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Shymkent — UN urban centre

1,184,337

Shymkent: 1,184,337 people. Reference: 2025 annual estimate · World rank #437 of 12,138 source urban centres. Source: UN DESA, World Urbanization Prospects 2025 (CC BY 3.0 IGO). Source identifier: 2354; territory: Kazakhstan (KAZ). 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: 42.3281, 69.5998. National context uses World Bank estimates, a separate series and geography; no national share is inferred here.

UN population series

YearPeopleMethod
1975253,776Estimate
1980299,308Estimate
1985318,353Estimate
1990335,086Estimate
1995359,613Estimate
2000395,524Estimate
2005461,502Estimate
2010637,359Estimate
2015831,030Estimate
20201,094,607Estimate
20251,184,337Estimate
20301,266,878Projection
20351,350,128Projection
20401,411,615Projection
20451,466,675Projection
20501,524,175Projection

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.