People per sq. mile: 52,946
The first two cities on the list come from the same metro area: the National Capital Region of the Philippines. In fact, the Metro Manila area is so dense, that 7 cities from the urban zone make it on the list of most densely populated cities in the world. San Juan has 86% more people per square mile than NYC, and we’re only going to get more crowded from here.
(image via Wikimedia)
People per sq. mile: 53,554
Passay is another incorporated city that sits within the Manila metro area. The city is home to nearly a half million people covering an area less than the size of Hot Springs National Park in the U.S.
(Image via Instagram)
People per sq. mile: 53,670
Howrah is just across the Hooghly River from Kolkata, itself a member on this list. Even though it doesn’t rank in the top 25 of India’s most populous cities, Howrah comes in at #5 in the country when looking at population density.
(image via Facebook)
People per sq. mile: 53,717
In spite of its crowdedness (or maybe that’s the cause of it?), Nea Smyrni has many green spaces and parks. Like much of the Athens metro area, multilevel apartments with balconies dominate the cityscape.
(image via Instagram)
People per sq. mile: 54,695
Mislata won’t win any awards when it comes to total population, especially since it sits next to the third largest city in Spain. But the city crams nearly 50,000 into a space that isn’t even an entire square mile. The majority of the city is apartment-style dwellings with shops at street level.
(image via Instagram)
People per sq. mile: 53,717
This small (in size) suburb of Athens actually borders the Mediterranean Sea. While it has lost 14% of its population since 1981, the area is still the second most densely habited in Greece.
(image via Instagram)
People per sq. mile: 54,790
This autonomous Special Administrative Region occupies two main islands off China’s coast and utilizes some reclaimed land to fill in the rest of the space. The city-island area is basically the Las Vegas of Asia and features many high-profile casinos.
(image via Flickr)
People per sq. mile: 55,673
The Paris metro area has around 12.5 million inhabitants but only about 2 million of them are in Paris proper. Even so, they are a crowded bunch. For example, Paris has nearly twice the density of New York City.
(image via Flickr)
People per sq. mile: 55,958
Pasig is another city in the Manila, Philippines metro area. At one time a rural settlement outside of Manila proper, the city is now home to the Ortigas Center business district, complete with multiple skyscrapers and a large shopping mall.
(image via Instagram)
People per sq. mile: 58,577
You might be surprised that the only American city in the top 30 isn’t NYC. Instead, it’s Guttenberg, New Jersey, just across the Hudson River from the 79th Street Boat Basin. Its skyline is dominated by the trio of Galaxy Towers that house nearly 1/5 of Guttenberg’s population.
(image via Wikimedia)
People per sq. mile: 58,607
We’re back to the Philippines again with another city in the Manila metro area. Sometimes Malabon is facetiously called the Venice of Manila due to its location among the river basin abutting Manila Bay. It is prone to frequent flooding, even just from high tides, and is currently sinking further below sea level.
(image via Pinterest)
People per sq. mile: 59,559
If it’s an island, it most likely is on this list. And that’s the case with Malé, too. The capital of the Maldives occupies Kaafu Atoll, so there’s a limited amount of space to be had. Basically, a third of the island nation’s population lives on this built-up urban mass.
(image via Flickr)
People per sq. mile: 59,705
Just outside Paris' southern city limits lies Montrouge (aka mont-rouge or “red mountain”). Once an artist haven in the 1900s, the area was somewhat neglected. Now it’s a trendy Parisian “suburb” that is seeing its population climb and climb.
(image via Pinterest)
People per sq. mile: 60,186
The densest population center in Greece isn’t around Athens; it’s in northern Greece’s Thessaloniki urban area. Just up the hill from the coast, much of the neighborhood surround a sports complex featuring soccer fields, gyms, public pools, and the ocean club.
(image via Instagram)
People per sq. mile: 61,972
Kathmandu is situated within Nepal’s bowl-shaped Kathmandu Valley and is surrounded on all sides by the tall mountains of the Himalayas. The constrained geography concentrates the city’s population into a high density.
(image via Flickr)
People per sq. mile: 62,404
Sitting just outside of the Brussels pentagon (the city center), Saint-Josse-ten-Noode is a predominantly residential area with easy access to the country’s economic hub. On average, the city has the oldest buildings of the entire Brussels metro area.
(image via Instagram)
People per sq. mile: 62,813
Similar to other megacities in South and Southeast Asia, Kolkata’s already high population density is probably much higher than the “official” count. As much as a fourth of the area’s residents live in unregistered slums (lacking municipal services and devoid of authorized estimates).
(image via Flickr)
People per sq. mile: 64,031
Bally is across the river from Kolkata and the northern neighbor of Howrah (the 28th city on the list). It is known for its historic temples, and with places of worship come people.
(image via Facebook)
People per sq. mile: 65,115
Saint-Mandé is just to the east of Paris’ boundaries. Its density is equal to 102 people occupying the space of a football field without the end zones. Thank goodness residents can escape to the Vincennes Zoo nearby.
(image via Instagram)
People per sq. mile: 66,371
Directly bordering Saint-Mandé, Vincennes has double its neighbor’s population on double the amount of land, enough to edge it just ahead in the rankings of most densely populated.
(image via Flickr)
People per sq. mile: 66,961
Chennai is India’s fourth-most populous urban area and its second-most densely populated. The city itself has around 4.5 million people, and the whole urban area is about double that. That comes out to the population of New York City crowded into an area about the size of New Orleans.
(image via Flickr)
People per sq. mile: 67,047
Le Pré-Saint-Gervais is outside Paris’ northeast corner. An upper-class area with easy links into the city center, it is continually drawing more people, placing in the top 10 most crowded cities in the world.
(image via Facebook)
People per sq. mile: 68,458
Levallois-Perret is Europe’s densest incorporated area. It lies between the Paris city center (the cultural heart) and La Défense (the economic heart). That perfect positioning has drawn over 63,000 people into a space under a square mile in area.
(image via Instagram)
People per sq. mile: 72,302
Caloocan is officially comprised of two unconnected areas within Metro Manila, but even with both areas, it still is one of the most densely populated in the world. Imagine the population of Philadelphia within an area 85% smaller.
(image via Pinterest)
People per sq. mile: 73,159
Tel Aviv is a famous cosmopolitan coastal city in Israel. Many people might be surprised that just outside its official boundaries is a small city comprised mostly intensely Orthodox Jews. If you don’t like apartment dwelling, you won’t like living here.
(image via Instagram)
People per sq. mile: 73,583
Dhaka is the most populous cities proper in the entire world. The metropolitan area of almost 14.5 million is crammed into an area the size of Little Rock, Arkansas. Needless to say, elbow room is at a premium.
(image via Flickr)
People per sq. mile: 73,837
Mumbai is the 6th most populous city proper in the entire world and is home to India’s famous Bollywood Indian cinema industry. Its density is equivalent to Chicago having a third more residents.
(image via Flickr)
People per sq. mile: 79,114
This city is famous for two things. The first is it being the home of the duck-raising industry and, therefore, balut (boiled duck embryo) is a popular street food. It’s also famous for cramming 64,000 people into an area just over half a square mile in size.
(image via Instagram)
People per sq. mile: 97,350
Cairo is the second most populated city on the whole continent of Africa. Imagine if the entire New York-Newark-Jersey City metropolitan area occupied a space the size of Chicago.
(image via Facebook)
People per sq. mile: 107,561
The most densely populated incorporated area in the world is Manila proper. Within the city limits are 1.7 million people. If Manila were a football field, you’d need to cram 161 people onto it and live comfortably. That’s 278% greater than New York City’s density!
(image via Flickr)
