Topics
Puli Khumri, 
Afghanistan
228,271 people lived in Puli Khumri in 2025. It is the 2574th largest of the world's 12,138 cities, and the 9th largest in Afghanistan.
That figure counts the whole built-up area, not the area Puli Khumri 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 Puli Khumri grew
For every 10 people in Puli Khumri in 1995, there were 27.5 in 2025.
On the UN's projection it will have 379,692 people in 2050. On the UN's projection it passes 250,000 people between 2025 and 2030. 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: 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
Puli Khumri through your family’s years
Put in the years your family were born. You’ll see how many people lived in Puli Khumri in each of those years, and when each of them turned 30.
Afghanistan · every city · 2025
Where it is
How to read this: every dot is one of the 85 cities in Afghanistan in 2025, and a dot's area is how many people live there, the biggest being Kabul. The ringed dot in colour is Puli Khumri; the grey dots are the rest. The outlines around them are neighbouring countries.
Area and built-up land · km²
How much land it covers
In 2025, Puli Khumri covered 28 km², and buildings, roads and other built-up land covered 3.5 km² of it. That is 15 m² of built-up land for each person, about a square 4 by 4 metres. Since 1995, its built-up land has grown to 2.9 times its size, and its people are 2.8 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 Afghanistan
Its share of Afghanistan
Of every 1,000 people in Afghanistan in 2025, 5 lived in Puli Khumri, which is 228,271 people.
How to read this: 1,000 squares stand for everyone in Afghanistan, one square for every 1,000th person. Count the coloured ones and you have Puli Khumri's share; the grey remainder live somewhere else in the country.
Ranked by people · 2025
Cities of a similar size
In the world, 2025
- 2564 Cobán Guatemala229,017
- 2566 Mollar Char Bangladesh228,869
- 2567 Masrakh India228,857
- 2571 Jega Nigeria228,584
- 2574 Puli Khumri228,271
- 2575 Asmara Eritrea228,270
- 2576 Lalamusa Pakistan228,248
- 2578 Yei South Sudan228,087
- 2582 Binhai China227,533
In Afghanistan, 2025
- 927 Jalalabad587,508
- 2003 Taloqan290,028
- 2028 Kunduz287,295
- 2560 Maymana229,355
- 2574 Puli Khumri228,271
- 2592 Charikar227,054
- 2776 Shindand213,596
- 2915 Firozkoh204,753
- 3080 Fayzabad195,148
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 Puli Khumri 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 Puli Khumri 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