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Sendai — UN urban centre

1,256,440

Sendai: 1,256,440 people. Reference: 2025 annual estimate · World rank #406 of 12,138 source urban centres. Source: UN DESA, World Urbanization Prospects 2025 (CC BY 3.0 IGO). Source identifier: 5593; territory: Japan (JPN). 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: 38.2719, 140.9079. National context uses World Bank estimates, a separate series and geography; no national share is inferred here.

UN population series

YearPeopleMethod
1975787,285Estimate
1980879,288Estimate
1985937,413Estimate
19901,055,211Estimate
19951,113,616Estimate
20001,144,399Estimate
20051,195,164Estimate
20101,190,928Estimate
20151,237,068Estimate
20201,287,829Estimate
20251,256,440Estimate
20301,220,528Projection
20351,187,730Projection
20401,153,356Projection
20451,121,373Projection
20501,084,163Projection

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.