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Potiskum, 
Nigeria
397,981 people lived in Potiskum in 2025. It is the 1427th largest of the world's 12,138 cities, and the 53rd largest in Nigeria.
That figure counts the whole built-up area, not the area Potiskum 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 Potiskum grew
Where Potiskum had 10 people in 1975, it had 41.2 in 2025.
On the UN's projection it will have 499,336 people in 2050. It passed 250,000 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
Potiskum through your family’s years
Put in the years your family were born. You’ll see how many people lived in Potiskum in each of those years, and when each of them turned 30.
Nigeria · every city · 2025
Where it is
How to read this: Potiskum is the dot in colour with a ring around it. The grey dots are the other cities of Nigeria in 2025, 457 in all, led by Lagos, 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, Potiskum covered 44 km², and buildings, roads and other built-up land covered 13 km² of it. That is 32 m² of built-up land for each person, about a square 6 by 6 metres. Since 1975, its built-up land has grown to 5.5 times its size, and its people are 4.1 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 Nigeria
Its share of Nigeria
Of every 1,000 people in Nigeria in 2025, 2 lived in Potiskum, which is 397,981 people.
How to read this: shrink Nigeria to 1,000 people and this is what you get. The coloured squares are the ones who would live in Potiskum; the grey ones are everybody else, in other cities, in towns and out in the country.
Ranked by people · 2025
Cities of a similar size
In the world, 2025
- 1423 Pingliang China398,221
- 1424 Strasbourg France398,175
- 1425 Volta Redonda Brazil398,107
- 1426 Bergamo Italy398,050
- 1427 Potiskum397,981
- 1428 Alicante Spain397,948
- 1429 Heze China397,886
- 1430 Madiun Indonesia397,871
- 1431 Mit Habib Egypt397,104
In Nigeria, 2025
- 1382 Makurdi408,753
- 1392 Abakaliki406,105
- 1401 Asaba403,859
- 1413 Saki400,875
- 1427 Potiskum397,981
- 1464 Iseyin389,526
- 1496 KUNDULUN380,118
- 1506 Gamboru376,374
- 1531 Abonnema372,654
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 Potiskum 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 Potiskum 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