This type of question where we compare two cities is quite common, as an example Is London bigger than Madrid? Sometimes it is difficult to remember the population of each city or how the population has evolved since the last time we looked at the data.
London and Madrid population
Population of London
London, also known as “The Smoke”, according to the 2021 census provided by the Office for National Statistics has a population of 8,799,800 people.
Population of Madrid
In the case of Madrid, the capital of Spain, the number of people living in the city according to the 2021 census is 3,305,408.
So if your question is:
How big is London compared to Madrid?
Considering the population of each city, London is bigger than Madrid, according to 2021 census data.
London with 8,8 million people and Madrid with 3,3 million, so London has 5,494,392 more people than Madrid.
Population trend of London and Madrid
According to the historical record, since 2000 the population of London has grown by 20.18% and the population of Madrid has grown by 15.30%.
Taking into consideration that the growth in population of London is bigger than Madrid, the difference in population will continue growing in the long run.
Is London’s total land area bigger than Madrid?
Usually in a comparative question between two cities we want to know in which city lives more people. However, there is another unit of measurement that also refers to the size of the city and this is the total area.
In the case of the area comparison between London and Madrid, the total area of London is bigger than Madrid.
London has a total area of 606.96 sq mi (1,572.03 km²) and Madrid, the capital of Spain, has 233.89 sq mi (605.77 km²).
Which city has a higher population density? London or Madrid
There is a third metric that is often used to compare cities, which is based on the two data points we presented earlier: population and area.
Population density is obtained by dividing the number of individuals living within a specific location by the total area of the location. In our comparisons as a unit of area we use square miles and km².
If the question we are trying to solve is whether the population density is greater in London or Madrid, we must inform you that the population density is bigger in London however very close to Madrid.
London Population Density
The density of London is 14,498.15/sq mi (5,597.73/km²).
Population Density of Madrid
The population density of Madrid is 14,132.44/sq mi (5,456.54/km²).
Conclusion on which city is bigger London or Madrid
As we have been able to observe with the data provided in the comparison between both cities, London is a larger city than Madrid in terms of population.
On the other hand, in terms of total area London is bigger than Madrid and if what we take into account is the population density, then we must indicate that the density of London is also larger than Madrid.
London is the most populated city in the United Kingdom, and the second largest in Europe behind Moscow. It will be the third if Istanbul (lying between Europe and Asia) is counted. It is also the largest city by area in the UK.
London and Madrid are the capitals of their countries, the United Kingdom and Spain, and also their largest cities. Both are home of their royal families and receive millions of tourists annually to visit their countless attractions. However, London’s population and land area more than doubles Madrid’s.
Other cities compared with London or Madrid
Sources Used:
All information regarding number of people and annual population growth is extracted from Instituto Nacional de Estadistica and the Office for National Statistics databases.
The total area data of each city has been extracted from Wikipedia.
Photo by John Smith
