Cities That Start With Z

38 cities Places Checked 9 Oct 2026

These cities that start with Z are the world's big cities with 300,000 or more people, 38 in all, ranked by population. A separate list covers 0 US cities that start with Z, followed by capital cities.

Z has 38 cities, and most begin with Zh, the Chinese spelling for a sound close to English j. Zhengzhou, Zhuhai and Zhongshan are among the largest, and Zibo is a short alternative.

Outside China, Zapopan in Mexico, Zamboanga in the Philippines and Zaria in Nigeria give some variety. There are no US cities with Z on this page. For quiz players, Z is far better stocked than most people assume, so it is rarely a dead end.

Big cities starting with Z: 38
Largest: Zhengzhou China

Cities that start with Z around the world

#	City	Country	Population
1	Zhengzhou	China	4.3 million
2	Zhongshan	China	3.8 million
3	Zibo	China	3.1 million
4	Zhuhai	China	2.2 million
5	Zunyi	China	2.0 million
6	Zhaoqing	China	1.6 million
7	Zapopan	Mexico	1.5 million
8	Zhangjiagang	China	1.4 million
9	Zhanjiang	China	1.4 million
10	Zigong	China	1.3 million
11	Zhongwei	China	1.2 million
12	Zhuzhou	China	1.1 million
13	Zamboanga	Philippines	1.0 million
14	Zhu Cheng City	China	1.0 million
15	Zaria	Nigeria	980,000
16	Zhenjiang	China	950,516
17	Ziyang	China	905,729
18	Zaozhuang	China	899,753
19	Zhoushan	China	882,932
20	Zhabei	China	840,000
21	Zarqa	Jordan	792,665
22	Zhaotong	China	787,845
23	Zhumadian	China	721,670
24	Zaporizhzhya	Ukraine	710,052
25	Zanzibar	Tanzania	709,809
26	Zhangjiakou	China	692,602
27	Zaragoza	Spain	686,986
28	Zagreb	Croatia	663,592
29	Zhangzhou	China	589,831
30	Zahedan	Iran	551,980
31	Zhangye	China	507,433
32	Zhoukou	China	505,171
33	Zhucheng	China	499,285
34	Zhangjiajie	China	441,804
35	Zagazig	Egypt	430,445
36	Zurich	Switzerland	415,367
37	Zanjan	Iran	357,471
38	Zinder	Niger	318,874

Capital cities that start with Z

Capital	Country
Zagreb	Croatia

More that start with Z

Questions people ask

What is the biggest city that starts with Z?

Zhengzhou in China, with about 4.3 million people in the GeoNames count.

What capital cities start with Z?

Zagreb (Croatia).

Which country has the most big cities starting with Z?

China, with 25 of the cities on this list.

Source: the GeoNames database: world cities with 300,000 or more people and US cities with 50,000 or more. Population figures are the latest GeoNames counts and can lag behind new census results.

See every letter on one page: cities A to Z