Topics
'Adan, 
Yemen
Aden
530,573 people lived in 'Adan in 2025. It is the 1045th largest of the world's 12,138 cities, and the 6th largest in Yemen, where it is the capital.
This is the UN's built-up area, drawn from satellite pictures and census maps rather than from the city limits, and the two can be a long way apart. The rule behind it.
In its own language: Aden.
Verified 2026-09-30 · 73 canaries
People · every five years · 1975 to 2050
How 'Adan grew
Where 'Adan had 10 people in 1980, it had 103.6 in 2025.
On the UN's projection it will have 800,975 people in 2050. It passed 250,000 people between 2005 and 2010. The UN first counts it as a city in 1980, when it passed 50,000 people.
projected (after 2025) · how sure the UN is: high moderate low
How to read this: one column every five years, 1975 to 2050; its height is the number of people. Hatched columns are the UN's projection. The thin strip beneath says how sure the UN is of each figure: the stronger the colour, the surer. A blank means the place was not on the UN's list of cities that year.
People · your family's years · 1975 to 2050
'Adan through your family’s years
Put in the years your family were born. You’ll see how many people lived in 'Adan in each of those years, and when each of them turned 30.
Yemen · every city · 2025
Where it is
How to read this: every dot is one of the 111 cities in Yemen in 2025, and a dot's area is how many people live there, the biggest being Sana'a. The ringed dot in colour is 'Adan; the grey dots are the rest. The outlines around them are neighbouring countries.
Area and built-up land · km²
How much land it covers
In 2025, 'Adan covered 54 km², and buildings, roads and other built-up land covered 4.6 km² of it. That is 9 m² of built-up land for each person, about a square 3 by 3 metres. Since 1995, its built-up land has grown to 3.8 times its size, and its people are 3.8 times as many.
How to read this: pale is the whole of the city's land; the stronger square inside it is what is actually built on. The three are drawn to the same scale, so a larger square really is more land, and hatching means the year is the UN's projection rather than a count.
Of every 100 people in Yemen
Its share of Yemen
Of every 100 people in Yemen in 2025, 1 lived in 'Adan, which is 530,573 people.
How to read this: 100 squares stand for everyone in Yemen, one square for every 100th person. Count the coloured ones and you have 'Adan's share; the grey remainder live somewhere else in the country.
Ranked by people · 2025
Cities of a similar size
In the world, 2025
- 1041 Kanazawa Japan533,682
- 1042 Genoa Italy532,509
- 1043 Zahedan Iran531,482
- 1044 Bozhou China531,429
- 1045 'Adan530,573
- 1046 Leicester United Kingdom530,264
- 1047 Hatay Türkiye530,262
- 1048 Homel Belarus529,882
- 1049 Feira de Santana Brazil529,185
In Yemen, 2025
- 311 Ta'izz1,586,739
- 634 Hodeidah827,012
- 635 Ibb826,974
- 754 Bi'r Rubak712,438
- 1045 'Adan530,573
- 1389 Dhamar406,929
- 1462 Hawrah389,641
- 1886 Yarim304,301
- 2060 Al Majidi282,395
How to read this: names are in order of size, the leading number being each city's rank among all 12,138 in 2025; the bars share a scale within a list. A jump in the ranks means a city under 300,000 people, which is not given a page here.
Apparatus
Sources and method
The figures for 'Adan are the UN's own, at five-year steps: an estimate for each of 1980 to 2025, then projection to 2050. Projected years are drawn hatched, and the UN publishes no range of uncertainty for a city. What a city means here, how the UN measures one, and why that number can differ from the one 'Adan publishes about itself: how the figures here are put together.
Sources: UN WUP 2025 · Natural Earth · flag-icons. Every source, its licence and how to cite it →
Verified 2026-09-30 · 73 canaries