Administrative divisions of China By its political level, when a "city" is referred to, it can be a: By its actual area and population, it can be: When used in the statistical data, the word "city" may have three different meanings: It is important to specify the definition of "city" when referring to statistical data of Chinese cities, otherwise, confusion may arise. For example, Shanghai is the largest city in China by population in the urban area but is smaller than Chongqing by the population within the administration area. Before the establishment of the Qin Dynasty, China was ruled by a network of kings,
Largest cities in Japan by population by decade losses and exceeded their prewar populations. Source data is from the 1960 Census. Tokyo and Osaka began to experience a trend of suburbanization, as people left the cities for the less densely peopled surrounding municipalities. Other major cities continued to grow rapidly. Source data is from the 1970 Census. Source data is from the 1980 Census. By 1990, almost all the largest Japanese cities had assumed their present-day population ranking. Source data is from the 1990 Census. By 2000, the ongoing suburbanization drawing population from Tōkyō and Ōsaka was showing signs of abating, with people slowly moving back into the