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 population since the Tokugawa Era, as samurai left the former castle towns after the collapse of the military order. Source data is from "Nihon Chishi Teiyo" (日本地誌提要, the Japanese Topographical Outline). Several major cities and towns actually lost population over the 1870s, as people continued to emigrate out of the former castle towns. Source data is from the Fourth Joint Military-Government Report (第四回共武政表), a requisitioning document listing municipal populations and available resources and provisions. In 1888, the government enacted a sweeping overhaul of the municipal government system, part of which involved a drastic program of municipality mergers. Overall, the "Great