Latin America Cities by Population 2026
5 Most Populated Latin America Cities
12,005,878
12,003,443
9,020,812
7,945,996
6,772,868
Latin America Cities Overview
Latin America has several megacities, with Buenos Aires leading as the region’s largest metropolitan area at 3.2M residents. Mexico City follows closely with 9M inhabitants, while Sao Paulo hosts 12M residents.
A second tier of major capitals includes Lima (12M), Bogota (7.9M), and Rio de Janeiro (6.8M). Santiago in Chile follows with 559.4K residents, while Caracas maintains 2.2M inhabitants.
Brazil features multiple major urban centers beyond its capital, including Salvador (2.6M), Fortaleza (2.6M), and Belo Horizonte (2.4M). Similarly, Colombia hosts several significant cities, such as Cali (2.3M) and Medellin (2.5M).
Sources
- World Urbanization Prospects 2025 - United Nations population estimates and projections of major Urban Agglomerations
- World Population Prospects (2024 Revision) - United Nations population estimates and projections.