Population, territory and sustainable development

145
Map IX.2
CENTRAL AMERICA AND THE CARIBBEAN: NUMBER AND POPULATION SIZE
OF CITIES, 1950 AND 2000 a
-115
-110
-105
-100
-95
-90
-85
-80
-75
-70
-65
30
30
25
25
20
20
Number of inhabitants
15
15
20,000 to 99,999
10
10
-115
-110
-105
-100
-95
-90
-85
-80
-75
-70
-65
100,000 to 499,999
30
30
25
25
500,000 to 999,999
20
20
1,000,000 to 3,999,999
15
15
10
-115
-110
-105
-100
-95
-90
-85
-80
-75
-70
-65
10
4,000,000 or more
Source: Latin American and Caribbean Demographic Centre (CELADE) - Population Division of ECLAC, on the basis of
information from Spatial distribution and urbanization in Latin America and the Caribbean (DEPUALC) database.
a
The boundaries and names shown on this map do not imply official endorsement or acceptance by the United Nations.
C. POPULATION SIZE TRENDS IN THE SYSTEM OF CITIES
Figures IX.1 and IX.2 summarize shifts in the region’s system of cities according to population size and
lead to several conclusions concerning these trends. 2
2
The following categories are used: 1,000,000 or more; 500,000 to 999,999; 100,000 to 499,999; 50,000 to
99,999; 20,000 to 49,999. These population sizes can be grouped according to three broad categories whose
application should be adjusted to the reality of each country. The first are large cities with one million or more
inhabitants, which can also be called metropolises or “millionaire” cities. Then there are medium-sized cities,
whose size ranges from 50,000 to just under one million inhabitants. Finally, there are small cities with from
20,000 to just under 50,000 inhabitants. Anything under 20,000 is classified as the smallest segment in the
system and is not individualized any further in the Spatial distribution and urbanization in Latin America and the
Caribbean (DEPUALC) database, so there is little information on them.
This classification does not hold for analysing individual countries. Several countries have no cities with
one million or more inhabitants, making any city with from 500,000 to 999,999 inhabitants (or even fewer, if
there are no cities in this category) a large city by default.
The idea of a medium-sized city, meanwhile, is doubly complex because, aside from requiring adjustment
to the national reality, this category tends to require substantive functional specification as well. While large
cities by definition play a dominant role at the national or regional level, and small cities are subordinate in terms