From around 1825 to 1918 London was the largest city in the world, with the population growing rapidly, it was the first city to reach a population of over 5 million in 1900. In 1950, New York City was the only urban area with a population of over 10 million.[37] Geographers had identified 25 such areas as of October 2005,[38] as compared with 19 megacities in 2004 and only nine in 1985. This increase has happened as the world's population moves towards the high (75–85%) urbanization levels of North America and Western Europe.