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Most Populous Metropolitan Areas In South America
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Top 100 Most Populous Metropolitan Areas In South America
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This is a list of the most heavily populated metropolitan areas in South America, and it includes the 2010 population estimates, which are based on a mixture of official and independent sources. Some of the metropolitan areas listed below are also cities proper, but many others are groupings of cities, towns and urban areas.

Basic definition of a 'Metropolitan Area' according to Wikipedia:
A metropolitan area is a large population center consisting of a large metropolis and its adjacent zone of influence, or of more than one closely adjoining neighboring central cities and their zone of influence. One or more large cities may serve as its hub or hubs, and the metropolitan area is normally named after either the largest or most important central city within it.
 
Ariel view of Sao Paulo
Ariel view of Sao Paulo image: Jurema Oliveira (license)
Data released by World Gazetteer - January.01.2010 - Next data release January.01.2011
Top 100 Most Populous Metropolitan Areas In South America
  Metro Area Country City Only [1] 2010 Calculation [2]
1 São Paulo Brazil 20,831,058
2 Buenos Aires Argentina 14,598,065
3 Rio de Janeiro Brazil 12,128,429
4 Bogotá Colombia 8,423,837
5 Lima Peru Yes 8,000,111
6 Belo Horizonte Brazil 5,731,826
7 Santiago Chile Yes 5,196,846
8 Caracas Venezuela 4,478,851
9 Porto Alegre Brazil 4,076,158
10 Salvador Brazil 3,904,528
11 Recife Brazil 3,843,250
12 Curitiba Brazil 3,571,695
13 Fortaleza Brazil 3,511,954
14 Medellín Colombia 3,390,463
15 Cali Colombia 2,705,963
16 Maracaibo Venezuela 2,563,576
17 Brasília Brazil Yes 2,551,909
18 Belém Brazil 2,503,511
19 La Paz Bolivia 2,363,886
20 Asunción Paraguay 2,329,061
21 Guayaquil Ecuador Yes 2,286,302
22 Goiânia Brazil 2,229,414
23 Santos Brazil 1,901,096
24 Montevideo Uruguay 1,892,802
25 Barranquilla Colombia 1,877,434
26 Manaus Brazil Yes 1,865,277
27 Córdoba Argentina 1,856,725
28 Valencia Venezuela Yes 1,853,117
29 Vitória Brazil 1,722,497
30 Santa Cruz Bolivia Yes 1,685,884
31 Quito Ecuador Yes 1,650,034
32 Campinas Brazil 1,624,299
33 Maracay Venezuela 1,612,796
34 Rosario Argentina 1,514,986
35 Barquisimeto Venezuela 1,488,191
36 São Luís Brazil 1,416,792
37 Natal Brazil 1,335,777
38 Maceió Brazil 1,210,324
39 Teresina Brazil 1,158,575
40 Cartagena Colombia 1,115,101
41 João Pessoa Brazil 1,081,841
42 Concepción Chile 1,057,700
43 Valparaíso Chile 1,022,831
44 Ciudad Guayana Venezuela Yes 1,017,970
45 Chiclayo Peru 994,691
46 São José dos Campos Brazil 989,066
47 Sumaré-Americana Brazil 979,230
48 Ribeirão Preto Brazil 954,000
49 Bucaramanga Colombia 952,406
50 Mendoza Argentina Yes 935,033
51 Florianópolis Brazil 925,644
52 Arequipa Peru Yes 922,625
53 Aracaju Brazil 851,527
54 Trujillo Peru Yes 846,083
55 Tucumán Argentina Yes 844,135
56 Cuiabá Brazil 839,964
57 Campo Grande Brazil Yes 827,535
58 Puente Alto Chile Yes 790,658
59 Foz do Iguaçu Paraguay 785,744
60 Sorocaba Brazil 775,207
61 Cúcuta Colombia 765,668
62 Londrina Brazil 741,934
63 Uberlândia Brazil Yes 667,680
64 Cochabamba Bolivia Yes 624,850
65 Barcelona Venezuela Yes 620,555
66 Maturín Venezuela Yes 593,333
67 Mar del Plata Argentina Yes 580,393
68 Pereira Colombia 575,525
69 Campina Grande Brazil 562,816
70 Salta Argentina Yes 557,898
71 Feira de Santana Brazil Yes 547,927
72 Joinville Brazil Yes 524,156
73 Santa Fé Argentina Yes 515,176
74 Juiz de Fora Brazil Yes 511,481
75 Ibagué Colombia Yes 500,990
76 San Juan Argentina Yes 492,837
77 Ciudad Bolívar Venezuela Yes 478,874
78 Manizales Colombia 468,675
79 Volta Redonda Brazil 460,811
80 Santa Marta Colombia Yes 441,176
81 Macapá Brazil Yes 440,064
82 Caxias do Sul Brazil Yes 436,912
83 Barinas Venezuela Yes 428,038
84 São José do Rio Preto Brazil Yes 427,307
85 Villavicencio Colombia Yes 413,268
86 Campos Brazil Yes 410,713
87 Armenia Colombia   404,495
88 Resistencia Argentina Yes 403,141
89 Piura Peru Yes 394,554
90 Iquitos Peru Yes 393,461
91 Montes Claros Brazil Yes 384,899
92 Piracicaba Brazil Yes 372,911
93 Santiago del Estero Argentina Yes 372,420
94 Puerto la Cruz Venezuela Yes 372,371
95 Bauru Brazil Yes 371,658
96 Corrientes Argentina Yes 364,984
97 Anápolis Brazil Yes 364,863
98 San Cristóbal Venezuela Yes 363,941
99 Cusco Peru Yes 359, 872
100 Antofagasta Chile Yes 353,439
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Most Populous Metropolitan Areas In North America
Most Populous Metropolitan Areas In South America
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References
[1] We have indicated 'Yes' when a City population is exactly the same as a Metropolitan Area population. If we have not indicated 'Yes', than those figures are for a Greater Metropolitan Area which includes atleast one city/town and adjoining population centres. For example, Baghdad Greater Metropolitan Area is considered the 27th most populous metropolitan area in the World with 11,786,212 residents, while Baghdad City is considered the 67th most populous metropolitan area in the World because only 5,402,486 live within the 'city limits'.
[2] "The Americas: most populous metropolitan areas" World Gazetteer - All statistics © Stefan Helders, www.world-gazetteer.com. Stefan Helders has been independently collating data relating to population statistics since 1998 on what is now known as the World Gazetteer website. According to Helders... "If possible, official data sources are used. In many cases however no official figures are available. In that case, secondary sources such as year books, encyclopediae, atlases etc. are used. I have also received data from other stats lovers". Along with another useful population statistics website called CityPopulation.de, Stefan Helders/World Gazetteer provides some of the most accurate and up-to-date analysis of population levels in the World's countries, cities and metropolitan areas.
Article Copyright
The population statistics within this article are copyrighted to Stefan Helders @ www.world-gazetteer.com, a project which should be regarded as a free data provider. These statistics can be re-published for commercial or non-commerical purposes, provided that (a) the data is not changed, and (b) this exact copyright notice is included: © by Stefan Helders www.world-gazetteer.com.

This license only covers the text content of this article, however, if you would like to re-publish the main accompanying image - titled 'Ariel view of Sao Paulo' - you may only re-publish that image under the exact same license/conditions as we have stipulated below that image.

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