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Xining — UN urban centre

1,360,245

Xining: 1,360,245 people. Reference: 2025 annual estimate · World rank #372 of 12,138 source urban centres. Source: UN DESA, World Urbanization Prospects 2025 (CC BY 3.0 IGO). Source identifier: 3826; territory: China (CHN). 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: 36.624, 101.7703. National context uses World Bank estimates, a separate series and geography; no national share is inferred here.

UN population series

YearPeopleMethod
1975497,729Estimate
1980549,080Estimate
1985605,370Estimate
1990683,982Estimate
1995780,567Estimate
2000897,121Estimate
20051,045,455Estimate
20101,148,770Estimate
20151,250,013Estimate
20201,365,364Estimate
20251,360,245Estimate
20301,346,057Projection
20351,335,029Projection
20401,318,281Projection
20451,303,678Projection
20501,279,970Projection

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.