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Masaya — UN urban centre

156,536

Masaya: 156,536 people. Reference: 2025 annual estimate · World rank #3,869 of 12,138 source urban centres. Source: UN DESA, World Urbanization Prospects 2025 (CC BY 3.0 IGO). Source identifier: 636; territory: Nicaragua (NIC). 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: 11.9772, -86.0925. National context uses World Bank estimates, a separate series and geography; no national share is inferred here.

UN population series

YearPeopleMethod
197565,453Estimate
198075,368Estimate
198584,511Estimate
199092,444Estimate
1995103,079Estimate
2000114,549Estimate
2005120,648Estimate
2010126,641Estimate
2015134,954Estimate
2020140,553Estimate
2025156,536Estimate
2030160,305Projection
2035163,204Projection
2040166,768Projection
2045170,067Projection
2050170,905Projection

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.