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Muzaffarabad, 
Pakistan
268,448 people lived in Muzaffarabad in 2025. It is the 2171st largest of the world's 12,138 cities, and the 65th largest in Pakistan, where it is the capital.
That figure counts the whole built-up area, not the area Muzaffarabad 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 Muzaffarabad grew
For every 10 people in Muzaffarabad in 1980, there were 45.7 in 2025.
On the UN's projection it will have 407,211 people in 2050. It passed 250,000 people between 2005 and 2010. The UN first counts it as a city in 1980, 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
Muzaffarabad through your family’s years
Put in the years your family were born. You’ll see how many people lived in Muzaffarabad in each of those years, and when each of them turned 30.
Pakistan · every city · 2025
Where it is
How to read this: Pakistan and its 323 cities in 2025, each a dot whose area is its number of people (the largest is Karachi). Muzaffarabad 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, Muzaffarabad covered 29 km², and buildings, roads and other built-up land covered 5.8 km² of it. That is 22 m² of built-up land for each person, about a square 5 by 5 metres. Since 1990, its built-up land has grown to 4.8 times its size, and its people are 2.1 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 Pakistan
Its share of Pakistan
Of every 1,000 people in Pakistan in 2025, 1 lived in Muzaffarabad, which is 268,448 people.
How to read this: 1,000 squares stand for everyone in Pakistan, one square for every 1,000th person. Count the coloured ones and you have Muzaffarabad's share; the grey remainder live somewhere else in the country.
Ranked by people · 2025
Cities of a similar size
In the world, 2025
- 2167 Patahi India268,862
- 2168 Vologda Russia268,759
- 2169 Constanța Romania268,757
- 2170 Chhatarpur India268,598
- 2171 Muzaffarabad268,448
- 2174 Ternate Indonesia267,842
- 2176 Bellevue United States267,696
- 2177 Kabwe Zambia267,618
- 2178 Lafia Nigeria267,580
In Pakistan, 2025
- 2025 Timergara287,866
- 2037 Shikarpur285,859
- 2120 Vehari273,823
- 2161 Dadu269,400
- 2171 Muzaffarabad268,448
- 2224 Kharian262,272
- 2290 Shakar Garh254,655
- 2337 Chakwal249,801
- 2338 Pattoki249,646
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 Muzaffarabad are the UN's own, at five-year steps: an estimate for each of 1980 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 Muzaffarabad 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