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Almaty, 
Kazakhstan
2,367,611 people lived in Almaty in 2025. It is the 208th largest of the world's 12,138 cities, and the largest in Kazakhstan.
That figure counts the whole built-up area, not the area Almaty governs, so it may be far from the number the city publishes about itself. How the UN measures a city.
Verified 2026-09-30 · 73 canaries
People · every five years · 1975 to 2050
How Almaty grew
Where Almaty had 10 people in 1975, it had 26.6 in 2025.
On the UN's projection it will have 3.4 million people in 2050. It passed a million people between 1975 and 1980.
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
Almaty through your family’s years
Put in the years your family were born. You’ll see how many people lived in Almaty in each of those years, and when each of them turned 30.
Kazakhstan · every city · 2025
Where it is
How to read this: Almaty is the dot in colour with a ring around it. The grey dots are the other cities of Kazakhstan in 2025, 34 in all, each drawn with an area that matches its people. Countries next door are outlines only.
Area and built-up land · km²
How much land it covers
In 2025, Almaty covered 337 km², and buildings, roads and other built-up land covered 95 km² of it. That is 40 m² of built-up land for each person, about a square 6 by 6 metres. Since 1975, its built-up land has grown to 2.8 times its size, and its people are 2.7 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 Kazakhstan
Its share of Kazakhstan
Of every 100 people in Kazakhstan in 2025, 11 lived in Almaty, which is 2.4 million people.
How to read this: 100 squares, one for every 100th person in Kazakhstan; the coloured squares live in Almaty. The grey rest live in other cities, in towns or in the countryside.
Ranked by people · 2025
Cities of a similar size
In the world, 2025
- 204 Lomé Togo2,415,011
- 205 Ponnani India2,409,567
- 206 Coimbatore India2,382,988
- 207 Rome Italy2,376,474
- 208 Almaty2,367,611
- 209 Denpasar Indonesia2,352,734
- 210 Prayagraj India2,347,869
- 211 Port Harcourt Nigeria2,341,445
- 212 Dammam Saudi Arabia2,335,647
In Kazakhstan, 2025
- 208 Almaty2,367,611
- 437 Shymkent1,184,337
- 481 Astana1,065,387
- 1351 Aktobe416,455
- 1831 Karaganda313,529
- 1850 Aktau310,607
- 1924 Semey298,847
- 2322 Kyzylorda250,557
- 3335 Taraz180,844
How to read this: the number before each name is its place among all 12,138 cities in the world in 2025; bars are people, on one scale per list. Only cities that reach 300,000 people have a page here, so a gap in the numbers is a smaller city.
Apparatus
Sources and method
The figures for Almaty are the UN's own, at five-year steps: an estimate for each of 1975 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 Almaty 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