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May 30, 2024 Graphics/Design:

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Mapped: Chinese Provinces With Cities Over 1 Million People

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Almost two-thirds of the 1.4 billion Chinese population lives in an urban area. But how does this play out across the country’s geography?

This map shows the Chinese provinces with cities over a million residents. Data for this graphic is sourced from citypopulation.de.

Ranked: Chinese Provinces With Cities Over 1 Million People

China’s Guangdong province has 17 cities with a population size of 1 million or more. It is also China’s most populous province, home to 127 million people. This makes it comparable to the size of Japan, the 12th most populous country in the world.

RankProvinceCities With 1 Million People 1Guangdong17 2Jiangsu12 3Shandong9 4Hebei6 5Zhejiang6 6Liaoning5 7Guangxi*4 8Henan4 9Anhui3 10Fujian3 11Heilongjiang3 12Hubei3 13Hunan3 14Inner Mongolia*3 15Jiangxi3 16Jilin2 17Gansu2 18Shaanxi2 19Shanxi2 20Sichuan2 21Xinjiang*2 22Beijing**1 23Chongqing**1 24Guizhou1 25Hainan1 26Ningxia*1 27Qinghai1 28Shanghai**1 29Tianjin**1 30Yunnan1 31Hong Kong***1 32Macao***1
*Autonomous Region. **Direct-Administered Municipality. ***Special Administrative Region.

Jiangsu, ranked fourth in population overall, is the only other province which has 10+ cities with a million or more inhabitants.

Meanwhile, some of China’s most populous cities—Shanghai, Beijing, Tianjin, and Chongqing—are administered directly by the central government, and do not fall under provincial control.

In fact, Shanghai and Beijing have informal “population caps” to prevent them from growing larger, in a bid to reduce pollution, overcrowding, and pressure on public services.

On the other hand, Tibet’s cold climes and rugged terrain make for a sparsely-populated area, totalling 3 million people across 1.2 million km². Tibet is the only province-level division in China without a single city over a million residents.

All together, China has