The 50 Largest Cities in the World, Ranked (2026)

Tokyo is no longer the largest city in the world. That sentence would have been wrong for the entire lifetime of most people reading it, and it is the first thing you notice in the United Nations’ latest count of the planet’s cities. The new number one is Jakarta, with nearly 42 million people. Dhaka is second. Tokyo, after decades at the top, is third.

The reason is not that Tokyo shrank. It is that the UN finally stopped trusting city limits. For its World Urbanization Prospects 2025 report, published in November 2025, it measured every city the same way, from satellite population grids, counting a city as any contiguous stretch of land with more than 1,500 people per square kilometer. Administrative borders, which had always flattered some cities and starved others, stopped mattering. Jakarta’s actual built-up footprint turned out to run far beyond the province of Jakarta. So did Dhaka’s, and Delhi’s, and Guangzhou’s.

What follows is the full top 50 from that count, in order, with a photograph and a single thing worth knowing about each one. Some of these facts are famous. Some are the kind of detail that only makes sense once you have stood in the place. All of it is here because we think a list of cities should make you want to go somewhere, not just settle an argument.

Jump to a city

• 01Jakarta
• 02Dhaka
• 03Tokyo
• 04Delhi
• 05Shanghai
• 06Guangzhou
• 07Cairo
• 08Manila
• 09Kolkata
• 10Seoul
• 11Karachi
• 12Mumbai
• 13São Paulo
• 14Bangkok
• 15Mexico City
• 16Beijing
• 17Lahore
• 18Istanbul
• 19Moscow
• 20Ho Chi Minh City
• 21Buenos Aires
• 22New York City
• 23Shenzhen
• 24Bengaluru
• 25Osaka
• 26Lagos
• 27Los Angeles
• 28Luanda
• 29Chennai
• 30Kinshasa
• 31Bogotá
• 32Lima
• 33London
• 34Patna and Hajipur
• 35Rio de Janeiro
• 36Paris
• 37Hyderabad
• 38Tehran
• 39Taipei
• 40Bandung
• 41Kuala Lumpur
• 42Dar es Salaam
• 43Suzhou
• 44Ahmedabad
• 45Hangzhou
• 46Wuhan
• 47Tianjin
• 48Alexandria
• 49Nagoya
• 50Johannesburg

The 50 largest cities in the world, ranked

1. Jakarta, Indonesia

41.9 million people · Southeast Asia

The new number one, and most people have never seen it on a list before. Jakarta is also sinking faster than almost any big city on Earth. Parts of the northern districts have dropped several meters over the past few decades as groundwater is pumped out from beneath them, which is a big part of why Indonesia is building a brand-new capital, Nusantara, on the island of Borneo. The city that just took Tokyo’s crown is, in a sense, already planning its own succession.

Elsewhere in IndonesiaDramatic Development for Bali Features Futuristic Organic Forms

2. Dhaka, Bangladesh

36.6 million people · South Asia

If the UN’s projections hold, this is the largest city in the world by 2050, at somewhere north of 50 million people. Dhaka is famous for its rickshaws, hundreds of thousands of them, hand-painted in colors that would embarrass a parrot. Whole streets in the old city move at the speed of pedal power, which is not slow when everyone is doing it at once.

From the archiveA Rainy Evening in Bangladesh

3. Tokyo, Japan

33.4 million people · East Asia

Tokyo held the top spot for decades and only lost it because the UN changed how it counts. Nothing about the place got smaller. Shinjuku Station still moves more passengers than any station on Earth, well over three million people a day through more than 200 exits, and it still runs on time. If you want to feel the scale of a city rather than read about it, stand at the Shibuya crossing at dusk and watch it fill and empty like a lung. We have covered Tokyo’s rhythm before in Gavin Heffernan’s Tokyo Dreamlapse.

From the archiveTokyo's Metabolist, Blade Runner Future

4. Delhi, India

30.2 million people · South Asia

Delhi has been a capital, on and off, for more than a thousand years, and at least seven distinct cities have been built on the site. The newest, New Delhi, was laid out by Edwin Lutyens and Herbert Baker and formally inaugurated in 1931, all wide ceremonial avenues and sandstone. The oldest parts, around the Red Fort and Chandni Chowk, are a different planet twenty minutes away.

From the archiveElegant Slender House in Delhi Is Modern and Playful

5. Shanghai, China

29.6 million people · East Asia

In 1990 the Pudong side of the Huangpu River was mostly farmland and warehouses. Today it holds Shanghai Tower, which at 632 meters is one of the three tallest buildings in the world, wrapped in a twisting glass skin designed to shed typhoon winds. Looking across from the 1920s Bund to that skyline is the fastest lesson in modern China we know of.

From the archiveThe Shanghai Grand Opera House Is Finally Open

6. Guangzhou, China

27.6 million people · East Asia

This is really the Pearl River Delta wearing Guangzhou’s name. The UN’s satellite-based count folds in neighboring Foshan, which has grown into Guangzhou with no visible seam, and the whole delta is arguably the largest continuous built-up area on the planet. Guangzhou itself is the home of Cantonese cooking and dim sum, which is reason enough to visit.

From the archiveRed Dunes Playtopia, a Marvelously Colorful and Undulating Playground

7. Cairo, Egypt

25.6 million people · Africa

The only city outside Asia in the top ten. Cairo’s urban edge now runs right up to the Giza plateau, so the pyramids, once a day’s ride into the desert, sit at the end of a city street. Egypt is building a New Administrative Capital in the desert to the east in an attempt to relieve some of the pressure.

From the archiveeL Seed's Epic Cairo Mural

8. Manila, Philippines

24.7 million people · Southeast Asia

The City of Manila proper is routinely cited as the most densely populated city in the world, with more than 40,000 people per square kilometer packed onto a small stretch of bay. The metro region around it is enormous and still growing, and the old walled Spanish city, Intramuros, survives at its heart.

From the archiveNike's Shoe Shaped All LED Running Track

9. Kolkata, India

22.6 million people · South Asia

Kolkata opened India’s first metro in 1984 and is one of the last cities on Earth where you can still ride a hand-pulled rickshaw. The Howrah Bridge, a cantilever giant finished in 1943, was built without a single nut or bolt; it is riveted throughout, and it still carries a hundred thousand vehicles a day.

From the archiveRainbow Bamboo

10. Seoul, South Korea

22.5 million people · East Asia

In 2005 Seoul tore out an elevated highway that ran through the center of the city and uncovered the stream that had been buried beneath it. Cheonggyecheon is now a several-kilometer-long linear park and one of the most cited urban design projects of the century, proof that a city can take something back from the car.

From the archiveA Beautiful New Soundscape for Seoul

11. Karachi, Pakistan

21.4 million people · South Asia

At Partition in 1947 Karachi had well under half a million people. It now has more than twenty million, one of the steepest growth curves in urban history. It was Pakistan’s first capital, and it remains the country’s port, financial center and cultural engine. We have written about Pakistan’s beauty beyond the headlines before, and Karachi’s coastline is a good place to start.

12. Mumbai, India

20.2 million people · South Asia

Every working day, roughly 200,000 home-cooked lunches travel across Mumbai in tiffin boxes carried by the dabbawalas, a delivery network that has run since the 1890s without computers and with an error rate so low it has been studied by business schools. The Gateway of India, built to greet a British king in 1911, now mostly greets ferries.

From the archiveThe Most Expensive Home on Earth Is Not Where You Might Expect

13. São Paulo, Brazil

19.0 million people · South America

In 2006 São Paulo passed the Clean City Law and banned outdoor advertising outright. Billboards came down across the largest city in South America, and the buildings, murals and graffiti behind them came into view. It is one of the few real-world experiments in what a city looks like without ads, and it is a case study for anyone who cares about design in public space.

From the archiveGorgeous Sao Paulo Duplex

14. Bangkok, Thailand

18.2 million people · Southeast Asia

Bangkok’s full ceremonial name runs to 168 letters and is generally considered the longest place name in the world. Locals just say Krung Thep, the City of Angels. The city is also famously low-lying and slowly subsiding, which is why its canals, the khlongs, are still a working transport network and not just a postcard.

From the archiveRemarkable Lantern-Like Towers Planned for Bangkok

15. Mexico City, Mexico

17.7 million people · North America

Mexico City is built on the bed of a drained lake, and it is still settling into it. Some neighborhoods sink by as much as half a meter a year as the clay beneath them compresses, which is why the cathedral leans and the older palaces have visibly uneven floors. It is also home to more museums than almost any city on Earth.

From the archiveRemarkable Underground Home in Mexico City

16. Beijing, China

17.0 million people · East Asia

The Forbidden City holds close to a thousand buildings behind its red walls and was closed to ordinary people for nearly five centuries. It sits on the north-south axis that organizes the whole capital, an axis so deliberate that UNESCO inscribed it as a World Heritage Site in 2024. Beijing’s hutongs, the old alley neighborhoods, still fill in around it.

From the archiveInside Beijing's New City Library: The World's Largest Reading Room

17. Lahore, Pakistan

15.2 million people · South Asia

Lahore was the Mughal empire’s second city, and the Badshahi Mosque, finished in 1673, is one of the largest mosques the Mughals ever built, its red sandstone and marble domes facing the Lahore Fort across a garden. The Walled City behind it is dense, loud, and one of the great food streets in South Asia.

18. Istanbul, Türkiye

15.0 million people · Europe and Asia

The only major city on two continents. Ferries cross the Bosphorus between Europe and Asia every few minutes, and a commute here can involve changing continents twice a day. Istanbul has been Byzantium, Constantinople and the capital of two empires, and the Hagia Sophia has stood at its center since the year 537.

From the archiveMurat Yıldırım's 3D Explorations With Ropes

19. Moscow, Russia

14.5 million people · Europe

The Moscow Metro, opened in 1935, is the most ornate subway on Earth, with chandeliers, mosaics, bronze statues and marble columns underground in stations built as palaces for the people. It is also one of the deepest, with some platforms more than 80 meters below the street. Above ground, the Kremlin walls date to the 1480s.

From the archiveMoscow Cafe Transports Patrons Into a Comic Book World

20. Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

14.1 million people · Southeast Asia

Around seven and a half million motorbikes are registered in Ho Chi Minh City, with more than eight million on the streets on a given day once you count the ones riding in from neighboring provinces, which explains the traffic entirely. The city was Saigon until 1976 and most people still call the central districts by that name. Its first metro line finally opened in December 2024, after roughly two decades of construction.

From the archiveEVE Odyssey Motorcycle Looks Like it Came From the Future

21. Buenos Aires, Argentina

14.0 million people · South America

Avenida 9 de Julio, the boulevard behind the Obelisk, is one of the widest avenues in the world, up to sixteen lanes across in places, and crossing it on foot takes more than one light. The city has more bookshops per capita than nearly any other, and El Ateneo, a bookshop inside a 1919 theater, is the most photographed of them.

From the archiveCharming and Irreverent Ceramic Figures by Luciano Polverigiani

22. New York City, United States

13.9 million people · North America

The largest city in the United States, though the UN’s tight urban footprint puts it at 22nd in the world. The subway has 472 stations, more than any other system on Earth, and runs 24 hours a day. Central Park, at 843 acres, is larger than the principality of Monaco. If you have never seen the skyline from across the Hudson at golden hour, that view is above.

From the archiveWhat if Antoni Gaudí Had Designed a Massive Hotel in New York?

23. Shenzhen, China

13.9 million people · East Asia

In 1979 Shenzhen was a market town of around 30,000 people beside the Hong Kong border. It became China’s first Special Economic Zone the following year, and it is now a city of nearly 14 million and the hardware capital of the world. In 2017 it became the first major city anywhere to run an all-electric bus fleet, more than 16,000 vehicles.

From the archiveOPPO Headquarters in Shenzhen Feels Properly Futuristic

24. Bengaluru, India

13.2 million people · South Asia

Bengaluru sits on a plateau about 900 meters up, which gives India’s tech capital a mild climate that surprises first-time visitors. Vidhana Soudha, the state legislature building pictured here, was finished in 1956 in a neo-Dravidian style that borrows from temple architecture on a government scale.

From the archiveThese Illustrations Capture the Soul of Everyday Life in India

25. Osaka, Japan

13.0 million people · East Asia

Osaka hosted the 2025 World Expo on a man-made island in the bay, under a wooden ring by Sou Fujimoto that was the largest timber structure ever built. Back in town, the Glico Running Man sign has lit up the Dotonbori canal since 1935, and the city’s food culture, from takoyaki to okonomiyaki, is the best in Japan by its own cheerful admission.

26. Lagos, Nigeria

12.8 million people · Africa

Lagos stopped being Nigeria’s capital in 1991 but never stopped being its center of gravity. It is the home of Nollywood, the world’s second-largest film industry by output, and of Afrobeats. The Lekki-Ikoyi Link Bridge, the cable-stayed span above, was Nigeria’s first cable-stayed bridge when it opened in 2013.

Related readingNorth Face Teams Up With Yinka Ilori On Colorful Outdoor Wear Line

27. Los Angeles, United States

12.7 million people · North America

The Hollywood sign went up in 1923 as a real estate ad, reading Hollywoodland, and was only supposed to stand for eighteen months. Los Angeles is the flattest-feeling of the great cities and one of the least dense on this list, a horizontal metropolis stitched together by freeways and palm trees, most of which are not native.

From the archiveThe Futuristic Lucas Museum of Narrative Art Opens in Los Angeles

28. Luanda, Angola

11.4 million people · Africa

Luanda has repeatedly topped rankings of the most expensive cities in the world for expatriates, an oil-money statistic that sits uneasily beside the informal neighborhoods that house most of its people. It is one of the oldest colonial cities in sub-Saharan Africa, founded by the Portuguese in 1576, and one of the fastest growing on this list.

29. Chennai, India

11.2 million people · South Asia

Marina Beach runs for around 13 kilometers along the Bay of Bengal and is one of the longest urban beaches in the world. Chennai is also the capital of Tamil cinema and of Carnatic classical music, and the city’s December music season is one of the largest cultural festivals on Earth by number of performances.

30. Kinshasa, DR Congo

10.9 million people · Africa

Kinshasa faces Brazzaville across the Congo River, the closest pair of national capitals in the world, near enough to see each other’s lights. It is also the largest French-speaking city on the planet, bigger than Paris. The Congo here is the deepest river anywhere, more than 200 meters down in places.

Elsewhere in DR CongoCongolese Performers Create Powerful Costumes of Trash to Convey Political Messages

31. Bogotá, Colombia

10.6 million people · South America

At 2,640 meters above sea level, Bogotá is one of the highest big cities in the world. Every Sunday since 1974 the city closes more than 120 kilometers of streets to cars for the Ciclovía, and well over a million people come out to ride, walk and skate. Cities on every continent have copied it.

From the archiveHeatherwick Studio Unveils Bright, Vibrant Building in Bogotá

32. Lima, Peru

10.6 million people · South America

Lima is the second-largest desert city in the world after Cairo, and it almost never rains. Instead a sea fog called the garúa sits over the city for much of the winter, gray and damp and never quite falling. We are fond of it for obvious reasons. It also happens to be the food capital of South America.

Elsewhere in PeruRueben Wu's Terminus

33. London, United Kingdom

10.4 million people · Europe

The London Underground opened in 1863 with steam trains, making it the oldest subway on Earth. Some of the tunnels still in use are nearly that old. London is the largest city in Western Europe, and the Thames view above, with Tower Bridge at center, has been drawn, painted and photographed more than almost any urban scene.

From the archiveA Beautiful Zaha Hadid-Designed Home, One of Only Two Homes in The World She Ever Designed

34. Patna and Hajipur, India

9.9 million people · South Asia

This one needs a footnote. The UN lists this cluster under the name Hajipur, and admits that its satellite grid method has probably stitched together several towns along the Ganges, with Patna at their heart, into one contiguous city. Patna itself is ancient Pataliputra, capital of the Maurya empire more than two thousand years ago. The Mahatma Gandhi Setu, at nearly six kilometers, connects it to Hajipur across the river.

35. Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

9.5 million people · South America

Christ the Redeemer was completed in 1931, 30 meters of soapstone-clad concrete on an 8-meter pedestal, standing on a 700-meter peak. Rio was the capital of Brazil until 1960 and, briefly, the capital of the whole Portuguese empire. It is the only city on this list that can claim to be that beautiful from every angle.

From the archiveStunning Home Outside of Rio

36. Paris, France

9.4 million people · Europe

The Eiffel Tower was built for the 1889 World’s Fair with a twenty-year permit and was meant to come down. It survived because it turned out to be a useful radio mast. Paris proper is small and very dense, about two million people in the central city, with the rest of the urban region spreading far past the ring road.

From the archiveStar Wars on the Streets of Paris

37. Hyderabad, India

9.2 million people · South Asia

The Charminar, the four-minaret monument above, was built in 1591 as the ceremonial center of a new city. The Golconda mines outside Hyderabad produced the Koh-i-Noor, the Hope Diamond and most of the world’s famous large diamonds until the 1700s. Today the city’s growth comes from the tech corridor to the west.

38. Tehran, Iran

9.2 million people · Middle East

Tehran climbs the foothills of the Alborz Mountains, and the difference in elevation between its lowest and highest neighborhoods is around 700 meters, enough that the north of the city is noticeably cooler than the south. The Milad Tower, pictured, stands 435 meters tall, and there is skiing within an hour of downtown.

From the archiveThe Swimming Pool That Behaves Like a Sheet of Paper

39. Taipei, Taiwan

9.1 million people · East Asia

Taipei 101 was the tallest building in the world from 2004 to 2010. Inside, near the top, hangs a 660-tonne steel ball, a tuned mass damper that swings to counter typhoons and earthquakes, and it is open to visitors as a kind of mechanical exhibit. The city’s night markets are the other reason to come.

From the archiveA Very Immersive Taipei Bank

40. Bandung, Indonesia

8.9 million people · Southeast Asia

Bandung hosted the 1955 Asian-African Conference, the meeting of newly independent nations that helped launch the Non-Aligned Movement. It also has one of the largest collections of art deco buildings in Asia, a legacy of Dutch architects in the 1920s and 30s who took advantage of a cool highland climate.

41. Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

8.4 million people · Southeast Asia

The Petronas Towers were the tallest buildings in the world from 1998 to 2004 and remain the tallest twin towers ever built. They have since been overshadowed, literally, by Merdeka 118 a short walk away, now the second-tallest building on Earth.

From the archiveElegant Domed Apple Store in Kuala Lumpur

42. Dar es Salaam, Tanzania

7.8 million people · Africa

The name means Abode of Peace in Arabic. Dar es Salaam is one of the fastest-growing cities anywhere, and the UN expects it to pass 10 million and become a megacity before 2050. It is Tanzania’s port and commercial capital, though the official capital is Dodoma, inland.

Elsewhere in TanzaniaLake Natron: The Deadly Lake That Turns Birds to Stone

43. Suzhou, China

7.7 million people · East Asia

Suzhou’s classical gardens, some of them 500 years old, are UNESCO World Heritage Sites and the reference point for the whole tradition of Chinese garden design. Across town, the Gate to the East, the arch-shaped tower in the photo, is one of the most instantly recognizable new buildings in China. Marco Polo called the city Venice of the East, and the canals are still there.

44. Ahmedabad, India

7.6 million people · South Asia

In 2017 Ahmedabad became India’s first UNESCO World Heritage City, for a walled old town of carved wooden houses, mosques and stepwells. Gandhi ran his ashram on the Sabarmati River here for more than a decade, and the riverfront has since been rebuilt as a long public promenade.

45. Hangzhou, China

7.5 million people · East Asia

Hangzhou’s West Lake has been painted and written about for more than a thousand years and is the lake that every Chinese garden with a pond is quietly imitating. Marco Polo called the city the finest in the world. It is now the home of Alibaba, which makes it a strange and pleasant mix of pagodas and tech campuses.

From the archiveZaha Hadid Architects Plans a New Cultural Heart Along the Water

46. Wuhan, China

7.4 million people · East Asia

Wuhan sits where the Han River meets the Yangtze, and it is really three old cities that grew together. The Yellow Crane Tower, above, has been rebuilt again and again since the third century; the current version dates from 1985. Wuhan is often called China’s Chicago for its central position and its bridges.

From the archiveModern New Library in China Features Impressive 'Canyon' of Books

47. Tianjin, China

7.3 million people · East Asia

The Tianjin Eye, the Ferris wheel in the photo, is built directly on a bridge over the Hai River, which we believe is the only place in the world you can ride a Ferris wheel and cross a river at the same time. The city also has one of the best-preserved collections of early twentieth century European buildings in China, a leftover of its treaty-port years.

From the archiveTianjin Binhai Library: MVRDV's Luminous Eye of Books

48. Alexandria, Egypt

7.3 million people · Africa

Alexandria was founded by Alexander the Great in 331 BC and held both the Great Library and the Pharos lighthouse, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. The lighthouse fell to earthquakes in the Middle Ages. The library got a second life in 2002 as the Bibliotheca Alexandrina, a tilted disc of a building by the Norwegian firm Snøhetta.

49. Nagoya, Japan

7.1 million people · East Asia

Nagoya is Japan’s manufacturing heart and the home region of Toyota, which started here as a loom company. Nagoya Castle is topped by a pair of golden shachihoko, tiger-headed carp that have become the city’s emblem. It is the least visited of Japan’s big cities and, locals will tell you, the most underrated.

50. Johannesburg, South Africa

7.1 million people · Africa

Johannesburg exists because of gold. It was founded in 1886 on the Witwatersrand reef and is one of the largest cities in the world not built on a river, a lake or a coast. It is also one of the most tree-covered cities anywhere, with several million planted trees on what was once bare highveld grassland, which is why the aerial view above is so green.

From the archiveTactile, Textural Paintings by Danielle Rovetti

What the list tells you

Read the fifty names in order and a few things jump out. Asia has 32 of them, 33 if you count Istanbul. India and China have eight each, and the top ten is entirely Asian apart from Cairo. Africa has seven, and they are the ones growing fastest: Lagos, Kinshasa, Luanda and Dar es Salaam are all expected to keep climbing this list for decades. Europe has four, if you count Istanbul, and the United States has two. The world’s urban weight has moved decisively east and south, and this list is simply the first official count that shows it.

The other thing the list shows is how much the definition of a city matters. Under the old national definitions, Tokyo was first and New York was in the top ten. Under a single consistent measure, Tokyo’s neat administrative sprawl looks smaller than Jakarta’s uncontained one, and New York’s tight urban core drops to 22nd. Neither city changed. The ruler did. If you want a sense of how differently density plays out on the ground, our old post on population density, simplified still holds up.

For what it is worth, we think the grid method is the honest one. A city is where the buildings are, not where a line was drawn on a map in 1947. It does produce a few oddities, and the UN says so itself. The Hajipur entry above is one. Guangzhou absorbing Foshan is another. But a count that admits its rough edges is better than fifty countries each measuring their own way.

Frequently asked questions

What is the largest city in the world?

Jakarta, Indonesia, with about 41.9 million people in its contiguous urban area as of 2025, according to the UN’s World Urbanization Prospects 2025. Dhaka is second with 36.6 million and Tokyo third with 33.4 million.

Is Tokyo still the largest city in the world?

No. Tokyo held the title for decades under the UN’s older, country-by-country definitions, but the 2025 report measures every city the same way from satellite population data, and by that measure Jakarta and Dhaka are both larger. Tokyo’s population did not fall; the method changed.

What is the largest city in the United States?

New York City, with about 13.9 million people in its urban area, followed by Los Angeles at 12.7 million. Both are far down the global list because the UN’s measure counts only contiguous dense land, and American metros spread out at low density.

What is the largest city in Europe?

Istanbul, at about 15 million, if you count a city that straddles Europe and Asia. Moscow, at 14.5 million, is the largest city entirely within Europe, and London, at 10.4 million, is the largest in Western Europe.

What is the largest city in Africa?

Cairo, with about 25.6 million people, is the largest city in Africa and the only non-Asian city in the global top ten. Lagos is second in Africa at 12.8 million.

How many megacities are there?

There are 33 cities with 10 million or more people in 2025, up from just 8 in 1975. The UN expects that number to reach 37 by 2050, with Addis Ababa, Dar es Salaam, Kuala Lumpur and the Patna-Hajipur cluster crossing the line.

Which city will be the largest in 2050?

Dhaka, Bangladesh, is projected to become the largest city in the world by 2050 with more than 50 million people, overtaking Jakarta.

Why do different sources give different rankings?

Because there is no single definition of a city. Measuring by municipal limits gives you Chongqing and Shanghai at the top. Measuring by metropolitan area gives you Tokyo. The UN’s 2025 method measures the built-up area directly from population grids, which is the most consistent approach across countries but does not match any country’s own official numbers.

Go further

If this list did what we hoped and made you want to look at more of the world, three places to go next: our guide to the most beautiful places on Earth, which is mostly not cities; our tour of the most extraordinary buildings in the world, many of which are in the cities above; and the Travel section, where we keep going somewhere new.

Population figures are the UN’s estimates for July 2025 from World Urbanization Prospects 2025, rounded to the nearest hundred thousand. Photographs are by the credited photographers on Unsplash and are used under the Unsplash License.

Edited by Ben VanderVeen · About Moss & Fog