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Washington, D.C. — UN urban centre

3,270,018

Washington, D.C.: 3,270,018 people. Reference: 2025 annual estimate · World rank #145 of 12,138 source urban centres. Source: UN DESA, World Urbanization Prospects 2025 (CC BY 3.0 IGO). Source identifier: 8123; territory: United States (USA). 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: 38.9071, -77.0743. National context uses World Bank estimates, a separate series and geography; no national share is inferred here.

UN population series

YearPeopleMethod
19751,055,262Estimate
19801,027,322Estimate
19851,248,754Estimate
19901,425,118Estimate
19951,547,998Estimate
20001,907,162Estimate
20052,176,282Estimate
20102,431,634Estimate
20152,816,537Estimate
20203,063,044Estimate
20253,270,018Estimate
20303,391,514Projection
20353,458,682Projection
20403,561,023Projection
20453,676,024Projection
20503,725,730Projection

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.