Topics
Gulu, 
Uganda
197,090 people lived in Gulu in 2025. It is the 3035th largest of the world's 12,138 cities, and the 7th largest in Uganda.
That figure counts the whole built-up area, not the area Gulu 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 Gulu grew
Count 10 people in Gulu in 2000 and the same count gives 28.8 in 2025.
On the UN's projection it will have 318,064 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 2000, 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
Gulu through your family’s years
Put in the years your family were born. You’ll see how many people lived in Gulu in each of those years, and when each of them turned 30.
Uganda · every city · 2025
Where it is
How to read this: Gulu is the dot in colour with a ring around it. The grey dots are the other cities of Uganda in 2025, 27 in all, led by Kampala, 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, Gulu covered 48 km², and buildings, roads and other built-up land covered 8.4 km² of it. That is 43 m² of built-up land for each person, about a square 7 by 7 metres. Since 2000, its built-up land has grown to 2 times its size, and its people are 2.9 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 Uganda
Its share of Uganda
Of every 1,000 people in Uganda in 2025, 4 lived in Gulu, which is 197,090 people.
How to read this: 1,000 squares stand for everyone in Uganda, one square for every 1,000th person. Count the coloured ones and you have Gulu's share; the grey remainder live somewhere else in the country.
Ranked by people · 2025
Cities of a similar size
In the world, 2025
- 3018 Gitega Burundi198,363
- 3025 Unaizah Saudi Arabia197,665
- 3032 Dutse Nigeria197,314
- 3031 Oltiariq Uzbekistan197,314
- 3035 Gulu197,090
- 3036 Dilolo Democratic Republic of the Congo197,075
- 3039 Mian Channu Pakistan196,976
- 3042 Dina Pakistan196,799
- 3043 Bhalwal Pakistan196,792
In Uganda, 2025
- 1657 Bukalasi345,288
- 2227 Jinja261,604
- 2536 Mbarara231,926
- 2599 Arua226,390
- 3035 Gulu197,090
- 3796 Masaka159,564
- 4221 Buligenyi144,692
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 Gulu are the UN's own, at five-year steps: an estimate for each of 2000 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 Gulu 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