Dhaka Now World’s Second Most Populous City

By Bhanu Ranjan Chakraborty

DHAKA: Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh, has overtaken Tokyo, Japan, to become the world’s second most populous city.

Dhaka was second to Jakarta, the capital of Indonesia, the ‘World Urbanization Prospects 2025’ issued by the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA) said.

According to the list, 41 million people currently live in Jakarta, the world’s most populous city, 4.4 million more than Dhaka with its 36.6 million inhabitants.

The Bangladeshi capital has moved up from ninth to second, and the rate at which the city’s population is increasing it will replace Jakarta as the world’s most populous city by 2050, the United Nations has predicted.

The city has dropped to third place as Tokyo’s population is relatively stable. The city currently has a population of around 33.4 million.

The report identifies the influx of people from rural areas to the city as the main reason for Dhaka’s rapid population growth.

Due to floods and rising sea levels due to climate change, many people are being displaced and are entering Dhaka in search of livelihood.

Jakarta, a coastal city located on the western coast of Indonesia’s densely populated island of Java, is also under major environmental risk.

The report states that a quarter of the city is likely to be submerged under water by 2050 due to rising sea levels.

The UN report said that Asia also dominated the list of top 10 megacities (cities with a population of more than 10 million).

Of the world’s 33 megacities, 19 are located in Asia. Other Asian cities in the top 10 include New Delhi, India (32 million), Shanghai, China (29.6 million), Guangzhou (27.6 million), Manila, Philippines (24.7 million), Kolkata, India (22.5 million) and Seoul, South Korea (22.5 million).

The only city outside Asia in the top 10 is Cairo, Egypt. The city has a population of 32 million.

In 1975, there were only eight megacities in the world.