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Qala i Naw — UN urban centre

121,540

Qala i Naw: 121,540 people. Reference: 2025 annual estimate · World rank #5,042 of 12,138 source urban centres. Source: UN DESA, World Urbanization Prospects 2025 (CC BY 3.0 IGO). Source identifier: 1317; territory: Afghanistan (AFG). UN source workbook.

Method: Degree of Urbanisation (contiguous 1 km2 cells, density 1,500+ people/km2, total 50,000+). This is a source-defined urban centre, not a municipality or province. No association with a separate administrative entity is inferred from proximity or name.

Source centroid: 34.9879, 63.1271. National context uses World Bank estimates, a separate series and geography; no national share is inferred here.

UN population series

YearPeopleMethod
201055,743Estimate
201576,301Estimate
202094,568Estimate
2025121,540Estimate
2030137,904Projection
2035160,573Projection
2040181,840Projection
2045203,073Projection
2050223,266Projection

Largest UN urban centres · Fastest-growing urban centres

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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.

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