Basra — UN urban centre
Basra: 2,033,553 people. Reference: 2025 annual estimate · World rank #241 of 12,138 source urban centres. Source: UN DESA, World Urbanization Prospects 2025 (CC BY 3.0 IGO). Source identifier: 5262; territory: Iraq (IRQ). 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: 30.5173, 47.7999. National context uses World Bank estimates, a separate series and geography; no national share is inferred here.
UN population series
| Year | People | Method |
|---|---|---|
| 1975 | 349,440 | Estimate |
| 1980 | 426,075 | Estimate |
| 1985 | 512,149 | Estimate |
| 1990 | 587,290 | Estimate |
| 1995 | 787,958 | Estimate |
| 2000 | 975,017 | Estimate |
| 2005 | 1,189,129 | Estimate |
| 2010 | 1,335,800 | Estimate |
| 2015 | 1,655,053 | Estimate |
| 2020 | 1,859,912 | Estimate |
| 2025 | 2,033,553 | Estimate |
| 2030 | 2,193,661 | Projection |
| 2035 | 2,362,839 | Projection |
| 2040 | 2,517,152 | Projection |
| 2045 | 2,652,680 | Projection |
| 2050 | 2,811,545 | Projection |
Largest UN urban centres · Fastest-growing urban centres
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