List of satellite cities by population

The following is a list of the largest satellite cities worldwide, with over 500,000 people. A satellite city is defined as subordinate to a central city in a business or infrastructure sense, and it may or may not have more population than the central city due to arbitrary municipal definitions.

Excluded are transborder agglomerations. In the Pop date column, C stands for census, P for provisional result, E for estimate. Although the list is ordered by population for ease of reference, the figures are not comparable with each other due to different dates and lack of updates by respective countries.

Satellite cities by population

• Satellite cities are generally suburbs or bedroom communities^{[citation needed]} but not always; an example is a capital that is dwarfed by a megacity. Large satellite cities may be as densely populated as a megacity.
• Cities in mainland China are often defined as prefectures or counties; for the sake of simplicity, they are listed in a separate list as explained in the respective section.
• The Taiwan municipalities of Taichung, Taoyuan, New Taipei, Tainan, and Kaohsiung are usually considered large in area, as they merged with their respective surrounding suburban counties in December 2010, thus becoming direct-controlled municipalities.
• The city of Pretoria, South Africa has an exceedingly large area of 6,298 km² (2,432 sq mi), and as a national capital, it is hard to determine the boundaries between Pretoria's suburban areas and the suburbs of the nearby city of Johannesburg. Therefore, it is excluded here.
• Malaysia has multiple types of local government, which confusingly overlap as the system was partially but not completely overhauled.
• Local data may be outdated for many of the least-developed nations, and as such may not be comparable.

Rank	City	Population	Pop date	Metropolitan area	Nation
1	Giza (informal)	5,094,000	2017C	Greater Cairo	Egypt[1]
2	New Taipei City (agglo)	3,979,208	2016E	Taipei	Taiwan[2]
3	Yokohama	3,778,718	2020C	Tokyo	Japan[3]
4	Ekurhuleni (agglo)	3,379,104	2016E	Johannesburg	South Africa[4]
5	Incheon	3,209,295	2019E	Seoul	South Korea[5]
6	Quezon City	2,960,048	2020C	Manila	Philippines[6]
7	Bekasi	2,714,800	2015E	Greater Jakarta	Indonesia[7]
8	Gazipur	2,677,000	2022C	Greater Dhaka	Bangladesh[8]
9	Ghaziabad	2,358,525	2011C	Central NCR	India[9]
10	Taoyuan	2,147,763	2016E	Taipei	Taiwan[2]
11	Depok	2,106,100	2014E	Greater Jakarta	Indonesia[7]
12	Tangerang	2,047,105	2015E	Greater Jakarta	Indonesia[10]
13	Omdurman	1,849,659	2008C	Khartoum	Sudan[11]
14	La Matanza	1,837,774	2022C	Buenos Aires	Argentina[12]
15	Thane	1,818,872	2011C	Mumbai Metropolitan Region	India[9]
16	Narayanganj	1,771,000	2022C	Greater Dhaka	Bangladesh[8]
17	Pimpri-Chinchwad	1,729,359	2011C	Pune	India[9]
18	Caloocan	1,661,583	2920C	Manila	Philippines[6]
19	Ecatepec de Morelos	1,645,352	2020C	Mexico City	Mexico[13]
20	Matola	1,616,267	2017C	Maputo	Mozambique[14]
21	Karaj	1,592,492	2016C	Greater Tehran	Iran[15]
22	South Tangerang	1,543,209	2015E	Greater Jakarta	Indonesia[10]
23	Kawasaki	1,539,081	2020C	Tokyo	Japan[3]
24	Kobe City	1,527,022	2020C	Osaka	Japan[3]
25	Gurgaon	1,514,085	2011C	Central NCR	India[9]
26	Zapopan	1,476,491	2020C	Guadalajara	Mexico[13]
27	Faridabad	1,404,653	2011C	Central NCR	India[9]
28	Viana	1,382,854	2014C	Greater Luanda	Angola[16]
29	Guarulhos	1,379,182	2019E	São Paulo	Brazil[17]
30	Saitama City	1,324,591	2020C	Tokyo	Japan[3]
32	Sharjah	1,270,000	2015C	Dubai-Sharjah-Ajman metropolitan area	United Arab Emirates[18]
33	Kalyan-Dombivali	1,246,381	2011C	Mumbai Metropolitan Region	India[9]
34	Suwon	1,235,022	2016E	Seoul	South Korea[5]
48	Shubra El-Kheima	1,226,143	2020E	Cairo	Egypt
35	Vasai-Virar	1,221,223	2011C	Mumbai Metropolitan Region	India[9]
37	Ulsan	1,168,469	2019E	Busan-Ulsan	South Korea[5]
38	Cazenga	1,151,206	2022E	Greater Luanda	Angola[16]
39	Navi Mumbai	1,119,477	2011C	Mumbai Metropolitan Region	India[9]
40	Changwon	1,080,133	2016E	Busan-Ulsan	South Korea[5]
41	Ciudad Nezahualcóyotl	1,077,208	2020C	Mexico City	Mexico[13]
42	Howrah	1,072,161	2011C	Kolkata	India[9]
43	Goyang	1,078,859	2019E	Seoul	South Korea[5]
44	Yongin	1,078,591	2019E	Seoul	South Korea[5]
45	Biên Hòa	1,055,404	2019C	Saigon	Vietnam[19]
45	Bogor	1,047,900	2015E	Greater Jakarta	Indonesia[7]
47	Callao	1,010,315	2015E	Greater Lima	Peru[20]
48	Khartoum North	1,012,211	2008C	Khartoum	Sudan[11]
49	Tambaram	1,008,473	2011C	Chennai Metropolitan Area	India[9]
50	Chiba City	975,210	2020C	Tokyo	Japan[3]
51	Seongnam	960,342	2019E	Seoul	South Korea[5]
52	El Alto	943,558	2019E	Greater La Paz	Bolivia[21]
53	São Gonçalo	929,446	2022CP	Rio de Janeiro	Brazil[17]
54	Hawalli	911,274	2014E	Kuwait City	Kuwait[22]
55	Santo Domingo Este	891,952	2019E	Santo Domingo	Dominican Republic[23]
56	Salé	890,403	2014C	Rabat	Morocco[24]
57	Antipolo	887,399	2020C	Manila	Philippines[6]
58	Taguig	886,722	2020C	Manila	Philippines[6]
59	Bucheon	855,685	2019E	Seoul	South Korea[5]
60	Hwaseong	855,949	2019E	Seoul	South Korea[5]
61	Cheongju	853,714	2019E	Daejeon	South Korea[5]
62	São Bernardo do Campo	838,936	2015E	São Paulo	Brazil[17]
63	Naucalpan de Juárez	834,434	2020C	Mexico City	Mexico[13]
64	Sakai	826,447	2020C	Osaka	Japan[3]
65	Soacha	826,700	2023E	Bogota	Colombia[25]
66	Seberang Perai	818,197	2010C	Penang	Malaysia[26]
67	Farwaniya	816,015	2015E	Kuwait City	Kuwait[22]
68	Mira-Bhayander	814,655	2011C	Mumbai Metropolitan Region	India[9]
69	Nova Iguaçu	821,128	2019E	Rio de Janeiro	Brazil[17]
70	Pasig	803,159	2020C	Manila	Philippines[6]
71	Kajang	795,522	2010C	Greater Kuala Lumpur	Malaysia[26]
72	Duque de Caxias	782,799	2022CP	Rio de Janeiro	Brazil[17]
73	Osasco	777,048	2022CP	São Paulo	Brazil[17]
74	Santo André	776,640	2022CP	São Paulo	Brazil[17]
75	La Plata	772,618	2022C	Buenos Aires	Argentina[27]
76	Hempstead	770,367	2016C	New York	United States[28]
77	Ansan	707,385	2019E	Seoul	South Korea[5]
78	Noida/Greater Noida	750,057	2011C	Central NCR	India[9]
79	Klang	744,062	2010C	Greater Kuala Lumpur	Malaysia[26]
80	Tlajomulco de Zúñiga	727,750	2020C	Greater Guadalajara	Mexico[13]
81	Sagamihara	725,302	2017E	Tokyo	Japan[3]
82	Emfuleni	733,445	2016E	Johannesburg	South Africa[4]
83	Mississauga	721,599	2016C	Greater Toronto Area	Canada[29][30]
84	Valenzuela	714,978	2020C	Manila	Philippines[6]
85	Bhiwandi	711,329	2011C	Mumbai Metropolitan Region	India[9]
86	Parañaque	714,978	2020C	Manila	Philippines[6]
87	Namyangju	709,307	2019E	Seoul	South Korea[5]
88	Subang Jaya	708,296	2010C	Greater Kuala Lumpur	Malaysia[26]
88	Chimalhuacán	705,153	2020C	Greater Mexico City	Mexico[13]
90	Dasmariñas	703,131	2020C	Manila	Philippines[6]
91	Tolyatti	699,367	2020C	Samara-Tolyatti-Syzran metropolitan area	Russia
92	Lomas de Zamora	698,418	2022C	Buenos Aires	Argentina[27]
93	Jaboatão dos Guararapes	702,298	2019E	Recife	Brazil[17]
94	Tlaquepaque	687,127	2020C	Greater Guadalajara	Mexico[13]
95	Tlalnepantla de Baz	672,202	2020C	Greater Mexico City	Mexico[13]
96	Soledad	691,900	2023E	Barranquilla	Colombia[25]
97	Contagem	663,855	2019E	Belo Horizonte	Brazil[17]
98	Bacoor	664,625	2020C	Manila	Philippines[6]
99	Apodaca	656,454	2020C	Greater Monterrey	Mexico[13]
100	San Jose del Monte	651,813	2020C	Manila	Philippines[6]
101	Gold Coast	650,000	2016E	Brisbane	Australia[31]

Satellite cities in China and Taiwan

In both the People's Republic of China and Republic of China, the designation of "city" often corresponds to administrative units such as prefecture-level or county-level jurisdictions, rather than to contiguous urbanized areas. These jurisdictions typically cover vast territories that include not only the urban core but also extensive rural zones, townships, and even geographically distinct settlements. Consequently, entire metropolitan areas can fall within a single city’s administrative boundaries, and satellite cities may exist either within or adjacent to these jurisdictions, depending on how urban agglomeration has occurred over time. An example is Wanzhou Urban District in Chongqing Municipality (a provincial-level entity), which, despite its designation as an urban district, is geographically separated by farmland from Chongqing’s core urban area and functions effectively as a satellite city.

The concept of a "city" in the PRC is further complicated by the existence of alternative urban definitions used in practice. These include delineations based on the dominant urbanized districts of a central city, or boundaries formed by infrastructure (e.g., roads and railways), natural features, or a combination thereof. The National Bureau of Statistics and other governmental bodies often refer to these areas as "urban districts", though this classification can include select counties or towns depending on local administrative arrangements. In some cases, counties or county-level districts, such as Handan County under Handan City (prefecture-level), are considered part of the greater urban area. In this context, districts like Congtai, Hanshan, and Fuxing are typically regarded as the core of urban Handan, with Handan County increasingly integrated as urban expansion progresses.

A particularly complex example is found in the Chaoshan Metropolitan Area, where the urban districts of Jieyang (a prefecture-level city) border those of the central city Shantou (also prefecture-level), creating a contiguous urban region that spans multiple municipalities. Furthermore, nested administrative structures complicate this arrangement: Jieyang, while a prefecture-level city, functions as a satellite of Shantou, and contains within its jurisdiction Puning, a county-level city that itself may act as a satellite of Shantou.

Rank	City	Population	Pop date	Type	Includes	Metropolitan area	Province/province-level municipality
1	Puning	2,054,703[32]	2010C	County-level city within Jieyang	entire city (县级市)	Greater Chaoshan	Guangdong
2	Jieyang	1,899,394[32]	2010C	adjacent Prefecture-level city	urban districts (市辖区)	Greater Chaoshan	Guangdong
3	Huilai County	1,097,615[32]	2010C	County within Jieyang	entire county (县)	Greater Chaoshan	Guangdong
4	Wanzhou District	859,662[33]	2010C	non contiguous urban district	single district (市辖区)	Greater Chongqing	Chongqing
5	Changshu City	929,124[34]	2010C	County-level city within Suzhou	Entire city (县级市)	Greater Suzhou	Jiangsu