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10 Closest Megacities to New York City

Name the ten cities nearest to New York that have an urban area population greater than 10 million.
Urban area population, not city proper
According to citypopulation.de, January 2022
Chicago is slightly less than 10 million
Quiz by relessness
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Last updated: April 5, 2022
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First submittedSeptember 25, 2017
Times taken52,505
Average score80.0%
Rating4.51
2:30
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km
city
miles
3358
Mexico City
2087
3945
Los Angeles
2451
4009
Bogotá
2491
5586
London
3471
5850
Lima
3635
km
city
miles
5853
Paris
3637
7530
Moscow
4679
7657
São Paulo
4758
7731
Rio de Janeiro
4804
8089
Istanbul
5026
49 Comments
+9
Level 72
Sep 25, 2017
Maybe it's just the source data, but Bogotá might qualify here. The city proper has a population of about 8.0 million. Estimates I've seen put the greater metropolitan area at 10.0 million. If not already, it will be at/over that mark very soon.
+23
Level ∞
Sep 27, 2017
Bogota is at 9.5 million, according to citypopulation.de, so no doubt it will be added to the list within the next few years.
+3
Level 76
Sep 28, 2017
And Chicago is currently listed on citypopulation.de at 9.8 million, so expect that one to appear here soon too.
+9
Level 66
Dec 8, 2018
Jerry928 it could happen, but it's not for certain. A lot of people have been leaving Illinois in recent years. I believe there's still net growth so Chicago will probably make the list, but it's not definite.
+11
Level ∞
Feb 10, 2020
Both Bogota and Chicago seem to be in a hovering pattern. I wouldn't be surprised if Chicago starts falling...
+3
Level 62
Feb 25, 2021
Chicago itself is shrinking very slowly, so basically stalling, but the metro area is still growing slowly and could be on here in the next few years.
+7
Level ∞
Mar 3, 2021
And Chicago is on the way down. It seems unlikely now that Chicago will ever reach megacity status.
+4
Level 76
May 12, 2022
I don't know if anyone else does this, but if you've got a pretty good handle on which cities qualify at the source as megacities, quizzes like this sometimes need an extra challenge. I was just wondering if there's any way to make quizzes for which a person would only get a certain number of wrong answers (sort of a three-strikes rule, though it need not be three). I did this mentally for this one (and didn't get to the end before "striking out"). My guess is that this is not such a special idea, that others have thought of it, and that it's just not possible. True?
+2
Level 59
May 12, 2022
I think that's interesting, but it could run into problems with type-ins. I've thought of it before and it would be cool if they added it, but I like to just see if I make it in my head or not. I got lucky this time with all 10, but normally I strike out.
+8
Level 85
Sep 27, 2017
I get Lagos about 5268 miles from New York City using Google Map's measurement tool. What does your source say?
+7
Level 47
Sep 27, 2017
My source had it 0.4 km further away than Buenos Aires
+26
Level 77
Sep 27, 2017
.4 km? wow! in that case I would suggest allowing it as a type-in
+1
Level 78
Sep 27, 2017
Good quiz! can you please list the source?
+24
Level 76
Sep 28, 2017
I have the distance 8482 km to Lagos and 8536 km to Buenos Aires. NY and BA are 80 km across, and Lagos is 60 km across, so depending where in each city you measure from, you can argue it either way. Maybe expand the quiz to 12 answers and save the debate?
+1
Level 60
May 1, 2021
.4 km!? Wow...
+1
Level 60
Jan 13, 2022
According to Google Earth, Buenos Aires is 4892 km from New York, and Lagos 4848 km from New York.

(If you measure from the dot in the middle of every city)

+1
Level 75
Jan 7, 2018
Good idea Jerry: add Lagos and Cairo and we're done :)
+2
Level 66
Jan 7, 2018
I got 100% first try by getting Istanbul on the last three seconds.
+1
Level 63
Jan 7, 2018
Considering that Lima, Rio and São Paulo are listed it seems obvious that Bogota should be included. Mega cities, as referred to in this quiz, must mean megalopolises as far as this quiz goes so consider more of them (e.,g., Chicago, Houston, Dallas, San Francisco) that are in the U.S.
+5
Level 67
Jan 7, 2018
The quiz says it requires urban area populations over 10 million. So those cities likely don't qualify.
+9
Level 89
Aug 16, 2018
Dallas and Houston are mega parking plazas, not cities.
+1
Level 60
Aug 2, 2021
I am sick of people not knowing what a megacity is! There are like a million megacity quizzes on jetpunk, and ZERO consider Dallas, Houston, San Francisco, or Chicago a Megacity!
+2
Level 64
May 12, 2022
While I agree with you, don’t forget that 99% of those quizzes have been by the same person (Quizmaster).

Your point is still valid if you consider the description, where it explicitly says every time that only cities above 10m are considered.

+2
Level 62
Jul 9, 2022
True but he didn't make it up out of thin air: "United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs in its 2018 "World Urbanization Prospects" report counted urban agglomerations having over 10 million inhabitants"
+1
Level 83
Jan 8, 2018
Lima with one second to go for 100%!
+1
Level 36
Jan 9, 2018
Didn't think Buenos aires was so populous, knew it was big but didn't think it was that big.
+1
Level 55
Feb 3, 2018
Yes! Almost 16 millions people live there
+2
Level 37
Jan 9, 2018
My mental map of the world sucks, so I registered Tokyo, thinking it was close to the west coast of USA. I also though Moscow was practically across the world from NYC
+1
Level 58
Jan 19, 2018
Moscow and New York are both well on the northern hemisphere. Across the the world from NYC is somewhere off the west coast of Australia.
+1
Level 56
Feb 25, 2019
Lagos (pop. 21 million) is slightly closer to New York than Buenos Aires. Lagos is 8,467 kms from New York, whereas Buenos Aires is 8,521 kms.
+1
Level 66
Apr 18, 2019
Lima is not a metacity
+6
Level 68
Apr 18, 2019
Yes it is
+1
Level 89
Jan 21, 2020
It's not even a betacity on the global index.
+1
Level 46
Sep 13, 2020
Missed Istanbul and Lima
+1
Level 62
Mar 27, 2021
what about Lagos?
+1
Level 74
Mar 27, 2021
This should be updated to add Bogota
+1
Level ∞
Mar 27, 2021
Nope.
+2
Level 62
Mar 27, 2021
Bogota has 9.8M
+1
Level 60
Aug 2, 2021
Come on people! Is Bogota on the Megacities on a map quiz? No! Now stop asking for Bogota. Sure, ask for Lagos, it’s reasonable, but Bogota is NOT a Megacity yet.
+3
Level 66
Mar 28, 2021
Now you begin to realize the curse of Mercator maps!
+3
Level 75
Mar 28, 2021
Mercator is a great map! The idea of a 2D map on which a north is always up and straight lines are true is simply superb.
+2
Level 82
Apr 4, 2022
I believe Bogota needs to be added to this list now as it is now featured on the mega cities of the world quiz.
+2
Level ∞
Apr 5, 2022
Added
+2
Level 71
May 12, 2022
Maybe a sister quiz of the 10 megacities farthest from NYC? I have a hunch that my city Mumbai might feature in the top 10.
+3
Level 68
May 12, 2022
Chicago is always slightly less than 10 million.
+1
Level 69
May 12, 2022
Good to know
+1
Level 69
May 12, 2022
Just missed Lima, interesting quiz because of how few major cities that come to mind qualify as megacities.
+1
Level 61
May 6, 2023
10/10 harder than i thought.
+1
Level 66
Feb 23, 2024
Istanbul being closer to NYC than Buenos Aires seems insane to me