The mayors of the world's twenty largest cities are each responsible for more people than most national prime ministers. For example, London has more residents than nations like Paraguay, Denmark, New Zealand or Ireland.

 

These are some of the findings of the City Mayors 2010 survey The world's largest Cities and their Mayors.

 

According to the survey, in 2010 there are eight megacities (metropolitan areas with a total population in excess of 10 million people): Karachi, Mumbai, Delhi, Buenos Aires, Seoul, Jakarta, Manila and Sao Paulo. Shanghai and Istanbul, with populations of more than nine million, are placed 9th and 10th in the list of largest cities in the world.

 

London and Paris, with a population of around 12 million inhabitants, are the most populous metropolitan areas in the European Union, followed by Madrid and Berlin.

 

The survey's ranking of the largest cities is based on the population of actual cities and, although providing the data, does not include people living in adjoining metropolitan areas. The research was carried out in late 2009 and early 2010.