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Mecca — UN urban centre

1,692,152

Mecca: 1,692,152 people. Reference: 2025 annual estimate · World rank #289 of 12,138 source urban centres. Source: UN DESA, World Urbanization Prospects 2025 (CC BY 3.0 IGO). Source identifier: 1513; territory: Saudi Arabia (SAU). 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: 21.4168, 39.8251. National context uses World Bank estimates, a separate series and geography; no national share is inferred here.

UN population series

YearPeopleMethod
1975161,719Estimate
1980228,322Estimate
1985302,351Estimate
1990446,636Estimate
1995552,234Estimate
2000643,842Estimate
2005931,425Estimate
20101,124,266Estimate
20151,367,921Estimate
20201,508,557Estimate
20251,692,152Estimate
20301,832,698Projection
20351,960,056Projection
20402,083,284Projection
20452,241,907Projection
20502,374,142Projection

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.