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Abu Dhabi — UN urban centre

1,016,460

Abu Dhabi: 1,016,460 people. Reference: 2025 annual estimate · World rank #507 of 12,138 source urban centres. Source: UN DESA, World Urbanization Prospects 2025 (CC BY 3.0 IGO). Source identifier: 309; territory: United Arab Emirates (ARE). 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: 24.4425, 54.4082. National context uses World Bank estimates, a separate series and geography; no national share is inferred here.

UN population series

YearPeopleMethod
1980119,075Estimate
1985155,138Estimate
1990219,031Estimate
1995228,444Estimate
2000273,702Estimate
2005382,429Estimate
2010951,539Estimate
2015924,380Estimate
2020779,623Estimate
20251,016,460Estimate
20301,113,389Projection
20351,183,013Projection
20401,261,393Projection
20451,339,588Projection
20501,435,331Projection

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.