usage may occur when you want to display a city in the map by clicking on the corresponding button of the HTML page. This happens only the first time. After that, no further delay should occur. The reason is a "LiveConnect" problem of Mozilla browsers.
 
I want to buy the web site / buy the map viewer / use the map viewer locally.
That is not possible.
 
How can I export the map to a GIS file / print the map?
That is not possible.
 
Does a list of all cities exist that have a population of X or more?
I cannot provide such a list because I organize the data countrywise. Furthermore, it is dangerous to compare the population figures of cities of different countries.
 
Do you know the address of the mayor / of my relatives / of the immigration office in city XY?
Sorry, I don't know such addresses.
 
Chongqing is the largest agglomeration / city of the world.
No. The Chongqing province has municipal status but is not one urban agglomeration. The Chongqing province has an area of about 82.000 square kilometers. Or in other words: the largest agglomeration of the world is not North Rhine-Westphalia-Belgium-Netherlands.
 
Why is Tijuana not included in the San Diego agglomeration, El Paso not in the Ciudad Juarez agglomeration, and Shenzhen not in the Hong Kong agglomeration?
Because most people from both sides of a border should be able pass the border without troubles, before an area can be considered as one agglomeration.