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Chelenko, 
Ethiopia
67,991 people lived in Chelenko in 2025. It is the 9118th largest of the world's 12,138 cities, and the 167th largest in Ethiopia.
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.
Verified 2026-09-30 · 73 canaries
People · every five years · 1975 to 2050
How Chelenko grew
For every 10 people in Chelenko in 2015, there were 13 in 2025.
On the UN's projection it will have 306,147 people in 2050. On the UN's projection it passes 250,000 people between 2045 and 2050. The UN first counts it as a city in 2015, when it passed 50,000 people.
projected (after 2025) · how sure the UN is: high moderate low
How to read this: read it left to right, 1975 to 2050, one column every five years, the height being people. Hatching marks the projected years. Below, a strip of the UN's confidence: strong colour where the census maps are recent and detailed, pale where they are not, blank where the place was not counted as a city.
People · your family's years · 1975 to 2050
Chelenko through your family’s years
Put in the years your family were born. You’ll see how many people lived in Chelenko in each of those years, and when each of them turned 30.
Ethiopia · every city · 2025
Where it is
How to read this: every dot is one of the 259 cities in Ethiopia in 2025, and a dot's area is how many people live there, the biggest being Addis Ababa. The ringed dot in colour is Chelenko; 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, Chelenko covered 8 km², and buildings, roads and other built-up land covered 0.8 km² of it.
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 Ethiopia
Its share of Ethiopia
Of every 1,000 people in Ethiopia in 2025, 1 lived in Chelenko, which is 67,991 people.
How to read this: 1,000 squares stand for everyone in Ethiopia, one square for every 1,000th person. Count the coloured ones and you have Chelenko's share; the grey remainder live somewhere else in the country.
Ranked by people · 2025
Cities of a similar size
In the world, 2025
- 8410 Jolo Philippines74,210
- 8652 Walungu Democratic Republic of the Congo71,897
- 8887 Ikot Ide Nigeria69,806
- 8905 Wenago69,703
- 9118 Chelenko67,991
- 9376 Loutu Democratic Republic of the Congo66,056
- 9384 Tarail Bangladesh66,019
- 9869 Tokar Sudan62,788
- 10437 Osciot59,256
In Ethiopia, 2025
- 6060 Karamile101,975
- 6478 Gogi95,403
- 7454 Aweday83,488
- 8905 Wenago69,703
- 9118 Chelenko67,991
- 10437 Osciot59,256
- 11537 Gununew53,312
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 Chelenko are the UN's own, at five-year steps: an estimate for each of 2015 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 Chelenko 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