Largest urban centers

There are three urban centers that each hold titles for being the largest population area based on the three main demographic concepts:

• 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.

• 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.

• 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.

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 Alpha classification and large scale influence.

Country	City	City Population	Metro Area Population
Mexico	Mexico City	8,864,000	20,116,842
United States	New York City	8,405,837	19,949,502
Brazil	São Paulo	11,821,876	19,889,559