The former covers 10,097km2, and the latter, 31,562km2. Luckily, we have data on another subregion known as the Golden Horseshoe, which wraps around the western end of Lake Ontario-and yet another one called the Greater Golden Horseshoe. If it did, the picture changes once again.
Chicagoland is 28,120 square kilometres, but the Greater Toronto Area is only 7,125km2, and doesn’t include the likes of Oshawa, Hamilton and a range of other nearby cities. The problem is often even more pronounced when comparing cities in different countries. Indeed, a 2009 study revealed there are many disagreements over which cities constitute the largest. There’s no standardized way for doing so. It turns out that how you measure your metro region is just as arbitrary. So, then, is Toronto actually 3.5 million people behind Chicago? Eh, not quite. This is because the Greater Toronto Area is about 6 million people, according to the latest StatsCan data, while Chicagoland, the colloquial term for Chicago’s metro region, is closer to 9.5 million. Many people-on Twitter, naturally-have pointed this out, claiming that Toronto still has a long way to go to catch up with Chicago. Of course, Greater Vancouver, which is what most people really measure, has close to 2.4 million people, making it the third largest metropolitan area in Canada. For example, North Vancouver and West Vancouver are separate cities-the latter even has its own police department. You see, the City of Vancouver is unusually small. Eighth, just behind Winnipeg and Mississauga. It’s also why a city like Vancouver is actually, believe it or not, the eighth largest in Canada. Indeed, if Toronto hadn’t amalgamated in 1998, it wouldn’t be nearly as big as Chicago, at least not technically. Why, you ask? Well, it’s because where a city draws its lines is somewhat arbitrary. But many would argue that those numbers don’t matter. As of July 1 of last year, Toronto had 2,791,140 people compared to Chicago’s 2,707,120-an 84,000 lead. Yes, the City of Toronto has overtaken the City of Chicago in terms of people living within its borders. Because while that’s true, it’s only half the story. But hold off on the confetti for one moment. If you live in Toronto, you likely heard yesterday’s inspiring news: Canada’s biggest city is now the fourth largest in North America, having overtaken Chicago in population, according to new data from Statistics Canada.
(Photos: Daniel Schwen Túrelio/Wikimedia)