Saturday, January 04, 2014

Chinese cities bigger than Los Angeles

My favorite way to give a sense of the size difference between the US and China is to ask this question: the biggest city in California is the second biggest in the US, with a population of just under 4M people (2012 estimate);  How many cities in China are bigger than Los Angeles?

Rank City Province Population
1 Shanghai Shanghai 20,217,748
2 Beijing Beijing 16,446,857
3 Chongqing Chongqing 11,375,808
4 Shenzhen Guangdong 10,358,381
5 Guangzhou Guangdong 9,702,144
6 Tianjin Tianjin 9,562,255
7 Wuhan Hubei 7,541,527
8 Dongguan Guangdong 7,271,322
9 Foshan Guangdong 6,771,895
10 Chengdu Sichuan 6,316,922
11 Nanjing Jiangsu 6,238,186
12 Shenyang Liaoning 5,718,232
13 Xi'an Shaanxi 5,206,253
14 Hangzhou Zhejiang 5,162,093
15 Harbin Heilongjiang 4,933,054
16 Suzhou Jiangsu 4,083,923
17 Qingdao Shandong 3,990,942
18 Dalian Liaoning 3,902,467
Bonus question: how many of the above cities – all of which are bigger than LA -- have you ever even heard of?

Incidentally, India (the world’s second-largest country) has only 10 cities bigger than LA.