Democratic Republic of Congo vs Iran: Number of people living in cities with more than 1 million residents

Democratic Republic of Congo
19.22 million people
in 2020
Iran
22.00 million people
in 2020
Democratic Republic of Congo rank
18th
Iran rank
16th

Number of people living in cities with more than 1 million residents over time

  • Democratic Republic of Congo
  • Iran
05.0M10.0M15.0M20.0M195019852020

How they compare

Iran currently reports 22.00 million people against 19.22 million people in Democratic Republic of Congo, a difference of 2.78 million people.

That makes Iran's figure about 1.1 times Democratic Republic of Congo's.

Across all 15 years both countries report, Iran has been ahead every year.

Democratic Republic of Congo ranks 18th and Iran ranks 16th of 182 countries.

Iran has averaged higher in every one of the 8 decades both report.

Head to head by decade

Decade Democratic Republic of Congo Iran Difference Ahead
1950s 0 people 1.36 million people 1.36 million people Iran
1960s 0 people 2.29 million people 2.29 million people Iran
1970s 517,810 people 5.01 million people 4.49 million people Iran
1980s 3.02 million people 9.30 million people 6.29 million people Iran
1990s 5.21 million people 13.18 million people 7.97 million people Iran
2000s 9.20 million people 16.84 million people 7.64 million people Iran
2010s 13.02 million people 20.00 million people 6.99 million people Iran
2020s 19.22 million people 22.00 million people 2.78 million people Iran

Averages of every year both report within each decade.

Frequently asked questions

Which has higher number of people living in cities with more than 1 million residents, Democratic Republic of Congo or Iran?
Iran, at 22.00 million people against 19.22 million people in Democratic Republic of Congo as of 2020.
What is the difference in number of people living in cities with more than 1 million residents between Democratic Republic of Congo and Iran?
2.78 million people, with Iran ahead.
How many years of comparable data are there for Democratic Republic of Congo and Iran?
15 years are reported by both, from 1950 to 2020.
How do Democratic Republic of Congo and Iran rank globally for number of people living in cities with more than 1 million residents?
Democratic Republic of Congo ranks 18th and Iran ranks 16th of 182 countries.
Where does this data come from?
European Commission, Joint Research Centre (JRC) (2025) – with minor processing by Our World in Data, published as Number of people living in cities with more than 1 million residents. Statizoid refreshes it automatically from the source and publishes the full history for both places.

Individual pages

About this data

Indicator
Number of people living in cities with more than 1 million residents
Unit
people
Source
European Commission, Joint Research Centre (JRC) (2025) – with minor processing by Our World in Data
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data)
Coverage
182 places, 2,532 data points, 1950–2020
Last refreshed

Total population living in cities with 1 million or more people. City boundaries are defined using a consistent global approach based on satellite imagery and population data.