Topics
Chlef, 
Algeria
220,634 people lived in Chlef in 2025. It is the 2680th largest of the world's 12,138 cities, and the 21st largest in Algeria.
That figure counts the whole built-up area, not the area Chlef 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 Chlef grew
For every 10 people in Chlef in 1980, there were 42.9 in 2025.
On the UN's projection it will have 313,477 people in 2050. On the UN's projection it passes 250,000 people between 2035 and 2040. The UN first counts it as a city in 1980, 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
Chlef through your family’s years
Put in the years your family were born. You’ll see how many people lived in Chlef in each of those years, and when each of them turned 30.
Algeria · every city · 2025
Where it is
How to read this: every dot is one of the 109 cities in Algeria in 2025, and a dot's area is how many people live there, the biggest being Algiers. The ringed dot in colour is Chlef; 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, Chlef covered 35 km², and buildings, roads and other built-up land covered 9.0 km² of it. That is 41 m² of built-up land for each person, about a square 6 by 6 metres. Since 1980, its built-up land has grown to 2.9 times its size, and its people are 4.3 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 Algeria
Its share of Algeria
Of every 1,000 people in Algeria in 2025, 5 lived in Chlef, which is 220,634 people.
How to read this: 1,000 squares stand for everyone in Algeria, one square for every 1,000th person. Count the coloured ones and you have Chlef's share; the grey remainder live somewhere else in the country.
Ranked by people · 2025
Cities of a similar size
In the world, 2025
- 2670 Charlotte United States221,000
- 2674 Az Zubayr Iraq220,737
- 2675 Rustenburg South Africa220,723
- 2679 Gwoza Nigeria220,641
- 2680 Chlef220,634
- 2693 Gagnoa Côte d’Ivoire219,607
- 2694 Dhampur India219,479
- 2706 Omuo-Obadore Nigeria218,751
- 2710 Tembilahan Indonesia218,371
In Algeria, 2025
- 2197 El Oued265,408
- 2235 Sidi Bel Abbes261,103
- 2288 Skikda255,379
- 2313 Tiaret251,576
- 2680 Chlef220,634
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 Chlef are the UN's own, at five-year steps: an estimate for each of 1980 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 Chlef 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