By pure land area, London wipes the floor with New York. Greater London sprawls across about 607 square miles. That’s huge. NYC? Just 302 square miles of land. London is nearly double the size.
But wait—New York isn’t done yet. Most of its land is packed with buildings, not parks. London has more green space, including the massive Richmond Park, which is bigger than Manhattan’s Central Park. And yet, New Yorkers will smugly remind you: “We have Central Park in the middle of everything!”
The population punchline
Now for the people. New York City has about 8.5 million residents. London counters with roughly 8.9 million. That’s a difference of just 400,000 people. But London’s population is spread over twice the land—so NYC feels way denser.
Picture this: Manhattan alone packs 1.6 million people into just 23 square miles. That’s like squeezing the entire population of Philadelphia into a single borough. You can’t swing a bagel without hitting someone. London’s densest borough, Islington, feels almost cozy compared to that.
