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Jinja, 
Uganda
261,604 people lived in Jinja in 2025. It is the 2227th largest of the world's 12,138 cities, and the 4th largest in Uganda.
That figure counts the whole built-up area, not the area Jinja 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 Jinja grew
For every 10 people in Jinja in 1995, there were 22.4 in 2025.
On the UN's projection it will have 490,966 people in 2050. It passed 250,000 people between 2020 and 2025. 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
Jinja through your family’s years
Put in the years your family were born. You’ll see how many people lived in Jinja in each of those years, and when each of them turned 30.
Uganda · every city · 2025
Where it is
How to read this: every dot is one of the 27 cities in Uganda in 2025, and a dot's area is how many people live there, the biggest being Kampala. The ringed dot in colour is Jinja; 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, Jinja covered 76 km², and buildings, roads and other built-up land covered 11 km² of it. That is 41 m² of built-up land for each person, about a square 6 by 6 metres. Since 1995, its built-up land has grown to 2 times its size, and its people are 2.2 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 Uganda
Its share of Uganda
Of every 1,000 people in Uganda in 2025, 5 lived in Jinja, which is 261,604 people.
How to read this: 1,000 squares, one for every 1,000th person in Uganda; the coloured squares live in Jinja. The grey rest live in other cities, in towns or in the countryside.
Ranked by people · 2025
Cities of a similar size
In the world, 2025
- 2221 Palwal India262,399
- 2222 Urgench Uzbekistan262,377
- 2224 Kharian Pakistan262,272
- 2226 Ambur India261,614
- 2227 Jinja261,604
- 2228 Moirabari India261,593
- 2229 Hakodate Japan261,557
- 2232 Pemba Mozambique261,380
- 2233 Agbara Nigeria261,298
In Uganda, 2025
- 85 Kampala4,880,943
- 1495 Mbale City380,565
- 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 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 Jinja 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 Jinja 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