How Big Is Tokyo? Compare Its Size in Miles, Acres, Kilometers, and Population

Tokyo is a marvel of modern society. If you’re looking to be truly impressed by a city, this is the place for you. But, how big is Tokyo?

Originally a fishing town known as Edo, the Tokyo Metropolis is the capital of Japan and the most populous city in the world. This makes sense, since the Global Livability Ranking listed Tokyo as the world’s most livable city.

The signs of Tokyo’s success started appearing early in its history. By the middle of the 18^th century, Edo was already one of the most populous cities in the world with over a million people living there. In the latter half of the 1800’s, the imperial government moved their capital from Kyoto to Edo. They then renamed the city Tokyo, which means “Eastern Capital”. It is now the second-largest urban economy in the world (right after New York City).

Additional claims to fame include the world’s tallest tower, the Tokyo Skytree, the oldest underground metro line in East Asia, and the world’s largest underground floodwater diversion facility. This is all without diving into the cultural and historical significance of the city! Tokyo is truly a wonder to behold!

A City by Size

When planning a vacation, or a longer stay abroad, it’s useful to know how big the city is you’re going to be visiting. We often lose a sense of scale while looking at images or numbers on our computers. That’s why we’ve collected all the information you need to understand exactly how mind-bogglingly huge this city is, and how its size compares to other large cities around the world. If you live near a large city like London, New York City, or Los Angeles, then seeing how Tokyo compares to your local metropolis can help.

Keep in mind that measurements for cities, area, and populations vary by a lot. Even a quick search online will return many different numbers based on when and by whom that research was published. Even the most robust and current research can be different based on semantics and technicalities. We will use the most common numbers available from government surveys.

How Big is Tokyo in Miles, Kilometers, and Acres?

In order to determine how big Tokyo is, we have to decide what we mean by Tokyo. Like many old cities, the boundaries between the city itself, the urban area, the metro region, and sometimes the government complex itself are hard to determine.

For Tokyo, we will compare all the size of what people might consider when they think about the city.

In terms of size alone, the city of Tokyo itself is 847.14 square miles, or 2,194.07 square kilometers. The metro area of Tokyo, though, is 4,495 square miles, or 11,642 square kilometers.

We don’t typically measure cities using acres. But acre’s smaller area make it easier to understand our immediate surroundings. One square mile is equal to 640 acres, so to convert square miles to acres, we need to multiply our area by 640. This means that Tokyo covers an area of 542,169.60 acres.

Around 13,988,129 people live in the city of Tokyo itself. Although, the population has been declining over the last couple years, this still makes Tokyo the biggest city proper in Japan. This number increases by over 2.5 million each day as people commute into the city for work and entertainment.

When we consider the surrounding urban and metro area of Tokyo, the numbers get truly impressive. Over 39,105,000 people live in the immediate urban area of Tokyo, which makes it is the biggest metropolis in the world! Increasing the area of the entire metro area, the population passes the 40 million mark.

How Big is Tokyo Compared to London?

When it comes to comparing cities, London is where things can get very confusing. The actual, proper City of London is only 1.12 square miles, or 2.89 square kilometers. That’s tiny! If you’re confused, it’s probably because we typically include a few other areas in what we typically call “London”. This includes the City of Westminster, the London Boroughs, the London authority districts, or all of the region of Greater London itself.

When we include the City of London with the rest of what we consider to be the urban city center, the area grows to 671 square miles, or 1,737.9 square kilometers. The entire metro area covers an area of 3,236 square miles, or 8,382 square kilometers. (This metro area still fits within the Greater London region).

The City of London has a population of only 8,600 people, which is almost nothing when compared to Tokyo. The urban city, however, includes over 9,787,426 people, and the entire London metropolitan area has over 14,800,000 people.

How Big is Tokyo Compared to New York City?

New York City is the most densely populated city in the United States. It has twice as many people as Los Angeles, and the country’s second-biggest city. Because of its size, it is the center of the area called the Northeast megalopolis, and the world’s second-largest metropolitan economy.

New York City itself covers an area of 472.43 square miles, or 1,223.59 square kilometers. It includes 8,804,190 people. This includes land and water area. The urban area of New York covers 3,450 square miles, or 8,936 square kilometers. It has a population of 18,351,000. But this pales in comparison to the New York metropolitan area.

The New York metro area, also known as the Tri-state area, is the largest metropolitan area in the world by land, at 4,669.0 square miles, or 12,093 square kilometers, and holds over 23.6 million residents.

How Big is Tokyo Compared to LA?

The biggest city in California, and arguably the most famous. Los Angeles covers an area of 469 square miles, or 1,210 square kilometers. It houses 3,898,747 people, the second most in the United States. The urban area of Los Angeles covers 501.55 square miles, or 1,299.01 square kilometers, with 12,237,376 people.

The Greater Los Angeles metropolitan area covers 2,281.0 square miles, or 5,910 square kilometers, with over 18,490,242 people. It is the second-largest city in the United States.

Los Angeles is one of the busiest ports in North America, and has the third largest GDP in the world, trailing right behind New York City and Tokyo. Experts consider Los Angeles to be the cultural, commercial, and financial center of the entire Southern California region.