Tokyo: the population. Population density in Tokyo

Forty years ago on our planet there were only three metropolises - Tokyo, New York and Mexico. These were the largest cities with over one million people in the world. As of 2010, this situation has changed dramatically, because their number has increased to 21. Moreover, according to the scientists' forecasts, in ten years the number of megacities on Earth will be 29, and the majority will be concentrated in developing countries. As of today, every twentieth person on the planet is a resident of such cities. Especially distinguished among other cities is Tokyo, whose population, taking into account the functionally connected suburbs, exceeds the mark of 36 million people.

Heart of Tokyo

Not even all Japanese can answer the question of the number of residents and the area of the capital clearly. In this case, it is necessary to determine the boundaries. The matter is that they can be administrative lines separating Tokyo from those located in close proximity and associated suburbs, or an external feature of the city. In itself, the prefecture of the Japanese capital is not very large. Its length is about 90, and the width is 25 kilometers. The area of the site, which it occupies, is 2168 square kilometers. Given only the so-called heart of Tokyo, its population is just over 13 million people.

Prefecture

In administrative terms, the capital of Japan is divided into 23 separate regions. In addition to them, the prefecture includes 26 small towns, 8 villages and 5 villages. It should be noted that they are all in the so-called Tama zone, west of Tokyo itself. Japan in this part has a mountainous, densely wooded terrain, which is unfit for habitation. This fact is connected with the fact that there are not many people living here. Due to the small population of the region, the government decided to create four national parks here. The metropolitan prefecture also includes two chains of small volcanic islands that stretch into the Pacific Ocean a thousand kilometers to the south.

Features

The Metropolitan Government, which is called the Tokyo Municipality, manages the prefecture. At the same time, each of the 23 urban districts, which was discussed earlier, has its own municipality with an elected mayor. The key trend that has become characteristic in recent years for the inhabitants of Tokyo - the population is increasingly moving from the central districts of the city to the neighboring prefectures. The reason for this is just one - the cost of living here is just off scale. At the same time, workers can quickly and comfortably reach high-speed transportation lines to their office, regardless of their location in Tokyo (Japan occupies one of the leading positions on the planet in terms of transport development and train speed). If you take for example three central areas - Minato, Chuo and Chiyoda, then at night there are no more than 300 thousand people, while in the day this figure is increased by six to seven times. In general, due to significant daily migration, the population of the Japanese capital, depending on the time of day, can increase and decrease by 3 million people. In this regard, to answer the question of how many people in Tokyo at one time or another are not so simple.

Agglomeration

As already noted above, it is quite difficult to determine the line separating the Japanese capital from neighboring prefectures. A clear answer is not even provided by satellite imagery. The fact is that industrial zones, sleeping quarters, transport infrastructure and so on have merged into a single whole. Residential neighborhoods of the city were also seized by the prefectures of Yamanashi, Ibaraki, Chiba, Tochigi, Gunma, Saitama and Kanagawa, adjacent to Tokyo. As a result, the largest on the planet city agglomeration with a population of 36 million people was formed. This indicator can not boast of any other city with over a million people in the world.

Other indicators

The Japanese capital occupies a leading position on the planet not only by the number of inhabitants. If we take into account the city itself (23 districts), then it is also the most densely populated on Earth. The density of the population of Tokyo is more than six thousand people per square kilometer. This is connected with the very high cost of local real estate. Eloquent can be called the fact that the price of a land plot, as a rule, is comparable to the amount of money, which will be enough to cover it with a layer of gold. In comparison with all other prefectures of the state, the smallest part of the territory is reserved for agrarian lands - only 8,460 hectares. Inquiries of metropolitan residents in the colors, fruits and vegetables that are grown here, these lands can only partially satisfy. On the other hand, in such an indicator as GDP, the metropolitan prefecture is inferior only to three states - Germany, the United States and Japan itself as a whole.

Long-suffering

What is still typical of the city of Tokyo - the population of the prefecture is very distressed. Throughout history, local residents have repeatedly become victims of natural disasters (volcanic eruptions and earthquakes). For example, in 1923 there was a powerful underground storm, which resulted in the death of 140 thousand people. The city itself was destroyed. Much more tragic was the spring of 1945, when the main purpose of American aircraft in the bombing was precisely Tokyo. The population of the city then decreased by 250 thousand people, as a large number of incendiary bombs were dropped on residential areas of the Japanese capital.

Interesting facts, research and forecasts

According to many scientists and researchers, the peak population of Tokyo will reach its peak in 2020. It is expected that about 13.35 million people will live in the city. Only after this, the number of local residents will gradually decrease.

Another interesting fact is that if in our time the share of elderly people here is about 21%, then in five to six years it will grow to 24%, and in twenty years will reach the level of 28.9%. The explanation for this is quite simple. The fact is that for the whole country as a whole, a very low birth rate is characteristic. In this regard, the government is already taking steps to ensure the safety of older people, including helping them find work.

Scientists believe that in ten years the maximum number will reach the number of families in the Japanese capital - about 6.63 million.

In 1920, the first national census of the inhabitants of Tokyo was held. The population of the city was 3.7 million people. Only forty years later, the figure rose to a mark of 10 million inhabitants. The result was an excessive concentration of the population and a deterioration in its living conditions (rising prices for housing, inflation, and so on). As a result, in the period from 1980 to 1995 there was a demographic decline.

From 2000 to 2010 Characteristic of Tokyo was the massive influx of immigrants from other prefectures. This led to an increase in the population for this period by 9%.

Due to the limited number of vacant lands, the government of the capital's Japanese prefecture is actively working to create artificial islands in the Tokyo Gulf.