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Most Populous World Capitals

Can you name the world capitals that have the largest urban-area population?
Populations by urban area, according to citypopulation.de - January 2023
We filled in New Delhi / Delhi to avoid confusion
Quiz by Seals
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Last updated: March 2, 2023
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First submittedSeptember 7, 2014
Times taken127,002
Average score70.0%
Rating4.89
4:00
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Keep scrolling down for answers and more stats ...
Population
Capital
40.8 mil
Tokyo
33.4 mil
Delhi / New Delhi
28.9 mil
Jakarta
26.7 mil
Manila
24.9 mil
Mexico City
24.9 mil
Seoul
22.2 mil
Cairo
Population
Capital
21.3 mil
Dhaka
20.9 mil
Beijing
20.5 mil
Bangkok
18.8 mil
Moscow
16.7 mil
Buenos Aires
16.2 mil
Tehran
15.0 mil
Kinshasa
Population
Capital
14.8 mil
London
11.6 mil
Lima
11.4 mil
Paris
10.2 mil
Bogota
9.20 mil
Taipei
9.15 mil
Riyadh
9.10 mil
Kuala Lumpur
+8
Level 76
Sep 15, 2014
DC has less than a million - isn't this figure taking in neighbouring Maryland and Virginia as well?
+24
Level ∞
Sep 16, 2014
Yes it is. There are many different ways of measuring the size of a city. Citypopulation.de tends to be among the more generous.
+11
Level 54
Jul 7, 2017
I live in the DC Metro Area and I still didn't guess it. To get the population above 6 million is kind of a long reach. I guess if you include most of Maryland, okay then.

Not a complaint, just offering perspective.

+13
Level 62
Sep 27, 2019
The US goes by the whole “city limits” thing much more than most of the rest of the world
+4
Level 58
Aug 5, 2021
Funny enough, germany also mostly goes by the figures for city limits. Seeing a german website using such generous numbers feels strange...
+13
Level 28
Oct 19, 2014
it's an international city comparison so it has to be done by a standard measurement so city proper never gets considered
+3
Level 37
Oct 19, 2014
DC metro lists at 5.9 mil, Baltimore-DC at 9.3 mil, so I wonder how they figure it.
+4
Level 67
Oct 19, 2014
Still this seems way way way to high for the DC metro area.
+1
Level 59
Nov 30, 2020
If you look at a map, Washington D.C. expands way past the District of Columbia.
+1
Level 43
Apr 9, 2022
I think it might be including Baltimore as well
+5
Level ∞
Mar 2, 2023
In any case, DC has now been surpassed by Riyadh.
+1
Level 37
Oct 1, 2014
missed only tehran nd kinhasa
+21
Level 82
Oct 19, 2014
New Delhi is just a district or neighborhood within the city of Delhi. If we're talking metro area then either answer should get credit. Doesn't seem confusing.
+11
Level 77
Oct 19, 2014
Agreed. Should just be adjusted so that either answer will work. I don't see any confusion....
+11
Level 55
Sep 28, 2016
Agree. Delhi would have been one of my first guesses, with or without considering the New Delhi/Delhi distinction. The capital of India is a pretty obvious answer for a quiz on largest world capitals, I would think, anyway.
+7
Level 63
Nov 1, 2019
Agree with everyone else. Why give it as a freebie? Just accept either one.
+4
Level 52
Oct 20, 2020
I agree also. No reason to give it for free.
+4
Level 58
Aug 5, 2021
Agreed, since I've never before seen any quiz to fill in

Delhi/New Delhi in beforehand. They just accept both, I assume.

Actually, I didn't look at the table before starting the quiz and my first type-in was Delhi, wich confused me, because I couldn't see what might have been wrong, until I scrolled down a bit...

+1
Level 66
Oct 21, 2014
Missed Taipei, Bangkok... and Washington D.C....
+2
Level 62
Jan 19, 2015
I don't think Kuala Lumpur's population is anywhere near 6 million even if we add all the suburbs. It's abt 2.5 mil, 3 mil is max.
+3
Level 58
Jan 17, 2022
Jet Punk considers the Klang Valley as Kuala Lumpur Metro area. I believe it's reasonable since Klang Valley is also kown as Greater Kuala Lumpur. Check any sources for the Klang Valley and you will find the quizz is actually right,
+2
Level 68
Jan 23, 2015
Hmm.... thought Pretoria would be on here for sure.
+3
Level 71
Sep 5, 2015
I believe Johannesburg to have about 8 million but Pretoria is much smaller with 1 to 2 million.
+3
Level 65
Jan 19, 2016
Johannesburg is not a capital. The three capitals of South Africa are Bloemfontein, Pretoria, and Cape Town.
+31
Level 51
May 12, 2017
No one said Johannesburg was a capital.
+10
Level 74
May 12, 2017
13.1 according to citypopulation.de. Interesting case as Pretoria is captured in the urban area of Johannesburg, but it's not the main city. For me enough of an argument to include it though :)
+1
Level 75
Mar 6, 2021
I was going to say the same thing as Pyotr, above (even though it's ridiculous to consider Johannesburg and Pretoria parts of the same city).
+3
Level 63
Jul 7, 2017
Cape Town is the most populous capital of South Africa anyways.
+1
Level 66
Apr 28, 2015
How could I miss Paris? 19/20 :/
+2
Level 66
Nov 1, 2019
Remember, you wore blue, the Germans wore grey.
+1
Level 55
Sep 5, 2015
The only ones I missed were all in South America. I thought I'd typed B.A. but I must have done a typo. Tried Brasilia but knew it wouldn't work.
+1
Level 64
Sep 28, 2016
What about New York city with over 8 million residents?
+24
Level 74
Sep 28, 2016
What about it?
+12
Level 41
Sep 28, 2016
not a capital
+10
Level 46
Apr 21, 2018
Oh yeah, and Guangzhou! It's the capital of Guangdong!
+2
Level 65
Sep 28, 2016
I got all but one with about three minutes left, and I racked my brain until the time expired. It turns out the one I missed was Kinshasa, which I had already guessed but spelled wrong. FML
+1
Level 68
Sep 28, 2016
I ran out of time to try and figure out how to spell Dhaka - tried Dakar and Dakkar and Dakhar... aahhh too late!
+4
Level 63
Jul 7, 2017
Dakar is the capital of Senegal, but I'd probably do something like that too.
+1
Level 65
Feb 9, 2024
If only you tried Dhakar...
+1
Level 17
Sep 28, 2016
It says Buenos Aires has 15 million but is above Dhaka which says has 17 million
+3
Level 41
Sep 30, 2016
don't they list johannesburg with 7.8 million, putting it higher than Santiago?
+6
Level 74
Oct 9, 2016
Johannesburg is not a capital.
+5
Level 66
Feb 18, 2020
Pretoria is, which the source of this quiz includes in the urban area of Johannesburg.
+1
Level 74
Oct 31, 2020
Which would then qualify again as the metro is large enough, even though Pretoria is not the core city of the metro
+1
Level 59
Oct 15, 2022
Johannesburg is the most populous city in South Africa but not one of the 3 capitals.
+1
Level 66
Oct 2, 2016
Got them all except Paris. Totally embarassed...
+1
Level 60
Jun 21, 2022
Me, except with Beijing. Who gets Taipei but not Beijing?
+1
Level 93
Mar 2, 2023
Someone that doesn't like Winnie the Pooh? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
+1
Level 48
May 5, 2017
Wow, I didn't expect Jakarta to be that high
+32
Level 67
Jun 2, 2017
It isn't really. Jakarta only has an average elevation of 8 metres.
+2
Level 44
Sep 27, 2020
Still beats Amsterdam
+1
Level 31
May 13, 2017
don't believe DC should be on the list. I think they have around 6 million. 8 million seems too high
+2
Level 58
Jan 17, 2022
Washington metro area has 6mi people, however Washington metro area is just part of the bigger Washington–Baltimore metro area which has about 8mi people. These kind of quizzes usually try to go for the biggest metro area possible.

Shenzhen and Guangzhou are usually also added up in jetpunk for instance. However, other sources will consider too different places.

The whole idea of what are cities, countries, continents are commonly up to debate.

+1
Level 74
May 13, 2017
Jakarta is number two in the world, ahead of Seoul? Wow... I knew that Indonesia is the fourth most populated country in the world, but I expected it to be around #10 or something... Also, I was surprised Rome wasn't here. I thought it had around 10 million, but apparently it's only 5.
+1
Level 84
May 17, 2017
You know you're having a bad day when you miss Seoul & London. *facepalm*
+1
Level 41
Jul 6, 2017
Aye it is probably the Metro City which encompasses the surrounding areas
+4
Level 71
Sep 9, 2017
Why only 34% Kinshasa ? ITS HUGE !
+2
Level 46
Apr 21, 2018
I know. I guess that sub-saharan Africa is not the first region people go to for big cities, even though almost a billion people live there.
+1
Level 45
Dec 31, 2017
Missed Manila and Bogota but I could literally remember me typing in Bogota...
+6
Level 73
Jan 8, 2018
Why give New Delhi ?
+1
Level 48
Jun 5, 2018
Missed Bogota...
+1
Level 52
Jun 17, 2018
18/20. Missed Seoul and Bogota... ugh
+1
Level 49
Nov 5, 2018
Damn you, inconspicuously small Taiwan.
+1
Level 55
Jan 1, 2019
I missed Moscow somehow...
+1
Level 73
Mar 27, 2019
Neat quiz. Two thing to point out though: 15.9 < 17.6 and I think the quiz deserves an update
+7
Level 85
Jul 3, 2019
When it comes to urban areas, New Delhi : Delhi :: Pretoria : Johannesburg.
+3
Level 87
Jul 3, 2019
Nah, New Delhi is just a southern district of Delhi. Pretoria is not connected to Johannesburg.
+6
Level 66
Mar 19, 2020
Pretty sure in all quizzes on this site it is considered as metro area of johannesburg. Because that is what it say on citypopulation.de which is the site of choice for quizzes about population on jetpunk.
+1
Level 51
Nov 1, 2019
I'm just saying this - are you allowed to advertise your quizzes on other quizzes (your quiz is good DavidClaro by the way)?
+2
Level 71
Nov 1, 2019
Yes? People do it all the time.
+4
Level 82
Nov 9, 2019
sure you can. Just be prepared for some snarky responses from some. And please don't resort to mass spamming.
+4
Level 60
Jun 21, 2022
I would say advertise only on similar quizzes to your quiz but there's no official rules.
+4
Level 50
Dec 29, 2019
I hate Bangladesh always forget them
+3
Level 66
Feb 18, 2020
According to your source Pretoria is included in the urban area of Johannesburg, listing as nearly 14m shouldnt it make the list?http://www.citypopulation.de/en/world/agglomerations/ Pretoria might not be the name barer of te urban area, still it is part of one of the biggest urban areas (according to your source, though personally I am not the biggest fan of urban areas because it can sometimes give distorted views. But since we are using it, I am for consistency)
+5
Level 82
Feb 24, 2020
I feel like some sort of caveat might be useful, because New Delhi/Delhi isn't the only case of a capital being part of a much larger urban area that doesn't share its name - Pretoria/Johannesburg and Islamabad/Rawalpindi spring to mind (though without checking, not sure if the latter would make it). I don't think they should be included, but there's an argument to be made for them in the absence of an explicit caveat.
+1
Level 66
Apr 11, 2020
First time I missed three. Second time a few months later missed three again but different ones than the first time.
+1
Level 66
Apr 26, 2021
A year later missed 4.
+1
Level 46
May 6, 2020
Epic quiz,

Got 100%

+1
Level 68
May 19, 2020
I love flying over capital cities at night, they look so beautiful all lit up (flying over in aeroplanes I mean - I'm not a superhero)
+3
Level 52
Nov 18, 2020
Well you kind of get the same feeling flying over any large city...
+1
Level 51
Jun 27, 2020
100%
+3
Level 56
Jul 11, 2020
Why is New Delhi not an answer?
+1
Level 59
Sep 26, 2020
Lagos?
+3
Level 75
Sep 26, 2020
Abuja - 2.5m
+5
Level 57
Dec 30, 2020
Didn't get why Delhi was filled! You could've simply made possible for people to guess it with Delhi and New Delhi
+1
Level 25
Feb 10, 2021
lagos has almost 15 million people and is a capital...
+6
Level 53
Sep 18, 2021
Was a capital. The capital was changed to Abuja.
+1
Level 56
Mar 11, 2021
Lagos isn't a capital.... Also can someone please confirm that Cairo is larger than Beijing
+6
Level 60
Jun 21, 2022
Yeah sure. Let me head over there and count up the people.

If you mean by looking it up, you could do it yourself, as it's sourced in the caveats—unless you have no access to internet, in which case I must question how you commented.

+1
Level 52
Jun 4, 2021
Damn I spelled Buenos Aires wrong
+1
Level 74
Jul 27, 2021
Why is Johannesburg not on here? It's one of the three capitals of South Africa and definitely large enough to be on here.
+9
Level 82
Jan 4, 2022
It's not one of the capitals of South Africa; South Africa's capitals are Cape Town, Pretoria, and Bloemfontein
+2
Level 64
Aug 31, 2021
Luanda in Angola, and Santiago in Chile are a near miss I’m assuming?
+2
Level 66
Apr 27, 2023
No, they both have about 7-8 Million people
+2
Level 58
Jan 17, 2022
I can easily remember of Taiwan for any quizzes but I always forget Taipei. Got it few seconds left. What's wrong with me?
+1
Level 79
Mar 2, 2023
Surprised to see my city (KL) here!
+1
Level 92
Apr 27, 2023
I am always surprised at how many people live in the biggest cities of Saudi Arabia. I always picture the country as one huge desert with a few scattered towns and cities with a fair number of people, but not large metropolises. However, it has a total population of over 38 million with at least 7 metropolitan areas over a million each. Just total ignorance on my part.
+1
Level 52
Apr 28, 2023
Pretoria is within the Johannesburg metro area. It is in the source and should be here.
+2
Level 56
May 1, 2023
i got tokyo in the last 6 seconds... i didn't think tokyo had that many people
+2
Level 60
Oct 11, 2023
19/20 bloody Kuala lumpur
+1
Level 28
Mar 17, 2024
Add riyad as a type in for riyadh pls!