Country Digest

The population of Portland, Oregon is 632,309 (latest US census data). Portland is the largest city in the US state of Oregon, and the 26th largest city in the United States.

Portland is located in northern Oregon on the Willamette and Columbia rivers. It is the largest city and the seat (capital) of Multnomah county. It is also the second largest city in the Pacific Northwest, after Seattle and just ahead of Vancouver.

The wider Portland metropolitan area has a population of 2,389,228 people, and is the 23rd largest metropolitan area in the US by population.

Portland population growth

The population of Portland is growing more rapidly than the population of Oregon or the United States as a whole. Between 2010 and 2015 Portland’s population grew by 8.3%, compared with 5.2% for Oregon and 4.1% for the United States.

Population growth in Portland was explosive in the city’s early years. For example, in the first decade of the 20th century number of people living in: grew by 129%. Growth stagnated between 1940 and 1990 – in fact in the 1970s put’s population actually fell by 4.2%.

Recent decades have seen a return to population growth in Portland, averaging between 10 and 21% every decade since 1980.

The table below lists the population of Portland at the time of each U.S. Census since 1860.

Portland ethnicity and race

Portland is less diverse than the US average, but more diverse than the state of Oregon.

The 2010 census revealed 72.2% of people in Portland are White (non-Hispanic). For comparison, 63.7% of people in the entire United States White, while 78.5% of people in Oregon are White.

The next most common races in Portland are Hispanic or Latino (9.4%), Asian (7.1%), Black or African-American (6.3%).

The table below lists each group, comparing it to Oregon and the United States as a whole.

Portland economy / income statistics

Per capita income in Portland is higher than the US average, although not by much. Between 2011 and 2015, the average income was $32,938.

Poverty rates are slightly higher than the state average, which is slightly higher again than the national average.

Portland demographics – education

The number of high school graduates in Portland is 91.3%. This is slightly higher than the statewide average (89.8%), and higher again than the US average (86.7%).

Almost half (45.5%) of Portland residents have a bachelors degree or higher. This compares to 30.8% across the rest of Oregon, and 29.8% nationwide.

Unless otherwise noted, data is from the US Census Bureau.

The population of Catalonia is 7,522,596 (source: Idescat).

The Catalonian parliament declared independence from Spain on 27 October 2017. The Spanish government has refused to accept this declaration of independence, so Catalonia remains a part of Spain.

Catalonia is the second largest autonomous community (region) in Spain, with 16% of Spain’s population.

Barcelona (population: 1,608,746) is the largest city in Catalonia, and the second-largest city in Spain.

Spanish is the most widely spoken language in Catalonia, 47% of people speak Spanish as their own language. This is followed by Catalan, with 37%.

Largest cities in Catalonia

Barcelona is the largest city in Catalonia. In 2016 the population of Barcelona was 1,608,746. The urban area of Barcelona has a population of 4,740,000, and the wider metro area is home to 5,375,774 people (2015 data).

The table below lists the largest cities or municipalities in Catalonia by population.

Language in Catalonia

Catalonia is a multilingual region. The four official languages of Catalonia are Catalan, Spanish, Aranese and Catalan Sign Language. Almost everyone in Catalonia as a working knowledge of both Catalan and Spanish.

A 2008 survey indicated that 46% of people in Catalonia usually spoke Spanish in their day-to-day lives. A further 36% usually spoke Catalan, and 12% said they used both languages regularly. People living in major cities such as Barcelona were more likely to speak Spanish on a day-to-day basis, whereas people living in rural areas of Catalonia were more likely speak Catalan.

Aranese is a dialect of the Occitan language, which is spoken across Southern France and Northern Italy. Aranese is spoken by an estimated 4,700 people in the Val d’Aran region of Catalonia, where it has had a special protected status for some time. It was made an official language of Catalonia in 2006.

Catalonia Population Growth

The table below lists the population of Catalonia and population growth since 1900.

Source: Instituto Nacional de Estadística (Spain)

Religion in Catalonia

Christianity is the largest religion in Catalonia. Data from 2014 show that 56.5% of Catalans were Christian, over 90% of whom were Catholic. 

Atheists are the next largest single group, comprising 18.2% of people in Catalonia, followed by agnostics (12%), Muslims (7.3%) and Buddhists (1.3%).

A further 2.3% of Catalonia’s population reported that they were members of another religion.

Although official data is not yet available, the population of Shanghai in 2021 is estimated to be just over 24.1 million people.

This makes Shanghai the largest city in China, and the largest city proper in the world today.

Rapid population growth in Shanghai over recent years has been driven by immigration. The city’s natural population growth is very low, and it has one of the lowest fertility rates in the world.

Located in South East China, at the mouth of the Yangtze river, Shanghai is the world’s busiest port and a major financial centre.

How many people live in Shanghai today?

The latest official data, provided by the Shanghai Municipal People’s Government (document in Chinese) reveals that the estimated 2015 population of Shanghai is 24,152,700 people.

This represents a very slight decrease on the 2014 population of 24,256,800.

Unfortunately, no data has yet been published to clarify the population of Shanghai in 2017 or even 2016.

The 2015 and 2014 data has been estimated, partly based on official data from the 2010 census, which reported the 2010 population as 23,019,148.

In addition to the population recorded in official statistics, Shanghai is believed to be home to around 2 million itinerant workers.

Shanghai population growth rate

Although Shanghai’s population fell slightly in 2015, this decrease comes after many years of steady, and at some times rapid, population growth.

For example, between 2000 and 2010, the number of people living in Shanghai grew by 40.3%, from 16,407,700 in 2000 to 23,019,200 in 2010.

With the exception of 2015, population growth since 2010 has been at between 1-2% per annum.

The table below shows the population of Shanghai over time, and includes data from selected years from 1953 to 2015. Annual population figures have never been provided, so unfortunately we are unable to provide a detailed chart listing Shanghai’s population by year.

Shanghai’s low birth rate

Population growth in Shanghai has been driven almost entirely by the massive inflow of migrants into the city.

According to the Shanghai Bureau of Statistics (document in Chinese) 9 million (that’s almost 40%) of the people who live in Shanghai today are migrants.

Partly because of this, the city has one of the lowest natural birth rates in the world – Shanghai’s low fertility rate of 0.7 is regarded as one of the lowest in the world. This is well below the replacement rate of 2.33 children per woman.

Shanghai population density

Shanghai is a moderately densely populated city.

Based on 2010 data, when the population was 23,019,196 and the area of the city was 6,340.50 square kilometres, we can calculate that the population density of Shanghai was 3,630.50 people per square kilometer.

Other Shanghai demographics

98.8% of people in Shanghai are Han Chinese, making it by far the most common ethnic group in the city. The remaining 1.2% of the population is split across a number of other smaller ethnic groups.

The majority of people (86.9%) in Shanghai (survey data in Chinese) are either not religious or are not adherents of an organised religion. Of the remaining 13%, Buddhism is the largest single religion (10.4%), followed by two Christian religions – Protestantism (1.9%) and Catholicism (0.7%).

Because of its position as a trading city, Shanghai has a rich religious history, and quite a few Christian churches and Islamic mosques can be found dotted around the city alongside more numerous Buddhist and folk religion temples.

Life expectancy in Shanghai is almost ten years higher than the Chinese average of 75.15 years. According to China Daily, the average life expectancy of a person born in Shanghai is now 84.8 years.

Infant mortality is also much lower in Shanghai than in the rest of China. In 2011 it was estimated to be 5.97 deaths per 1,000 live births, a rate comparable to that in Western European and North American countries.

Foreign population in Shanghai

Fitting with its reputation as a major trading city and financial hub, Shanghai is home to one of the largest foreigner populations in China.

Approximately one in every four foreigners in China live in Shanghai.

Of the 162,381 resident foreigners in Shanghai during the 2010 census, the largest groups came from Japan (35,075), the United States (24,358) and South Korea (21,073).

The majority (95,623) were employees of foreign companies or their relatives. A further 16,064 were overseas students, or their relatives.

The table below gives more detail about the number of foreigners living in Shanghai.

Source.

Where is Shanghai? What country is Shanghai in?

Shanghai is situated on the South Eastern coast of China. It sits at the mouth of the Yangtze river.

Shanghai has been an important city for centuries and, once it was fortified, it became one of the Qing dynasty’s major sea ports.

Its location attracted the attention of European colonial powers during the late 19th century. This European interest was a double-edged sword – on the one hand it was effectively occupied by European powers, but on the other hand, it became a major East Asian trading hub.

Economic reforms implemented in China since the 1990s have reinvigorated Shanghai, and led to its resurgence as a major city on the world state.

The name Shanghai means ‘Upon the Sea’. The city has also been called, in English, the Pearl of the Orient and the Paris of the East.

The Statistics Bureau of Japan reported that the population of Japan on 1 May 2016 was 125,360,000, another slight decrease in population.

How many people live in Japan?

Despite a fall in population over the past year, and almost one million people over the previous five years, Japan is still the tenth largest country in the world by population.

An island nation in the Asia Pacific region, Japan is the 40th most densely populated country in the world, with 336 people per square kilometre (869 people per square mile).

Four in every five people in Japan live on the main island of Honshu, which has a population density of 447 people per square km.

Japan has the longest life expectancy in the world today. The average baby born in Japan today can expect to live until 84.

Population Decline in Japan

As you can see from the chart, Japan’s population steadily increased through the 20th century, with the exception of a dip in the 1940s caused by the Second World War.

After many years of slowing population growth, the number of people who live in Japan has begun to decrease. The fall began in 2004, and has accelerated since then.

The 2015 census showed a reduction in Japan’s population of almost 1 million people – from 128,057,352 in 2010 to 127,110,000 in 2015. The population fell by a further 150,000 to 126,960,000 in 2016.

To put that in perspective, that’s a decrease of 0.7% in the five years from 2010 to 2015. If current trends continue, the population could fall to just 97 million by 2050.

In the 1980s, Japan was the 7th largest country in the world by population, but since then it has gradually dropped down the world population rankings and is now the 10th most populous country in the world.

The main causes of the fall in Japan’s population are its low birth rate combined with its also low death rate. People in Japan are living longer and having fewer babies – and those that do choose to have children are delaying starting a family until later in life.

This could present a major challenge for Japan, as the number of people of working age is falling compared to the number of Japanese pensioners. The Government believes that, by 2060, 40% of Japanese citizens will be over 65. This, combined with fewer tax receipts from a smaller working population, will make it harder for Japan to fund pensions and healthcare for the elderly.

The problem of Japan’s falling population is so acute that the Japanese government has been considering mass immigration – a dramatic step in a country as ethnically homogeneous as Japan.

The United Nations estimates that, unless Japan’s low fertility rate is also raised, it would need 650,000 immigrants every year to stabilise population levels.

Ethnic Groups

Japan is one of the most homogeneous and least ethnically diverse countries in the world.

Official data, which measures citizenship rather than ethnicity, reports that 98.5% of the population is Japanese. The remaining 1.5% is a mixture of foreign nationals.

The number of foreign nationals in Japan includes 653,000 Chinese, 530,421 Koreans, 203,027 Filipino (Philippines), and 193,571 Brazilians (2012 data).

The Brazilian community in Japan is made up mainly of descendants of Japanese immigrants who went to Brazil early in the 20th century. According to IBGE data, there are approximately 1.5 million people of Japanese descent in Brazil. In the 1980s and 1990s a large number of Brazilians of Japanese descent in turn emigrated to Japan, encouraged by the Japanese Government which made it legal for Japanese first, second and third generation descendants to return. (Related article: Population of Brazil.)

None of the data above includes the 54,00 US service personnel in Japan, their 42,000 dependents, or the 8,000 Department of Defense employees in Japan.

The Japanese ethnicity data does not adequately help us to understand the population of other indigenous ethnic groups within Japan. In fact, before 1997 the Japanese Government did not accept that minority ethnic groups existed within Japan.

Examples of ethnic groups that are indigenous to Japan include the Ryukyuans and the Ainu who, although small in number, have distinct cultural and ethnic identities.

The Ryukyuan, also known as Okinawans, are indigenous to the islands of the Ryukyu archipelago, which make up the Okinawa Prefecture today.

The Ryukyuan population is approximately 1.6 million. This is made up of approximately 1.3 million people who live in the province of Okinawa, and a further 300,000 Okinawans who live elsewhere in Japan.

The Ainu are the indigenous people of northern Japan. It wasn’t until 2008 that they gained official government recognition as a minority in Japan. It is believed that the Ainu population of Japan is approximately 24,000.

Some also classify Koreans (and their descendants) in Japan as a distinct ethnic group. Many ‘Zainichi’, as they are also known, were bought to Japan when it was a colonial power in the first half of the 20th century. They were left stateless at the end of the second world war.

Religion

Japan has two main religions – Shinto and Buddhism. There are also a small number of Christians in Japan and a number of atheists.

According to the World Factbook, 79.2% of Japanese are Shinto, 66.8% Buddhist and 1.5% Christian. A further 7.1% practice another religion. (2012 data.)

Many Japanese consider themselves to be syncretists. That is to say that they practice more than one religion at the same time – for example, both Shintoism and Buddhism. This is why the percentages above add up to more than 100%.

Very few people in Japan report that they are atheists.

Languages

Japan has no official state language, but Japanese is the first language of 99% of the people in Japan.

Japanese has, as with most languages, a range of dialects. The Tokyo dialect is considered by many to be the standard form of Japanese.

The Ryukyuan languages, spoken in Okinawa in the south of Japan, are different enough from standard Japanese to be considered a distinct language.

Other small minority groups, such as the Ainu and Evenki in the north of Japan also have distinct languages.

Education and Literacy Rate

Education in Japan is compulsory for children between the ages of 6 and 15.

Most children continue in education until they are 18. About 75% of high school graduates go on to attend university or another higher education institution.

There are 778 universities in Japan, and more than 2.8 million students in higher education (2010 data). The majority of Japan’s higher education institutions are private.

Two of Japan’s universities are in the world’s 40 best universities – Kyoto University (38th) and the University of Tokyo (39th).

It is widely accepted that the literacy rate in Japan is around 99%, although this cannot be confirmed because the Japanese government has not conducted a survey of literacy rates since 1955.

UNESCO has cast some doubts on the assumption that Japan’s literacy rate is 99%. They note that this figure would be difficult to achieve when taking into account low literacy rates in some minority groups.

Population Density

Population density in Japan is 336 people per square km, which makes Japan the 40th most densely populated country in the world.

Four in every five people in Japan live on the main island of Honshu, which has a population density of 447 people per square km.

This is a population density map of Japan. As you can see, the area around Tokyo is the most densely populated area of Japan, and the northern islands, including Hokkaido, are the least densely populated regions of Japan.

Largest cities in Japan

Tokyo is the largest city in Japan, as well as its capital city. The population of Tokyo in 2016 (April) is 9,327,512.

This population of 9.3 million represents all of the people who live in Tokyo’s 23 wards, which make up the city proper. However, the wider Tokyo metropolitan area has a larger population of 13,574,022.

Counting this, Tokyo is the 8th largest city in the world. Counting the lower figure of 9.3 million would make Tokyo the 15th largest city in the world.

Some people consider the Greater Tokyo Area to be a Japanese megacity with an estimated 2014 population of 37,832,892. This wold make Tokyo the largest megacity in the world, ahead of the Shanghai megacity which has a population of 35 million.

In contrast to the rest of Japan, the population of Tokyo (the city itself) is steadily increasing. In the 2010 census, its population was recorded as 8,949,447.

Yokohama is the second largest city in Japan, with a population of 3,726,325. The two other Japanese cities with a population of more than two million people are Osaka (2,697,070) and Nagoya (2,295,328).

This table lists the 10 largest cities in Japan by population.

Source: http://www.city.yokohama.lg.jp/ex/stat/jinko/city/new-e.html

Other Japanese demographic data

Sex ratio

The sex ratio for Japanese people across all age ranges is 0.95 males for every female.

At birth, there are 1.056 males to every female and among over 65s there are 0.73 males to every female.

This is broadly in line with other major democratic and industrialised countries.

The low ratio of men to women aged over 65 can be partly explained by the effects of the second world war, but a larger factor is that women tend to live longer than men in Japan, as in most societies.

Life expectancy

Japan has the world’s longest life expectancy. The average Japanese child born today can expect to live until 84 years of age.

Japanese females born today can expect to live until 87 years of age. This is the longest female life expectancy in the world.

Japanese males born today can expect to live until 80 years of age. This is the 6th longest life expectancy in the world, after San Marino (83 years) and Singapore, Switzerland, Iceland and Israel (all 81 years).

The Japanese diet has long been cited as the reason for Japan’s long life expectancy, but a wide range of factors, including diet, genetics, universal healthcare and social equality combine to provide such a healthy life expectancy.

Median age

The median age in Japan is 46.5 years.

The median age for Japanese men is 45.2 years and the median age for Japanese women is 47.9 years.

Birth rate and death rate

The birth rate in Japan is 7.9 births per 1,000 population. The death rate is 10.2 deaths per 1,000 population (2015 data).

Fertility rate

The fertility rate in Japan is 1.46 children per woman (2015).

This is relatively low, but is an increase on the low of 1.26 children per women recorded in 2005.

Japanese population pyramid

Here is a population pyramid of Japan based on 2016 data.

The bulge of people aged 65-69 represents the larger than normal number of children born in the years immediately after the war.

The lower than expected proportion of people aged over 69, and men aged over 69 compared to women over 69, is a result of the increased number of deaths during the war.

Japan population by year

The table below lists the historical population of Japan by year.

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demography_of_Japan

Related resources

The best source for accurate statistics about Japanese demographics is Statistics Japan which has resources available in both English and Japanese.

Depending on whether you are counting the city proper, or the wider urban area, or the municipal area, the population of Chongqing is either 8.5 million (the city proper), 18.4 million (the wider urban area) or 30.1 million (the municipal area).

This confusion has led to some people calling Chongqing the largest city in China, and even the largest city in the world.

In reality, although the Chongqing city proper is still a massive city of over 8 million people, the overall Chongqing municipality covers a massive area, most of which is urban, rather than rural.

How do you define a city like Chongqing?

The difficulty is that China defines a few really big areas, including Beijing, Shanghai and Chongqing, as municipalities. But in reality, they are a combination of proper urban cities, suburbs, satellite cities, and all of the rural countryside in between them.

Chongqing is divided into 38 different sub-divisions, including 17 counties (four of which are autonomous) and 21 districts.

To give you an indication of how much of Chongqing is actually rural, a China Daily article recently noted that the municipality’s population including 23.3 million farmers. One in three of those farmers (8.4 million) are actually migrant workers.

If the municipal area of Chongqing (30.1 million people) were a country, it would be the 45th largest in the world, about the same size as Venezuela. Despite this, Chongqing’s massive population still accounts for less than 2.5% of the total population of China.

Where is Chongqing?

Chongqing is in the centre of China. It is situated at the mouth of the Jailing River, as it enters into the Yangtze River, China’s largest and most important inland waterway.

Because of this central location, Chongqing has become an economic, manufacturing and transport hub, and one of the most important strategic cities in the country.

The city has a long history as a strategically important city and trading centre. In 1890 became the first inland Chinese city to be opened up to foreigners, and from 1937 to 1945 it was the provisional capital city of China, home to the government of Chiang Kai-shek.

Chongqing city has grown rapidly over the past sixty years, from a population of of just over 1 million in 1950 to over 8 million today.

Today it is one of four directly controlled municipalities in China (the others are Tianjin, Shanghai and Beijing). These four municipalities have a great deal of autonomy but, at the same time, report directly to the government in Beijing rather than any regional government. Chongqing is a direct controlled municipality partly because of its size and economic importance, and partly to allow the central government more oversight over the massive, and strategically vital, Three Gorges Dam project.

Minority groups in Chongqing

Although the majority of the people who live in Chongqing today are Han Chinese, the municipality is also home to a number of minority groups, including more than one million Tujia and 500,000 Miao people. People from these minority populations are mostly located in the east and south of Chongqing.

The most commonly spoken language is Sichuanese Mandarin. A few minority languages are also spoken, including Xiang, Hakka, Miao and Tujia.

Chongqing population by year

The table below details the Chongqing population in selected years from 1949 to 2015.

The data in the table demonstrates rapid growth during from the 1950s to the 1990s. Although population declined slightly in the late 1990s and early 2000s, it has been steadily growing since 2008.

Our estimate of the Guangzhou population (2021) is 13,476,852.

Based on the 2014 population of 13.08 million Guangzhou is the third largest city in China, after Shanghai (24 million) and Beijing (21 million).

Guangzhou, previously known as Canton, is the largest city in Guangdong province, and is a part of the Pearl River Delta Mega City. This massive urban area includes other major Chinese cities such as Shenzhen and Dongguan. In total, the Pearl River Delta Megacity has a population of 44 million people.

The number of people living in Guangzhou varies throughout the year because it attracts many seasonal migrants, who only live in the city for part of the year. This floating migrant population helps the city to maintain a flexible labour market, that can respond to increases and decreases in demand for work.

Guangzhou population by year

The following table shows the population of Guangzhou since 1950. Figures between 1950 and 2000 are for every decade. Figures since 2005 show population growth in Guangzhou updated every year.

The rate of population growth in Guangzhou is difficult to predict because it varies so widely – in the last ten years alone, the rate has been as high as 7% per annum (2010) and as low as 0.4% per annum (2013).

It is likely that economic factors have a major impact on population growth, and growth is likely to be highest when the economy is doing well, and there are jobs in Guangzhou that attract internal migrants. Likewise, growth is likely to be slower when the economy is doing less well, and new jobs are harder to come by.

Guangzhou population projections

By 2020, it is estimated that there will be more than 18 million people living in Guangzhou. This growth will be caused mostly by internal migration, but there are concerns that the relaxation of China’s one child policy will also boost population growth.

This has caused alarm in the Chinese government, because such rapid population growth will place a major strain on the city’s infrastructure – roads, urban transit, healthcare, housing, etc.

To combat this, plans are being developed to limit population growth in Guangzhou.

Guangzhou population density

Guangzhou is one of the more densely populated cities in China – at last count, population density in Guangzhou was 1,708 people per square kilometer.

The urban population of Guangzhou is slightly lower – at 11,070,654. The remainder of the population lives in Guangzhou’s rural areas.

Population of Guangzhou by administrative district

Here is a map and table that shows each administrative district in Guangzhou and the number of people who live in each.

As you can see from the table, districts in the centre and west of the city are the most populous, and the most densely populated. They could be considered the city’s urban areas.

Those in the north, east and south of the city are much less densely populated, and could be considered its rural areas.

Where is Guangzhou located?

Here is a map which shows where Guangzhou is located in China.

Guangzhou is in Southern China, in Guangdong province. Located on the Pearl River, just inland from the Southern cost, and just 75 miles north of Hong Kong and next to the special economic zone of Shenzhen, its location is perfect for a major trading and manufacturing city.

It is one of the richest cities in China – Guangzhou’s nominal GDP in 2013 was $248 billion, which is roughly equivalent to the economy of Ireland. GDP per capita was $19,459, almost three times the average GDP per capita of China for 2013 ($6,995).

Latest official estimates put the 2016 population of São Paulo (the city)  at 12,038,175. The population of São Paulo (the state) is 44,396,485 (2014 data).

This makes São Paulo the largest city in Brazil, South America, the Americas, and even the entire Southern Hemisphere. São Paulo is also the 11th largest city proper in the world.

The population of the wider São Paulo metropolitan area is 21,090,791, making it the largest metropolitan area in Brazil, South America and the Southern Hemisphere. São Paulo is however only the second or third largest metropolitan area in the Americas, after Mexico City and, depending on how its population is counted, New York City.

Additionally, the population of the São Paulo urban area, which includes a number of smaller commuter towns nearby has been estimated by the Brazilian government to be 32.2 million people. This would make São Paulo the second largest urban area in the world, after the Tokyo-Yokohama urban area (37.7 million people).

São Paulo State Population

The population of São Paulo state is, based on 2014 data from the Brazilian government, 44,396,485. This makes São Paulo the largest state in Brazil.

São Paulo State is so populous that it is home to more people than many countries. In fact, the only country in South America (outside of Brazil) with a higher population than São Paulo is Columbia. Argentina, with its population of 43 million is almost as large as São Paulo.

The State of São Paulo is also the most populous non-national region (state) in the entire Americas, whether North, Central or South America.

São Paulo Population Growth

São Paulo is a rapidly growing city. When the 2010 IBGE census was carried out, the population of São Paulo was 10.7 million people. This had increased to 12.0 million people by 2016.

However population growth in São Paulo today could be considered slow in comparison to its growth during the 1950s, 60s and 70s. Between 1950 and 1980, São Paulo’s population almost quadrupled from 2.2 million in 1952 to 8.5 million in 1980.

São Paulo overtook Rio de Janeiro as the largest city in Brazil in 1980.

São Paulo Population Density

Based on 2010 population data the population density of São Paulo 7,398 people per km².

São Paulo Ethnicity

São Paulo is one of the most cosmopolitan and ethnically diverse cities in Brazil.

Although Brazil is widely thought of as a country with Portuguese heritage, people with Italian ancestry make up the largest single group of people in São Paulo.

There are thought to be between 5 and 7 million people of Italian descent in São Paulo – that’s around half of the city’s population. In fact, there are more people with Italian ancestry in São Paulo than there are in Rome.

São Paulo is also home to large numbers of people of Portuguese (3 million people) and African descent (1.7 million people). It is also home to the largest populations of Arabic (1 million) and Japanese (665,000) people in Brazil.

When it comes to ethnicity, the largest single ethnic group in São Paulo is White (60.6%) followed by Pardo, which can be translated as multiracial (30.5%).

Other ethnic groups in São Paulo are Black (6.5%), Asian (2.2%) and Amerindian (0.2%).

São Paulo Religion

According to the 2010 IG PE census, Christianity is the largest religious group in São Paulo. Eight in 10 people in the city reported in the census that they were Christian.

Nearly 6 in 10 people (58.2%) reported that they were Catholic and nearly a quarter of people (22.11%) reported that they were Protestant.

Other religious groups with more than 1% of population are no religion (9.38%) and Spiritist (4.73%).

The next largest groups are Buddhist (0.67%), Umbanda and Candomblé (0.62%) and Jewish (0.39%).

Our list of the largest cities in China includes the largest city in the world (Shanghai), 10 cities with a population of more than ten million people (see top ten below), and 145 cities with a population more than one million people (see table below). 

On this page you will find information about the ten largest cities in China which, together, have a total population of 164 million people. That’s more than 12% of the entire population of China. If the ten biggest cities in China were a country, they would be the eighth largest country in the world.

The table at the end of this page also contains a table listing the population of each of the 200 most populous cities in China, including all 145 cities with a population of more than 1 million people.

Unless otherwise noted, population figures in this article are from China’s 2010 census.

1 – Shanghai: Population 24,100,000

Shanghai is not just the largest city in China – it is the largest city in the world. The population of Shanghai in 2015 was 24.1 million people, a slight drop from its highest ever population of 24.25 in 2014.

Shanghai’s strategic location at the mouth of the Yangtze River meant that the city has for centuries been a major port. It attracted the attention of European colonial powers in the 19th century, and was forced to open itself to foreign trade by the British, who effectively ran the city for much of the next century.

Today, Shanghai is the largest port city in the world and a major financial centre. The Shanghai Stock Exchange is the world’s third busiest, and the city attracts more foreign investment than any other area in the Asia-Pacific.

The total Shanghai population has grown rapidly in recent years, but much of this growth has been the result of internal migration within China. The city actually has one of the lowest fertility rates in the world, and without internal migration its population would fall over time.

Click here for more information about the population of Shanghai, the largest city in the world.

2 – Beijing: Population 21,500,000

Beijing is the second largest city in China and the third largest city in the world. At the time of the 2010 census the population of Beijing’s urban area was 21,500,000 people.

As well as being the capital city, home to China’s government, Beijing is a major business hub and is the base of many of China’s largest companies. It is also a major transport hub, home to the largest airport in the world.

Beijing is a major cultural and tourist hub, and in its ancient city you will find many beautiful palaces and temples. Sections of the famous Great Wall of China are within easy reach of Beijing, just outside of the city limits.

The city of Tianjin (number six in our list, below) sits on the coast just to the south of Beijing, acting as the capital city’s port and providing access by sea to the world outside of China.

Beijing has always been one of the largest cities in China, if not the world. According to historians, in 1775 it was the first city in the world to reach a population of more than one million people

Click here to read our detailed article on the population of Beijing.

3 – Guangzhou: Population 20,800,654

The population of Guangzhou’s urban area at the last census in 2010 was 20,800, 654 people. Within this area, the population of the city proper was 12,700,800 people.

This makes Guangzhou the third largest city in China, and the largest city in the province of Guangdong. Close to Hong Kong, Guangzhou is a major manufacturing city that is home to a large migrant workforce.

Guangzhou, along with Shenzhen (China’s seventh largest city), Dongguan (China’s fourteenth largest city) and a number of other smaller cities can be combined to make up the Pearl River Delta megacity. Although it has no official status as a city, with a population of more than 44 million, the Pearl River Delta city is considered by many to be the world’s largest megacity – larger even than the Tokyo megacity.

Click here to read the latest Guangzhou population updates.

4 – Chongqing: Population 18,384,000

The population of Chongqing urban area in 2010 was 18,384,000 people.

When counting the Chongqing population, some people count the wider municipal (administrative) area of 30.1 million people. This is a misleading quirk of the way China divides its administrative districts, though, as much of the municipal area of Chongqing is actually rural countryside and cannot reasonably be classified as a city.

Chongqing is in central China. Its location means it is a strategically important city and, in 1890, it was the first inland city within China to be opened up to foreign traders.

Today, Chongqing is a communications and transport hub, and is one of four municipal areas directly administered by the central government in Beijing.

Click here to read a more detailed update on the population of Chongqing.

5 – Chengdu: Population 17,677,122

In 2010, the population of Chengdu was 16,722,122 people, making it the largest city in Western China.

Chengdu is one of very few large cities in the West of China. Because of its location in a relatively sparsely populated area, it has become a major regional hub – for transport, economics, government and culture.

Far away from the bustle of Eastern China, Chengdu is considered to be one of the most relaxed cities in China. It was the last major city in China to fall to the Communists in 1949.

6 – Tianjin: Population 15,469,500

Tianjin is a city in North East China, on the Bahai Gulf. The census recorded the 2010 Tianjin population at 15,469,500.

Because of its strategic importance, Tianjin is a directly controlled municipality, governed by the central government in Beijing.

It is located on the Grand Canal, which connects China’s Yellow and Yangtze rivers, and as a result is one of China’s largest ports, serving the nearby capital city of Beijing.

7 – Shenzhen: Population 12,357,938

Shenzhen is located on the border between mainland China and Hong Kong (population 7.2 million). The two cities are intertwined and, today, Shenzhen is a major financial and trading city.

Before it was made a special economic zone in 1980, the city had a population of just 332,900 people. Since then, its population has grown spectacularly – increasing by 265% between 1980 and 1990, and by 477% between 1990 and 2000. Population growth slowed to a mere 47.8% between 2000 and 2010.

Together with Guangzhou, the third largest city in China (see earlier in this list) and Dongguan, Shenzhen is part of the Pear River Delta city.

8 – Harbin: Population 12,000,000

Harbin is the capital city of Heilongjiang province, in the far north east of China. In total, the population of Harbin in 2010 was 12,000,000 people, an increase of more than 12% over the 2000 population of 9,413,359.

Harbin is classified as a sub-provincial city, and is made up of nine different metropolitan districts and two smaller cities.

Harbin is at the heart of one of China’s main agricultural regions, so businesses related to agriculture dominate.

9 – Wuhan: Population 10,670,000

Wuhan is the capital city of central Chinese province Hubei. In 2010, the population of Harbin had reached 10,670,000 people.

Modern day Wuhan was created when the city of Wuhan merged with neighbouring cities of Hankou and Hanyang.

Wuhan is a major transport hub within China, and was the capital city of Chiang Kai-shek’s KMT government during the 1920s, and China’s provisional capital in 1937 during the war with Japan.

10 – Suzhou: Population 10,349,090

Suzhou is a prefecture level city in Jiangsu province, sixty miles to the northeast of Shanghai.

The population of Suzhou’s urban area in 2010, at the time of the last census, was 10,349,090 people. The first decade of the 20th century saw population growth in Suzhou of more than 6%, making it one of China’s fastest growing cities.

Suzhou’s main industry is manufacturing and it attracts a large share of foreign investment into China. .

Table – 200 largest cities in China by population