🌍 World Alive

Gwangju — metropolitan city population

Modelled live estimate · World Bank national growth (2025); not measured local growth
1,411,357
Recorded base: 1,411,357 · Population reference date not supplied in local record; GeoNames record modified 2026-04-16 (not the population date)

Gwangju has a recorded base population of 1,411,357 for the metropolitan city definition (Population reference date not supplied in local record). GeoNames administrative-unit record; the moving counter uses World Bank national growth (2025); not measured local growth, not new population observations.

At a glance

Population definitionmetropolitan city
Recorded population1,411,357
Country share2.73% of 51,684,564 (World Bank 2025)
World share0.017% of 8,215,424,893 (World Bank 2025)
Country database rank#5 of 7 metropolitan city records
World database rank#5 of 7 metropolitan city records

Separate UN urban-centre definition

Gwangju UN urban centre: 1,441,495 people (2025), larger than the displayed metropolitan city figure of 1,411,357. Separate GeoNames settlement record: 1,401,235; the UN value is larger (different boundaries; GeoNames population date unavailable). UN WUP 2025 Degree of Urbanisation; not a municipal/province boundary. Association: name/country/coordinates matched; boundary relationship unverified. No containment claim is made.

Administrative units of Gwangju

5 administrative records listed; completeness not established. 5 of 5 population values available; population values and dates not independently verified.

Available-value subtotal: 1,411,357; not a reconciled total. Shares use the displayed metropolitan city denominator 1,411,357; mixed/unknown dates are not comparable. An em dash means missing, not zero.

UnitPopulationShareMembership
Buk-gu424,94230.11%Not independently verified
Gwangsan-gu392,65327.82%Not independently verified
Seo-gu280,04519.84%Not independently verified
Nam-gu207,36314.69%Not independently verified
Dong-gu106,3547.54%Not independently verified

Comparable database records

Same definition label: metropolitan city. Dates/boundaries may still differ; this is not a harmonised international city ranking. Ratios use 1,411,357 as denominator.

PlacePopulationvs Gwangju
Gwangju1,411,3570.0%
Daejeon1,470,336+4.2%
Ulsan1,098,728−22.2%
Daegu2,365,523+67.6%
Incheon3,016,250+113.7%

About these numbers

Source: GeoNames administrative-unit record. Reference: Population reference date not supplied in local record; GeoNames record modified 2026-04-16 (not the population date). Live method: exponential projection from modelling anchor 2025-07-01 using World Bank national growth (2025); not measured local growth (−0.13% per year). This anchor is a modelling convention, not an observed population date. Tiles, ranks and comparisons use the recorded base figure 1,411,357, not the ticking estimate. Country/world denominators are World Bank values and can differ in date and method from local/UN values. Ranks cover only records with the same definition label in this database, not all cities in the world.

Harmonised UN urban-centre ranking · Embed

What changed during your lifetime?

Turn these figures into a private, five-scene personal world story.

Which city boundary are you reading?

This page is a structured reference entry. Its sources, geographic definition and reference dates determine what the figures mean; it is not independent reporting about the causes of change. Read the accompanying explanation before comparing different places or vintages.

Urban and administrative population explained →

Interpretation reviewed 12 October 2026. Underlying reference years are stated on the page; this is not a fresh census or dataset refresh.