Americas

=== Largest urban centers ===
{{See also|Largest cities in the Americas|List of metropolitan areas in the Americas by population}}

There are three urban centers that each hold titles for being the largest population area based on the three main demographic concepts:<ref name=wider>{{cite web
 |url=http://www.wider.unu.edu/stc/repec/pdfs/wp2010/wp2010-12.pdf 
 |title=Urban Settlement 
 |work=Working Paper No. 2010/12 
 |author1=[[David E. Bloom]] |author2=[[David Canning]] |author3=Günther Fink |author4=Tarun Khanna |author5=Patrick Salyer 
 |location=Helsinki 
 |publisher=[[World Institute for Development Economics Research]] 
 |access-date=May 29, 2011 
 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110613200208/http://www.wider.unu.edu/stc/repec/pdfs/wp2010/wp2010-12.pdf 
 |archive-date=June 13, 2011 
 |url-status=dead 
}}</ref>
* [[City proper]]
:A city proper is the locality with legally fixed boundaries and an administratively recognized urban status that is usually characterized by some form of local government.<ref>{{cite web |last=Kästle |first=Klaus |url=http://www.nationsonline.org/oneworld/most_pop_cities_usa.htm |title=United States most populated cities |publisher=Nationsonline.org |date=August 31, 2009 |access-date=July 26, 2010| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20100722100011/http://www.nationsonline.org/oneworld/most_pop_cities_usa.htm| archive-date= July 22, 2010 | url-status= live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://esa.un.org/unup/index.asp?panel=6 |title=World Urbanization Prospects: The 2007 Revision Population Database |publisher=United Nations |access-date=July 26, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100822053414/http://esa.un.org/unup/index.asp?panel=6 |archive-date=August 22, 2010 |url-status=dead |df=mdy-all }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://millenniumindicators.un.org/unsd/demographic/sconcerns/densurb/densurbanNotes.htm|title=United Nations Statistics Division – Demographic and Social Statistics|publisher=Millenniumindicators.un.org|access-date=July 26, 2010|archive-date=June 23, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110623192351/http://millenniumindicators.un.org/unsd/demographic/sconcerns/densurb/densurbanNotes.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Demographic Yearbook 2005, Volume 57|year=2008|publisher=United Nations|isbn=978-92-1-051099-8|page=756|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OwfGJtkpCbwC&q=locality%20with%20legally%20fixed%20boundaries%20and%20an%20administratively%20recognized%20urban%20status%20that%20is%20usually%20characterized%20by%20some%20form%20of%20local%20government&pg=PA241|access-date=July 19, 2010}}{{Dead link|date=June 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |author1=United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs|title=Demographic yearbook, 2000 |year=2002 |publisher= United Nations Publications, 2002|isbn=92-1-051091-7 |page=23 }}</ref>
* [[Urban area]]
:An urban area is characterized by higher population density and vast human features in comparison to areas surrounding it. Urban areas may be cities, towns or conurbations, but the term is not commonly extended to rural settlements such as villages and hamlets. Urban areas are created and further developed by the process of urbanization and do not include large swaths of rural land, as do metropolitan areas.{{citation needed|date=October 2018}}
* [[Metropolitan area]]
:Unlike an urban area, a metropolitan area includes not only the urban area, but also satellite cities ''plus intervening rural land'' that is socio-economically connected to the urban core city, typically by employment ties through commuting, with the urban core city being the primary labor market.{{citation needed|date=October 2018}}

In accordance with these definitions, the three largest population centers in the Americas are: [[Mexico City]], anchor to the largest metropolitan area in the Americas; New York City, anchor to the largest urban area in the Americas; and São Paulo, the largest city proper in the Americas. All three cities maintain [[Global city#Alpha|Alpha]] classification and large scale influence.
<gallery class="center" widths="230" heights="200" caption="Urban centers within the Americas">
File:Mexico City Reforma skyline (cropped).jpg|[[Greater Mexico City|Mexico City]] – largest metropolitan area in the Americas, with a population of 22,300,000 in 2017
File:CENU, São Paulo, Brasil (cropped).jpg|[[São Paulo]] – largest city in the Americas, with a population of 12,038,175 (city) in 2016
File:Luchtfoto van Lower Manhattan.jpg|[[New York metropolitan area|New York City]] – largest urban area in the Americas, with a population of 18,351,295 in 2010
</gallery>
{| class="sortable wikitable"
|-
!Country
!City
!City Population
!Metro Area Population
|-
|Mexico||[[Mexico City]]
|8,864,000
|22,300,000<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.conapo.gob.mx/work/models/CONAPO/Resource/1206/2/images/Proyecciones_de_Poblacion_ZM.xlsx|title=Proyecciones de la población de las zonas metropolitanas, 2010–2030|publisher=Consejo Nacional de Población (CONAPO)|language=es|access-date=January 9, 2016}}</ref>
|-
|Brazil||[[São Paulo]]
|12,038,175
|21,742,939<ref>{{cite web|title=Cidade de São Paulo chega a 12 milhões de habitantes|url=http://sao-paulo.estadao.com.br/noticias/geral,cidade-de-sao-paulo-chega-a-12-milhoes-de-habitantes,10000072909|publisher=Estadao|language=pt|access-date=August 30, 2016}}</ref>
|-
|United States||[[New York City]]
|8,405,837<ref>{{cite news|title=New York City Population Hits Record High|url=https://blogs.wsj.com/metropolis/2014/03/27/new-york-city-population-hits-record-high/|website=The Wall Street Journal|date=March 27, 2014|access-date=September 6, 2014|last1=Saul|first1=Michael Howard}}</ref>
|19,949,502<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.census.gov |title=Annual Estimates of the Resident Population: April 1, 2010 to July 1, 2013 – United States – Metropolitan Statistical Area; and for Puerto Rico |website=Census Bureau |access-date=September 6, 2014 |df=mdy }}</ref>
|-
|Argentina||[[Buenos Aires]]
|2,891,082<ref name=indecpop/>
|15,594,428<ref name=indecpop/>
|-
|United States||[[Los Angeles]]
|3,928,864<ref>[https://www.census.gov/content/dam/Census/newsroom/releases/2015/cb15-89_graphic.jpg 1 Million Milestone] US Census Bureau</ref>
|13,131,431<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.census.gov |title=U.S. Census website |author1=Data Access and Dissemination Systems |work=census.gov |df=mdy }}</ref>
|}