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Biggest English-Speaking Cities

Name the most populous urban areas in the world where English is the most commonly-spoken first language.
Urban-area population according to citypopulation.de, January 2021
There is no major urban area in the United States where English is not the most common language
Quiz by Quizmaster
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Featured Quiz
Last updated: February 28, 2021
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First submittedApril 4, 2011
Times taken131,705
Average score66.7%
Rating4.38
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Population
City
21.8 m
New York City
17.6 m
Los Angeles
14.8 m
London
14.2 m
Johannesburg
9.65 m
Chicago
8.55 m
Washington D.C. /
Baltimore
7.75 m
San Francisco
7.90 m
Singapore
7.70 m
Boston
7.35 m
Philadelphia
7.65 m
Toronto
Population
City
7.30 m
Dallas
6.80 m
Houston
6.35 m
Miami
5.90 m
Atlanta
5.75 m
Detroit
5.40 m
Sydney
5.05 m
Melbourne
4.80 m
Phoenix
4.48 m
Seattle
4.48 m
Tampa
4.30 m
Cape Town
Population
City
3.80 m
Denver
3.48 m
Durban
3.50 m
Orlando
3.33 m
San Diego
3.20 m
Minneapolis
3.15 m
Birmingham
3.23 m
Brisbane
3.05 m
Cleveland
3.08 m
Manchester
2.80 m
Cincinnati
2.90 m
Vancouver
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103 Recent Comments
Sirlandlord
+4
Level 69
Aug 13, 2015
Shouldn't Glasgow be on here?
kiwiquizzer
+17
Level 68
Aug 5, 2016
Do they speak English there?
Quizmaster
+8
Level ∞
Feb 27, 2019
Lol
Sifhraven
+3
Level 72
Jun 20, 2019
Sort of...
ponnuki
+1
Level 58
Aug 11, 2016
Its population is just 1.2 million, should be at least 2 times larger to make this list.
brandybuck96
+8
Level 83
Sep 23, 2015
I misread "Durban" as "Durham" and thought, whoa, Durham's got a lot bigger lately.
HydratedMite
+1
Level 67
Mar 20, 2024
I did expect something in NC to be on here though, because it has gotten a lot bigger lately
punkasstony
+1
Level 67
Oct 8, 2015
3m people live in Manchester???? You sure about that?
fitheach
+8
Level 58
Jul 12, 2017
Probably the Greater Manchester area.
ribs3147
+2
Level 16
Feb 25, 2016
The metro areas always make everything so much more confusing
Quizmaster
+11
Level ∞
Jun 12, 2016
Why? It's a much better measure of city size than city population.
Sifhraven
+1
Level 72
Jun 20, 2019
I think because in everyday life you dont really use it/think of it that way. Though for quizzes and statistics it might be more convenient.
HydratedMite
+2
Level 67
Mar 20, 2024
I live in Dallas. See? I technically don't but I say I do because nobody knows what Plano is, outside of DFW of course. See? I did it again! Because it's one metro area!
IsleAuHaulte
+3
Level 90
Jun 26, 2019
The government defined "metropolitan" areas often contain enormous physical areas of rural land and thoroughly separate urban areas. China and the U.S. are notoriously bad for inflated population numbers in a "metro" area.

The U.S. Census does tabulate actual urbnaized areas, which often differ greatly. However, they bafflingly break down a few solidly continual urban areas such as Los Angeles and San Francisco into several urban areas, which leaves an underrepresentation of overall urban population. Go figure.

PanAmerica
+1
Level 65
Oct 14, 2024
Yes, San Francisco/Oakland and San Jose are usually counted as two separate metro areas. Same with Los Angeles/Anaheim and Riverside. But both examples are really one urban area each.
Findlay
+8
Level 82
Aug 9, 2016
Using just city population major world cities get reduced to small towns and expanses of suburban sprawl get turned into large cities. Metropolitan population much more closely reflects the real world reality than arbitrary and imaginary lines around cities. Take California - using city population San Francisco is just two Bakersfields. Go to one and then the other - that patently does not reflect the realities. In Australia the warping of reality is even plainer. What are the five largest cities in Australia? You might think Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth and Adelaide. Going by official city population it's Brisbane, Gold Coast, Moreton Bay, Canterbury, Central Coast.
Quizmaster
+6
Level ∞
Aug 10, 2016
Exactly! Not to mention the city of London with a population of 7,000 give or take.
QRU
+3
Level 74
Oct 24, 2016
Well, you're confusing the City of London with London. I still believe, that city populations are the better measurements. It is easy, to take the population of nearby cities into accountance, but figuring out, where a metro area ends or beginns is far harder and often arbitrary. City population may be counterintuitiv in many instances, but it is far more precise.
IsleAuHaulte
+2
Level 90
Jun 26, 2019
Actually, you're comparing the City of London with Greater London.
PanAmerica
+1
Level 65
Oct 15, 2024
Some metro and urban areas have multiple highly populated cities, but people often only know the main core city, like Mexico City.

How many people know all the cities within all the urban or metro areas in the world?

City populations can also be misleading. Spokane city has a population of about 230,000. The urban area is about 447,000. Even the metro area is only 600,000. Salt Lake City, on the other hand, has a smaller population of 200,000. However, its urban area is about 1.2 million, and the metro area is 1.3 million, and practically speaking, the urban area could include Provo-Orem, putting the population over 2 million.

loganite
+1
Level 90
Aug 9, 2016
Why is Accra, Ghana not on the list? citypopulation.de lists the metro area at over 4 million, and English is both the official language and the lingua franca.
ponnuki
+7
Level 58
Aug 11, 2016
Because it is about cities with English as the most commonly-spoken *first* language. Many people speak English in Accra, but most speak it as their second language, I would assume.
AlfieJMD
+1
Level 37
Aug 9, 2016
The greater Manchester urban area consists of Manchester, Bolton, Sale, Rochdale, Stockport and Salford, plus lots of smaller ares that bring it up to 3 million. Manchester itself only has 514 thousand.
CripplingVelocity
+3
Level 58
Sep 9, 2016
Man, doing urban area rather than city proper really makes a difference. Miami city proper has somewhat more than 600,000. Its urban area is practically ten times that.
ketchupkawawa
+1
Level 51
Jan 22, 2017
Cleveland and Cincy but no Columbus?
MCdoesgeography
+1
Level 69
Jul 29, 2023
Metro areas
Eliotbliss
+3
Level 73
Feb 9, 2017
Should accept San Jose, the city itself is larger than San Francisco and is as much the central city of the Bay Area as San Francisco. Also should accept St Paul, it is comparable in size to Minneapolis and is almost always mentioned together, twin cities or Minneapolis/St Paul.
mhoegg
+1
Level 71
Feb 11, 2017
What about Glasgow in Scotland ? I think its bigger tan Durban or Tampa.
ChaosLord
+1
Level 75
Aug 28, 2017
Glasgow's population is at around the 1 million mark.
pinkysbrain
+3
Level 84
Sep 14, 2020
I don't think its English they speak in Glasgow . Only joking Scots. och aye.
Tyacke
+1
Level 60
Aug 26, 2021
There are posh parts of Glasgow where English is spoken with greater clarity than many living in Manchester, Liverpool or Newcastle.
madmonte
+1
Level 72
Feb 21, 2017
Cape Town should be here
spoolygoo
+2
Level 76
Aug 8, 2024
It is.
jacobrayq
+1
Level 27
Mar 12, 2017
Completely forgot about Canada
GeographyMaster21
+2
Level 34
Mar 14, 2017
Could you accept Philidelphia??
fitheach
+9
Level 58
Jul 12, 2017
Could you learn to spell the city's name correctly?
ooftownroad
+2
Level 62
Oct 6, 2023
ive lived in the us for 15 years and still cant spell it
SnoopDoge
+1
Level 30
Aug 29, 2017
lmao no way toronto has 7.1 million people
chaddo
+2
Level 43
Sep 12, 2017
Yes, the Urban area does
Gigalol12
+1
Level 55
Oct 8, 2017
Damn, i thought that Spanish is more commonly spoken in San Diego, Houston and Miami
Gigalol12
+1
Level 55
Oct 8, 2017
and Phoenix
siamesedreamer
+2
Level 26
Nov 5, 2017
Lagos, Accra, Cape Town. Also Columbus has a higher population than Cleveland or Cincinatti, no matter which number you take.
Stursi
+1
Level 40
Nov 24, 2017
What about Karachi?
Quizmaster
+3
Level ∞
Feb 27, 2019
Urdu by a huge margin. Then Punjabi and Pashto.
mcb95
+3
Level 22
Aug 7, 2018
I live in Cincinnati but I just totally missed it
caesaria
+1
Level 79
Aug 11, 2018
I was very doubtful about Durban, but in the 2011 census 49.75% gave English as their first language, when in 2001 it was only 29%. So I guess that is enough to count for this quiz.
kraikk
+2
Level 15
Nov 16, 2018
Singapore should be included. According Wikipedia (which in turn cites a reliable source), 36.9% speak English as the "language most frequently spoken at home", just ahead of Mandarin at 34.9%. By your criteria that makes it a city where English is the most spoken first language. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Singapore#Languages
Quizmaster
+1
Level ∞
Feb 27, 2019
Yes this has changed recently. The quiz has been updated.
Raptorgeo
+1
Level 37
Nov 16, 2018
I live in Cincinnati and can tell you the metro population is around 2.2 million. Are you including all of southwest Ohio as Cincinnati?
Lanso
+1
Level 49
Jan 17, 2019
I got 24 but missed DC. I feel a little dumb...
DaffyDucktheWizard
+2
Level 63
Feb 28, 2019
Where's San Antonio? And Jacksonville?
Quizmaster
+1
Level ∞
Mar 26, 2019
Not big enough.
JackintheBox
+1
Level 80
Mar 1, 2019
I'm surprised by the high average score! I got 28, which is the average score at beats or equals 36.3% of test takers
JackintheBox
+1
Level 80
Mar 11, 2020
I keep forgetting Cleveland and Cincinnati on quizzes that include them.
NDAWG07
+1
Level 20
Oct 13, 2021
oof
Findlay
+2
Level 82
Mar 5, 2019
So I take it that Singapore population figure takes in Johor Bahru too? Cos it is quite a bit bigger than the population of the Republic of Singapore. I suspect with it included, Mandarin once again overtakes English as the most spoken first language, though I can't find precise figures for Johor Bahru to get the totals for the whole metro area.
Mark1232
+1
Level 66
Mar 26, 2019
Sydney is not on here, but I believe it is supposed to be. Am I right?
Quizmaster
+1
Level ∞
Mar 26, 2019
No, Sydney is on the list.
InternetSpider
+3
Level 53
Apr 11, 2019
apparently the urban population of Boston is greater than the entire population of Massachusetts?
jtb77
+1
Level 36
Apr 11, 2019
That would be because the Boston CSA incorporates other states.
joshxgarrett
+1
Level 62
Apr 11, 2019
Can you accept St Paul for Minneapolis?
tee111
+1
Level 69
Apr 11, 2019
Another Minnesotan passing this blizzardy day with some JetPunk? I am. : )
gzx5
+1
Level 72
Apr 11, 2019
Most people in Montreal know English. A lot of people from there also talk like the most of the rest of North America.
Sifhraven
+1
Level 72
Jun 20, 2019
Same with the netherlands, though it is not what is spoken at home. (though it does seems to go to english more and more. A lot of sentences sneak in. Kids 4 year old say ready set go, before they do something like race eachother. Instead of a phrase that has allways been used here, (klaar voor de start, af). And I can give you many many more examples, little kids talk to eachother and their parents in english for fun. But like I said above, a lot of everyday sentences have been replaced by english ones.

Not just kids. Saying "ready?" When you are about to leave and waiting for the other person, is normal and used as much as the dutch version by adults. "Nice" has replaced its counterpart. "No way!" is normal. The list is rather big. So I'll stop now ;)

MDW
+1
Level 53
Apr 14, 2019
You would be safe to add Accra. Most people in Ghana speak English, and most English speakers use it as their primary language. No other African language comes close in terms of exclusive use. However, Accra and Kumasi aren't populous enough to make the list.
cpgatbyu
+1
Level 86
Aug 26, 2021
Accra is large enough now. (5.2 million)
CapitalAce
+1
Level 57
Aug 29, 2021
It is not their first language, though. Having been to Accra several times, I also find it hard to believe that most people speak English at all.
Marijn96
+1
Level 45
Jun 17, 2019
Only 18% of Johannesburg and 27% of cape town speak english as first language
Sifhraven
+1
Level 72
Jun 20, 2019
It could still be the most commonly spoken first language. When other languages have a lower percentage. (since several languages are spoke there. 27% english speaking does not mean that 73% speaks ONE other language, but the 73% is all the other languages together)
Sifhraven
+1
Level 72
Jun 20, 2019
Interesting quiz ! lowest I got were orlando and capetown, highest I missed were san diego and detroit.
IsleAuHaulte
+1
Level 90
Jun 26, 2019
Interesting there's only 1 city in England left in the top 25.
JackintheBox
+1
Level 80
Mar 11, 2020
Actually three—London, Birmingham and Manchester.
JackintheBox
+1
Level 80
Jul 3, 2020
Oh, you mean top 25.
thelfckid07
+1
Level 26
Jul 13, 2019
100% with 30 seconds to go! :)
stapper
+2
Level 47
Jan 13, 2020
Cape town is Afrikaans talig
DonTheLamplighter
+1
Level 85
Mar 19, 2020
I get Durban (26%), but miss Toronto (79%). What a dope, eh? SMH
callofduty45
+1
Level 55
Apr 17, 2020
atlanta is the bane of my existence
ReAvSi9278
+1
Level 50
May 21, 2020
Was Expecting Karachi, Delhi, Mumbai and other Indian and Pakistani cities
jbro
+1
Level 71
Sep 9, 2020
Orlando?
Aaron197
+1
Level 74
Nov 15, 2020
Cape Town's most common first language is Afrikaans according to Wikipedia.
SpencerGT
+1
Level 68
Mar 15, 2021
Totally forgot that Los Angeles was an English-speaking city for a moment ahah.
Fuse
+1
Level 79
Mar 17, 2021
Some of the population numbers aren't in descending order
ornei
+1
Level 64
Jul 19, 2021
I noticed that too. I think it might be that they were in descending order when the quiz was created in 2014, but since then, the population figures have been updated without reordering them.
Anderis
+2
Level 71
Jul 19, 2021
Wikipedia states that English is only 3rd most spoken language in Cape Town after Afrikaans and Xhosa.
EvanAviator
+1
Level 59
Aug 31, 2021
(2011)
cmr0
+1
Level 72
Apr 27, 2023
So what? It couldn't change that much in 10 years
KennethTAA
+1
Level 62
May 10, 2023
it could
mhill
+1
Level 47
Oct 9, 2021
How could I forget about London
bmore
+1
Level 50
May 18, 2022
baltimore and dc are very different cities
Atzuul
+1
Level 41
Jul 18, 2022
I expected Jacksonville to be here instead of Miami bc Miami is infested with spanish speakers while Jacksonville has a higher population and over there I’ve seen more English speakers
PjotrL
+2
Level 75
Nov 21, 2022
Much has been written on the topic and I'll just add to it. If we are stating "first-language", South African cities are not likely to be included (even taking in the concentration in cities). However, if it is about what is mostly spoken or understood including 2nd level or non-native, South Africa (and others) might very well be on this list.
Jonney
+1
Level 57
May 1, 2023
How are Cincinatti and Cleveland on here but not Columbus. Google says that Columbus is far bigger than both.
Atzuul
+1
Level 41
May 25, 2023
this is based on urban areas
Atzuul
+1
Level 41
May 25, 2023
i mean singapore and the other south african cities like johannesburg and cape town are technically true there can also be many others in those cities that also speak different languages, for example singapore also speaks mandarin, tamil, and malay, while south africa also speaks, afrikaans, zulu, xhosa, swazi, etc
Jonney
+1
Level 57
May 30, 2023
Why are the answers not in order? Toronto has more people than Philly and is lower, same with Vancouver and Cincinatti.
MrBubbles
+2
Level 66
Sep 6, 2023
Just a minor nitpick, but I think the caveat is wrong in saying that there are no major urban areas in the US where English is not the most common first language, because of San Juan.
SpartanLlama
+1
Level 70
Oct 8, 2023
Ah forgot about South Africa
TheMinecrafterAU
+2
Level 41
Nov 9, 2023
Isn't Miami majority-Spanish speaking?
AllOfSanMarino
+1
Level 65
Nov 14, 2023
Caveats.
ZachBeth
+2
Level 62
Dec 20, 2023
Hong Kong?
Dollyfroggy
+1
Level 61
Apr 8, 2024
The cities aren't sorted properly, mostly in the 7 millions but also in the 3 and 2 millions.
Samik
+1
Level 27
Jul 6, 2024
Singapore definitely does not have more than 7 million people. In fact, its populalation was around 5.9 million in 2021
spoolygoo
+1
Level 76
Aug 8, 2024
The numbers of the last two should be reversed.
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