How Big Is Shanghai?

Shanghai Size Overview

Shanghai covers an area of 6,341 km² (2,448 mi²) in China, Asia. Municipality and largest city in China. The city is often called "Pearl of the Orient". To put this in perspective, Shanghai is about 1.5x the size of Los Angeles metro. In more relatable units, that's about 888,000 American football fields, 110 times the area of Manhattan, or 60 times the area of Paris.

Shanghai is a direct-administered municipality and the most populous urban area in China. It has a population of 29,558,908 in the urban area as of 2025. The city is located on the Chinese shoreline on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River bisecting the city. Shanghai is a global center for finance, business and economics, research, science and technology, manufacturing, transportation, tourism, and culture. The Port of Shanghai is the world's busiest container port.

With a population of 24.9 million (28.5 million in the metropolitan area), Shanghai has a population density of 3,922 people per km².

Shanghai has a history stretching back to 1291. The city is renowned for The Bund, Oriental Pearl Tower, Shanghai Tower, and Yu Garden.

Shanghai has a humid subtropical climate, with summer temperatures averaging 28°C and winters around 5°C. The city's main public transit system is the Shanghai Metro.