Topics
Manama, 
Bahrain
Al-Manāmah
1,538,872 people lived in Manama in 2025. It is the 325th largest of the world's 12,138 cities, and the largest in Bahrain, where it is the capital.
The UN measures every city in the world the same way, by where the buildings are rather than where the boundary runs, so this figure and Manama's own can differ widely. What counts as a city here.
In its own language: Al-Manāmah.
Verified 2026-09-30 · 73 canaries
People · every five years · 1975 to 2050
How Manama grew
For every 10 people in Manama in 1975, there were 146.5 in 2025.
On the UN's projection it will have 2.1 million people in 2050. It passed a million people between 2005 and 2010.
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
Manama through your family’s years
Put in the years your family were born. You’ll see how many people lived in Manama in each of those years, and when each of them turned 30.
Bahrain · every city · 2025
Where it is
How to read this: Bahrain and its 1 city in 2025, each a dot whose area is its number of people. Manama is ringed, in colour; the other cities are grey. Neighbouring countries are outlines.
Area and built-up land · km²
How much land it covers
In 2025, Manama covered 328 km², and buildings, roads and other built-up land covered 74 km² of it. That is 48 m² of built-up land for each person, about a square 7 by 7 metres. Since 1975, its built-up land has grown to 13.1 times its size, and its people are 14.7 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 Bahrain
Its share of Bahrain
Of every 100 people in Bahrain in 2025, 94 lived in Manama, which is 1.5 million people.
How to read this: 100 squares stand for everyone in Bahrain, one square for every 100th person. Count the coloured ones and you have Manama's share; the grey remainder live somewhere else in the country.
Ranked by people · 2025
Cities of a similar size
In the world, 2025
- 321 Gwalior India1,554,246
- 322 Davao City Philippines1,546,026
- 323 Vasai-Virar India1,542,177
- 324 Mandalay Myanmar1,541,309
- 325 Manama1,538,872
- 326 Surakarta Indonesia1,538,599
- 327 Panama City Panama1,527,393
- 328 Brasília Brazil1,521,148
- 329 Dallas United States1,521,118
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 Manama are the UN's own, at five-year steps: an estimate for each of 1975 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 Manama 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