Topics
Gwagwalada, 
Nigeria
333,464 people lived in Gwagwalada in 2025. It is the 1721st largest of the world's 12,138 cities, and the 63rd largest in Nigeria.
That figure counts the whole built-up area, not the area Gwagwalada 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 Gwagwalada grew
Count 10 people in Gwagwalada in 1995 and the same count gives 65 in 2025.
On the UN's projection it will have 570,084 people in 2050. It passed 250,000 people between 2015 and 2020. The UN first counts it as a city in 1995, 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
Gwagwalada through your family’s years
Put in the years your family were born. You’ll see how many people lived in Gwagwalada in each of those years, and when each of them turned 30.
Nigeria · every city · 2025
Where it is
How to read this: Gwagwalada is the dot in colour with a ring around it. The grey dots are the other cities of Nigeria in 2025, 457 in all, led by Lagos, 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, Gwagwalada covered 44 km², and buildings, roads and other built-up land covered 10 km² of it. That is 31 m² of built-up land for each person, about a square 6 by 6 metres. Since 1995, its built-up land has grown to 4.1 times its size, and its people are 6.5 times as many.
How to read this: each pale square is the city's whole area, the strong square inside it the part that is built on; one scale for all three, so a bigger square is more land. Hatched is the UN's projection.
Of every 100 people in Nigeria
Its share of Nigeria
Of every 1,000 people in Nigeria in 2025, 1 lived in Gwagwalada, which is 333,464 people.
How to read this: 1,000 squares stand for everyone in Nigeria, one square for every 1,000th person. Count the coloured ones and you have Gwagwalada's share; the grey remainder live somewhere else in the country.
Ranked by people · 2025
Cities of a similar size
In the world, 2025
- 1717 Nagaon India333,706
- 1718 Xuanhua China333,650
- 1719 Sikar India333,509
- 1720 Garissa Kenya333,505
- 1721 Gwagwalada333,464
- 1722 Basel Switzerland333,021
- 1723 Nicosia Cyprus333,008
- 1724 Rudrapur India332,826
- 1725 Rio Branco Brazil332,810
In Nigeria, 2025
- 1543 Daura369,916
- 1556 Gboko367,407
- 1690 Ikere-Ekiti338,367
- 1708 Bonny335,542
- 1721 Gwagwalada333,464
- 1736 Ikare330,941
- 1737 Erin-osun330,484
- 1818 Sapele315,614
- 1874 Ughelli307,005
How to read this: the figure in front of a name is where that city stands among the 12,138 cities the UN counted in 2025, and each bar is its people, on one scale per list. Numbers are missing where a city has fewer than 300,000 people and so has no page of its own.
Apparatus
Sources and method
The figures for Gwagwalada are the UN's own, at five-year steps: an estimate for each of 1995 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 Gwagwalada 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