dcn@ihlpm.ATT.COM (Dave Newkirk) (05/02/88)
In Isaac Asimov's science fact article in the June '88 issue of Fantasy and Science Fiction, this table of the 16 largest cities in the world was offered along with some observations. Asimov says before WWII, London was first with 8 million and New York second at 7m. London has actually decreased due to growth in its suburbs, while NY has maintained its numbers. 1. Mexico City, Mexico 13,000,000 2. Sao Paulo, Brazil 12,600,000 3. Shanghai, China 12,000,000 4. Cairo, Egypt 12,000,000 5. Seoul, South Korea 9,600,000 6. Peking, China 9,300,000 7. Calcutta, India 9,200,000 8. Rio de Janeiro, Brazil 9,000,000 9. Tokyo, Japan 8,500,000 10. Bombay, India 8,300,000 11. Moscow, U.S.S.R 8,000,000 12. Tientsin, China 7,900,000 13. Jakarta, Indonesia 7,700,000 14. New York, U.S.A 7,200,000 15. Canton, China 6,800,000 16. London, U.K. 6,700,000 He also says NY is still the richest large city, and the large cities in non-industrial counties tend to include many square miles of small shacks where people live in very poor conditions (which other city dwellers may not recognize as a city). -- Dave Newkirk, ihnp4!ihlpm!dcn
werner@aecom.YU.EDU (Craig Werner) (05/04/88)
In article <1866@ihlpm.ATT.COM>, dcn@ihlpm.ATT.COM (Dave Newkirk) writes: > In Isaac Asimov's science fact article in the June '88 issue of Fantasy > and Science Fiction, this table of the 16 largest cities in the world > was offered along with some observations. > > 3. Shanghai, China 12,000,000 > 14. New York, U.S.A 7,200,000 > > Dave Newkirk, ihnp4!ihlpm!dcn Yes, there is the distinction between city and metropolitan area. I only picked these two examples because this is coming from several years ago when Shanghai was still the number one populated city, with about 10.5 million people. The square mileage of the city of Shanghai is actually quite huge compared to the actual urban area. On the other hand, the urban areas of New York City do not end at the city limits. At the time, about 1982, this meant that the actual population of the two metropolitan areas was about New York 16,000,000 Shanghai 6,000,000 There is an interesting sidelight to this, and the scenario goes like this. If built up to the population density of New York City, the entire world's population would fit into the state of New Jersey, all five billion of them. ~. -- Craig Werner (future MD/PhD, 3.5 years down, 3.5 to go) werner@aecom.YU.EDU -- Albert Einstein College of Medicine (1935-14E Eastchester Rd., Bronx NY 10461, 212-931-2517) "If I don't see you soon, I'll see you later."