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Heerlen — UN urban centre

197,633

Heerlen: 197,633 people. Reference: 2025 annual estimate · World rank #3,028 of 12,138 source urban centres. Source: UN DESA, World Urbanization Prospects 2025 (CC BY 3.0 IGO). Source identifier: 3446; territory: Netherlands (NLD). 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: 50.9007, 5.9928. National context uses World Bank estimates, a separate series and geography; no national share is inferred here.

UN population series

YearPeopleMethod
1975202,329Estimate
1980212,492Estimate
1985214,334Estimate
1990215,901Estimate
1995215,099Estimate
2000212,052Estimate
2005206,405Estimate
2010200,163Estimate
2015164,094Estimate
2020161,909Estimate
2025197,633Estimate
2030199,115Projection
2035199,315Projection
2040198,102Projection
2045196,313Projection
2050193,880Projection

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.