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Kunming — UN urban centre

3,228,117

Kunming: 3,228,117 people. Reference: 2025 annual estimate · World rank #151 of 12,138 source urban centres. Source: UN DESA, World Urbanization Prospects 2025 (CC BY 3.0 IGO). Source identifier: 8296; 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: 25.0419, 102.7211. National context uses World Bank estimates, a separate series and geography; no national share is inferred here.

UN population series

YearPeopleMethod
1975512,775Estimate
1980543,207Estimate
1985755,166Estimate
19901,284,439Estimate
19951,872,523Estimate
20002,711,201Estimate
20052,903,571Estimate
20103,008,482Estimate
20153,105,377Estimate
20203,227,841Estimate
20253,228,117Estimate
20303,207,313Projection
20353,190,503Projection
20403,160,022Projection
20453,129,954Projection
20503,079,539Projection

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.

Why an urban centre is not a municipality →

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