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Banda Aceh, 
Indonesia
343,382 people lived in Banda Aceh in 2025. It is the 1665th largest of the world's 12,138 cities, and the 57th largest in Indonesia.
The UN measures every city in the world the same way, by where the buildings are rather than where the boundary runs, so this figure and Banda Aceh's own can differ widely. What counts as a city here.
Verified 2026-09-30 · 73 canaries
People · every five years · 1975 to 2050
How Banda Aceh grew
Where Banda Aceh had 10 people in 1985, it had 33.3 in 2025.
On the UN's projection it will have 331,057 people in 2050. It passed 250,000 people between 1995 and 2000. The UN first counts it as a city in 1985, 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
Banda Aceh through your family’s years
Put in the years your family were born. You’ll see how many people lived in Banda Aceh in each of those years, and when each of them turned 30.
Indonesia · every city · 2025
Where it is
How to read this: Banda Aceh is the dot in colour with a ring around it. The grey dots are the other cities of Indonesia in 2025, 389 in all, led by Jakarta, 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, Banda Aceh covered 100 km², and buildings, roads and other built-up land covered 23 km² of it. That is 68 m² of built-up land for each person, about a square 8 by 8 metres. Since 1985, its built-up land has grown to 2 times its size, and its people are 3.3 times as many.
How to read this: the outer pale square stands for all the land the city covers, and the solid square inside it for the part with buildings, roads and the like on it. All three squares share a scale, so you can compare them by eye. A hatched one is a year the UN has projected.
Of every 100 people in Indonesia
Its share of Indonesia
Of every 1,000 people in Indonesia in 2025, 1 lived in Banda Aceh, which is 343,382 people.
How to read this: shrink Indonesia to 1,000 people and this is what you get. The coloured squares are the ones who would live in Banda Aceh; 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
- 1661 Guankou China344,468
- 1662 Augsburg Germany344,255
- 1663 Kansas City United States344,125
- 1664 Etah India344,002
- 1665 Banda Aceh343,382
- 1666 Dongying China343,003
- 1667 Kaili China342,989
- 1668 Edendale South Africa342,930
- 1669 Tiruvannamalai India342,795
In Indonesia, 2025
- 1460 Rangkasbitung389,934
- 1501 Bengkulu378,066
- 1510 Timika375,910
- 1638 Palu348,948
- 1665 Banda Aceh343,382
- 1706 Duri335,728
- 1707 Indramayu335,572
- 1767 Sumedang324,936
- 1770 Pandeglang324,139
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 Banda Aceh are the UN's own, at five-year steps: an estimate for each of 1985 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 Banda Aceh 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