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Varanasi — UN urban centre

3,858,863

Varanasi: 3,858,863 people. Reference: 2025 annual estimate · World rank #119 of 12,138 source urban centres. Source: UN DESA, World Urbanization Prospects 2025 (CC BY 3.0 IGO). Source identifier: 10447; territory: India (IND). 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: 25.3131, 83.005. National context uses World Bank estimates, a separate series and geography; no national share is inferred here.

UN population series

YearPeopleMethod
19751,717,441Estimate
19801,896,513Estimate
19852,057,892Estimate
19902,223,194Estimate
19952,549,752Estimate
20002,861,680Estimate
20053,096,844Estimate
20103,346,124Estimate
20153,544,151Estimate
20203,701,259Estimate
20253,858,863Estimate
20304,096,442Projection
20354,289,974Projection
20404,484,216Projection
20454,693,064Projection
20504,764,588Projection

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.