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Awka, 
Nigeria
283,069 people lived in Awka in 2025. It is the 2053rd largest of the world's 12,138 cities, and the 73rd largest in Nigeria.
That figure counts the whole built-up area, not the area Awka 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 Awka grew
For every 10 people in Awka in 1975, there were 54.2 in 2025.
On the UN's projection it will have 473,451 people in 2050. It passed 250,000 people between 2020 and 2025.
projected (after 2025) · how sure the UN is: high moderate low
How to read this: each column is one of the UN's five-yearly estimates, 1975 through 2050, and taller means more people. Where a column is hatched the year has not happened yet. The strip under the columns is the UN's own confidence in each figure, palest where it is least sure; where it is blank the city was not on the list at all.
People · your family's years · 1975 to 2050
Awka through your family’s years
Put in the years your family were born. You’ll see how many people lived in Awka in each of those years, and when each of them turned 30.
Nigeria · every city · 2025
Where it is
How to read this: Awka is the dot in colour with a ring around it. The grey dots are the other cities of Nigeria in 2025, 457 in all, led by Lagos, 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, Awka covered 75 km², and buildings, roads and other built-up land covered 17 km² of it. That is 59 m² of built-up land for each person, about a square 8 by 8 metres. Since 1975, its built-up land has grown to 4.1 times its size, and its people are 5.4 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 Nigeria
Its share of Nigeria
Of every 1,000 people in Nigeria in 2025, 1 lived in Awka, which is 283,069 people.
How to read this: shrink Nigeria to 1,000 people and this is what you get. The coloured squares are the ones who would live in Awka; the grey ones are everybody else, in other cities, in towns and out in the country.
Ranked by people · 2025
Cities of a similar size
In the world, 2025
- 2046 Zakiganj India284,125
- 2048 Cabimas Venezuela283,656
- 2049 Poway United States283,508
- 2050 Koutiala Mali283,496
- 2053 Awka283,069
- 2054 Boisar India283,063
- 2055 Sanhe China282,844
- 2056 Pemalang Indonesia282,807
- 2057 Ziguinchor Senegal282,751
In Nigeria, 2025
- 1907 Ado300,622
- 1923 Bugama299,022
- 1954 Birnin Kebbi296,331
- 2007 Okrika289,429
- 2053 Awka283,069
- 2064 Ikirun281,875
- 2095 Iwo277,101
- 2121 Magboro273,818
- 2151 Eket270,603
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 Awka 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 Awka 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