World Population Day 2014: Top 10 Most Populous Cities Revealed

The urban population of the world has grown rapidly in recent years and more than half the population now lives in urban areas across the world. The urban population has increased from 746 million in 1950 to 3.9 billion in 2014.

According to a report released by the United Nations, 54% of the world's population lives in cities and the number is expected to surpass 66% by 2050.

The report also notes that India, China and Nigeria will account for 37% of the world's urban population.

The UN report predicts that by 2050 India will top the chart with 404 million urban inhabitants while China will come second with 292 million city population and Nigeria will be the third with 212 million urban dwellers.

Here is the list of world's most populated cities as reported by the UN.

1. Tokyo, Japan : Tokyo tops the list and remains the world's largest city with 38 million dwellers.

Though the UN has predicted a decline in the city's population, it will still remain the world's most populous city in 2030 with 37 million inhabitants.

2. Delhi, India: With 25 million, the Indian capital is the second-most populated city in the world. The UN has projected that the population can swiftly rise to 36 million in 2030.

3. Mexico City, Mumbai and São Paulo: Each of these cities is ranked third on the population index with around 21 million urban inhabitants.

4. Osaka, Japan: This Japanese city has population just above 20 million and is ranked fourth.

5. Beijing, China: The Chinese capital is fifth in the UN urban population chart with just below 20 million city dwellers.

6. New York-Newark area and Cairo: These two cities complete the chart for the top ten most populous urban areas with around 18.5 million dwellers each.