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Cartagena, 
Colombia
1,008,584 people lived in Cartagena in 2025. It is the 510th largest of the world's 12,138 cities, and the 5th largest in Colombia.
That figure counts the whole built-up area, not the area Cartagena 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 Cartagena grew
For every 10 people in Cartagena in 1975, there were 27.1 in 2025.
On the UN's projection it will have 1.2 million people in 2050. It passed a million people between 2020 and 2025.
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
Cartagena through your family’s years
Put in the years your family were born. You’ll see how many people lived in Cartagena in each of those years, and when each of them turned 30.
Colombia · every city · 2025
Where it is
How to read this: Cartagena is the dot in colour with a ring around it. The grey dots are the other cities of Colombia in 2025, 81 in all, led by Bogotá, 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, Cartagena covered 127 km², and buildings, roads and other built-up land covered 30 km² of it. That is 30 m² of built-up land for each person, about a square 5 by 5 metres. Since 1975, its built-up land has grown to 2.2 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 Colombia
Its share of Colombia
Of every 100 people in Colombia in 2025, 2 lived in Cartagena, which is 1.0 million people.
How to read this: 100 squares stand for everyone in Colombia, one square for every 100th person. Count the coloured ones and you have Cartagena's share; the grey remainder live somewhere else in the country.
Ranked by people · 2025
Cities of a similar size
In the world, 2025
- 506 Binhai New Area China1,017,230
- 507 Abu Dhabi United Arab Emirates1,016,460
- 508 Hải Phòng Vietnam1,015,494
- 509 Helsingfors Finland1,014,317
- 510 Cartagena1,008,584
- 511 Malda India1,001,322
- 512 Jinhua China998,519
- 513 Puducherry India998,290
- 514 Mataram Indonesia997,132
In Colombia, 2025
- 31 Bogotá10,624,315
- 139 Medellín3,350,384
- 184 Cali2,700,232
- 228 Barranquilla2,208,021
- 510 Cartagena1,008,584
- 555 Bucaramanga939,291
- 617 Cúcuta848,408
- 902 Pereira602,831
- 954 Valledupar574,824
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 Cartagena 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 Cartagena 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