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Musanze, 
Rwanda
155,984 people lived in Musanze in 2025. It is the 3886th largest of the world's 12,138 cities, and the 3rd largest in Rwanda.
That figure counts the whole built-up area, not the area Musanze 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 Musanze grew
For every 10 people in Musanze in 2000, there were 19.3 in 2025.
On the UN's projection it will have 302,893 people in 2050. On the UN's projection it passes 250,000 people between 2040 and 2045. 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
Musanze through your family’s years
Put in the years your family were born. You’ll see how many people lived in Musanze in each of those years, and when each of them turned 30.
Rwanda · every city · 2025
Where it is
How to read this: Musanze is the dot in colour with a ring around it. The grey dots are the other cities of Rwanda in 2025, 5 in all, led by Kigali, 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, Musanze covered 44 km², and buildings, roads and other built-up land covered 7.8 km² of it. That is 50 m² of built-up land for each person, about a square 7 by 7 metres. Since 2000, its built-up land has grown by 90%, and its people have grown by 93%.
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 Rwanda
Its share of Rwanda
Of every 100 people in Rwanda in 2025, 1 lived in Musanze, which is 155,984 people.
How to read this: 100 squares stand for everyone in Rwanda, one square for every 100th person. Count the coloured ones and you have Musanze's share; the grey remainder live somewhere else in the country.
Ranked by people · 2025
Cities of a similar size
In the world, 2025
- 3870 Kafr Saqr Egypt156,498
- 3871 Shahabad India156,497
- 3881 Bến Tre Vietnam156,097
- 3883 Madaoua Niger156,053
- 3886 Musanze155,984
- 3895 Katoro Tanzania155,625
- 3914 Sodo Ethiopia154,912
- 3916 Sohar Oman154,765
- 3917 Thatta Pakistan154,717
In Rwanda, 2025
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 Musanze 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 Musanze 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