Topics
Lichinga, 
Mozambique
294,317 people lived in Lichinga in 2025. It is the 1975th largest of the world's 12,138 cities, and the 7th largest in Mozambique.
That figure counts the whole built-up area, not the area Lichinga 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 Lichinga grew
Where Lichinga had 10 people in 1995, it had 48.3 in 2025.
On the UN's projection it will have 631,150 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: 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
Lichinga through your family’s years
Put in the years your family were born. You’ll see how many people lived in Lichinga in each of those years, and when each of them turned 30.
Mozambique · every city · 2025
Where it is
How to read this: Lichinga is the dot in colour with a ring around it. The grey dots are the other cities of Mozambique in 2025, 48 in all, led by Maputo, 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, Lichinga covered 44 km², and buildings, roads and other built-up land covered 11 km² of it. That is 36 m² of built-up land for each person, about a square 6 by 6 metres. Since 1995, its built-up land has grown to 2.7 times its size, and its people are 4.8 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 Mozambique
Its share of Mozambique
Of every 1,000 people in Mozambique in 2025, 8 lived in Lichinga, which is 294,317 people.
How to read this: 1,000 squares stand for everyone in Mozambique, one square for every 1,000th person. Count the coloured ones and you have Lichinga's share; the grey remainder live somewhere else in the country.
Ranked by people · 2025
Cities of a similar size
In the world, 2025
- 1971 Oryol Russia294,739
- 1972 Simferopol Ukraine294,735
- 1973 Kasumbalesa Democratic Republic of the Congo294,623
- 1974 Misrata Libya294,401
- 1975 Lichinga294,317
- 1976 Chingola Zambia294,193
- 1977 Matala Angola294,087
- 1978 Chhindwara India293,950
- 1979 Anlu China293,857
In Mozambique, 2025
- 892 Beira608,097
- 1228 Chimoio453,521
- 1271 Quelimane438,554
- 1334 Tete421,174
- 1975 Lichinga294,317
- 2122 Nacala273,732
- 2232 Pemba261,380
- 2857 Xai-Xai208,703
- 3134 Mocuba191,635
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 Lichinga 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 Lichinga 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