Kathmandu — UN urban centre
Kathmandu: 3,231,516 people. Reference: 2025 annual estimate · World rank #150 of 12,138 source urban centres. Source: UN DESA, World Urbanization Prospects 2025 (CC BY 3.0 IGO). Source identifier: 1712; territory: Nepal (NPL). 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: 27.6996, 85.3344. National context uses World Bank estimates, a separate series and geography; no national share is inferred here.
UN population series
| Year | People | Method |
|---|---|---|
| 1975 | 419,789 | Estimate |
| 1980 | 513,386 | Estimate |
| 1985 | 693,087 | Estimate |
| 1990 | 903,091 | Estimate |
| 1995 | 1,171,522 | Estimate |
| 2000 | 1,506,896 | Estimate |
| 2005 | 1,891,881 | Estimate |
| 2010 | 2,305,116 | Estimate |
| 2015 | 2,704,974 | Estimate |
| 2020 | 3,083,452 | Estimate |
| 2025 | 3,231,516 | Estimate |
| 2030 | 3,430,297 | Projection |
| 2035 | 3,633,728 | Projection |
| 2040 | 3,800,660 | Projection |
| 2045 | 3,976,874 | Projection |
| 2050 | 4,115,021 | Projection |
Largest UN urban centres · Fastest-growing urban centres
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